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The drug industry’s foundering search for an Alzheimer’s cure is fueling a parallel quest by technology companies to help patients and family caregivers cope with the disease by using virtual reality software, robotics, and novel communication tools. Several companies engaged in the effort gathered here on Wednesday to deliver a unified message: Waiting for pharma to deliver a miracle is a recipe for financial Armageddon, as the cost of treating Alzheimer’s is expected to quadruple, to more than $1 trillion in the U.S. by 2030, if no breakthrough treatments reach the market. (Ross, 1/10)

The birthrate in America has been declining, but some places are more fertile than others, according to a new look at federal data that reveals significant variation in fertility rates around the country. Only South Dakota’s and Utah’s fertility rates reached the level needed to sustain the current population. The number of babies born in 2017, around 3.85 million, was the lowest since 1987. In order for the country’s population to essentially replace itself, researchers say that 2,100 babies should be born for every 1,000 women. In 2017, the total fertility rate—an estimate of the total number of children a woman will eventually have in her lifetime—was 1,765 births per 1,000 women, well below what is known as the replacement level. (Abbott, 1/10)

Artificial sweeteners offer no health benefits, a large review of studies found. But it found no proof that they do any harm, either. Researchers looked at 35 observational studies and 21 controlled trials of nonsugar sweeteners in children and adults. Some compared intake of sweeteners with no intake; others compared lower with higher intakes. They found no convincing evidence that nonsugar sweeteners had any effect in adults on eating behavior, cancer, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, mood, behavior or cognition. (Bakalar, 1/9)

Finding a place to get your first shot of the shingles vaccine, or second required dose, is getting as difficult as scoring “Hamilton” tickets. In South Florida alone, many pharmacy outlets at chains like Publix and Walgreens have reported problems obtaining vaccines and waiting lists are growing. (Cohen, 1/9)

Oral hormone replacement therapy, or H.R.T., increases the risk for potentially fatal blood clots. But a study in BMJ found that hormone replacement delivered through the skin by injection or skin patch entails no increased risk for blood clots. British researchers looked at 80,396 women who had blood clots while on various H.R.T. regimens, comparing them with 391,494 controls. (Bakalar, 1/9)

Adam Toren remembers the last time he crawled into bed, pulled the covers over his head and took off sick from work. “My whole family got wracked by the flu around 2006,” said Mr. Toren, a tech entrepreneur and writer. “Hopefully, that was the last time.” Thirteen years later, Mr. Toren, who lives in Phoenix, said he has not missed another day of work from illness, a streak of which he is exceedingly proud. To keep it going, “I monitor my sleep cycles,” he said, laying out the things he believes keep him healthy. “I don’t drink coffee. I drink specialty teas — Gyukuro, a Japanese tea. I take turmeric and resveratrol,” a supplement. (Kurutz, 1/10)