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☆ Measles poses growing threat to kids as vaccinations decline globally, CDC and WHO warn
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A growing number of children around the world are vulnerable to measles as vaccination rates have declined to the lowest levels since 2008, global health leaders warned on Wednesday. About 81% of children worldwide received the first dose of the measles vaccine in 2021, down from 86% in 2019 before the Covid pandemic began. This leaves 25 million kids vulnerable to measles, according the report. The measles vaccine comes in two doses, but the first shot is the most important because it's 93% effective at preventing disease. This can cause outbreaks if vaccination rates are too low in their communities, according to the CDC.

☆ What Covid taught scientists and the public about the flu
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Caroline Hopkins | Nbc News Contributor Caroline Hopkins Is A Health | Science Journalist Who Covers Cancer Treatment For Precision Oncology News. She Is A Graduate Of The Columbia University Graduate School Of Journalism. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

Flu transmission can be stoppedThe 2020-2021 flu season — the first full flu season of the Covid pandemic — defied Tedros’ message. ‘Nonpharmaceutical interventions’ workBefore Covid, experts put limited stock in so-called nonpharmaceutical — that is, nonvaccination — strategies for preventing flu transmission. Although the airline case study taught the research community about airborne flu transmission, she said the general public’s appreciation for these risks has increased because of Covid. In that study, the researchers compared mild Covid infections with mild flu infections in mice and humans and found that the brain effects were similar around seven days post-infection. Asymptomatic flu infections may be underappreciatedThe Covid pandemic put a spotlight on the extent and risk of asymptomatic infections.

☆ Repeat COVID is riskier than first infection, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Reinfection with COVID-19 increases the risk of both acute outcomes and long COVID," said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "Even if one had prior infection and was vaccinated - meaning they had double immunity from prior infection plus vaccines - they are still susceptible to adverse outcomes upon reinfection," Al-Aly, the study leader, said. The higher risks were most pronounced in the first month after reinfection but were still evident six months later. The cumulative risks and burdens of repeat infection increased with the number of infections, even after accounting for differences in COVID-19 variants such as Delta, Omicron and BA.5, the researchers said. "We had started seeing a lot of patients coming to the clinic with an air of invincibility," Al-Aly told Reuters.

☆ Coy Gibbs, co-owner of NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing, dies at 49
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Kevin Dotson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Coy Gibbs, co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, son of team patriarch Joe Gibbs and father of NASCAR driver Ty Gibbs, has died at the age of 49, the racing team announced. “It is with great sorrow that Joe Gibbs Racing confirms that Coy Gibbs (co-owner) went to be with the Lord in his sleep last night. Joe Gibbs lost his other son, J.D. Gibbs both worked in the front office of Joe Gibbs Racing, and Coy Gibbs also raced for the team, according to NASCAR. On behalf of the France Family and all of NASCAR, I extend my deepest condolences to Joe, Pat, Heather, the Gibbs family and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing on the loss of Coy, a true friend and racer.”This story is developing.

☆ Sam Shields: Super Bowl champion regrets playing in NFL; says his head is 'all mushed together' with concussions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Former Green Bay Packers cornerback Sam Shields has said he regrets playing in the NFL, pointing to the effects concussions and head injuries had on his career and his later life. The spotters “serve as another set of eyes, watching for possible injuries at every NFL game,” according to NFL Football Operations. Concussions and their prevention have become an important issue in recent years due to their connection to brain disease later in life. The neurodegenerative brain disease can be found in individuals who have been exposed to repeated head trauma. The researchers hypothesized about a relationship between head trauma and ALS because of a similar link detected between football and the neurodegenerative disease CTE.

☆ Christina Applegate on the subtle signs that led to MS diagnosis: 'I wish I had paid attention'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Gina Vivinetto | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Christina Applegate is opening up about the early physical symptoms in her body that led to her being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She later noticed her tennis game was not as strong, but she told herself she just needed to work harder. “I wish I had paid attention,” said Applegate. “There was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better,’” recalled Applegate. Applegate calls filming the final season of “Dead To Me,” which premieres Nov. 17, the hardest thing she’s ever done.

