An experimental therapy that uses the body’s own immune system cells may beat a standard treatment for patients with advanced melanoma, a new clinical trial finds. Researchers found that the therapy doubled the amount of time melanoma patients lived without their skin cancer progressing, versus a long-used drug called ipilimumab (Yervoy). The approach, called tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, harnesses the natural tumor-fighting ability of patients’ own immune system T cells. Experts stressed that TIL is still experimental, and for now, patients can only receive it if they enroll in a clinical trial. “It’s very promising, but it’s still investigational,” said Dr. Nikhil Khushalani, who specializes in treating melanoma at Moffitt Cancer Center, in Tampa, Fla. That said, the new findings show that for patients who are good candidates for TIL, it beats ipilimumab, according to Khushalani, who was not involved in the trial. “I’d definitely utilize TIL over ipilimumab in the appropriate patients,” he said. However, the TIL process is no easy feat. And Khushalani said he foresees it being offered only at certain medical centers with the necessary expertise and resources — akin to organ transplantation. The study was published in the Dec. 8 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Melanoma is the least common but deadliest form of skin cancer. Historically, the prognosis has been dismal for people with metastatic melanoma…  read on >  read on >

Some Americans appear to be moving from areas with frequent hurricanes and heat waves to places threatened by wildfire and rising heat. They’re trading in the risk of one set of natural disasters for another because the wildfires are only beginning to become a national issue, according to researchers. “These findings are concerning, because people are moving into harm’s way — into regions with wildfires and rising temperatures, which are expected to become more extreme due to climate change,” lead author Mahalia Clark said in a news release from the University of Vermont. She’s a researcher at the university’s Gund Institute for Environment and Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. The researchers studied the issue by combining U.S. Census data with that on natural disasters, weather, temperature, land cover, demographics and socioeconomic factors. Between 2010 and 2020, the top U.S. migration destinations included cities in the Pacific Northwest; Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Utah in the Southwest; Texas; Florida, and a large area of the Southeast from Nashville to Atlanta to Washington, D.C. They moved away from the Midwest, the Great Plains and areas along the Mississippi River, including many counties hit hardest by hurricanes or frequent heat waves, the researchers said. “These findings suggest that for many Americans, the risks and dangers of living in hurricane zones may be starting to outweigh the benefits…  read on >  read on >

Many Americans believe that suicide rates spike every time the holiday season comes around. There’s just one catch: It’s not true. Yet, a new analysis reveals that 56% of stories published last year in U.S. newspapers that touched on a potential connection between the holidays and suicide perpetuated the falsehood. Only 44% debunked the notion. When it comes to suicide rates, “we have consistently found that the winter months of November, December and January are the lowest, or close to lowest, every year, and there is no evidence of a surge in suicides during the end-of-year holidays,” said Dan Romer, research director for the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Romer and his Annenberg colleagues have conducted an analysis of suicide rates and media coverage of suicide during the holidays for more than two decades. The team used data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine what the suicide trends truly are. At the same time, each year the researchers review how coverage in American newspapers is framing the issue. Are media outfits perpetuating confusion, or are they bursting the misinformation balloon? The researchers found that there was an overall rise in suicides in 2021, amounting to 14 out of every 100,000 Americans. That’s a rise compared with both 2019 and 2020, but lower than the 14.2…  read on >  read on >

Researchers have discovered a link between access to welfare payments and foster care. As many as 29,000 fewer children may have entered the foster care system during the 12-year study if U.S. states had made it easier for poor families to receive cash through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. “The relatively small amount of income provided through TANF may be enough to help prevent some child maltreatment and result in fewer kids being placed into foster care,” said study co-author Michelle Johnson-Motoyama, a professor of social work at Ohio State University. “That’s about 29,000 children who might have a different life trajectory if their family had more resources,” she said in a university news release. “I think we have a pretty strong case for why we should invest in families and support them to do their best at parenting.” The TANF program was established in 1996 as a block grant program that gives states up to $16.5 billion a year to provide assistance for needy U.S. families. Benefits vary widely. One example: Monthly cash payments for a family of three were $170 in Mississippi and $923 in Alaska in 2016. “States have a lot of discretion in how they use the block grants for TANF and that allowed us to see how differences between states — and changes in states over…  read on >  read on >

