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The Summary An advanced diagnostic test uses genetic sequencing to detect a range of pathogens — viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites — that might be causing an illness. A cutting-edge diagnostic test is helping some doctors find diagnoses for medical mysteries by analyzing DNA and RNA to detect a broad swath of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites, according to a pair of studies published Tuesday. Traditional diagnostic tests are generally designed to measure specific substances such as proteins, hormones or trace amounts of genetic material. The technology is not a replacement for existing tests used to diagnose common illnesses — like those for Covid or strep throat — since it’s slower to deliver results and more expensive. The test also misses some cases, she added, so it should be used alongside other diagnostic tests in hospitals.

Persons: ”, Charles Chiu, Noah Berger, Covid, Chiu, it’s, Susan Butler, Wu, ” Butler, “ It’s Organizations: University of California, Nature, UCSF, Nature Communications, Drug Administration, University of Southern Locations: San Francisco, Mexico, UCSF, University of Southern California

☆ At-home brain stimulation relieves symptoms of depression, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-01 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —A headset worn at home that zaps the brain with the energy of a 9-volt battery could help relieve symptoms of depression, a new study shows. Rebalancing brain activity in depressionThe device is available in the UK, Norway, Hong Kong and countries in the EU. Studies show that people with depression tend to have less brain activity than normal in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and more brain activity than normal in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. A ‘spicy’ sensation with brain benefitsLeana De Hoyos, a 34-year-old mother of two who lives in Houston, was one of the study participants. Helping people use brain stimulation at homeFu says that when her team started looking at transcranial direct current stimulation for depression, they first reviewed the medical literature.

Persons: ”, Rodrigo Machado, Vieira, Machado, It’s, it’s overactive, Daniel Mansson, Cynthia Fu, Fu, Leana De Hoyos, De Hoyos, didn’t, ” De Hoyos, I’m, you’ve, “, ’, ” Fu, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, “ We’re, Mansson, hasn’t Organizations: CNN, Nature Medicine, Therapeutics, US Food and Drug Administration, Neuroscience, King’s College London, CNN Health, “ Locations: UTHealth, Norway, Hong Kong, Swedish, United States, Houston, Europe

☆ Bayesian Health CEO Suchi Saria Leads Healthcare Data Revolution
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-24 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Saria, part of Business Insider's 2024 AI Power List, directs the machine learning and healthcare lab at Johns Hopkins University and is the founder and CEO of the AI startup Bayesian Health. Related storiesSaria has continued to research healthcare AI at Johns Hopkins. For her work in healthcare AI, the World Economic Forum named her a Young Global Leader in 2018. In 2022, Saria cofounded the Coalition for Health AI, which brings federal agencies and healthcare organizations to discuss best practices for using healthcare AI. She also helped the National Academy of Medicine develop its code of conduct for AI deployment, released earlier this year.

Persons: Saria, Barack Obama, Andreessen Horowitz, Oracle's Cerner, It's, Johns, She's, — she's Organizations: Johns Hopkins University, Stanford, Bayesian, Nature Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Northwell, Johns Hopkins, Economic, Global, Coalition for Health, National Academy of Medicine

☆ Heat Contributed to 47,000 Deaths in Europe Last Year, but Relief Programs Helped
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Austyn Gaffney | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

More than 47,000 Europeans died from heat-related causes during 2023, the world’s hottest year on record, a new report in Nature Medicine has found. But the number could have been much higher. Without heat adaptation measures over the past two decades, the death toll for Europeans experiencing the same temperatures at the start of the 21st century could have been 80 percent higher, according to the new study. For people over 80 years old, the toll could have doubled. Some of the measures include advances in health care, more widespread air-conditioning, and improved public information that kept people indoors and hydrated amid extreme temperatures.

Organizations: Nature Locations: Nature Medicine

☆ 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

☆ Opinion: We built our world for a climate that no longer exists
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-12 | by ( Opinion Jeff Goodell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But it’s evidence of one of the central truths of our time, and one that is becoming more and more apparent every day: We have built our world for a climate that no longer exists. But less than two months earlier, a sudden windstorm in the city blacked out electricity for more than a million people. How many blackouts will it take before we realize today’s power grid was built for yesterday’s climate? One clear example: the incredible decline in the cost of renewable power in recent years. In virtually every part of the world, electricity generated by renewable power is cheaper than electricity generated by fossil fuels.

