‘I Was Horrified’: Fast-Moving News About End Of Alzheimer’s Drug Trials Catches Many Participants By Surprise

The New York Times: When A Drug Study Abruptly Ends, Volunteers Are Left To Cope
On March 21, 2019, the staff at the Penn Memory Center in Philadelphia was scrambling to learn more about an early-morning announcement: Two pharmaceutical companies, Biogen and Eisai, would discontinue their clinical trial of a drug intended to slow the progression of early Alzheimer’s disease. A “futility analysis” had shown that aducanumab, being studied in more than 3,200 people worldwide, would not prove effective. It was yet another disheartening result; after decades of drug research, one medication after another — hundreds of them — had failed to prevent, arrest or cure Alzheimer’s. (Span, 3/3)

NPR: In A 1st, Scientists Use Revolutionary Gene-Editing Tool To Edit Inside A Patient
For the first time, scientists have used the gene-editing technique CRISPR to try to edit a gene while the DNA is still inside a person’s body. The groundbreaking procedure involved injecting the microscopic gene-editing tool into the eye of a patient blinded by a rare genetic disorder, in hopes of enabling the volunteer to see. They hope to know within weeks whether the approach is working and, if so, to know within two or three months how much vision will be restored. (Stein, 3/4)

The Associated Press: Doctors Try 1st CRISPR Editing In The Body For Blindness
Scientists say they have used the gene editing tool CRISPR inside someone’s body for the first time, a new frontier for efforts to operate on DNA, the chemical code of life, to treat diseases. A patient recently had it done at the Casey Eye Institute at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland for an inherited form of blindness, the companies that make the treatment announced Wednesday. They would not give details on the patient or when the surgery occurred. (3/4)

The Associated Press: Medication Fog Can Mimic Or Worsen Dementia In The Elderly
Claire Dinneen’s daughters thought that worsening dementia was causing her growing confusion, but her doctor suspected something else. Dr. Pei Chen asked them to round up medicines in the 89-year-old woman’s home and they returned with a huge haul. There were 28 drugs ordered by various doctors for various ailments, plus over-the-counter medicines. Chen spent a year sorting out which ones were truly needed and trimmed a dozen. (Marchione, 3/3)

The Associated Press: ADHD Diagnoses Increasing In Black Kids, Report Suggests
For the first time, a U.S. survey found that black children appear to be more likely than white kids to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other learning disabilities. Previous studies had found the diagnosis was far more likely in white kids. It’s not known what might have driven the change described in Wednesday’s report, said lead author Benjamin Zablotsky of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Stobbe, 3/4)

The New York Times: How Exercise May Affect Your Immunity
Does exercise help or hinder our bodies’ ability to fight off infections? In the context of the novel coronavirus outbreak, that question has gained urgency and also, thanks to recent research, emergent answers. The latest science suggests that being fit boosts our immune systems, and that even a single workout can amplify and improve our ability to fight off germs. (Reynolds, 3/4)

WBUR: ‘Whiplash’ Of LGBTQ Protections And Rights, From Obama To Trump 
At the heart of a story now playing out in schools, workplaces and courts across the U.S. is a disagreement over the legal meaning of the word “sex” — and whether discrimination against gay and transgender people for being gay or transgender is sex discrimination. The White House has a particular kind of power over this question. It has the power to interpret whether LGBTQ people are protected by sex discrimination protections in laws passed by Congress, to issue rules and policies that reflect that interpretation, and — through those actions — the power to send a message to the country. (Simmons-Duffin, 3/2)

CNN: Diet Soda By Itself May Not Cause Weight Gain, Study Says, But Combining With Carbs Can 
In the black hole of bad news for diet soda lovers, there’s a tiny glimmer of light. The gloom set in when science showed drinking diet soda could lead to metabolic syndrome, a nasty mix of higher blood pressure and blood sugars that leads to weight gain and increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke. But a new study has found that it’s when you pair the common artificial sweetener sucralose with a carbohydrate — not the sweetener alone — that the body’s metabolism changes in a way that can lead to metabolic syndrome. (LaMotte, 3/3)

ABC News: Democratic Republic Of The Congo Discharges Last Ebola Patient After 14 Days Without Confirmed Cases 
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has discharged its last Ebola patient from a treatment center — a major milestone in the country’s fight against the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history. The World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa posted video on social media showing the patient leaving an Ebola treatment center on Tuesday in the city of Beni, the epicenter of the outbreak. (Winsor, 3/3)