Health & Safety

A pregnant woman stands for a portrait in Dallas on May 18. U.S. health officials have approved the first pill specifically intended to treat severe depression after childbirth, a condition that affects thousands of new mothers in the U.S. each year.

Health & Safety

The FDA approves the first pill specifically intended to treat postpartum depression

8:50am August 05, 2023

by The Associated Press

The Food and Drug Administration granted approval of the drug, Zurzuvae, for adults experiencing severe depression related to childbirth or pregnancy. The pill is taken once a day for 14 days.

The Center for Reproductive Rights brought the lawsuit on behalf of 13 women and two doctors. The women had pregnancy complications that endangered their lives or had fetuses with fatal anomalies.

Texas abortion bans lifted temporarily for medical emergencies, judge rules

9:12pm August 04, 2023

by Sarah McCammon

A Texas judge is temporarily blocking the state's abortion bans from being enforced against doctors who perform abortions in cases of medical emergencies and fetal anomalies.

Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo was a clear and down-to-earth explainer of what was happening during the pandemic, often on CNN and other networks. She's pictured here at a COVID press conference in April 2020.

Health & Safety

Filling Fauci's shoes: Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo is HIV expert and a lot of fun at parties

1:24pm August 04, 2023

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will lead NIH's infectious diseases institute. Colleagues say she has a wide breadth of knowledge and a joyful demeanor.

The remains of Catoctin Furnace in Maryland as seen in 2020. Researchers have now analyzed the DNA of enslaved and free Black workers there, connecting them to nearly 42,000 living relatives.

A landmark study opens a new possible way for Black Americans to trace their ancestry

11:28am August 04, 2023

by Scott Maucione

Researchers have compared the DNA of 27 Black people who lived at the Catoctin furnace between 1774 and 1850, finding a link between these enslaved Americans and nearly 42,000 living relatives.

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Health & Safety

It's still summer, but doctors are already thinking about upcoming RSV season

8:18am August 04, 2023

by Pien Huang

A CDC advisory committee discusses how to implement a new RSV shot for babies in advance of this fall's expected spike in cases.

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Shaimaa Ali Ahmed, 12, lost her leg at age 6 after happening upon an unexploded rocket. Yemeni children like her bear an outsized burden from the civil war, where land mines and ordnance litter the landscape.

At Yemeni prosthetics clinic, the patients keep coming even though the war has slowed

7:15am August 04, 2023

The civil war in Yemen seems to be cooling off, but its deadly legacy of land mines will be felt for decades. At a prosthetics clinic near the the front line, children bear a disproportionate burden.

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Health & Safety

Spending time with a dog can be good for your health

5:01am August 04, 2023

by Maria Godoy

As part of our series Weekly Dose of Wonder, here's how even brief interactions with dogs can be good for your health. (Story aired on All Things Considered on Aug. 2, 2023.)

Health & Safety

When temps rise, so do medical risks. Should doctors and nurses talk more about heat?

5:00am August 04, 2023

by Martha Bebinger

The medical dangers of heat are real. But people often ignore public heat alerts, or don't know how vulnerable they are. A new alert system prompts clinicians to talk about heat with patients.

Ambassador-at-Large John Nkengasong, who will lead the State Department's Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy, speaks to the press about the new agency. He told NPR that the pandemic "taught us three key lessons. We are collectively more connected than we thought. We are more vulnerable than we thought. And we have [vast] inequities" when it comes to disease threats.

A new U.S. agency is a response to the fact that nobody was ready for the pandemic

7:31pm August 03, 2023

by Sacha Pfeiffer

The Bureau of Global Health, Security and Diplomacy, housed in the State Department, will plan for the next pandemic. We interviewed its director, virologist and global health leader John Nkengasong.

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Jeanne Marrazzo selected to succeed Fauci at the NIH

7:12pm August 03, 2023

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Dr. Anthony Fauci's replacement at NIH's infectious disease and immunology institute is an HIV prevention expert from the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo.

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