Psoriasis has long been known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, which includes heart attack and stroke. Now, researchers have identified a key culprit: the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetSyn).

Findings released in December from the most recent Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey of substance use behaviors and related attitudes among U.S. teens indicate that levels of nicotine and marijuana vaping did not increase from 2019 to early 2020, although they remain high.

Children who undergo cataract surgery as infants have a 22 percent risk of glaucoma 10 years later, whether or not they receive an intraocular lens implant. The findings come from the NEI-funded study.

The FDA recently granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for an innovative Covid-19 viral antigen test developed with technical support from NIH’s RADx Initiative, managed by NIBIB. The rapid, at-home test is available without a prescription.

Researchers at NEI have decoded brain maps of human color perception. The findings open a window into how color processing is organized in the brain, and how the brain recognizes and groups colors in the environment.

In a comprehensive analysis of patients with cancer who had exceptional responses to therapy, researchers have identified molecular changes in the patients’ tumors that may explain some of the exceptional responses. The results demonstrate that genomic characterizations of cancer can uncover genetic alterations that may contribute to unexpected and long-lasting responses to treatment.

Nearly two decades of NIH research helped lead to the first FDA-approved treatment for progeria, a rare and fatal pediatric disease, characterized by dramatic, rapid aging beginning in childhood. The new treatment was made possible thanks in part to the work of NHGRI researchers, led by NIH director and NHGRI senior investigator Dr. Francis Collins.

An independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) overseeing the phase 3 trial of the investigational Covid-19 vaccine known as mRNA-1273 shared its interim analysis on Nov. 15. This review of the data suggests that the vaccine is safe and effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 in adults.

The membranes surrounding our brains are in a never-ending battle against deadly infections, as germs constantly try to elude watchful immune cells and sneak past a special protective barrier called the meninges. In a study involving mice and human autopsy tissue, researchers at NIH and Cambridge University have shown that some of these immune cells are trained to fight these infections by first spending time in the gut.

NIH researchers have discovered a gene in mice that controls the craving for fatty and sugary foods and the desire to exercise. The gene, Prkar2a, is highly expressed in the habenula, a tiny brain region involved in responses to pain, stress, anxiety, sleep and reward.