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Rates of sudden unexpected infant death in the United States increased by nearly 12 percent from 2020 to 2022, according to new research published on Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. Though the study offered some good news — overall infant mortality rates dropped by 24 percent from 1999 to 2022 — it also raised questions about why more babies appear to be dying during sleep, and why rates of sleep-related death remain notably higher among Black, Native American and Pacific Islander babies than among white and Asian infants. (Pearson, 1/27)

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois is set to try again on a bill to make air travel easier for breastfeeding parents that has gotten bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress and has passed the U.S. Senate. Duckworth on Monday is reintroducing The BABES Enhancement Act with Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, a Democrat, and Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Steve Daines of Montana. The bill aims to ensure that breastfeeding parents can bring breast milk and breastfeeding supplies through airport security without delays or risks of contamination. (Panetta, 1/27)

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, according to a new report. The American Heart Association (AHA) report, published Monday in the journal Circulation, found that 941,652 Americans died from cardiovascular disease in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available. That's an increase of more than 10,000 from the just over 931,500 reported to have died from cardiovascular disease in 2021. (Kekatos, 1/27)

An Alabama woman passed a major milestone Saturday to become the longest living recipient of a pig organ transplant – healthy and full of energy with her new kidney for 61 days and counting. ... Looney’s vibrant recovery is a morale boost in the quest to make animal-to-human transplants a reality. Only four other Americans have received hugely experimental transplants of gene-edited pig organs – two hearts and two kidneys – and none lived more than two months. (Neergaard, 1/25)

In 2020, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages caused an estimated 2.2 million new cases of Type 2 diabetes globally, according to new research published in Nature Medicine. In the study, researchers assessed data from 184 countries to estimate global cases of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease attributable to sugar-sweetened beverage intake. In addition to cases of Type 2 diabetes, researchers estimated that 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease were caused by drinking such beverages. (Docter-Loeb, 1/27)

Right now, patients with obesity and cirrhosis have few treatments for their progressive liver disease, but a new study offers one available option: bariatric surgery. Weight loss operations significantly cut the long-term risk of developing serious liver complications when compared to standard nonsurgical therapy. (Cooney, 1/27)

A small but growing movement of scientists wants to classify aging as a disease. They face an uphill battle. An improving scientific understanding of the biology of aging is leading some scientists, doctors and entrepreneurs to argue that aging is a disease. It’s a major driver of illness and death, they say, and classifying it as such could make it easier to get drugs approved to treat aging itself, rather than just age-related health problems. (Janin, 1/27)

Elon Musk's Neuralink brain-computer interface is now at the forefront of paralysis research, with the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine chosen as the second U.S. site for its clinical trial. The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis has partnered with Neuralink to test a revolutionary device that could allow individuals with paralysis to control external devices using only their thoughts. (Maldonado, 1/27)