Links Loved: Science Edition

Some new and not-so-new medical news for ya'll.

The Good

Wow — new anti-TB drug approved by the FDA! First one since the 1960s! Active against multidrug-resistant TB! This is incredibly exciting, especially for countries where TB is endemic, like our very own Philippines.
More exciting news: Toddler 'functionally cured' of HIV! In yet another serendipitous discovery (the mother had stopped giving the child the anti-HIV meds), a baby infected with the virus that causes AIDS was given high doses of three antiretroviral drugs within 30 hours of birth. Two years later, standard clinical tests cannot detect the virus in the child's blood.

The Bad

A recent study from France suggests that diet sodas also raise diabetes risk. The findings don't necessarily imply causation, just that drinking large amounts of diet soda (and the artificial sweeteners in them) can put you at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Those that drank the highest amount of diet soda (more than 600 mL, or about 2 cans, per week) more than doubled their risk.