Latest news with #NYUGrossmanSchoolofMedicine
Time of India
2 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Measles virus can stay in the air for up to 2 hours: Here's how to stay safe
The measles virus doesn't need direct contact to infect you—it can hang in the air for up to two hours after an infected person has coughed or sneezed. As summer travel ramps up, this highly contagious respiratory disease is riding the wings of global movement, making stops in airports, concerts, and tourist hotspots. According to a new advisory issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 'Travelers can catch measles in many travel settings, including travel hubs like airports and train stations, on public transportation like airplanes and trains, at tourist attractions, and at large, crowded events.' As of May 30, the U.S. has recorded 1,088 confirmed cases of measles across 32 states—its worst outbreak since 2020. The CDC also reported that 62 of those cases involved individuals traveling by air. How measles spreads—and why it's so dangerous Measles spreads through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. But unlike many other viruses, it remains viable in the air and on surfaces for hours after exposure. Measles, a highly contagious viral disease, spreads through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes, releasing tiny droplets containing the virus. These droplets can infect others who breathe them in or by touching surfaces contaminated with the droplets and then touching their mouth, nose, or eyes. The CDC notes that people are contagious up to four days before and after the rash associated with measles appears. Early symptoms mimic the common cold: high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes. The best protection: Get vaccinated The CDC recommends the MMR vaccine—measles, mumps, and rubella—for everyone, especially those planning to travel internationally. Infants between 6 to 11 months should get one dose at least two weeks before departure. Children should then receive two more doses: one between 12 and 15 months, and the second between ages 4 and 6. 'Children 12 months old and older, teenagers, and adults who are unsure of their immunity against measles should receive two doses of MMR vaccine at least 28 days apart before international travel,' the CDC emphasized in its advisory. Adults who were vaccinated between 1963 and 1967 may have received a less effective version of the vaccine. 'If you fall into that age range and you are not sure what version of the vaccine you got,' said Adam Ratner, director of pediatric infectious diseases at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 'the CDC recommends another dose.' For those born before 1957, the assumption is that natural infection during childhood has conferred immunity. Air Travel: What's the real risk? Despite the airborne nature of measles, the actual risk on airplanes is lower than you might think. Experts explain that the act of traveling is not inherently risky, as airplanes have filters; however, this filter system is often turned off during boarding and deplaning. Most cases tied to travel don't occur mid-flight, but rather at destinations with active outbreaks. What about terminals and public spaces? Measles transmission isn't limited to the air or your airplane seat. According to a 2014 CDC report, four unvaccinated people contracted measles after brief exposures inside a U.S. airport terminal—not even in the international section. While the advisory should be taken with utmost seriousness, there is no need for panic. Exposed and unvaccinated? Here's what you can do If you're unvaccinated and believe you've been exposed to measles, timing is critical. The CDC advises getting the MMR vaccine within 72 hours of exposure to reduce symptom severity or prevent illness entirely. If vaccination isn't an option, a dose of immunoglobulin within six days may help. For travelers who can't receive the vaccine due to pregnancy, immune compromise, or recent vaccinations, the CDC suggests speaking with a clinician—and possibly postponing your trip. Measles cases have been confirmed this year in 32 states, including California, Florida, Texas, and New York. Globally, outbreaks in Mexico and Canada have contributed to the CDC's push for pre-travel vaccination to any international destination. One step to a healthier you—join Times Health+ Yoga and feel the change
Politico
23-05-2025
- Health
- Politico
A Pregnant Woman Is Being Kept on Life Support
