Experimental medicines have the potential to help people with COVID-19 avoid hospitalization. The scarce supply of the treatments would have to be rationed, if regulators OK their use.
More hospitalized patients are surviving than early in the pandemic. Improved treatments make a big difference, but so does flattening the curve to keep hospitals from overfilling, researchers say.
Researchers launched a major study of an experimental Alzheimer's drug this summer. They also learned a lot about how to protect participants who must make frequent visits to a medical center.
Medical researchers have high hopes that the kind of treatment the president received could end up being an important element in the fight against the pandemic. But clinical trials continue.
There's evidence that certain vaccines boost the body's defense against many kinds of illness. Scientists are investigating whether this benefit extends to protection from COVID-19.
Some public health experts hope the growing availability of faster, cheaper tests could lead to a new strategy of widespread testing — one that could finally get the pandemic under control.
People of African ancestry have been excluded from many studies of brain disorders. In Baltimore, scientists, doctors and community leaders are working to make neuroscience research more diverse.
Volunteers getting the shot help determine if a candidate vaccine works. But what with social distancing and masks, scientists must discern if it's the shot or these other measures preventing illness.
One thing that has improved a lot over the course of the pandemic is treatment of seriously ill COVID-19 patients in intensive care units. Here's one man's success story.
Drugs are being tested that could reduce symptoms and save lives. But, given the way drugs are developed, it's unlikely that any single medicine will be anywhere as potent as a successful vaccine.
Some people have skipped care because of finances or fear of the virus, doctors say. Others find medical practices closed to new patients. Many are suffering health consequences, an NPR poll finds.
Some pharmaceutical companies are well into the final phase of clinical trials for a coronavirus vaccine. But efforts to recruit patients from minority groups are just beginning.
An experiment involving some "mighty mice" on the International Space Station could someday help astronauts maintain muscle and bone strength on interplanetary journeys.
Several COVID-19 vaccine candidates are being tested now. But why does it take 30,000 volunteers to know if one is safe and effective? And what does it mean to say a vaccine candidate is working?