A facial scar may make a person self-conscious, but it doesn’t change another person’s first impressions of their attractiveness or confidence, a new survey shows. The results found that a single, well-healed facial scar may even increase perceived friendliness, according to the researchers, who had predicted different results and said the findings might be “surprising and perhaps welcome news” to those who have facial scars. For the online survey, Dr. Jesse Taylor, of University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues digitally altered facial photographs by adding 14 unique scars in various locations on the faces. About 1,800 online respondents made 89,000 ratings of 50 different faces, assessing confidence, friendliness and attractiveness. The findings were published in the December issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. “The presence of a facial scar did not have a significant impact on attractiveness,” Taylor and his co-authors reported. The average ratings for attractiveness were made on a 0-to-5 scale. Results were 4.25 for faces that had scars and 4.26 for those without scars. Ratings of confidence were not significantly different, while faces with scars got higher friendliness ratings. The researchers broke this down further by looking for possible interactions between key factors considered by plastic surgeons in evaluating facial scars. “We predicted that scars closer to highly viewed structures of the face (i.e., upper lip and lower lid), scars aligned…  read on >  read on >

Pregnant and postpartum women are dying of drug overdoses in record numbers, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made things worse, a new study shows. Deaths increased about 81% over the past four years, hitting a record high in 2020, according to researchers from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. “We’ve seen significant increases in fatal and nonfatal overdose in the general population during the pandemic,” said first study author Emilie Bruzelius, a doctoral student at Columbia. “It now appears that pregnant and postpartum women are being affected as well.” The researchers used national death certificate data, which lists whether someone was pregnant or recently pregnant, for the years 2017 to 2020. The investigation included calculating annual overdose death rates and examined the specific drug types involved in each overdose, then comparing those to overdose death rates in non-pregnant women of reproductive age. They found a total of more than 7,600 pregnancy-associated deaths. More than 1,200 of these were due to drug overdose. Overdose deaths spiked to a record high of just over 11.9 per 100,000 in 2020. This compares to a 38% increase among all reproductive-age women. Researchers found large increases in deaths involving fentanyl, methamphetamines and cocaine. Deaths from benzodiazepines, heroin and prescription opioids remained stable. “Pregnant and postpartum people are known to face barriers to accessing drug…  read on >  read on >

Depression may be a disorder of the brain, but new research adds to evidence that it also involves the gut. While depression is complex, recent research has been pointing to a role for bacteria that dwell in the gut — suggesting that certain bacterial strains might feed depression symptoms, while others might be protective. In a pair of new studies, researchers identified 13 groups of bacteria that were related to the odds of adults having depression symptoms. In some cases, the gut bacteria were depleted in people with depression, while in others they were present at relatively high levels. However, experts stressed that the findings do not prove that any of the gut bugs cause or protect against depression. So, it’s far too soon to recommend probiotics as a depression treatment. In fact, gut bacteria seem to change in their diversity and abundance when any chronic disease is present, said Dr. Emeran Mayer, director of the Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress at the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine. Mayer, who was not involved in the research, is also the author of the book “The Mind-Gut Connection.” He said the findings may reflect a “general disease effect,” rather than gut bacteria patterns that are specific to depression. The research, published Dec. 6 in the journal Nature Communications, is the latest…  read on >  read on >

Finally, more than two years into the pandemic, Americans are sleeping better. A new survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) found that 31% of people have had insomnia since the pandemic began. That was much lower — a 25% decrease — compared to the 2021 survey that found 56% of people were experiencing pandemic-linked insomnia. “The stress and uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic led to an increase in disruptions in our sleep quality and quantity,” Jennifer Martin, a licensed clinical psychologist and president of the AASM, said in an academy news release. “While some people continue to experience subpar sleep, the good news is that the population is feeling the impact of ‘COVID-somnia’ less now than last year. For those still experiencing ongoing sleep problems, it may be time to speak with your doctor to determine the best course of action for improving your essential nightly sleep,” Martin suggested. Among those surveyed who were still having sleep disturbances, 61% were having trouble falling asleep. About 47% were experiencing worse quality sleep, 39% were sleeping less and 33% were having more disturbing dreams. The academy recommends that those having sleep problems try some “sleep hygiene” techniques: First, maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Get at least seven hours of sleep each night. Go to bed and wake up about the same time each day,…  read on >  read on >