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Allergy treatments haven’t advanced much in decades, even as hundreds of millions around the world suffer from wheezing, itches, and rashes — and in severe cases, risk death — from exposure to allergens ranging from eggs to pollen to dog dander. But hope may be on the way. Scientists who study the immune system are beginning to understand the root cause of allergies — and are starting to work on next-generation therapies that could stop allergies in their tracks, rather than simply treating symptoms. Private investors and corporations are pouring money into the field. (Keshavan, 11/29)

Getting the flu while pregnant doesn't appear to increase the child's risk of being diagnosed with autism later on, a study finds, and neither does getting a flu shot while pregnant. The study, published Tuesday in JAMA Pediatrics, tries to tease apart subtle questions of risk and risk avoidance. (Shute, 11/28)

It’s easy to get into the habit of popping a pill to have a good night’s sleep. Insomnia, which affects a third of adults, becomes more common as we age. But as evidence has mounted about the risks of drugging the brain to induce or maintain slumber, more doctors are steering patients away from sleep aids, including over-the-counter medications, and are offering innovative behavioral-change solutions. (Landro, 11/28)

Without sustaining a single concussion, a North Carolina high school football team showed worrisome brain changes after a single season of play, a new study has shown. A detailed effort to capture the on-field experiences of 24 high school football players showed that, at the end of a single season of play, teammates whose heads sustained the most frequent contact with other moving bodies had the most pronounced changes in several measures of brain health. (Healy, 11/28)

Hospital patients who undergo a stem cell transplant to treat blood cancers must take immune-suppressing drugs to prevent rejection of the donor cells. But along with that comes an increased risk of infections, such as a dangerous bacteria called C. difficile. A new University of Pennsylvania study identified a possible solution: administering preventative antibiotics. At Penn's Abramson Cancer Center, physicians gave an oral antibiotic called vancomycin twice a day to 73 of these blood cancer patients undergoing an allogeneic stem cell transplant — in which patients receive stem cells from a healthy donor. (Avril, 11/28)

Biomedical research is going big-time: Megaprojects that collect vast stores of data are proliferating rapidly. But scientists' ability to make sense of all that information isn't keeping up. This conundrum took center stage at a meeting of patient advocates, called Partnering For Cures, in New York City on Nov. 15. (Harris, 11/28)