Marriage matters

Married people tend to be healthier and live longer, much research has shown. But does the quality of the relationship make a difference? Researchers at Brigham Young University recently discovered that couples in ambivalent marriages—those with more frequent ups and downs than average—had higher blood pressure than couples in stable marriages.

Unpredictability is likely what takes a toll on health in such marriages, Arthur Aron, a psychology professor at Stony Brook University in New York, told The New York Times: “When you know someone is not going to be supportive, you acclimatize to that. But if they are sometimes one way and sometimes the other way, it’s much harder.”

Other studies also link marriage quality with health: A 2013 study in the Journal of Family Psychology found that couples in happier marriages were more likely to report good health as they aged. In 2005, Ohio State University researchers found that blister wounds heal more slowly for people who use hostility to deal with marital conflict. And University of Utah researchers have found that lack of affection during spousal arguments negatively affects heart health as much as smoking or high cholesterol.

By contrast, when happily married couples hold hands, it produces the same calming effect on the brain as pain-relieving drugs. Not so for the unhappily married, according to a 2013 study from researchers at the University of Virginia (UVA).

These studies should motivate people to work on their marriages but not panic, James Coan, a psychologist at UVA, told the Times. “I think about relationships like the stock market,” he said. “There are bull markets and bear markets in any short period of time, but if you take the long view, the investment almost always pays off.”

Leukemia knockout

Layla Richards had not yet celebrated her first birthday and she was dying.

Her doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London said Layla’s form of leukemia was one of the most aggressive they’d seen. After trying every approved treatment available, they suggested the baby’s parents simply make her comfortable until she died. But then the medical team decided to give Layla an experimental treatment only before tested on mice.

The doctors took immune cells called T cells from healthy donors and genetically programmed them to hunt and kill leukemia cells. They also engineered the cells to be invisible to the powerful leukemia drug Layla was taking that would ordinarily have killed them.

Within two months Layla appeared cancer-free. Although doctors can’t guarantee her cancer will stay in remission, Layla, now 1½, is doing well.

Waseem Qasim, one of Layla’s immunologists, cautioned it was too early to know whether this treatment would be an option for all children. But he said, “If replicated, it could represent a huge step forward in treating leukemia and other cancers.” —J.B.

Implanted memory

Researchers at the University of Southern California have developed a brain implant that may restore memory function for people with certain types of brain damage. Under normal circumstances the brain translates sensory input into electrical signals and routes them through a series of regions in the hippocampus, the brain’s memory center. But damage to any region of the hippocampus can disrupt this process. Researchers designed an implant with small electrodes that enables signals to bypass the damaged region and transmit correctly. It was successful in animals and is undergoing testing in humans. —J.B.