Health News
NIH-supported international team confirms new genetic mutation link to ALS
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- Written by YNN YNN
- Published: 21 March 2018 21 March 2018
Washington, DC - Kinesin family member 5A (KIF5A), a gene previously linked to two rare neurodegenerative disorders, has been definitively connected to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by an international team from several of the world’s top ALS research labs. The findings identify how mutations in KIF5A disrupt transport of key proteins up and down long, threadlike axons that connect nerve cells between the brain and the spine, eventually leading to the neuromuscular symptoms of ALS.
H7N9 influenza vaccine clinical trials begin
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- Written by Elizabeth Deatrick Elizabeth Deatrick
- Published: 21 March 2018 21 March 2018
Washington, DC - Two new clinical trials testing an experimental vaccine to prevent influenza caused by an H7N9 influenza virus are now enrolling volunteers at sites across the United States. The Phase 2 studies, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will test different dosages of the inactivated influenza vaccine candidate (called 2017 H7N9 IIV) as well as different vaccination schedules. The studies also will evaluate whether an adjuvant boosts the immune responses of people receiving the vaccine.
FDA authorizes, with special controls, direct-to-consumer test that reports three mutations in the BRCA breast cancer genes
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- Written by Deborah Kotz Deborah Kotz
- Published: 12 March 2018 12 March 2018
Washington, DC - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today authorized the Personal Genome Service Genetic Health Risk (GHR) Report for BRCA1/BRCA2 (Selected Variants). It is the first direct-to-consumer (DTC) test to report on three specific BRCA1/BRCA2 breast cancer gene mutations that are most common in people of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish descent. These three mutations, however, are not the most common BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations in the general population.
Efforts to reduce tobacco use, especially among youth
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- Written by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D.
- Published: 20 March 2018 20 March 2018
Washington, DC - The thought of any child starting down a path of a lifelong addiction to tobacco, which could ultimately lead to their death, is unacceptable. We need to take every effort to prevent kids from getting hooked on nicotine. To that end, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s comprehensive plan we announced last summer to regulate tobacco and nicotine first-and-foremost seeks to better protect our nation’s youth, as well as future generations, from the disease and death caused by tobacco use.
This World Kidney Day, shine a spotlight on women’s health
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- Written by January Payne January Payne
- Published: 12 March 2018 12 March 2018
Yuma, Arizona - Chronic kidney disease affects more women than men, but most people with this condition don’t know they have it. This World Kidney Day, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health, joins organizations around the world in urging women to take action to prevent kidney disease - for themselves and their loved ones.