☆ ‘Dying Inside’: Chaos and Cruelty in Louisiana Juvenile Detention
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Megan Shutzer | Rachel Lauren Mueller | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +47 min

But inside the walls at Ware, one of the state’s largest juvenile detention facilities, children have been trying to kill themselves with stunning regularity. In Louisiana, where brutal conditions prompted juvenile justice reform two decades ago, the system is again in crisis. Most Ware guards are Black, as well, though nearly all of its leaders are white, as are the local judge, sheriff and district attorney. “Of course, they still do.” In reports to the state, Ware’s nurses described carpet burns on children’s faces and head-to-toe bruises from restraints. In fact, of the four guards convicted of sexually assaulting children at Ware, Mr. Peace would be the only one imprisoned.

☆ Stroke survivors speak out about John Fetterman's debate struggles
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Benjamin Ryan | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

For stroke survivors interviewed by NBC News, the test Fetterman faced was not just political, but deeply personal. Sheth differentiated between the intellectual and cognitive capacities of stroke survivors and their ability to process language and communicate. Some stroke survivors said that just as people with learning disabilities are given extra time on standardized tests, the debate rules should have allotted Fetterman longer periods to speak. Accordingly, some stroke survivors said that at the end of the hourlong debate, Fetterman seemed worn out. Others said they hoped that the attention focused on Fetterman’s recovery might inspire greater empathy and understanding of what stroke survivors go through.

☆ Startup Parrots is using 5G to develop a bird-shaped, AI-powered machine that helps people with disabilities communicate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Karen Fischer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Polly, a hardware and software service, helps people with disabilities live more independently. Parrots' founder is in talks with the VA to give Polly to veterans with neurological disorders. This article is part of "How 5G Is Changing Everything," a series about transformational 5G tech across industries. Hojah acknowledged that Parrots could have taken flight without 5G but said the timeline would have been much slower: "5G is expanding our growth rapidly." In 2019, Parrots won Verizon's Built on 5G Challenge, and Hojah got mentorship and technological assistance from the wireless-telecommunications giant.

☆ Neuralink's 'show & tell' delayed by one month, Elon Musk says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk said in a tweet on Sunday pushed back by a month the date for Neuralink's "show & tell" event to Nov. 30 and did not provide further information. loadingThe chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and rocket developer SpaceX said in August that the event would be held on Oct. 31. Co-founded by Musk in 2016, San Francisco-based Neuralink aims to implant wireless brain computer chips to help cure neurological conditions like Alzheimer's, dementia and spinal cord injuries and fuse humankind with artificial intelligence. Musk approached brain chip implant developer Synchron Inc about a potential investment after he expressed frustration to Neuralink employees over their slow progress to win regulatory clearance for its devices. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fact Check-Guillain-Barré syndrome, Bell’s palsy, acute flaccid myelitis and transverse myelitis are not polio ‘renamed’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Guillain-Barré syndrome, Bell’s palsy, acute flaccid myelitis and transverse myelitis are not polio “renamed”, despite claims posted online. It was NEVER eradicated, it's been renamed several times, Guillian Barre, Bells Palsy, Acute Flaccid Myelitis, Transverse Myelitis... Any neurological disorder has been renamed polio.”A similar post can be found here. Though primarily seen following an acute infection, GBS can also be a rare side effect of vaccination (here). Four medical syndromes with symptoms that can include muscle weakness and paralysis are not “polio renamed”, as claimed on social media. Poliovirus infection, while extremely rare, can lead to some of these syndromes, but the syndromes themselves also have other, more common causes and distinct symptoms.

☆ Addiction drug shows promise lifting long COVID brain fog, fatigue
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Julie Steenhuysen | Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Lauren Nichols, who has long COVID, takes a break and rests in a lounge bed in the office in her home in Andover, Massachusetts, U.S., August 3, 2022. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterResearchers chasing long COVID cures are eager to learn whether the drug can offer similar benefits to millions suffering from pain, fatigue and brain fog months after a coronavirus infection. Younger, author of a scientific review of the drug as a novel anti-inflammatory, in September submitted a grant application to study LDN for long COVID. It worked so well that he ran a pilot study among 38 long COVID patients. He studied LDN in 18 long COVID patients, with 11 showing improvements, and said he believes larger, formal trials could determine whether LDN offers a true benefit.

