Category: Bioethics Education

(NBC News) – The research suggests that men’s immune systems have a better mechanism for shutting off pain, which could explain why women have more chronic symptoms.

Historically, some doctors have dismissed these differences as women exaggerating their pain or being unable to tolerate the same discomfort as men. But studies have repeatedly found that women are more likely to experience chronic pain in general and that their pain lasts longer, on average.

A study published Friday in the journal Science Immunology offers a clue as to why: Men’s immune systems may have a better mechanism for shutting off pain, likely because of their higher testosterone levels. (Read More)

(Daily Mail) – A family has accused Canada’s laws of ‘killing the disabled and vulnerable’ months after their son, who suffered from seasonal depression, died by assisted suicide. 

Kiano Vafaeian, a 26-year-old blind man with Type 1 diabetes, died in December using Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program, which allows patients with ‘grievous and irremediable’ medical conditions to request a lethal drug. 

Eligibility was expanded in 2021 to include people with chronic illnesses, disabilities and, pending parliamentary review, potentially individuals with certain mental health conditions. (Read More)

(NJ.com via Yahoo!) – Blonski didn’t know the contraception she’d taken for two decades may be linked to her health problems.

She was unaware of the connection until very recently, following publicity around a March 2024 study in The British Medical Journal that found women who used Depo‑Provera for at least a year faced a fivefold increased risk of developing brain tumors.

Depo-Provera is a long-acting injectable form of birth control administered every three months, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (Read More)

(The Atlantic) – Today’s longevity-medicine movement is driven by the same aggressive desire for eternal youth as the mythic stories of old. But whereas in earlier times ideas about wellness could travel only as fast as the people who held them, today just about anyone with an internet connection can use social media and AI-generated graphics to sell medical advice in seconds. Despite a decided shortage of placebo-controlled trials in humans to support that advice, the business of longevity is booming, thanks in large part to sleek direct-to-consumer marketing delivered by health influencers with far more confidence than evidence. By 2030, $8 trillion might be spent annually on longevity-related products.

As a sports-medicine physician, I see the consequences of the modern longevity obsession up close. Patients arrive at my office convinced that the right peptides, cold plunges, or lab tests can meaningfully extend their lives. They’re almost certainly headed for disappointment—if not harm. (Read More)

(Rest of World) – There is growing demand for recreating dead and absent family members for events using AI.

Sharma is among a growing number of Indians discovering the power of AI deepfakes to resurrect dead family members, create voice clones of the departed, and add absent guests to family celebrations. AI tools such as OpenAI’s Sora, Google’s Nano Banana, and Midjourney have made it easier to create images and videos that can fool even experts. Cashing in are entrepreneurs in small towns and cities, who have learned how to use these tools from YouTube tutorials and online forums. (Read More)

(New York Times) – Last summer, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he could tell that someone was having “mitochondrial challenges” just by looking at them. The nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Casey Means, features mitochondria prominently in her book on metabolism and health. And several trendy supplements marketed for longevity, such as coenzyme Q10, urolithin A and those that boost N.A.D.+, purportedly work by enhancing mitochondrial functioning.

Scientists who study mitochondria are somewhat baffled by the newfound attention. But they’re also excited to see their favorite organelle in the spotlight. (Read More)

(Quanta Magazine) – Innovations in imaging and genetic engineering are coming together to probe the biophysics of cytoplasm inside living animals.

Over the past few years, thanks to stunning advances in imaging and genetic engineering, scientists have been able to observe and measure crowding inside cells in living organisms for the first time. The experiments have revealed a more dynamic and crowded place than anyone expected, and are the latest evidence that cells actively regulate their internal crowdedness to optimize for the chemical reactions required for life.

(Science Daily) – Scientists have created the most detailed maps yet of how genes control one another inside the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Using a powerful new AI-based system called SIGNET, the team uncovered cause-and-effect relationships between genes across six major brain cell types, revealing which genes are truly driving harmful changes. The most dramatic disruptions were found in excitatory neurons, where thousands of genetic interactions appear to be extensively rewired as the disease progresses. (Read More)

(New York Times) – Moderna held further discussions with regulators and announced that the agency would accept the company’s application for approval of its flu vaccine that uses mRNA technology.

The Food and Drug Administration reversed its decision on Moderna’s flu vaccine and has agreed to review it for possible approval.

Just last week, Moderna announced that the agency had rejected its application for review of a new flu vaccine. The F.D.A. said the company’s research design had been flawed.

But in subsequent discussions, the agency had relented and agreed to begin a review, the company said on Wednesday. (Read More)

(New York Times) – Some patients in a clinical trial of one new drug lost so much weight that they became concerned and dropped out.

Recent top-line results from a recent trial on retatrutide, a compound that Eli Lilly is developing, found that people with obesity and knee osteoarthritis lost an average of 28.7 percent of their body weight after 68 weeks on the highest dose. Currently available weight-loss drugs have helped people lose around 20 percent of their body weight over the same time period.

Between 12 and 18 percent of participants dropped out of the trial because of side effects, a higher percentage than is typical in trials of existing weight loss drugs. (Read More)