What We're Reading: AAP Issues Sleep Safety Recommendations for Infants

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued an updated set of guidelines meant to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). It specifies that infants should ideally sleep in the same room as their parents for the first 6 to 12 months of their lives, but they should sleep in their own crib with only a fitted sheet on the mattress. The report also cautions that exhausted parents can often fall asleep on a couch or rocking chair after feeding the baby, which poses a high risk of suffocation.

The announcement that Affordable Care Act (ACA) premiums will rise an average of 22% in 2017 drew criticism from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during a speech in which he seemingly contradicted himself regarding his employees’ health insurance. After proclaiming that “all of [his] employees are having a tremendous problem with Obamacare,” he later said that they “don’t even use Obamacare. We don’t want it.” Trump has repeatedly called to repeal the ACA and replace it with something “much less expensive.”

50 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) have volunteered to take part in a streamlined study to test the potential effects of the dietary supplement lunacin. The protocols for this study, which does not include a control group receiving a placebo, are considerably less rigorous than those of a traditional clinical trial because the researchers want to quickly observe any promising effects the supplement may have. Participants are likewise enthusiastic about the accelerated pace of the trial and their ability to easily report their symptoms online.