Tide Turns on Withholding Blood Pressure Meds for Pregnant Women
WASHINGTON — Consensus is growing that clinicians can be confident treating mild hypertension in otherwise healthy pregnant women without hurting their babies, based on the CHAP study. In this large randomized trial, treating high blood pressure (BP) to a target of <140/90 mm Hg resulted in better outcomes than did usual care, as evidenced by […]
COVID in Your Junk? The Idea Isn’t Bunk, Study Suggests
No one knows for sure why COVID-19 is linked to male sexual woes, but growing evidence, including a new study in monkeys, has suggested that the SARS-CoV-2 virus directly infects the male reproductive system — just like other viruses such as mumps and Zika. Thomas J. Hope, PhD, a cell biologist at Northwestern University in […]
Researchers create personalized organoid models for rare spinal cancer: Chordoma currently has few therapeutic options
A new study adds to a growing body of evidence that organoids — lab-grown collections of cells that mimic a patient’s tumor — are a promising avenue for drug discovery to improve outcomes in patients with cancer, particularly rare cancers for which clinical data on drug effectiveness is often lacking. Organoids are grown in a […]
Microplastic pollution aids antibiotic resistance: Engineers at Rice lead study of how polystyrene contributes to crisis
The Styrofoam container that holds your takeout cheeseburger may contribute to the population’s growing resistance to antibiotics. According to scientists at Rice University’s George R. Brown School of Engineering, discarded polystyrene broken down into microplastics provides a cozy home not only for microbes and chemical contaminants but also for the free-floating genetic materials that deliver […]