Medicine & Drugs, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2019

Can Touching Fentanyl Really Kill You?

In April, the TV news program 60 Minutes aired a report about fentanyl, a synthetic opioid much more potent than heroin that's been implicated in thousands of overdose deaths in the United States. During one segment, Justin Herdman, a U.S. Attorney in Cleveland, wore gloves as he showed journalist Scott...

Feb 28, 2019

Inactive Ingredients in Drugs May Be Less Inactive Than You Think

The medicines you take contain a soup of active and inactive ingredients. Active ingredients are the ones that provide a therapeutic benefit, while inactive ingredients are just that — inactive — meaning they don't react in the body and are instead there to enhance the properties of the medication itself,...

Dec 31, 2018

'Wound Botulism' Outbreak in San Diego Linked to Black Tar Heroin

Nine people in San Diego recently developed a rare but serious illness called wound botulism after using black tar heroin, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The outbreak has health officials warning doctors and the public to be aware of this condition,...

Apr 30, 2021

Influential panel recommends removing '14-day rule' on lab-grown embryos

An influential scientific panel says researchers should be allowed to grow human embryos in a lab for more than two weeks and recommends lifting the so-called 14-day rule, according to news reports. The 14-day rule refers to a strict cap placed on the length of time lab-grown embryos are allowed...

Mar 31, 2021

Rare autoimmune disorder caused a woman's nose to collapse

A rare autoimmune disorder decimated the cartilage and bone in a woman's nose, causing her nose to collapse and sink into her face. When the 34-year-old woman checked into a facial plastic surgery clinic, her nasal bride had completely collapsed, causing the tip of her nose to retract, according to...

Sep 30, 2022

Surge of 'flesh-eating' bacteria infections plagues Florida following Hurricane Ian

When Hurricane Ian slammed into Lee County, Florida, as a near-Category 5 storm last month, it left in its wake not just widespread destruction but also a surge of rare flesh-eating bacterial infections, state health data shows. Flesh-eating bacteria can cause necrotizing fasciitis — an infection that triggers aggressive inflammation...

Sep 30, 2022

Nevada boy dies of rare brain-eating amoeba infection after swimming in Lake Mead

A boy in Nevada has died of a rare brain-eating amoeba infection that he likely picked up on the Arizona side of Lake Mead, the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) reported Wednesday (Oct. 19). My condolences go out to the family of this young man, Dr. Fermin Leguen, the district's...

Aug 31, 2022

In a 1st, scientists use designer immune cells to send an autoimmune disease into remission

Five patients with hard-to-treat lupus entered remission after scientists tweaked their immune cells using a technique normally used to treat cancer. After the one-time therapy, all five patients with the autoimmune disease stopped their standard treatments and haven't had a relapse. This treatment, known as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell...

May 31, 2022

Mini-brains show how common drug freezes cell division in the womb, causing birth defects

Valproic acid — a drug commonly used to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorder — can cause birth defects and developmental disorders if taken during pregnancy, but the reason why has long been a mystery. Now, in a study using mice and human tissue, scientists discovered that the medication locks some...

Jan 31, 2023

FDA no longer requires animal testing for new drugs. Is that safe?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) no longer requires new drugs to be tested in animals before being approved. Thanks to a law passed in December 2022, the agency now has the option to approve drugs that are tested in only non-animal studies, including those that use lab-grown tissues...

Nov 30, 2022

Woman gets rare case of 'toxic squash syndrome' after drinking bitter gourd juice

Minutes after drinking a bitter juice made from a pureed gourd, a woman went into shock, a life-threatening condition where blood flow in the body plummets and organs can be injured from lack of oxygen. She told emergency room doctors that she'd consumed the same type of gourd daily for...

Dec 1, 2022

Shingles infection causes man's bladder to burst in rare case

A man who developed a shingles infection around the base of his spine suffered from an unusual complication: His bladder ruptured. According to a report of the case, published earlier this year in the journal Infection and Drug Resistance, the 77-year-old patient had been taking antiviral and pain-relieving medications for...

Dec 1, 2022

A man went to the doctor about a cough. It turns out, he had a 6-inch mass in his chest.

An otherwise healthy man developed a worrisome cough that persisted for three weeks without any other symptoms. It turns out, the cough was triggered by a nearly 7-inch-long (17.2 centimeters) mass pushing against his right lung. According to a description of the case, published Oct. 30 in the Journal of...

Dec 2, 2022

FDA approved a 1st-of-its-kind treatment made from human poop. What does it do?

For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a treatment that's made using donated human poop, the agency announced Wednesday (Nov. 30). The treatment, called Rebyota, contains gut bacteria collected from the stool of healthy human donors and is approved for the prevention of a potentially...

Dec 6, 2022

Woman who spontaneously vomited up to 30 times a day likely had rogue antibodies

A young woman experienced spontaneous vomiting attacks during which she would sometimes retch more than 30 times a day and heave up to 1.6 gallons (6 liters) over the full course of an episode. It turns out, the symptoms likely stem from an underlying autoimmune disorder. According to a report...