Persons: Jeff Goodell, Read, – wouldn’t, Firefighters, Hurricane Beryl, Ethan Swope, I’ve, Andreas Solaro, –, ”, Rafiq Maqbool Organizations: CNN, Big Oil, Hurricane, AP, Nature Medicine, Big, Toyota, GM, Kodak, Getty Locations: Manhattan, New York City, Houston, Big, Oroville , California, California, Palm Springs, London, Paris, Madrid, Europe, Phoenix, Saudi Arabia, Rome's, AFP, Texas, Mecca

☆ In new criteria for Alzheimer’s, some see much-needed progress while others fear profit may be driving ‘diagnostic creep’
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-01 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —With another pricey Alzheimer’s disease treatment expected to receive an approval decision soon, the nonprofit Alzheimer’s Association has published the final version of its new diagnostic criteria for the disease. Together with another protein, tau, which makes fibrous tangles that block the communication of nerve cells, they are considered a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. “There’s no evidence for it,” said Dr. George Perry, a neurobiologist and editor of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Two members of the panel were employees of the Alzheimer’s Association, which also takes funding from pharmaceutical companies. Widera says he hopes that in the next round of guidelines, the Alzheimer’s Association will consider the risks involved.

Persons: There’s, –, donanemab, “, ”, George Perry, Adriane Fugh, Berman, haven’t, Maria C, Carrillo, Alzheimer’s, It’s, Eric Widera, Widera, it’s, Aduhelm, Karl Herrup, Clifford Jack, ” Jack, “ It’s, Niles Franz, ” Franz, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, Franz, ” Widera Organizations: CNN, Alzheimer’s Association, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, Georgetown University, University of California San, American Geriatrics Society, Abbott Labs, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Nature Medicine, federal National Institute, Aging, Alzheimer’s Association International, National Institute, National Institutes of Health, NIA, Alzheimer’s, National Academy of Medicine, CNN Health, Association Locations: University of California San Francisco

☆ 6 types of depression identified in Stanford study
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Some 30% to 40% of people with depression do not experience symptom improvement after trying one treatment, according to the study. And about 30% of people diagnosed with depression go on to experience treatment-resistant depression when the disorder doesn’t improve after multiple treatment attempts. Mapping depression in the brainThe authors used data from 801 adult participants who were previously diagnosed with depression or anxiety, and 137 healthy control group participants. The grant supports a five-year project involving 4,500 participants, which is centered on the development of a better diagnosis and treatment tool for depression biotypes. This method isn’t intended to replace or be the primary choice for assessments of individual cases of depression, Williams said.

Persons: biotypes, ”, Leanne Williams, Vincent V.C, Woo, Williams, Anhedonia, Jun Ma, Ma, Beth, George Vitoux, “, Richard Keefe, wasn’t, Keefe, Jonathan Alpert, Dorothy, Marty Silverman, Alpert, ” Keefe, you’re Organizations: Lifeline, CNN, Nature Medicine, Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Center, Precision Mental Health, Wellness, Medicine, University of Illinois, Duke University Medical Center, Montefiore Medical, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Psychiatric Association’s Council, Research, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes, Health’s, Mental Health Initiative Locations: California, United States, University of Illinois Chicago, North Carolina, New York City, Stanford

☆ What the results of Wegovy’s longest clinical trial yet show about weight loss, side effects and heart protection
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Meg Tirrell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —New analyses of the longest clinical trial yet of the weight-loss drug Wegovy are shedding light on how quickly it helps people lose weight, how long they sustain that weight loss and how safe the medicine is over four years of use. A previous clinical trial showed even greater average weight loss for Wegovy: about 15% on average over 68 weeks, compared with 2.4% for people who got a placebo. It was sustained for up to four yearsThe results showed that the 10% average weight loss for people using Wegovy was sustained for up to 208 weeks, or four years. Patients stayed on the medicine while they sustained the weight loss. Almost 23% of people on Wegovy lost at least 15% of their body weight, compared with 1.7% on a placebo.

Persons: Wegovy, –, ”, Harlan Krumholz, Dr, Donna Ryan, Eli Lilly, wasn’t, they’d, Daniel Drucker, it’s, John Deanfield, Krumholz, Drucker, GLP, Sanjay Gupta Organizations: CNN, Yale University, Yale New Haven Hospital, drugmaker, Nordisk, Novo Nordisk, European, Obesity, Nature, Pennington Biomedical Research, University of Toronto, University College London, CNN Health Locations: Baton Rouge , Louisiana, Novo

☆ Genes known to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s may actually be an inherited form of the disorder, researchers say
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Among people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, researchers recognize familial forms of the disease and sporadic cases. This shifting appreciation of inherited risk, researchers say, is due to a better understanding of the role of a fourth gene that carries the blueprints to make a lipid-carrying protein called apolipoprotein E, known as APOE. One known as APOE2 is thought to be protective against the development of Alzheimer’s disease. They also compared people with two copies of APOE4 to people with other inherited forms of the disease — early-onset autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease (ADAD) and Down syndrome-associated Alzheimer’s disease (DSAD). Gene testing isn’t currently recommendedIt is also likely to change how people who carry the APOE4 gene are diagnosed and treated.