Good morning! Thanks for reading Women Rule. Hit our lines: ecordover@ and klong@ This week, we dive into a very difficult and sensitive story out of Georgia. A Georgia woman has been kept on life support for more than 90 days — a decision her family says was made without their consent — because she was nine weeks pregnant at the time doctors declared her brain dead. Adriana Smith's family says Emory University Hospital in Atlanta insists the state's fetal heartbeat law, part of the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act, legally requires them to keep her on life support until her fetus can be delivered. (The law bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which usually happens after six weeks during pregnancy.) In interviews, Smith's family has lambasted the hospital for leaving them out of the medical decision-making, called the situation a 'nightmare no one should have to endure.' They say they're also worried about the health of the fetus, who they say is experiencing health complications already. According to medical ethicists, Smith's case is unprecedented — and medically risky. It's highly unusual for a pregnant person to be kept on life support. And in those rare instances where it does happen, it's usually when the pregnancy is assumed to be viable — past the 20 week mark, according to Dr. Arthur Caplan, founding head of the division of medical ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Smith's story has provoked controversy around the ethics of strict abortion laws. Abortion rights activists argue her case exemplifies some of the consequences of criminalizing reproductive care. In February, Smith, a 30-year-old registered nurse at Emory University Hospital, sought treatment at Northside Hospital for debilitating headaches. She was sent home with medication and without any testing, according to her mother, April Newkirk, who told the story to WXIA TV of Atlanta. The next morning, after her boyfriend found her gasping for air, she was rushed to one of the hospitals in the Emory University Hospital system. Shortly after she was admitted, doctors pronounced Smith, the mother of a 7-year-old boy, brain dead. In a statement to NBC News, Emory University Hospital defended its decision to keep Smith on life support. 'Emory Healthcare uses consensus from clinical experts, medical literature, and legal guidance to support our providers as they make individualized treatment recommendations in compliance with Georgia's abortion laws and all other applicable laws,' the statement said. Women Rule reached out to Smith's family for comment, but they did not respond in time for publication. In the political arena, Smith's story is sparking fierce debate along partisan lines. Democratic lawmakers are condemning the decision to keep Smith on life support. Republicans are praising the hospital's life-saving efforts. 'These decisions need to be made by family and medical professionals, not politicians,' Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) wrote on X. 'That any law in Georgia could be interpreted to require a brain-dead woman's body to be artificially maintained as a fetal incubator is not only medically unsound — it is inhumane,' Democratic state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes said. State Sen. Ed Setzler, a Republican who sponsored the LIFE Act, said in a statement: 'I'm thankful that the hospital recognizes the full value of the small human life living inside of this regrettably dying young mother.' Brain death is considered legal death in all 50 states, thanks to the Uniform Determination of Death Act, which has served as a model statute for more than 40 years. Caplan tells Women Rule that Smith's case defies medical ethics on several accounts, including a patient's right to refuse care and a family's right to refuse participation in a medical experiment. 'You don't have any right to force experimentation on somebody,' Caplan says. 'We don't understand whether the life support that we're using is sufficient to keep the baby adequately nourished, adequately temperature controlled, in an adequate environment to develop, at least without severe disability or just dying at birth.' Michelle Oberman, lawyer and legal scholar at the Santa Clara University School of Law focusing on the intersection of sex, pregnancy, motherhood and criminal law, says Smith's situation raises questions about the financial responsibilities for Smith's family. The costs for keeping Smith on life support — and caring for her fetus if it survives delivery could cost upwards of $800,000. The financial costs 'look to be devastating, and they look to be borne by a family that didn't want this at all. This is unwanted treatment. It's a battery for a dead person,' she tells Women Rule. Health insurance does not generally cover care after death if the patient is declared to be in a vegetative state with no potential for recovery. 'Dead bodies are not a property of the state to be used to maximize life,' Oberman says. Islam Parkes sent a letter to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr on May 16 demanding clarity on whether the LIFE Act requires continued life support in these situations. 'There is nothing in the LIFE Act that requires medical professionals to keep a woman on life support after brain death,' Carr's office responded in a statement. 