Women who stop using some forms of contraception may have to wait up to eight months before their fertility returns, suggests research published online in The BMJ. US and Danish researchers measured the delay in return of fertility in women after use of a variety of contraceptive methods. They found that the time until fertility […]
Lies Spread on Social Media May Mean Fewer Vaccinations
FRIDAY, Oct. 30, 2020 — Foreign disinformation campaigns on social media have caused vaccination rates to fall, a new study reveals. Every 1 point increase in the effort to discredit vaccines is linked to an average 2% drop in annual vaccine coverage around the world, and a 15% increase in negative tweets about vaccination, researchers […]
Common mutation in Parkinson’s disease increases cell calcium, may cause brain cell death
Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have mapped out the cellular pathway that connects the most common genetic mutation associated with Parkinson’s disease to brain cell death. In a new study, they show that the mutation initiates a biological pathway that could target brain cells most susceptible to the patterns of cell death leading to Parkinson’s disease […]
CDC: Number of COVID-19 Deaths May Be Underreported
THURSDAY, Oct. 22, 2020 — The number of COVID-19-related deaths may be underestimated, according to research published in the Oct. 20 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Lauren M. Rossen, Ph.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues assessed trends and demographic patterns in excess […]
Sprycel Plus Blincyto Drug Combo May Be Safe, Effective Therapy for Rare Leukemia
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 21, 2020 — A combination of two “targeted” therapies can beat back a rare form of blood cancer — without the toxic effects of chemotherapy, a new study has found. In a trial of 63 patients, researchers found that the drug regimen frequently wiped out all signs of the cancer — a subtype […]
Mouthwashes, oral rinses may inactivate human coronaviruses
Certain oral antiseptics and mouthwashes may have the ability to inactivate human coronaviruses, according to a Penn State College of Medicine research study. The results indicate that some of these products might be useful for reducing the viral load, or amount of virus, in the mouth after infection and may help to reduce the spread […]
Congenital heart defects may not increase the risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms
Adults and children born with heart defects had a lower-than-expected risk of developing moderate or severe COVID-19 symptoms, finds a study of more than 7,000 patients from the congenital heart disease center at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Throughout the course of the pandemic, evidence has shown that individuals with heart disease […]
Around a third of infants with COVID-19 may have caught it from mother
Environmental exposure to SARS-CoV-2 was responsible for the majority of infections detected in newborn infants in an analysis of 176 reported cases. However, the findings, published in Nature Communications, suggest that 30% of the reported cases may have been acquired from the mother. Daniele De Luca and colleagues performed a meta-analysis of published cases of […]
Prenatal Cannabis Exposure May Raise Risk for Psychopathology
THURSDAY, Oct. 15, 2020 — Prenatal cannabis exposure is associated with a greater risk for psychopathology during middle childhood, according to a study published online Sept. 23 in JAMA Psychiatry. Sarah E. Paul, from Washington University in St. Louis, and colleagues evaluated whether cannabis use during pregnancy is associated with adverse outcomes among offspring. The […]
Why males may have a worse response to COVID-19
If you ask most women about how their male relatives, partners and friends respond to being sick, they’ll often tell you with an accompanying eye roll, “He’s such a baby.” “He’s extra whiny.” Or “he exaggerates so much.” But there may be a biological explanation for this behavior. Dubbed the “man flu,” this phenomenon has […]