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☆ Shingles vaccines may reduce dementia risk, two large new studies suggest
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

In 2017, a stronger vaccine, Shingrix, became available. “While research into whether vaccines affect dementia risk continues, people should be aware that there are other factors that have definitively been linked to an increased dementia risk. This study also found that the new shingles vaccine was associated with a larger degree of benefit than the older one. Although the findings are intriguing, the association needs more study before researchers can know for sure that the shingles vaccine is definitively behind the benefit. So for the time being, the best reason to get a shingles vaccine is still to avoid the misery of shingles.

Persons: stow, Shingrix, that’s, ”, Paul Harrison, ” Harrison, Dr, Andrew Doig, ” Doig, it’s, Sheona Scales, Scales, Sanjay Gupta, Phil Dormitzer Organizations: CNN, US Centers for Disease Control, Nature, GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, University of Oxford, University of Manchester, Alzheimer’s Research, Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, Oxford, CNN Health Locations: United States

☆ Supernova or Coronavirus: Can You Tell the Difference?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Katrina Miller | More About Katrina Miller | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Can you tell the difference between microscopic and massive? Red whirls on this rabbit’s tongue are filiform papillae, which roughen the tongue and help move food around the mouth. Purple and white “spike” proteins on this popular model of the coronavirus help it attach to and enter our cells. These might remind you of …… the clumps of cosmic debris in Tycho’s supernova, a star that may have exploded at many points simultaneously. Its concentric rings resemble …… the raging vortex at Saturn’s north pole, where green, pink and blue correspond to clouds of increasing depth.

Persons: Kim Arcand, NASA’s Chandra, … Organizations: Smithsonian Astrophysical

☆ STIs: How to talk about them with a new partner
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

However, “how to bring it up is tricky because any topic related to sexual health is so taboo and so value-based,” Brito said. But regardless, “it’s important for you to be assertive about your own health,” Brito said, especially as rates of STIs have been rising over the last several years. Whether it’s due to shame or selfishness, not everyone is forthcoming about their sexual health status. Additionally, it’s easier to be proactive and prevent contracting STIs than it is to have to handle a health problem. “There are many … STIs that have really bad stigmas that actually don’t cause any long-term problems,” Earle-Cruickshanks said.

Persons: CNN — You’ve, haven’t, Janet Brito, ” Brito, “, Germaine Earle, Cruickshanks, — won’t, Earle, you’re, ” Earle, Brito, —, you’ve, I’m Organizations: CNN, Hawaii Center, Sexual, Health, Mount Auburn Hospital Locations: Honolulu, Cambridge , Massachusetts

☆ Moderna moves three vaccines into final stage trials as it works to rebound from Covid slump
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Moderna has more to offer beyond its Covid vaccine. The update brings Moderna a step closer to having multiple products on the market, which it badly needs amid plunging demand for Covid shots worldwide. Moderna will chart its post-Covid future Wednesday during its fifth annual "Vaccines Day," an investor event in Boston focused on the company's vaccine portfolio. That includes its combination vaccine against Covid and the flu and a shot against another common herpes virus called cytomegalovirus, or CMV. It also includes a new and improved version of Moderna's Covid shot.

Persons: norovirus, Barr, Moderna, Blackstone, Stéphane Bancel Organizations: Moderna, Epstein, Covid, Blackstone Life Sciences, Blackstone Group Locations: Boston, U.S

☆ Smoking’s effects on the immune system can last years, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

They exposed the blood samples to common germs like E. coli bacteria and the flu virus and measured the immune response. It had nearly the same impact on immune response as important factors such as age or sex. The innate immune response is the general way the skin, mucous membranes, immune system cells and proteins fights germs. The experiment was done in blood samples in the lab, but the immune system may react differently in real life. Those mice cleared a bacterial infection less efficiently and with a less-robust immune response than mice that weren’t exposed.