'Removing life support is not an action 'with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy.'' Democratic Georgia lawmakers are pushing to repeal the abortion law. In the meantime, public hearings, debates and court challenges are likely. POLITICO Special Report Ex-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Enters Georgia Governor Race in Test for Dems by Brakkton Booker for POLITICO: 'Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is launching her campaign to be governor of Georgia in a race that may provide an early sign of whether Democrats have momentum in a pivotal swing state. Bottoms, who served in the Biden administration after she surprised voters by forgoing a second term as mayor, says in a campaign video to be released Tuesday that the reelection of President Donald Trump is a driving force in her campaign.' California Senator Produces Drug Panel Taken Day After DUI Citation by Nicole Norman for POLITICO: 'State Sen. Sabrina Cervantes on Wednesday released the negative results of a urine test done the day after she was cited for driving under the influence came back clean, offering them up as proof that she had been wrongly accused. 'The accusation that I was driving under the influence is utterly false,' Cervantes said in a statement to POLITICO. 'I take this matter seriously and in the interest of transparency, I am releasing my hospital exam report and hospital lab results.'' Mace, Alleging Assault, Shares Nude Photo of Herself During House Hearing She Says Was Taken Without Her Consent by Amanda Friedman for POLITICO: 'Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) shared a photo of what she described as a 'naked silhouette' of herself that she said was taken without her consent while renewing allegations of sexual abuse against multiple men, including her ex-fiance, during a House subcommittee hearing Tuesday. The four men Mace has accused of crimes have repeatedly denied wrongdoing. The South Carolina Republican framed her testimony as part of a broader effort to advocate for stronger legal protections for victims of nonconsensual recording and sexual misconduct.' Number of the Week Read more here. MUST READS Chicago Police Dismissed a Recruit's Claims That a Colleague Sexually Assaulted Her. Then He Was Accused Again and Again by María Inés Zamudio and Dana Brozost-Kelleher, Invisible Institute for ProPublica: 'Alexus Byrd-Maxey had just finished her second month at the Chicago police academy, well on her way to fulfilling her childhood dream. The South Side native wanted to become a detective so she could bring closure to families who have lost loved ones to homicides by arresting those responsible. Byrd-Maxey, then 26, was proud of herself for making it this far: completing college classes, applying to the academy multiple times, passing a background check and physical tests. She was delighted to be part of the academy despite the sacrifices it required, including leaving her toddler son most mornings at 5 a.m. and having her mom spend thousands to buy her new uniforms and equipment.' The Palm Springs Fertility Clinic Bombing Cut Off Critical Power to Incubating Embryos. A Firefighter's Risky Plan Averted Tragedy by Elizabeth Wolfe and Norma Galeana for CNN: 'Through a fortuitous turn of events, the usually bustling American Reproductive Center was completely empty when a car exploded outside the clinic Saturday, blowing a gaping hole in the side of the building and severing the power supply of the lab where thousands of embryos and other specimens are stored. For miles around the blast zone, Coachella Valley families held the babies and toddlers conceived at ARC. Alongside hopeful would-be parents, they worried for the immediate fate of their remaining embryos in the clinic, and for the long-term safety of the reproductive center, which authorities believe was targeted in an act of domestic terrorism.' The Real Story Isn't Young Men Supposedly Voting Far Right. It's What Young Women Are Up To by Cas Mudde for The Guardian: ''The boys are alt-right.' This seems to be the new consensus on far-right politics propagated in numerous articles and podcasts. But the media's obsessive focus on the young men allegedly fueling the rise of the far right isn't just empirically flawed — it misses a much more significant shift in public opinion among young people. While many surveys show a large gender gap in support of far-right parties and policies, it is young women who stand out as the more politically interesting demographic, as they are turning in ever greater numbers towards the left.' Quote of the Week Read more here. on the move New Heights Communications has hired Manisha Sunil as a director. Sunil brings experience from her previous role as Director of Communications at Groundwork Collaborative, and is an alum of West End Strategy Team. Jessica Lovejoy is now chief of staff at GovAct. She most recently was senior vice president of campaigns at 50+1 Strategies. (h/t POLITICO Influence) Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions has added Whitney Folluo as director of media relations, Alyssa Jones as a communications manager and Shannon O'Hare as a government relations and policy manager. Folluo was most recently at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Jones was most recently with the Western Caucus Foundation and O'Hare was most recently at the Wilson Center. (h/t POLITICO Influence)
