WEDNESDAY, Nov. 25, 2020 — Delirium is often the first symptom of COVID-19 to appear in older people, a new study finds. They may have confusion with an altered level of consciousness, disorientation, inattention and other mental disturbances, but none of the other typical signs of the coronavirus infection, such as fever and cough, […]
Antibiotic Therapy Before Age 2 May Affect Child Health
TUESDAY, Nov. 17, 2020 — Exposure to antibiotics in the first two years of life is associated with an increased risk for several health conditions during childhood, according to a study published online Nov. 15 in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Zaira Aversa, M.D., Ph.D., from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues conducted a […]
Changes to the brain’s reward system may drive overeating in mice
A combination of innate differences and diet-induced changes to the reward system may predispose some mice to overeat, according to research recently published in JNeurosci. Food is fuel, but the rising levels of sugar and fat in modern diets make the brain treat it as a reward. One brain region called the ventral pallidum (VP) […]
Cannabinoids may help limit secondary damage of TBIs
In the hours and days after a traumatic brain injury, inflammation inside the brain can accelerate to the point that more brain damage occurs, says a scientist working to better understand the acceleration and whether interventions like cannabinoids can improve patient outcomes. While some TBI patients do well, most would benefit from therapy to create […]
Flu season is off to a slow start; COVID-19 precautions may be helping
As coronavirus surges in much of the United States, that other virus we start to worry about this time of year—flu—is slowly starting its annual invasion. There have been a few cases in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but the numbers are still low, as they are in most of the country. This could be because […]
Poor nutrition in school years may have created 20 cm height gap across nations
A new global analysis led by Imperial College London, and published in journal The Lancet, has assessed the height and weight of school-aged children and adolescents across the world. The study, which used data from 65 million children aged five to 19 years old in 193 countries, revealed that school-aged children’s’ height and weight, which […]
‘Patient activation’ may improve quality of life in individuals with kidney disease
Researchers previously demonstrated that online peer mentoring for individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) improves patient activation—or patients’ willingness and ability to take actions to manage their health and care—and quality of life (QOL). Now the investigators have looked at the correlation between QOL and patient activation among patients with CKD who participated in an […]
Cold water may be an effective defense against dementia
Fox News Flash top headlines for October 20 Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com. After years of anecdotal evidence, scientists have finally nailed down one link between brain health and the “polar bear plunge.” In a study of the blood profiles of regular winter-time swimmers in London, Cambridge […]
Newer Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug May Help Ease Tough-to-Treat Cases
MONDAY, Oct. 19, 2020 — A recently approved rheumatoid arthritis medication appears to be an effective second-line therapy when biologic treatments start to fail, a new clinical trial reports. Arthritis sufferers treated with upadacitinib had a significantly greater reduction in their symptoms and disease activity than people treated with a standard disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), […]
Reproductive hormone may curb COVID-19 inflammation, prevent cytokine storm
Researchers have used “omics” data containing genetic profiles of drugs to identify the hormone oxytocin as a possible treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The study is published in Physiological Genomics. It was chosen as an APSselect article for October. Increased inflammation that leads to a “cytokine storm”—in which the […]