TikTok star Emmanuel the emu is battling Avian Influenza, his caretaker, Taylor Blake, tweeted Saturday. The virus has now claimed the lives of 99% of the farm's birds and left Emmanuel fighting for his life since Wednesday. "I will do anything and go into any amount of debt to save his life," Blake tweeted about her best friend. On Sunday, Blake tweeted that Emmanuel is making progress -- sitting up by himself, taking backwards steps and putting pressure on his right foot. “Emmanuel, don’t do it!” Blake often says to the emu when he crosses in front of her and the iPhone camera.

☆ In a novel experiment, brain-like human tissue implanted in rat brains influenced the rodents' behavior
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Their results, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, showed that the brain-like human tissue integrated with the rat tissue, then continued to mature. The researchers injected the human tissue into the rats’ somatosensory cortexes — regions that receive and process sensory information like touch or pain. The researchers also used a puff of air to prod the rats’ whiskers, then observed how the human neurons responded. "We found that human neurons respond very quickly after we stimulated the whiskers. "Human neurons become part of the rat circuitry," Pașca said, adding that the neurons were "sparkling with electrical activity" under a microscope.

☆ The NFL updates its concussion protocol after Tua Tagovailoa injury, but a culture change is still needed
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Miami Dolphins player Tua Tagovailoa was injured in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. A number of former NFL players are taking to social media saying the NFL failed him. On Saturday, The NFL and NFL players union agreed to modify the league's concussion protocol. After leaving the league, Martin was arrested in 2018 for a social-media post that police deemed threatening. "Tua Tagovailoa will never be the same."

☆ The Teen Mental Health Industry Is Failing Them - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Alexander Stockton | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +26 min

Sometimes they are treated in ways that are illegal to treat prisoners, let alone kids seeking mental health treatment. But former patients from residential treatment facilities whom Times Opinion interviewed said they received one-on-one therapy only once a week, if that. The company owns dozens of hospitals and hundreds of behavioral health facilities and makes about $11 billion a year. In 2017, when he was 15 years old, his mother, Renee Hanania, sent him to a UHS facility in Virginia. America’s patchwork mental health treatment is still insufficient.

☆ The success of Biogen's new Alzheimer's drug could be the start of a redemption arc for the biotech — and boost rivals racing to develop similar treatments
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Biotech companies Biogen and Eisai just released data on their new Alzheimer's drug. Initial results of a highly anticipated test of an Alzheimer's drug, called lecanemab, were released on Tuesday evening by biotech firms Biogen and Eisai. "While the market has been skeptical of lecanemab's prospects, the trial appears to be a resounding success," Cowen analysts said. An earlier Alzheimer's drug developed by Biogen and Eisai, Aduhelm, also acts on beta-amyloid. Mizhuo analyst Graig Suvannavejh, said that the lecanemab results are "a key potential positive catalyst for companies" working to develop Alzheimer's treatments.

☆ Biogen and Eisai's latest clinical trial just crossed the finish line. Here's why analysts say the results could disrupt the future of Alzheimer's care.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

It's a complicated, debilitating illness and drug companies have struggled for years to come up with viable treatments. On Tuesday September 27, Biogen and Eisai announced that lecanemab slowed the rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients by 27%. Analysts say that this positive result could lead to it becoming a blockbuster drug for the companies. Other big drug companies such as Roche Holdings and Eli Lilly are pursuing similar treatments, with results expected to come later this year and early next year, respectively. "I think people's confidence in the amyloid hypothesis would go down even further, but ultimately people would wait to see what those other data events show," he said.