Malaysian Reserve
22-05-2025
- Health
- Malaysian Reserve
Newfound Mechanism Rewires Cellular Energy Processing for Drastic Weight Loss
Beyond Ozempic: Research Outlines Pathways for Future Obesity Solutions NEW YORK, May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Mice genetically engineered to lack the ability to make the amino acid cysteine, and fed a cysteine-free diet, lost 30 percent of their body weight in just one week, a new study shows. Published online May 21 in Nature, the work found that cysteine depletion disrupts the normal metabolic pathways used by mammalian cells to convert food into energy, forcing the animals to rapidly burn fat stores in a futile attempt to meet energy demands. Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the study reveals key details about how cells process fuels like carbohydrates and fats (metabolism), and how cysteine depletion affects tissues. Experiments showed that lowering cysteine levels caused a drop in levels of the small molecule called coenzyme A (CoA), which rendered inefficient mechanisms that convert carbohydrates and fats into energy. Despite CoA being involved in more than 100 intermediate metabolic reactions and serving as a partner (cofactor) for 4% of all enzymes in the body, scientists had previously been unable to study its function directly. This is because mice with defective CoA synthesis typically do not survive beyond three weeks of age. The current findings detail, for the first time, how CoA shapes metabolism in adult mice. 'Our surprising findings reveal that low cysteine levels triggered rapid fat loss in our study mice by activating a network of interconnected biological pathways,' said co-senior study author Evgeny Nudler, PhD, the Julie Wilson Anderson Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. 'While driving weight loss in the clinic remains a key future mission, we are most excited for the moment about the profound, fundamental aspects of metabolism revealed in this study,' added Dr. Nudler. The current finding does not immediately suggest a new approach to weight loss, the authors caution, as cysteine is found in nearly all foods. Achieving a truly cysteine-free diet would require patients to consume a specially formulated solution that would be challenging for most. Moreover, because cysteine is involved in numerous cellular pathways, eliminating it – such as through a drug that inhibits cysteine production – could make organs more vulnerable to everyday toxins, including medications. That said, the study authors say it is worth considering that fruits, vegetables, and legumes contain much lower levels of cysteine and its precursor, the sulfur-containing amino acid methionine, than red meat. While earlier studies have linked low sulfur amino acid intake to health benefits, this study clarifies that these benefits are due to cysteine depletion specifically, and not methionine restriction. 'Given that achieving maximum cysteine deprivation weight loss in the mice was dependent on both diet and deletion of the gene, moving forward we can now restore cysteine production genetically in specific cells or tissues and determine the role of each in the dramatic weight loss we observed,' said co-senior author Dan L. Littman, MD, PhD, the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Professor of Molecular Immunology in the Department of Pathology, and a professor in the Department of Cell Biology, at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. 'We hope in the future to hijack parts of this process to induce a similar weight loss in humans but without completely removing cysteine,' added Dr. Littman, who is also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Overlapping MechanismsThe study is the first to examine the effects of removing cysteine, or any of the nine of the essential amino acids, which must be obtained through diet and are required for building proteins that make up most of the body's enzymes, tissues, and signaling molecules. The findings revealed that eliminating cysteine from the mammalian body led to far greater weight loss than the removal of any other essential amino acid. Specifically, cysteine deprivation disrupted oxidative phosphorylation, the main process for producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the molecule that serves as cells' energy currency. Oxidative phosphorylation is known to be tightly dependent on CoA. As a result, sugar-derived intermediate molecules (carbon skeletons) such as pyruvate, orotate, citrate, and α-ketoglutarate were no longer