Persons: APOE4, ”, Dr, Juan Fortea, Sant, Fortea, Charles Bernick, Bernick, Alzheimer’s wasn’t, isn’t, they’re, ” Fortea, Sanjay Gupta, Reisa Sperling, “, ” Sperling, ” Dr, Sterling Johnson, Johnson Organizations: CNN, Nature, National Alzheimer’s Coordinating, Neurology, Hospital de, Cleveland Clinic Lou, Brain Health, CNN Health, Alzheimer’s Research, Brigham, Women’s, Alzheimer’s, University of Wisconsin Locations: Alzheimer’s, Spain, United States, Santa, Barcelona, Wisconsin

☆ FDA authorizes Prenosis software as first AI tool that can diagnose sepsis
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Ashley Capoot | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Prenosis' tool, called Sepsis ImmunoScore, uses 22 different parameters like temperature, heart rate and cell counts to help clinicians assess a patient's risk of sepsis, the company told CNBC. While Prenosis is the first company to receive FDA approval for its AI diagnostic tool for sepsis, several organizations have built and released similar solutions. Epic's sepsis model is used in hundreds of hospitals across the U.S., according to a 2021 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Even so, Epic reportedly overhauled its sepsis model the following year in an attempt to improve its performance, according to Stat News. Prenosis said it worked to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of Sepsis ImmunoScore to the FDA for around 18 months.

Persons: ImmunoScore, Prenosis Organizations: U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Wednesday, Centers for Disease Control, CNBC, Johns Hopkins University, Nature Medicine, Systems, Stat News, FDA Locations: U.S, White Oak , Maryland, Chicago

☆ Living drugs that reprogram patients’ immune cells show early promise against hard-to-treat brain tumors
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Only 3% to 5% of people who are diagnosed with this type of brain tumor will be alive three years later. Now, an experimental therapy that reprograms a person’s own immune cells to attack these tumors is showing some exciting promise. Doctors first harvested immune fighters called T-cells from his blood and then genetically modified them in a lab so they’d recognize and bind to specific proteins on the surface of the brain tumor cells. After a single 10-milliliter infusion of about 10 million CAR-T cells, Fraser’s tumor began to shrink. Three-quarters of the participants had had their brain tumors come back at least twice.

Persons: ”, Otis Brawley, –, they’ll, ” Brawley, Tom Fraser, Brigham, Debbie Fraser, Fraser, He’s, Marcela Maus, ” Fraser, Maus, “, ” Maus, Christine Brown, ’ Brown, ” Brown, hasn’t, Brown, Dr, Donald O’Rourke, “ They’re, O’Rourke, ” O’Rourke, Sanjay Gupta, you’re, they’re, it’s Organizations: CNN, Johns Hopkins University, American Cancer Society, City of Hope Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts General, Mass, New England, of Medicine, Doctors, Mass General Cancer Center, Tv3, Cell Therapeutics Research, of, Nature, Penn, Excellence, University of Pennsylvania Perlman School of Medicine, CNN Health Locations: City, Duarte , California, Massachusetts, Rochester , New York, Boston, of Hope, Hope

☆ Rare cases of possible Alzheimer’s transmission uncovered in recipients of discontinued medical treatment
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

All five adults had growth hormone deficiency as children and received pituitary growth hormones prepared in a specific way from cadavers. The treatment approach was discontinued after cases of a rare brain disorder called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease were found to be associated with the administration of contaminated human growth hormone from cadavers. Although Alzheimer’s is not a prion disease, some separate research suggests that the two proteins that are hallmarks in Alzheimer’s disease — amyloid beta and tau — behave like prions. “This study suggests that in very rare circumstances Alzheimer’s disease may be transmitted between humans via human growth hormone from deceased donors. “I’m also intrigued by how these results may inform potential therapeutic targets and strategies in the future,” Isaacson said, regarding Alzheimer’s disease.

