Medical Notes: How Our Genetics Can Predict Our Future, Climate Change Is Worsening Seasonal Allergies, And Why Research Excludes Pregnant Women

Why more pregnant women need to be in clinical trials.

While they’re regularly excluded from testing for safety reasons, researchers argue that it’s harder to know which drugs are safe and effective for them even after fda approval. A new study in the American Journal Of Obstetrics And Gynecology estimates that 75% of drug trials from the past 15 years excluded these women. Though adding pregnant women into clinical trials seems risky, scientists claim we’re doing more harm by not including this population. (Brown University)

Scientists are helping us see the future.

Glaucoma affects millions of Americans – slowly degrading vision until there’s complete blindness. Thankfully, a new treatment could interrupt this process and save people’s vision before it’s too late. Researchers have discovered two antibodies that can break down the mutated protein that causes glaucoma. This work could save the eyesight of millions, and improve research for other diseases like Alzheimer’s. The research is published in the Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences – Nexus. (Georgia Tech)

Does our DNA know our future?

Sociologist Dalton Conley reveals how genes shape our lives in his new book, The Social Genome. While we all know genetics determine our eye color and height, Conley argues they can also predict more details like our level of education and the income we’ll make. (University of Chicago)

Have your seasonal allergies gotten worse?

Climate change could be to blame. Scientists say that higher temperatures will produce longer, more intense allergy seasons. The current estimate is an additional 19 days of high pollen counts. The research, published in Nature Communications, uses a pollen emissions model to offer the public climate-sensitive forecasts for allergy season. (University of Michigan)

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