used efficiently, and were instead lost in the urine. In response, the body turned to stored lipids (fats) to make energy. Further, the team found that cysteine restriction activates both the integrated stress response (ISR), a signaling network that restores cellular balance after stress, and the oxidative stress response (OSR), which is triggered by higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) following depletion of glutathione, the body's primary antioxidant. ROS can oxidize (take away electrons from) and damage sensitive cell parts like DNA. Remarkably, this simultaneous activation of ISR and OSR—previously observed only in cancer cells—was shown to occur in normal tissues in mice in the cysteine-restriction group, with the two stress responses reinforcing each other. The study also shows that ISR and OSR, acting independently of CoA depletion, increase production of the stress hormone GDF15, which contributes to food aversion and degradation of acetyl-CoA-carboxylase, a key enzyme in lipid synthesis. This increased weight loss further in the study mice by preventing the replenishment of their fat stores. Along with Drs. Evgeny Nudler and Dan Littman, the study's co-senior authors, co-first authors were Alan Varghese, a joint student in labs of Drs Littman and Nudler in the Department of Cell Biology, and Ivan Gusarov in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Additional NYU Langone contributors included Daria Dolgonos, Yatin Mankan, and Mydia Phan from the Department of Cell Biology; Ilya Shamovsky and Drew Jones from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology; Begoña Gamallo-Lana and Adam Mar from the Department of Neuroscience; Rebecca Jones from the Division of Advanced Research Technologies; Thales Papagiannakopoulos from the Department of Pathology, and Michael Pacold from the Department of Radiation Oncology and Perlmutter Cancer Center. Other study authors were Maria Gomez-Jenkins and Eileen White of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and Rui Wang of the Department of Biology at York University in Toronto. The study was supported by the long-term funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and the Blavatnik Family Foundation. Additional support was provided by the National Institutes of Health grants S10OD010584-01A1, S10OD018338-01, 1OT2CA278609-01, R35GM147119, and R01AI158687. The research was also funded by the American Cancer Society (grant RSG-21-115-01-MM), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (grant RGPIN-2023-05099), and Cancer Research UK (grant CGCATF-2021/100022). About Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)HHMI is one of the largest private funders of biomedical research, with an endowment exceeding $27 billion. Through its Investigator Program, HHMI supports approximately 300 leading scientists across the United States, selected for their bold and fundamental approaches to scientific discovery. Each investigator receives unrestricted annual funding through renewable seven-year terms, granting them the freedom to pursue high-risk, high-reward research that often falls outside the scope of traditional funding mechanisms. About the Blavatnik Family Foundation The Blavatnik Family Foundation provides many of the world's best researchers, scientists, and future leaders with the support and funding needed to solve humankind's greatest challenges. Led by Sir Leonard Blavatnik, founder and chairman of Access Industries, the Foundation advances and promotes innovation, discovery, and creativity to benefit the whole of society. Over the past decade, the Foundation has contributed more than US$1 billion to more than 250 organizations. About NYU Langone HealthNYU Langone Health is a fully integrated health system that consistently achieves the best patient outcomes through a rigorous focus on quality that has resulted in some of the lowest mortality rates in the nation. Vizient Inc. has ranked NYU Langone the No. 1 comprehensive academic medical center in the country for three years in a row, and U.S. News & World Report recently placed nine of its clinical specialties among the top five in the nation. NYU Langone offers a comprehensive range of medical services with one high standard of care across 7 inpatient locations, its Perlmutter Cancer Center, and more than 320 outpatient locations in the New York area and Florida. With $14.2 billion in revenue this year, the system also includes two tuition-free medical schools, in Manhattan and on Long Island, and a vast research enterprise. Contact: Gregory Williams,
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Newfound Mechanism Rewires Cellular Energy Processing for Drastic Weight Loss
