HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

July 29, 2025 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• FDA might ban fluoride supplements. Dentists are upset.  (Time Magazine)
• Simple home test for endometriosis developed (Newsweek)
• 5 million above-ground pools recalled after deaths reported in 6 states (Fox 5)
• Treatments From Llama Brains Can Help People With Schizophrenia  (Newsweek)
• How US adults feel about legal abortion 3 years after Roe was overturned, according to AP-NORC poll (AP)
• Kennedy considering firing members of preventive services task force (NBC)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Nearly 4,000 NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program (NPR)
• Trump’s EPA says climate pollution doesn’t endanger people  (NPR)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH

FDA might ban fluoride supplements. Dentists are upset.  (Time Magazine)

Dr. James H. Bekker made it clear ... there is no way to replace fluoride supplements if the government decides to take them off the market.  In communities without fluoridated water, these supplements are the only way that families can help children access fluoride, the dentist said, thus protecting their teeth from decay... The move comes after a controversial study published in JAMA Pediatrics in Jan. 2025 found that significant fluoride exposure was linked to a decrease in children’s IQ scores.

Simple home test for endometriosis developed (Newsweek)

Diagnosing endometriosis could soon be much easier thanks to a new at home-test that can detect a biomarker for the disease in period blood...Endometriosis—where cells similar to the lining of the uterus (womb) grows outside of it—is estimated to affect at least 11 percent of women in the US, or more than 6.5 million.

5 million above-ground pools recalled after deaths reported in 6 states (Fox 5)

About 5 million above-ground pools are being recalled after being linked to the drowning deaths of nine children between 2007 and 2022...A recall alert published by the CPSC indicated that an external strap, which wraps around the supports of the pools, could provide a way for children to enter the water, even if the ladder has been removed.

Treatments From Llama Brains Can Help People With Schizophrenia  (Newsweek)

Antibodies from llamas could be used to create a new generation of schizophrenia treatments that can effectively target the brain, rather than just reducing symptoms.

How US adults feel about legal abortion 3 years after Roe was overturned, according to AP-NORC poll (AP)

64% of adults support legal abortion in most or all cases. More than half the adults in states with the most stringent bans are in that group. 

Kennedy considering firing members of preventive services task force (NBC)

The United States Preventive Services Task Force plays an important role in protecting access to low-cost or free cancer screenings and tests for chronic diseases.

SCIENCE AND TECH

Nearly 4,000 NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program (NPR)

 The cuts amount to an estimated 20% of NASA's workforce, and will reduce the agency from 18,000 to 14,000 employees

Trump’s EPA says climate pollution doesn’t endanger people  (NPR)

The EPA has crafted a proposal that would undo the government's "endangerment finding," a determination that pollutants from burning fossil fuels, such as carbon dioxide and methane, can be regulated under the Clean Air Act.... "By revoking this key scientific finding our government is putting fealty to Big Oil over sound science and people's health," Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Safe Climate Transport Campaign wrote in a statement.