Persons: they’ve, it’s, ”, Dr, Violaine, “, André, Darragh Duffy, “ It’s, ” Duffy, Duffy, Yasmin Thanavala, There’s, ” Thanavala, Sanjay Gupta, Albert Rizzo, we’ve, Rizzo Organizations: CNN, Nature, Institut Pasteur, Immunology, Roswell, Cancer Institute, Get CNN, CNN Health, American Medical Association Locations: United States, Paris

☆ Who Kissed First? Archaeology Has an Answer.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Franz Lidz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

They met a week earlier at a pub near the University of Copenhagen, where both were undergraduates. “I had asked my cousin if he knew any nice single guys with long hair and long beards,” Dr. Rasmussen said. “I do,” said Dr. Rasmussen, who had taken some of the same classes. The researcher, at the University of Cambridge, suggested that the custom — a lip-kissing precursor that involved rubbing and pressing noses together — developed into hardcore smooching. — about when the Indian how-to sex manual, the Kama Sutra, was published — kissing had spread to the Mediterranean with the return of Alexander the Great’s troops from Northern India.

Persons: humanity’s, Sophie Lund Rasmussen, Troels, “, Dr, Rasmussen, ’, Arboll, ”, buss, —, Alexander the Organizations: University of Copenhagen, University of Oxford’s, Conservation Research Unit, Aalborg University, University of Cambridge Locations: Assyriology, Denmark, Asia, Northern India

☆ Romantic kissing’s earliest record dates to 4,500 years ago, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Romantic kisses have long been celebrated in songs, poems and stories, commemorated in art and film. Modern scholars therefore concluded that romantic kisses likely originated in India. Across thousands of cuneiform tablets kissing isn’t the most mentioned topic, “but it is attested regularly,” he said. But Arbøll and Rasmussen suspected that romantic kissing became accepted in Bronze Age Europe, and not because of migration alone. Even today, many cultures shun romantic kissing, Arbøll and Rasmussen reported.

Persons: CNN —, ”, Guy de Maupassant, Troels Pank, Assyriology, Justin R, Garcia, ” Garcia, de Maupassant, Arbøll, Dr, Sophie Lund Rasmussen, ” Arbøll, “, primatologist Frans B.M, De, Rasmussen, isn’t, It’s, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, University of Copenhagen, Indiana University, Kinsey Institute, Oxford University, Emory University, Scientific Locations: Mesopotamia, Bloomington, India, De Waal, Atlanta, Europe, Russia

☆ We asked a dermatologist about the mystery marks on Trump's hand. Here's what he said.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Julia Pugachevsky | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. As with Trump's health in the past, people on X (formerly Twitter) were quick to speculate about what caused the marks. AdvertisementZeichner shared four possibilities for the rashes on Trump's hand, all of which are probably less interesting than what the internet is theorizing. Possibility 1: His hands are too dryZeichner said the most common causes of hand rashes were dryness and overwashing. AdvertisementPossibility 4: None of the aboveAs Zeichner pointed out, hand rashes can be caused by almost anything, including something as unsuspecting as bug bites.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Jean Carroll's, Joshua Zeichner, Zeichner, Trump, germophobe, margarita Organizations: Service, New, Business, Sinai, Trump Locations: New York, New York City

☆ We asked a dermatologist about the mystery marks on Trump's hands. Here's what he said.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Julia Pugachevsky | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A dermatologist speculated that the hand marks are rashes and could be caused by many things. As with Trump's health in the past , people on X (formerly Twitter) were quick to speculate about what caused the marks. AdvertisementZeichner shared four possibilities for the rashes on Trump's hands, all of which are likely less interesting than what the internet is theorizing. Possibility 1: His hands are too dryZeichner said that the most common causes of hand rashes are dryness and overwashing. AdvertisementPossibility 4: None of the aboveAs Zeichner pointed out, hand rashes could be caused by almost anything, including something as unsuspecting as bug bites.

Persons: Donald Trump, —, Jean Carroll's, Joshua Zeichner, Zeichner, Trump, germophobe, margarita Organizations: Service, New, Sinai, Trump Locations: New York, New York City

☆ Bite-mark tattoos are having a moment. A dermatologist warns that they could be dangerous.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Maria Noyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A quick peruse on social media and you'll quickly see that bite-mark tattoos are having a moment. However, a Betty Zoo Tattoo representative told Business Insider that the tattoo — which cost roughly 800 Danish kroner, or around $118 — was "harmless." You don't know where that person's mouth has been," the tattoo artist, who goes by Miss Vampira on Instagram, said. Mary Minahan is a tattoo artist with over a decade of experience in the industry. And while he's happy with his new ink, Thage said he plans to return to Betty Zoo Tattoo for a touch-up.