Beyond Ozempic: Research Outlines Pathways for Future Obesity Solutions NEW YORK, May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Mice genetically engineered to lack the ability to make the amino acid cysteine, and fed a cysteine-free diet, lost 30 percent of their body weight in just one week, a new study shows. Published online May 21 in Nature, the work found that cysteine depletion disrupts the normal metabolic pathways used by mammalian cells to convert food into energy, forcing the animals to rapidly burn fat stores in a futile attempt to meet energy demands. Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the study reveals key details about how cells process fuels like carbohydrates and fats (metabolism), and how cysteine depletion affects tissues. Experiments showed that lowering cysteine levels caused a drop in levels of the small molecule called coenzyme A (CoA), which rendered inefficient mechanisms that convert carbohydrates and fats into energy. Despite CoA being involved in more than 100 intermediate metabolic reactions and serving as a partner (cofactor) for 4% of all enzymes in the body, scientists had previously been unable to study its function directly. This is because mice with defective CoA synthesis typically do not survive beyond three weeks of age. The current findings detail, for the first time, how CoA shapes metabolism in adult mice. "Our surprising findings reveal that low cysteine levels triggered rapid fat loss in our study mice by activating a network of interconnected biological pathways," said co-senior study author Evgeny Nudler, PhD, the Julie Wilson Anderson Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "While driving weight loss in the clinic remains a key future mission, we are most excited for the moment about the profound, fundamental aspects of metabolism revealed in this study," added Dr. Nudler. The current finding does not immediately suggest a new approach to weight loss, the authors caution, as cysteine is found in nearly all foods. Achieving a truly cysteine-free diet would require patients to consume a specially formulated solution that would be challenging for most. Moreover, because cysteine is involved in numerous cellular pathways, eliminating it – such as through a drug that inhibits cysteine production – could make organs more vulnerable to everyday toxins, including medications. That said, the study authors say it is worth considering that fruits, vegetables, and legumes contain much lower levels of cysteine and its precursor, the sulfur-containing amino acid methionine, than red meat. While earlier studies have linked low sulfur amino acid intake to health benefits, this study clarifies that these benefits are due to cysteine depletion specifically, and not methionine restriction. "Given that achieving maximum cysteine deprivation weight loss in the mice was dependent on both diet and deletion of the gene, moving forward we can now restore cysteine production genetically in specific cells or tissues and determine the role of each in the dramatic weight loss we observed," said co-senior author Dan L. Littman, MD, PhD, the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Professor of Molecular Immunology in the Department of Pathology, and a professor in the Department of Cell Biology, at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. "We hope in the future to hijack parts of this process to induce a similar weight loss in humans but without completely removing cysteine," added Dr. Littman, who is also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Overlapping MechanismsThe study is the first to examine the effects of removing cysteine, or any of the nine of the essential amino acids, which must be obtained through diet and are required for building proteins that make up most of the body's enzymes, tissues, and signaling molecules. The findings revealed that eliminating cysteine from the mammalian body led to far greater weight loss than the removal of any other essential amino acid. Specifically, cysteine deprivation disrupted oxidative phosphorylation, the main process for producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the molecule that serves as cells' energy currency. Oxidative phosphorylation is known to be tightly dependent on CoA. As a result, sugar-derived intermediate molecules (carbon skeletons) such as pyruvate, orotate, citrate, and α-ketoglutarate were no longer used efficiently, and were instead lost in the urine. In response, the body turned to stored lipids (fats) to make energy. Further, the team found that cysteine restriction activates both the integrated stress response (ISR), a signaling network that restores cellular balance after stress, and the oxidative stress response (OSR), which is triggered by higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) following depletion of glutathione, the body's primary antioxidant. ROS can oxidize (take away electrons from) and damage sensitive cell parts like DNA. Remarkably, this simultaneous activation of ISR and OSR—previously observed only in cancer cells—was shown to occur in normal tissues in mice in the cysteine-restriction group, with the two stress responses reinforcing each other. The