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The proof is piling up: Many synthetic chemicals can harm your health and that of your children. Evidence has doubled in the last five years about the negative impact on our health of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in plastics, pesticides, flame retardants and other merchandise, according to a new review of recent literature. "It's a global problem. These are chemicals used in consumer products all across the world," said senior author Dr. Leonardo Trasande, chief of environmental pediatrics at NYU Langone. (LaMotte, 7/22)

Long-term malnutrition might at first seem like a medical condition with an easy fix: access to a wholesome diet rich in calories and nutrients. But many of the children on the receiving end of such interventions still struggle to grow. Even when given enough to eat, they end up shorter than their peers and are saddled with cognitive deficits, weakened immune systems and other long-term consequences that tax their brains and bodies alike. The result is a paradox that continues to vex researchers worldwide. (Wu, 7/22)

The National Institutes of Health is preparing to launch a “flurry” of large clinical trials to test new approaches to treating Covid-19, according to the agency’s director, hoping to expand what for now remains a limited arsenal of therapies to help people with the disease. In an interview, NIH Director Francis Collins characterized the studies as “really well-powered, rigorously designed clinical trials.” (Herper, 7/23)