Your lungs and airways need to be stretchy, sort of like balloons. Take a big breath, and they’ll open right up. Damaged lungs can’t open properly. Patients with asthma, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and systemic sclerosis suffer from fibrosis and tissue remodeling, where a build-up of tissue and immune cells, and proteins that form a glue-like […]
As COVID-19 spikes, will some state shut down again?
America may be reopening, but the new coronavirus hasn’t gone away — indeed, many U.S. states have seen worrisome rises in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. But is there a point at which these rises should trigger the return of shutdowns and stay-at-home orders? And how would states determine this “tipping point?” This past week, […]
Lockdown got you down? Experts offer tips to de-stress
Though the physical health risks posed by COVID-19 are at the top of everyone’s mind, experts warn the pandemic is also exacting a massive toll on mental health. So finds new research emerging on the mental health effects in China, where infection peaks and lockdowns have preceded the American experience by several months. For example, […]
Incidence of AMI hospitalization down during COVID-19
(HealthDay)—In Northern California, the incidence of hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic period, according to a letter to the editor published online May 19 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Matthew D. Solomon, M.D., Ph.D., from the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center in California, and colleagues examined weekly incidence rates […]
Safely relaxing social distancing comes down to numbers
Your house number could be the key to the safe relaxation of COVID-19-related restrictions if government follow a new exit strategy proposal published today in the British Medical Journal. Co-authored by Professor Adrian Barnett, a statistician with QUT’s School of Public Health and Social Work, the paper suggests governments around the globe use an ‘odds-and-evens’ […]
Shut down ‘wet markets’ to prevent next viral plague, animal advocates say
(HealthDay)—Sometime in the late fall of 2019, probably in a live-animal “wet market” in Wuhan, China, a strain of coronavirus previously harbored only by animals made the leap to humans. There are various theories on the intermediary species involved—snakes, bats or even an armadillo-like creature called the pangolin have been implicated. A few months later, […]
Asia cracks down on virus ‘fake news’
Hundreds of people have been arrested across Asia for posting purported false coronavirus information, according to an AFP investigation, deepening concerns that growing government efforts to combat “fake news” will target the wrong people and silence dissent. From teenagers to a TV star, people have been wrongly detained under vaguely worded cybercrime laws or broad […]
If you hunker down against coronavirus, don’t stop reaching out, experts say
As more communities deal with outbreaks of COVID-19, those at risk are being advised to stay home and stock up to protect themselves. But experts say the need to hunker down does not mean people shouldn’t reach out to help. “When there’s a time of anxiety, that is not a time to pull back from […]
US, Europe lock down; Asia urges virus vigilance
As millions of people in Europe, the United States and beyond began holing up at home, stocking up on supplies and keeping a wary eye on how close they get to friends and neighbors, the coronavirus outbreak marked a distinct shift in focus Monday, with reported infections in the rest of the world overtaking those […]
How brain cells lay down infrastructure to grow and create memories
Research published today in Science Advances sheds new light on the molecular machinery that enables the shape, growth and movement of neurons. It is the first time scientists have revealed how the brain shuttles genetic code within its cells, a process believed to be crucial for the formation and storage of long-term memories. Brain cells, […]