study also shows that ISR and OSR, acting independently of CoA depletion, increase production of the stress hormone GDF15, which contributes to food aversion and degradation of acetyl-CoA-carboxylase, a key enzyme in lipid synthesis. This increased weight loss further in the study mice by preventing the replenishment of their fat stores. Along with Drs. Evgeny Nudler and Dan Littman, the study's co-senior authors, co-first authors were Alan Varghese, a joint student in labs of Drs Littman and Nudler in the Department of Cell Biology, and Ivan Gusarov in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Additional NYU Langone contributors included Daria Dolgonos, Yatin Mankan, and Mydia Phan from the Department of Cell Biology; Ilya Shamovsky and Drew Jones from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology; Begoña Gamallo-Lana and Adam Mar from the Department of Neuroscience; Rebecca Jones from the Division of Advanced Research Technologies; Thales Papagiannakopoulos from the Department of Pathology, and Michael Pacold from the Department of Radiation Oncology and Perlmutter Cancer Center. Other study authors were Maria Gomez-Jenkins and Eileen White of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and Rui Wang of the Department of Biology at York University in Toronto. The study was supported by the long-term funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and the Blavatnik Family Foundation. Additional support was provided by the National Institutes of Health grants S10OD010584-01A1, S10OD018338-01, 1OT2CA278609-01, R35GM147119, and R01AI158687. The research was also funded by the American Cancer Society (grant RSG-21-115-01-MM), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (grant RGPIN-2023-05099), and Cancer Research UK (grant CGCATF-2021/100022). About Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)HHMI is one of the largest private funders of biomedical research, with an endowment exceeding $27 billion. Through its Investigator Program, HHMI supports approximately 300 leading scientists across the United States, selected for their bold and fundamental approaches to scientific discovery. Each investigator receives unrestricted annual funding through renewable seven-year terms, granting them the freedom to pursue high-risk, high-reward research that often falls outside the scope of traditional funding mechanisms. About the Blavatnik Family Foundation The Blavatnik Family Foundation provides many of the world's best researchers, scientists, and future leaders with the support and funding needed to solve humankind's greatest challenges. Led by Sir Leonard Blavatnik, founder and chairman of Access Industries, the Foundation advances and promotes innovation, discovery, and creativity to benefit the whole of society. Over the past decade, the Foundation has contributed more than US$1 billion to more than 250 organizations. About NYU Langone HealthNYU Langone Health is a fully integrated health system that consistently achieves the best patient outcomes through a rigorous focus on quality that has resulted in some of the lowest mortality rates in the nation. Vizient Inc. has ranked NYU Langone the No. 1 comprehensive academic medical center in the country for three years in a row, and U.S. News & World Report recently placed nine of its clinical specialties among the top five in the nation. NYU Langone offers a comprehensive range of medical services with one high standard of care across 7 inpatient locations, its Perlmutter Cancer Center, and more than 320 outpatient locations in the New York area and Florida. With $14.2 billion in revenue this year, the system also includes two tuition-free medical schools, in Manhattan and on Long Island, and a vast research enterprise. Contact: Gregory Williams, View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE NYU Langone Health System Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Majority of Youth Overdose Deaths from 2018 to 2022 Were Driven by Fentanyl Alone
Study Reveals Changing Nature of U.S. Drug Supply NEW YORK, May 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Fatal drug overdoses among youth aged 15 to 24 in the United States involving synthetic opioids alone—not mixed with other substances—soared by 168 percent over the five-year time period of 2018 to 2022, a new study shows. Published online today in the journal Pediatrics, the work also found that youth overdose rates and drug combinations varied significantly across age, sex and race/ethnicity. Led by NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the new study is the first, say investigators, to identify which specific combinations of drugs drove synthetic opioid-involved fatal overdoses among young people across sociodemographic groups over time. Overdoses that involved synthetic opioids alone—predominantly fentanyl—had the highest rates of fatalities when compared to overdoses involving other drug combinations examined by the