Persons: Oliver Thage, Thage wasn't, —, you'll, Zoo Oliver Thage, didn't, Mary Minahan, Miss Vampira, Dr, Adam Friedman, it's, Friedman, Minahan, Thage Organizations: Service, Betty Zoo Tattoo, Business, Miss, George Washington University, Betty Zoo Locations: Danish, York City

Souring relations between Asian rivals Japan and China now seem to be snagged on calm-inducing beauty in spas, museums and gardens. In recent years, koi have become hugely popular in Asia, with Japan's koi exports doubling over the past decade to 6.3 billion yen ($43 million) — one-fifth of them shipped to China, the top Japanese koi importer, followed by the United States and Indonesia. Fisheries Agency official Satoru Abe, in charge of koi quarantine, said China has not provided any explanation as to why it hasn't taken the necessary steps to continue koi shipments. IS THIS RELATED TO FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI'S TREATED WASTEWATER RELEASE? Abe, the koi quarantine official, said Fukushima’s wastewater release is unlikely to be the cause of the koi export stoppage, noting that China allowed Japanese koi in for two months after the water discharge began.

Persons: Satoru Abe, Abe, Ichiro Miyashita, “, Hirokazu Matsuno Organizations: TOKYO, CHINA, Japan . Fisheries Agency, International Atomic Energy Agency, Forestry, Fisheries Locations: Japan, China, Asia, United States, Indonesia, Beijing, Tokyo, JAPAN, CHINA, East China

☆ Reid Hoffman reportedly compared Elon Musk's behavior during a merger to someone hiding a sexually transmitted disease from their spouse
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Kylie Kirschner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Former PayPal COO Reid Hoffman criticized Elon Musk's behavior during the early days of PayPal. Hoffman told The New Yorker that Musk behaved like someone hiding an STD from their spouse. Hoffman and Musk were both part of the "PayPal Mafia" — early PayPal employees who became big names in tech. In a new interview, former PayPal COO Reid Hoffman criticized Elon Musk's behavior during a merger years ago. Hoffman compared the merger to a marriage and said that Musk's behavior at the time was like someone hiding a sexually transmitted disease from their spouse.

Persons: Reid Hoffman, Elon, Hoffman, Musk, Peter Thiel, we're, Thiel, X Organizations: PayPal, Yorker, New, SpaceX, Twitter

☆ STIs are on the rise in the US. A pill taken after sex could help slow them down
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Yet recent research suggests that one pill of the drug can be effective in preventing such infections among men who have sex with men if taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex. He added that any guidance from the CDC will help “fill gaps,” provide direction to clinics and offer a framework for using doxyPEP for STI prevention. “Drug resistance when taking doxyPEP is currently being studied in people using this treatment for STI prevention. “There are still many STI prevention and treatment gaps left to fill. “In STI prevention, we’ve been relying on tools that are decades, sometimes centuries old.

Persons: Dr, Jonathan Mermin, ”, doxyPEP, Stephanie Cohen, “, “ We’re, ” Cohen, ” David C, Harvey, ” Harvey, DoxyPEP, someone’s, Annie Luetkemeyer, gonorrhea, ” Luetkemeyer, Connie Celum, Kenya Medical Research Institute —, Jenell Stewart, Stewart, ” Stewart, Suneer Chander, Wisp, ” Chander, Sanjay Gupta, Mermin, Deidre McPhillips Organizations: CNN, US Centers for Disease Control, CDC’s National Center, HIV, CDC, San Francisco Department of Public Health, California Department of Public Health, San Francisco Department of Public, National Coalition, STD, “, New England, of Medicine, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, UCSF, University of Washington, Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Hennepin Healthcare, University of Minnesota, PEP, Food and Drug Administration, CNN Health Locations: United States, San Francisco, Seattle, King County, Washington, Kenya, Hennepin

☆ Study reveals how immune system of astronauts breaks down
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] The International Space Station (ISS) is photographed by Expedition 66 crew member Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov from the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft, in this image released April 20, 2022. "A weaker immunity increases the risk of infectious diseases limiting astronauts' ability to perform their very demanding work in space. Gene expression in 247 genes in leukocytes was at about one third the normal levels while in space, the study found. Before this paper, we knew of immune dysfunction but not of the mechanisms," said study co-author Guy Trudel, an Ottawa Hospital rehabilitation medicine specialist. Discovering altered gene behavior in leukocytes is "a significant step toward understanding human immune dysregulation in space," Trudel added.

