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Hello from Brooklyn, where the smoke from the wildfires is thick enough to bite. Everyone please stay safe.
New idea to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy divides experts
Viral vectors, go for a hike. A small California startup jumped into the rare disease space last year, claiming it could treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy using a new method: ultrasound.
Using ultrasound to guide genes to specific tissues is an old idea, and although researchers have considered using it to deliver chemotherapy to tumors, it is generally not considered powerful enough to conduct this type of research. Sonothera claims to have solved this challenge.
The company claims that its ultrasound technology can deliver incredible amounts of full-sized dystrophin into the muscles of monkeys. Monkey calves had a 290% increase in human dystrophin, which was almost four times the amount of human dystrophin found in healthy humans.
Are these findings in monkey calves reliable? Could this be an important step towards treating this deadly muscle-wasting disease? As always, it depends. STAT’s Jason Mast has the information, including reactions from skeptical researchers.
Hormones are for me, not for you
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that U.S. service members will be tested for testosterone deficiency during their annual physicals once they turn 30.
The policy is the latest example of the Trump administration’s embrace of testosterone replacement therapy for men, seeking to boost testosterone more broadly as a sign of masculinity and health. Testosterone replacement therapy has been booming in recent years as health influencers and online clinics tout its benefits as a miracle drug far beyond current evidence. STAT’s Annalisa Merelli spoke with medical experts to get their reactions to this government-approved testosterone replacement therapy.
Notably, Hegseth did not mention transgender people, many of whom take the same hormones. Last summer, the Trump administration used nearly every bureaucratic tool available to ban transgender people from serving in the military and restrict transgender people’s access to sometimes life-saving hormones. It’s worth asking because testosterone is testosterone and testosterone is testosterone. Why is a prescription for the same drug disqualifying for some people, while for others it is essential for “maximum psychological and spiritual preparedness”?
Brain implant restores sense of touch and movement to quadriplegic man
In 2020, Keith Thomas suffered a dangerous diving accident at a pool in Montauk, New York, which left him unable to feel or move from the neck down. On Tuesday, I spent an hour with him on Zoom and he excitedly talked with his hands about his Maltipoo, Bow.
What has changed?
Thomas participated in an experimental study that used brain-computer interfaces and spinal cord stimulators to try to restore movement and sensation in people’s hands and arms. It worked, and two years after the study ended, Thomas retained many of the results seen in his lab, as the Nature Medicine report detailed Thursday.
Could Thomas’ work serve as a blueprint for the approximately 300,000 people in the United States with spinal cord injuries? Read more of my story.
Sky condition
J. Emory Parker/STAT
Every time I see a photo of a city choked with wildfire smoke, or walk outside my Brooklyn apartment and encounter sweltering heat and campfires hanging in the air, I have the same depressing thoughts. “This is going to be the coldest summer of the rest of my life.”
Wildfire smoke has blanketed the Midwest and eastern United States in recent days. Several STATians sent in photos of hazy skies from their respective bureaus. The photo above comes from STAT’s Emory Parker, a Minneapolis resident whose air quality reached extremely dangerous levels Thursday. For those of you who don’t know how poor air quality can harm your health, this amazing Isabella Cueto story still rings true three years later.
Don’t go outside if you don’t have to. In that case, please wear a mask.
Q&A: How to counsel LGBTQ youth as the 988 hotline returns
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifelines are in trouble.
Services specifically for LGBTQ+ youth are expected to return by the end of the year, but officials must face the new reality that they are complying with the Trump administration’s executive order denying the existence of transgender and non-binary identities in an effort to make the gender binary official US policy. Advocates and experts fear that if specialist services are changed to exclude transgender young people in any way, the situation will be worse than doing nothing.
To learn how hotline operators navigate these unique challenges, STAT’s Teresa Gaffney spoke with Alex Boyd, director of crisis intervention at The Trevor Project. read more.
Senate Republicans block bill to end preclearance testing for AI in Medicare
Medicare’s pilot of using artificial intelligence to approve or deny care will continue after Thursday’s Senate vote failed along party lines.
The Democratic-led measure would have allowed the Trump administration to block the original Medicare, which rarely allows prior authorization. This model, known as WISeR, is opposed by many senior citizen groups, including the American Medical Association and AARP.
By law, prior authorization is only allowed in Original Medicare for some outpatient services, certain medical devices for home use, and non-emergency ambulance services. But things could change if Republicans get their way. Read more from STAT’s John Wilkerson.
