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Using the progestogen-only contractive pill "desogestrel" for more than five years may increase the risk of developing a type of brain tumor known as an "intracranial meningioma," a new study has warned. The researchers noted that the risk is low—and is eliminated one year after desogestrel treatment is suspended—but that doctors' awareness of the possibility could eliminate the need for surgery in some cases. (Gray, 6/11)

Shorter leukocyte telomere length -- a marker of biological aging -- was tied to a higher risk of age-related brain disease, but modifiable risk factors appeared to mitigate its effect, U.K. Biobank data suggested. In a study of over 350,000 people, those with the shortest leukocyte telomeres had an elevated risk of subsequent dementia, stroke, or late-life depression compared with the longest telomeres, reported Christopher Anderson, MD, MMSc, of Mass General Brigham and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues. (George, 6/11)

Antibiotic exposure during pregnancy or early childhood is associated with increased risk of childhood atopic dermatitis (AD), according to a study published yesterday in eClinicalMedicine. In a review and meta-analysis, Chinese researchers examined 39 cohort studies involving expectant mothers and young children younger than 5 years old to explore the association between antibiotic exposure and the risk of childhood AD, a chronic skin condition characterized by inflammation, eczema-like lesions, and severe itching. (Dall, 6/11)

A new gene-tracking study in Nature shows that mpox spread among people in Nigeria for 8 years before it sparked a global outbreak in 2022. Using genomic tracing, researchers from Nigeria, the United States, Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Belgium estimate that the ancestor of the clade 2 mpox virus (mpxv) that ignited an international outbreak beginning in May 2022 first emerged in southern Nigeria in August 2014 and spread to 11 Nigerian states before human infections were detected in 2017. "We could have very easily prevented the 2022 multi-country outbreak if countries in Africa were given better access to therapeutics, vaccines, and surveillance technologies," one author said. (Wappes, 6/6)

When researchers at the University of California at San Francisco examined social media use and depressive symptoms among tweens over a three-year period, they found that an increase in social media use predicted a future rise in symptoms of depression — but not the other way around. The study, published in May in the American Medical Journal’s association journal JAMA, followed nearly 12,000 preteens over three years starting at age 9 to 10. (Gibson, 6/11)