Persons: Pyotr Dubrov, Odette Laneuville, Guy Trudel, Trudel, Epstein, Barr, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Space, Expedition, Soyuz, REUTERS, WASHINGTON, University of Ottawa, Canadian Space Agency, NASA, Ottawa Hospital, Thomson Locations: Handout, Canada, Ottawa

☆ Fact Check-False claim of COVID vaccine link to AIDS-related illnesses recirculates
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The Expose article says that its central claim is based on a “cherry-picked” list of conditions associated with AIDS and HIV infection. Any increase in the incidence of the listed conditions “would not necessarily be proof that the COVID-19 vaccines cause weakened immune systems,” Mimiaga noted. The claim that COVID vaccines can cause “vaccine-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome” or “VAIDS” has been shared since 2021. Similar claims that COVID vaccines cause HIV infections, AIDS or AIDS-like immune weakening have also been debunked (here), (here). The posts stem from a story that uses unreliable data to falsely suggest a link between COVID vaccines and AIDS-associated diseases and cancers, according to independent health experts.

Persons: ”, VAERS, Matthew Mimiaga, Mimiaga, Thomas Russo, ” Mimiaga, ” Russo, Read Organizations: Reuters, U.S, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, CDC, Facebook, Food and Drug Administration, University of California, Fielding School of Public Health, ”, myocarditis, University, Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine, Biomedical Sciences Locations: United States, Los Angeles, COVID

☆ Evidence of the first recorded romantic kiss dating back 4,500 years has been discovered
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

New research into Ancient Mesopotamia suggests people kissed romantically 4,500 years ago. Ancient Mesopotamia is considered to be roughly the land that is now modern-day Iraq and Syria. It was previously believed the earliest evidence of romantic-sexual lip kissing in humans originated in South Asia 3,500 years ago. The new research challenges these theories and suggests kissing was common across many different regions and cultures, starting much earlier. While the exact origins of romantic kissing remain uncertain, the study said, there is some possible evidence that it may have occurred even before the advent of writing.

☆ Ramsay Hunt Syndrome: The condition public figures Sen. Dianne Feinstein and pop star Justin Bieber have brought to light
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the 89-year-old California Democrat who was diagnosed with shingles in February, confirmed Thursday she “continues to have complications” from a viral infection called Ramsay Hunt syndrome. “This makes its true frequency more difficult to determine,” the Cleveland Clinic noted. Ramsay Hunt syndrome can also cause hearing loss on the side of the face affected. About 70% of people with Ramsay Hunt will regain complete or “almost complete” function of facial muscles, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment with antiviral therapy seem to improve long-term outcomes,” the Cleveland Clinic notes on its website.

☆ Trump's rape trial defense? His accuser and her friends have Trump Derangement Syndrome
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Donald Trump's lawyers have tried to undermine E. Jean Carroll, who accuses him of rape. Just moments later, Trump's lawyers rested their case as well, without presenting any evidence. Carroll and her friends, Trump's lawyers suggest, all have Trump Derangement Syndrome. According to Trump's lawyers, the whole lawsuit is a conspiracy schemed up by ardent Trump critic George Conway. AP Photo/John MinchilloTrump's attorney pointed out that Birnbach had said Trump and his allies had symptoms of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

☆ Opinion | E. Jean Carroll Must Be Going Through Hell
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Michelle Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The story is schematic and the script, by the end, turns didactic, but Comer’s blazing, magnificent performance elevates the show into greatness. I kept thinking about “Prima Facie” as I sat in the Manhattan courtroom where E. Jean Carroll is suing Donald Trump for battery and defamation stemming from a rape that she alleges occurred in the mid-1990s. “The lived experience of sexual assault is not remembered in a neat, consistent, scientific parcel,” Tessa says. Both sides rested on Thursday — the Trump camp declined to call a single witness — and closing arguments are scheduled for Monday. Two of Carroll’s friends, Lisa Birnbach and Carol Martin, testified that Carroll told them that Trump had assaulted her shortly after it happened.

