science
How weed may affect brain function
People who use a lot of cannabis over time may experience reduced brain activity in certain situations, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. Between 2012 and 2015, researchers tested more than 1,000 people ages 22-36. About 63% of “heavy users” — meaning those who have used cannabis 1,000 times or more — in the study had lower amounts of brain activity during a task, such as solving a math problem, that tests one’s ability to remember other information.
There were similar associations between recent cannabis use and poor performance on working memory tasks, but other functions like motor skills, reward processing, emotion, and language did not see the same effects.
It’s the largest study yet focusing on cannabis and brain function, the study authors write. Still, even larger and long-term studies are needed to fully understand the effects that cannabis has on the brain.
health inequities
Why are cervical cancer death rates so bad in the Mississippi Delta?
While politics over DEI are roiling Washington, work to end racial health disparities continues. This morning, the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative for Economic and Social Justice and Human Rights Watch released a report on the findings of 10 community health researchers who spent 18 months interviewing more than 150 women in the Mississippi Delta to understand the factors driving the area's inflated rates of cervical cancer, which are among the nation’s highest.
The mortality rate for cervical cancer is 65% higher for Black women than white women.
The report found that access to gynecological care was a major reason for the disparities. A cascade of factors are to blame, including Mississippi’s refusal to expand Medicaid through the ACA, which has contributed to rural hospital closures and helped fuel a shortage of OB-GYNs in the state. A lack of access to public transportation and racial discrimination from health providers also limited access, which led to less cancer screening and surgical treatment. Poor access to information on sexual and reproductive health, the report said, is another reason the state is ranked last in the nation in rates of uptake of the HPV vaccine which prevents cervical cancer. — Usha Lee McFarling
science
The first mice with two dads have reached adulthood
There’s been so much news on the “chaos” beat this week that I just had to share this: Scientists in China have successfully engineered “bi-paternal” mice (those with two male parents) that have lived until adulthood, according to a study published yesterday in Cell Stem Cell. Previous attempts have been complicated due to genetic imprinting abnormalities that lead to defects, which the authors say is a major barrier to these types of experiments. But in this study, researchers individually modified 20 key imprinting genes using multiple different methods to combat that issue.
It’s cool science (that MIT Technology Review explains in more detail) but don’t forget the caveats: These are mice, not humans, or even primates. Also: Most of these embryos didn’t even make it to birth — only seven mice made it that far out of 164 embryos. Not all of those seven made it to adulthood either, and those that did often had altered growth, a shortened lifespan, and were sterile.
