The high incidence of COVID-19 and resulting sudden changes in the health of many long-stay nursing home residents across the country have amplified the importance of advance care planning and the need for periodic review of the process, especially as widespread vaccination changes the calculus of the disease. Two new studies from Indiana University and […]
Study finds why some cancer drugs may be ineffective
A possible explanation for why many cancer drugs that kill tumor cells in mouse models won’t work in human trials has been found by researchers with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Biomedical Informatics and McGovern Medical School. The research was published today in Nature Communications. In the study, […]
The side stream of malting could be better used in human nutrition
Malting, the processing of cereal grains into malt, generates rootlets as a side-stream product, which is currently mostly utilized as animal feed. However, this leftover material has not only a high protein content, but also high amounts of phytochemicals, which makes it a highly potential source of development for the food industry, according to a […]
Mathematical model of SARS-CoV-2 UK variant suggests it could be 43–90% more transmissible
A team of researchers led by a group at the Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has found evidence suggesting that the U.K. variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus could be 43 to 90% more transmissible than the original virus. In their study, published in the journal Science, […]
Could our immune system be why COVID-19 is so deadly?
Respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 (causing COVID-19) can often catalyze an overactive immune response that leads to a life-threatening cycle, known as a cytokine storm. Analyzing cytokine responses from patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and similar common respiratory viruses has unearthed glaringly important differences in how SARS-CoV-2 affects cytokines compared to other common respiratory viruses. The […]
How plastic is polluting your body: Just how worried should we be?
How plastic is polluting your body: With each of us ingesting over 100,000 particles a year, just how worried should we be? When we think of the devastating toll that plastic pollution can have, it is usually images of turtles caught in single-use bags or piles of plastic bottles in landfill that we conjure up […]
Antibiotic could be repurposed and added to tuberculosis treatment arsenal
Research has found fidaxomicin, an antibiotic usually used to treat bowel infections, prevents growth of resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) in the lab. Published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, the research found that fidaxomicin was more effective than existing tuberculosis (TB) medication at preventing growth of the bacterium that causes TB. Researchers compared […]
Teens may be more likely to use marijuana after legalization for adult recreational use
Adolescents who live in California may be more likely to use marijuana since adult recreational marijuana use was legalized in 2016, according to a new report in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. “The apparent increase in marijuana use among California adolescents after recreational marijuana legalization for adult use in 2016 is surprising […]
How Doomscrolling Can Actually Be Harmful To Your Health
You log on to your favorite social media account for a quick update on what’s going on. With each post that you like, you tell yourself that you’re only going to check out a few more and commit to signing off for the night in a bit. Then, out of nowhere, a tragic news headline […]
Biden’s First Order of Business May Be to Undo Trump’s Policies, but It Won’t Be Easy
The party split in Congress is so slim that, even with Democrats technically in the majority, passing major health care legislation will be extremely difficult. So speculation about President-elect Joe Biden’s health agenda has focused on the things he can accomplish using executive authority. Although there is a long list of things he could do, […]