☆ E. Jean Carroll's friend testified she urged the writer to go to the police minutes after alleged Trump rape
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Ashley Collman | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Day five of the E. Jean Carroll trial started with testimony from the writer's friend Lisa Birnbach. Birnbach said Carroll called her minutes after her alleged rape by Donald Trump in the mid-1990s. Carroll was "hyperventilating" and appeared to be "still processing" while recalling the alleged rape, Birnbach said. "No, no, no, I'm not going to the police," Birnbach recalled Carroll saying. E. Jean Carroll and Donald Trump.

☆ R. Kelly is appealing his 2021 sex trafficking and racketeering convictions in New York and wants a new trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Liam Reilly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly is appealing one of his two federal convictions – his September 2021 guilty verdicts on sex trafficking and racketeering charges in New York – and is seeking a reversal of that conviction or a new trial, court documents show. In a brief filed Wednesday, the singer’s attorneys argue at least four seated jurors in the New York case were already familiar with the sex trafficking accusations raised against R. Kelly prior to trial, with some having seen a documentary series about him. R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in a New York federal court after a jury convicted him of nine counts, including one charge of racketeering and eight counts of violations of the Mann Act, a sex trafficking law. His attorneys allege the prosecution failed to show there was a “collective of individuals who shared any common purpose other than to promote” R. Kelly’s music. The singer’s attorneys are also seeking to vacate those orders and return the funds confiscated from his trust account.

☆ Buy this little-known biotech stock set to rally nearly 60% as use of gene therapy grows, Goldman Sachs says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of Krystal Biotech can rally nearly 60% as use of its gene therapy to treat cases of herpes simplex virus mount, Goldman Sachs said. Given the promising outlook for the treatment, Kumar raised Goldman's peak global unadjusted sales expectations to $1.2 billion from $1.5 billion. He also expects a rapid launch of the therapy, anticipating 25% and 48% peak penetration in 2024 and 2025. Along with the upgrade, Kumar upped the Wall Street firm's price target to $124 from $79, suggesting that shares could potentially rally about 59%. KRYS YTD mountain Krystal Biotech shares so far this year — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting

☆ Here's the 15-slide presentation Twentyeight Health used to raise $8.3 million to give Medicaid patients better reproductive healthcare
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twentyeight Health provides underserved groups with reproductive and sexual healthcare online. See the pitch deck Twentyeight Health used to bank $8.3 million in pre-Series A funding. Twentyeight Health provides reproductive and sexual healthcare primarily for underserved communities, like low-income patients and patients of color. Twentyeight Health provided Insider with the pitch deck it used to raise $8.3 million in pre-Series A funding. Here's the 15-slide pitch deck Twentyeight Health used to bank $8.3 million.

☆ Elon Musk's Neuralink is under investigation for possible unsafe transport of contaminated hardware
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk's brain-computer interface company Neuralink is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation for allegedly packaging and transporting contaminated hardware in an unsafe manner, a DOT spokesperson confirmed to CNBC. PCRM claimed the materials were not properly contained or transported, possibly because Neuralink employees had not received proper safety training. The staffer wrote that if Neuralink employees had not completed the necessary training, UC Davis personnel were "always happy" to package and ship materials. PCRM obtained these records from UC Davis through a public information request. Representatives from UC Davis did not respond to requests for comment.

☆ U.S. investigating Elon Musk's Neuralink over hazardous pathogens
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Rachael Levy | Thomson Reuters | Award-Winning Journalist Covering Corporate Governance. Her Reporting Has Prompted Federal Investigations | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Feb 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Transportation said on Thursday it is investigating Elon Musk's brain-implant company Neuralink over the potentially illegal movement of hazardous pathogens. The Department of Transportation spokesperson said the agency took PCRM's allegations "very seriously." Reuters reviewed the UC Davis records cited by PCRM in its letter. Neuralink messages and records not shared with UC Davis are not subject to such information requests. A UC Davis spokesperson would only say that the university abides by all biohazard and lab safety regulations.

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