There's a glaring gap in the scientific literature. Research on pregnancy stalled decades ago and when things go wrong in a pregnancy, the knowledge gap can become a life and death issue.
"It's mind-boggling that in this day and age, we still don't understand … what triggers labor," Dr. Joy-Sarah Vink says. "Because we don't understand the normal fundamental mechanisms, we can't identify how things go bad — and then how we fix [them]."
Vink and her colleague mechanical engineer Kristin Myers are working fast to improve the knowledge base, researching the cervix and the biomechanics of pregnancy.
Scouring ingredient lists. Carrying an EpiPen. Sitting at the special lunch table at school. These anxiety-ridden measures have become routine for families with severe food allergies.
Some families are now trying a new treatment that’s shown promise in research studies. Known as oral immunotherapy it involves consuming tiny amounts of the trigger food, with gradual increases in dose to desensitize the immune system.
Because there's not yet an FDA-approved version of this treatment, most medical providers don't offer it. But patients are seeking it out anyway.
The women wore lingerie, body paint, bold boots, torn t-shirts. But when they walked the runway at a recent fashion show in New York, they weren’t just showing off their clothes. They also revealed mastectomy scars and other signs of living with breast cancer. They chose to make their illness -- and their courage -- visible.
This fashion show turned the spotlight on metastatic breast cancer, the advanced form of the disease which historically has gotten less attention than more treatable forms.
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