Login
The Conversations Doctors Are Having About Vaccination Now
For years, studies have pointed to one especially powerful influence over whether a person will get a vaccine: a clear recommendation from their doctor. Throughout most of her career, Nola Ernest, a pediatrician in rural southeastern Alabama, could reassure families who were hesitating to vaccinate their kids — in many cases by explaining that she had enthusiastically opted into the same shots for her own sons.
In the past few months, though, she’s spoken with several families who, at her recommendation, had previously immunized all of their older kids — and yet are now adamant about not vaccinating their newborn. “I reassure them that I am still the same pediatrician,” Ernest told me. “They say, ‘We still trust you. We just think a lot of the things have been pushed on us for a long time that were not actually necessary, or were harmful.’”
A recent KFF tracking survey found that about three-fourths of Republicans trust their physician to provide reliable information about vaccines — but about three-fourths trust President Donald Trump and Kennedy to do so as well.
Why Autism May Not Be One Condition, but Many
For most of human history, the mind was a mystery box. Behavior emerged, and we simply accepted it — strange, brilliant, troubled, gifted. But today, we peer inside that box. We map genes. We track brain development. And sometimes, what we find upends everything we thought we knew.
Take autism. Long framed as a single condition, a spectrum of traits stretching from mild to severe, it has often defied easy explanation. Why does one child with autism speak fluently but struggle socially, while another barely talks yet shows remarkable pattern recognition? Why do some show symptoms in infancy, while others appear typical until age three or four?
A new study, published in Nature Genetics, offers an answer rooted in both data and biology. Using detailed behavioral profiles and genetic data from over 5,000 children, researchers identified not one autism, but four distinct versions, each with its own developmental course, genetic architecture, and clinical challenges.
FDA Signals New Review of Fluoride Supplements Amid Safety Concerns
Environmental Health News reported:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new drug director said the agency will reassess whether ingestible fluoride supplements provide enough benefit to justify their use in children without fluoridated water.
George Tidmarsh, the new head of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said fluoride supplements have never undergone a formal approval process and called for a fresh risk-benefit review.
Fluoride advocates, including dentists and pediatric experts, argued that low-dose supplements remain safe and critical for children in areas without water fluoridation.
The FDA has proposed removing these supplements from the market, citing research on gut microbiome disruption and possible links to thyroid issues and reduced IQ, though some studies remain inconclusive.
Fluoride has long been added to public water supplies to reduce tooth decay, but its use in supplements for children without access to fluoridated water has drawn scrutiny. Health advocates argue the mineral prevents cavities, especially in low-income communities, while critics cite studies linking high exposure to potential developmental and neurological risks.
Don’t Give Children Under Age 13 Smartphones, New Research Says
Parents should avoid preteens’ use of smartphones and social media, according to new research. A study released Monday found that using smartphones before age 13 could damage kids’ mental health.
Smartphone use by children younger than 13 was associated with suicidal thoughts, worse emotional regulation, lower self-worth and detachment from reality, especially among girls, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of the Human Development and Capabilities.
For every year before age 13 that a person acquired a smartphone, their mental health and well-being were likely to be lower, the study found.
That’s likely because the kids who used smartphones before turning 13 accessed social media more and experienced sleep disruptions, cyberbullying and negative family relationships, according to the study. The data is based on self-reports in a survey of nearly 2 million people in 163 countries. The results were so stark that the researchers called for global restrictions to prevent children younger than 13 from using smartphones and social media.
“This calls for urgent action limiting access of children under 13 to smartphones as well as more nuanced regulation on the digital environment young people are exposed to,” said lead study author Tara Thiagarajan, founder and chief scientist of Sapien Labs, the nonprofit that runs the survey.
Green Spaces Promote Better Brain Development Among Children, Study Says
Living near lush green spaces appears to reduce a child’s risk of ADHD and autism, even before they are born, a new study says. Children had lower odds of developing brain development problems if they lived near green spaces as infants, or if their moms did before or during pregnancy, researchers report in the August issue of the journal Environment International.
“Our findings suggest that enhancing green space access in urban environments may support early childhood neurodevelopment and help reduce the burden of neurodevelopmental delays,” senior researcher Dr. Stefania Papatheodorou, an associate professor at the Rutgers University School of Public Health in Piscataway, New Jersey, said in a news release.
Exactly how green spaces might promote healthy brain development in the womb is not fully understood yet, but researchers have their theories.
Mental Health Warnings on Social Media? Minnesota Will Require Them Next Year
Houston Public Media reported:
Olivia Kanavati might think about social media more than she uses it. The 17-year-old from a Twin Cities suburb uses an app that tracks how many times a day she opens social media on her phone. Before she can log on, it prompts her to take a deep breath and offers her an inspirational quote.
Beginning next summer, any Minnesotan using social media will get a pop-up warning before they log on. Unlike Kanavati’s app, the label they’ll encounter will ask users to acknowledge that prolonged social media use can pose a hazard to their mental health.
“I think it’s helpful for people that just take a second and, like, pause and be like, ‘Hmm,'” Kanavati says, “‘why am I doing this? What is this purpose?'”
Kanavati didn’t have a say in the new law, but she says she is in favor of it. She’s a member of the Digital Well-Being Club at her school, along with Evangeline Fuentes, who is also starting her senior year this fall. Fuentes agrees it’s worth giving people the chance to think twice. “Obviously, you know, there’s always going to be the people who don’t,” she says. “The best that we can do is just offer the outlet for them to change.”
Study Finds Roots of Mental and Neurodegenerative Disorders in Fetal Brain Cells
The origin of some neuropsychiatric diseases, such as autism, bipolar disorder, or depression, and certain neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, can be found in very early stages of brain formation in the fetus. That is, earlier than previously recognized, according to a study by the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and Yale University, published in Nature Communications.
The work focused “on searching for the origin of mental illnesses in the earliest stages of fetal development, especially in the brain stem cells,” explains Dr. Gabriel Santpere, Miguel Servet researcher and coordinator of the Neurogenomics Research Group at the Biomedical Informatics Research Program of the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, a joint group with Pompeu Fabra University.