☆ Fed Chair Powell warned of ‘pain’ to come. Seniors on fixed incomes are already feeling it
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Martha C. White | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“Social Security comes up short by at least $1,000 [a month] in many locations. John Harriger, a resident of Chilhowie, Virginia, suffered a disabling back injury in 1994 and relies solely on Social Security for income. “I get about $1,800 a month [from Social Security] but… when gas and groceries started going up, I couldn’t make it any more. Sites, who relies wholly on Social Security for her income, said she worries what will happen when the mortgage on her home near Asheville, North Carolina, resets. This has a pass-through effect on the financial security of older Americans.

☆ Life after monkeypox: Men describe an uncertain road to recovery
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Benjamin Ryan | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +16 min

Following recovery from this skin lesion–causing virus, people often find themselves waiting anxiously over the course of months to see whether monkeypox will leave them with permanent scarring. The marks are also signals of an infection that because it largely transmits through sex between men, can be highly stigmatized. Gerald Febles points to a scar left from his monkeypox outbreak. He founded a Zoom-based monkeypox support group for people with the virus he met mainly through social media. “I need to get back to my normal life,” said Galaise, who works for a New York City governmental agency.

☆ COVID raises risk of long-term brain injury, large U.S. study finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Julie Steenhuysen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The year-long study, published in Nature Medicine, assessed brain health across 44 different disorders using medical records without patient identifiers from millions of U.S. veterans. Brain and other neurological disorders occurred in 7% more of those who had been infected with COVID compared with a similar group of veterans who had never been infected. That translates into roughly 6.6 million Americans who had brain impairments linked with their COVID infections, the team said. Compared with the control groups, people infected with COVID had a 77% higher risk of developing memory problems. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Julie Steenhuysen Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biogen says ALS drug shows clinical benefit in new data analysis
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Mrinalika Roy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Biogen drug, tofersen, is currently under priority review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration with an approval decision expected by Jan. 25. Biogen last October had said the drug missed the main goal of the late-stage study, failing to show statistically significant improvement in the functional status of patients with fast-progressing ALS at six months. Biogen is seeking approval of tofersen for ALS patients with mutations in a specific gene that leads to accumulation of toxic levels of a protein called SOD1. Most side effects in both the late-stage study and the follow-on portion were mild to moderate, including headache and back pain, the company said. Nearly 7% of patients who received tofersen experienced serious neurological events, including spinal cord inflammation and swelling of the optic nerve.

☆ Mexicans Can Cross U.S. Border to Get Paid for Plasma, Court Rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Mike Cherney | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Immunoglobulin, which are antibodies found in plasma, are used to treat rare neurological and autoimmune disorders. SYDNEY—Pharmaceutical companies scored a legal victory that will again allow them to pay people who cross the border from Mexico for their blood plasma, giving a boost to U.S. supply of a critical ingredient needed for treating serious disorders. On Friday, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction that prevents border officials from enforcing a ban on paying for plasma donations from Mexicans who enter the U.S. on visitor visas. The injunction applies while the litigation is pending, and although the ruling isn’t final, the judge indicated the pharmaceutical companies have a strong case.

☆ Biogen's latest clinical trial is inching towards the finish line. Here's why analysts say the results could disrupt the future of Alzheimer's care.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

It's a complicated, debilitating illness and drug companies have struggled for years to come up with viable treatments. Other big drug companies such as Roche Holdings and Eli Lilly are pursuing similar treatments, with results expected to come later this year and early next year, respectively. "I think people's confidence in the amyloid hypothesis would go down even further, but ultimately people would wait to see what those other data events show," he said. Negative results might give a boost to companies that are exploring alternate ways to treat Alzheimer's disease. And though Biogen's drug is furthest along in development, it's far from being the only treatment being tested for Alzheimer's.

☆ Meet the 10 neuroscience startups that have raised millions to treat mental health and cure neurologic diseases
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-13 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

In 2021, private biotech firms targeting neurological diseases raised $2.61 billion from investors. Here are the 10 neuroscience startups that have raised the most cash to date. The field languished for years after a host of prospective treatments for neurological diseases failed to come to market. That year, neuroscience companies raised $2.61 billion from venture capitalists. Here are the 10 biotech startups that have raised the most money to develop drugs for neurological diseases, listed by amount raised:

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