Preliminary Data Shows CRISPR Benefits Patients With Devastating Sickle Cell Disease, Other Blood Disorders

NPR: CRISPR For Sickle Cell Disease Shows Promise In Early Test
Doctors are reporting the first evidence that genetically edited cells could offer a safe way to treat sickle cell disease, a devastating, incurable disorder that afflicts millions of people around the world. Billions of cells that were genetically modified with the powerful gene-editing technique called CRISPR have started working, as doctors had hoped, inside the body of the first sickle cell patient to receive the experimental treatment, according to highly anticipated data released Tuesday. (Stein, 11/19)

Stat: First CRISPR Treatment For Blood Diseases Shows Early Benefits 
The first two patients to receive a CRISPR-based treatment for the inherited blood disorders sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia have benefited from the experimental therapy and experienced only temporary and treatable side effects, the companies developing the treatment announced on Tuesday. The two patients, enrolled in a pair of ongoing clinical trials, have been free from blood transfusions and disease symptoms for a relatively short time, but the encouraging data offer hope that genome editing might one day offer a safe, durable cure for both blood diseases. (Begley and Feuerstein, 11/19)

The Associated Press: Hospital Psychiatric Wards Now Feel Like Prisons, Some Say
Hospitals have been overhauling facilities and procedures in psychiatric wards nationwide in response to new guidelines for suicide prevention. Some mental health advocates and officials say the changes have come at the expense of patient privacy and dignity, making mental health units feel more like correctional institutions. (11/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Donors Pledge $2.6 Billion For Polio Eradication
Donors around the world are injecting another $2.6 billion into eradicating polio, a goal that remains elusive despite years of pursuit. The new money, from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary International, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and others, is to help the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a group of public and private organizations, strengthen its activities as it confronts numerous challenges from antivaccine sentiment to outbreaks of a virus from a former polio vaccine. (McKay, 11/19)

Reveal: Pushed Out
Black girls are being pushed out of school and into jails at alarming rates. But this issue often is overlooked because youth incarceration reform focuses so much on boys. Reporter Ko Bragg explains how the cycle begins and what researchers hope will break it. (Bragg, 11/19)

CNN: Anal Cancer Rates And Deaths Are Climbing In The US
Anal cancer cases and deaths are rising dramatically in the United States, especially among older people and young black men, a new study says. Researchers examined trends in anal cancer cases over about 15 years, and identified about 69,000 cases of anal cancer and more than 12,000 deaths during this time. "Our findings of the dramatic rise in incidence among black millennials and white women, rising rates of distant-stage disease, and increases in anal cancer mortality rates are very concerning," the study's lead author, Ashish A. Deshmukh, an assistant professor at UTHealth School of Public Health, said in a statement. "Given the historical perception that anal cancer is rare, it is often neglected." (Rogers, 11/19)

The New York Times: The Brain Benefits Of Reading And Writing
People who never learned to read and write may be at increased risk for dementia. Researchers studied 983 adults 65 and older with four or fewer years of schooling. Ninety percent were immigrants from the Dominican Republic, where there were limited opportunities for schooling. Many had learned to read outside of school, but 237 could not read or write. (Bakalar, 11/19)

The New York Times: How The Brain Can Rewire Itself After Half Of It Is Removed
Shortly after the birth of her first son, Monika Jones learned that he had a rare neurological condition that made one side of his brain abnormally large. Her son, Henry, endured hundreds of seizures a day. Despite receiving high doses of medication, his little body seemed like a rag doll as one episode blended into another. He required several surgeries, starting when he was 3 1/2 months old, eventually leading to a complete anatomical hemispherectomy, or the removal of half of his brain, when he turned 3. (Sheikh, 11/19)

The New York Times: A High-Tech System To Make Homes More Healthy
Delos is what’s known as a “wellness real estate” brand. Founded in New York in 2012, it aims to make homes healthier places to live by installing a system that monitors and controls a property’s air and water quality and lighting. Delos introduced the technology, called Darwin Home Wellness Intelligence (Darwin), in Australia last fall. (Vora, 11/20)

Georgia Health News: App For People In Recovery Is Inspired By Grief And Hope
Earlier this year, Madison was accepted into the It Takes a Village Initiative Pre-Accelerator Program through the Atlanta Tech Village, which is a diversity and Inclusion program for women and people of color. It’s a 16-week program in which students receive mentorship and leadership development as they work to develop tech products. (Perry, 11/19)

The Washington Post: Ramping Up Exercise Tied To Lowered Heart Disease Risk In Older Adults, Study Says
Sedentary older adults can help lower their risk of heart disease if they start exercising, a new study confirms. Researchers examined data on more than 1.1 million people 60 and older without any history of heart disease who had two health screenings between 2009 and 2012. Most were physically inactive at the first screening, and almost 4 in 5 of these people remained sedentary throughout the study period. (Rapaport, 11/19)