Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia may have found a way to turn off the immune system response that causes allergic reactions. Allergies occur when the body’s immune system overreacts to substances called allergens that are usually harmless. Discovering a safe, effective way to eliminate that abnormal reaction could significantly reduce allergy and asthma incidence.

In the recent animal study, researchers used gene therapy to wipe away the T-cell memory and desensitize the immune system to the allergen. More research is needed, but if these study results are replicated using human cells, it may be possible to develop a gene therapy that eliminates allergies with just one injection.

Sourced from: News Medical

Members of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health (MSCCH) have called President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris accord on climate change a “dangerous step backwards” and a "rejection of science-based decision-making.” According to the MSCCH, climate change caused by greenhouse emissions could have dangerous consequences for human health, resulting in extreme storms and heat waves, poor air quality, coastal flooding, and increased transmission of vector-borne diseases.

In a news release, MSCCH Director Mona Sarfaty, MD, MPH, stated, “Climate change is the greatest public health challenge of our time.”

The MSCCH includes the following organizations, among others: the American College of Physicians; the American Academy of Family Physicians; the American Academy of Pediatrics; the National Medical Association; the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology; and the American College of Preventive Medicine. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price, MD dispute the science behind the Paris agreement and support the President’s decision.

Sourced from: Medscape

The New York State Assembly is considering a bill to add dysmenorrhea—painful menstrual cramps—to the list of legal uses for medical marijuana. Medical marijuana can be prescribed by New York doctors only to patients with certain conditions, including cancer, HIV, and multiple sclerosis (MS).

Marijuana can effectively reduce neuropathic, or nerve, pain, but its effect on menstrual pain is not well documented or supported by research, though researchers do know that the female reproductive tract has an abundance of the type of receptor cells that cannabinoids—chemicals in marijuana—bind to. The anti-anxiety effects of marijuana also may help women with painful periods.

Sourced from: Live Science