researchers. This was regardless of age, sex and race/ethnicity. "Before we looked at the data, we thought we would find that the majority of fatal youth overdoses involved fentanyl combined with other substances, such as prescription opioids or cocaine," said Noa Krawczyk, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Population Health, and senior author of the study. "Instead, we found the opposite—that most deaths were caused by fentanyl alone. Our analysis sheds light on the changing nature and risks of the drug supply and how they impact key demographic groups. Some may think they are taking one substance but are actually exposed to another." According to Krawczyk, who is also associate director of the Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy at NYU Langone, their findings underscore the need to tailor overdose prevention strategies that include harm reduction services specifically to youth to prevent death and suffering among this under-studied population. How the Study was Conducted Analyzing data from the National Center for Health Statistics, the researchers characterized trends in overdose death involving synthetic opioids (predominantly fentanyl) alone, as well as in combination with five common other drugs (benzodiazepines, heroin, prescription opioids, cocaine, and other stimulants) among youth aged 15-24 across age, sex and race/ethnicity over five years (from 2018 to 2022). The investigators found that during the five-year study period, overdoses involving synthetic opioids alone increased by 168 percent—the highest rates of fatalities compared to those that included a combination of the examined drugs, regardless of age, sex and race/ethnicity. After deaths due to synthetic opioids/fentanyl alone, the next highest rates of fatal overdoses involved fentanyl combined with cocaine or another stimulant; however, rates differed by age, sex, race/ethnicity and over time. In 2018, White non-Hispanic youth had the highest rates of overdoses involving synthetic opioids/fentanyl alone. By 2022, rates of overdose deaths involving only fentanyl among Black American, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Hispanic youth exceeded White non-Hispanic youth. When it came to the impact of sex and age, fatal overdoses across all groups were highest among males, as well as all youth aged 20 to 24. According to the research team, understanding the landscape of overdose patterns provides needed context in terms of how to best inform specific public health interventions that can prevent more deaths. Megan Miller, a research coordinator at the NYU Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy and lead author of the study, emphasized that "there are a variety of ways to engage youth and reduce their risk of overdose. Schools, places of employment, homeless shelters, child welfare services, and juvenile justice settings are all possible touchpoints to offer education and harm reduction tools such as naloxone and fentanyl test strips. Our findings highlight the need to tailor these strategies to different youth groups based on the types of drugs they are using to help prevent further overdose deaths." Limitations to the study findings, according to the investigators, include possible misclassification in mortality coding practices, as well as limited sociodemographic information. For example, youth who identify as LGBTQ+ tend to have a higher risk of overdose, yet that information was not available. Due to small sample sizes, the data did not examine youth who may identify as more than one race or ethnicity. In addition to Krawczyk and Miller, study co-authors from NYU Grossman School of Medicine include Katherine Wheeler-Martin, MPH, Amanda M. Bunting, PhD, and Magdalena Cerdá, DrPH. Funding for the study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K01DA055758. Dr. Bunting was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse under Award Number K01DA053435. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. About NYU Langone HealthNYU Langone Health is a fully integrated health system that consistently achieves the best patient outcomes through a rigorous focus on quality that has resulted in some of the lowest mortality rates in the nation. Vizient Inc. has ranked NYU Langone No. 1 out of 115 comprehensive academic medical centers across the nation for three years in a row, and U.S. News & World Report recently placed nine of its clinical specialties among the top five in the nation. NYU Langone offers a comprehensive range of medical services with one high standard of care across seven inpatient locations, its Perlmutter Cancer Center, and more than 320 outpatient locations in the New York area and Florida. With $14.2 billion in revenue this year, the system also includes two tuition-free medical schools, in Manhattan and on Long Island, and a vast research enterprise. Media Inquiries: Sasha View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE NYU Langone