Persons: John Collinge, Jakob, Creutzfeldt – Jakob, Alzheimer’s, ” Collinge, ’, –, ” Dr, Susan Kohlhaas, ” Kohlhaas, “ It’s, Dr, Richard Isaacson, ”, Isaacson, “ I’m, ” Isaacson, “, Gargi Banerjee, ” Banerjee, James Galvin, Sanjay Gupta, ” Galvin, Lewy Organizations: CNN, Nature, University College London Institute, University College London, National Hospital for Neurology, Neurosurgery, Alzheimer’s Research, Science Media, Comprehensive, Brain Health, University of Miami Health, CNN Health Locations: United Kingdom, United States, United, Florida, UHealth, Creutzfeldt

These are just a few of the ways that public health has been impacted and compounded by climate change - a focus for the first time ever at the annual U.N. climate summit COP28. Here's how climate change is harming people's health across the world today, and what countries might expect in the future. Floods in Pakistan last year, for example, led to a 400%increase in malaria cases in the country, the report said. MURKY WATERSStorms and flooding wrought by climate change are allowing other infectious water-borne diseases to proliferate as well. Diarrhoea, too, receives a boost from climate change, with increasingly erratic rainfall - resulting in either wet or dry conditions - yielding a higher risk, research has found.

Persons: Alexandros Avramidis, Martin Edlund, Gloria Dickie, Alexander Cornwall, Katy Daigle, Diane Craft Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, World Health Organization, WHO, Nature Medicine, American Thoracic Society, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Evros, Greece, West Nile, Brazil, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Africa, United States

☆ Experimental spinal cord implant helps Parkinson’s patient walk in new study
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Manav Tanneeru | Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

In a new study, Gauthier was surgically implanted with an experimental spinal cord neuroprosthesis to correct walking disorders in people with Parkinson’s disease. Marc Gauthier, 63, who has Parkinson's disease, was treated with a spinal cord neuroprosthesis for his locomotor symptoms. Then, Gauthier was invited to participate in the new study to test the experimental spinal cord neuroprosthesis. Next, they implanted an array of electrodes against the lower region of Gauthier’s spinal cord to target those zones. “With this spinal cord stimulation, we still have an effect, but we have to fight against worse and more severe symptoms,” Bloch said.

Persons: Marc Gauthier, Gauthier, ” Gauthier, Dr, Eduardo Moraud, ” Moraud, Gilles Weber, CHUV Gauthier, Jocelyn Bloch, ” Bloch, ”, Svjetlana, Miocinovic, David Dexter, Parkinson’s, Dexter, Sanjay Gupta, Moraud, Michael J, Bloch, Grégoire, ” Courtine, “ Organizations: CNN, Nature, Lausanne University Hospital, Emory University School of Medicine, Parkinson’s, Science Media, DBS, CNN Health, Fox Foundation, Medical Locations: Bordeaux, France, Switzerland, Netherlands

By comparison, a group of people who also dieted and exercised, but then received dummy shots, lost weight initially but then regained some, researchers reported Sunday in the journal Nature Medicine. Participants in both groups lost about 7% of their body weight, or almost 17 pounds (8 kilograms), during the diet-and-exercise phase. Those who received the drug went on to lose an additional 18.4% of initial body weight, or about 44 pounds (20 kilograms) more, on average. Nearly 29% of those taking the drug lost at least a quarter of their body weight, compared with just over 1% of those taking placebo. Side effects including nausea, diarrhea and constipation were reported more frequently in people taking the drug than those taking the placebo.

Persons: Mounjaro, ”, Thomas Wadden, Eli Lilly, it's, Caroline Apovian, wasn't, tirzepatide, “, Lilly Organizations: Nature, University, Pennsylvania, Brigham, Women's, Novo Nordisk, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S, ”

The psychedelic drug MDMA can reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, researchers reported in a new study published Thursday. “It’s the first innovation in PTSD treatment in more than two decades. Political Cartoons View All 1160 ImagesCommon side effects in the MDMA group were muscle tightness, nausea, decreased appetite and sweating. But only one person in the MDMA group dropped out of the study. After treatment, 86% of the MDMA group improved on a standard PTSD assessment compared to 69% of the placebo group.

Persons: ”, Amy Emerson, Barbara Rothbaum, ” Rothbaum Organizations: Corporation, Multidisciplinary, for Psychedelic Studies, Emory Healthcare Veterans Program, Nature, Food and Drug Administration, Drug, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Australia, U.S, Atlanta

☆ MDMA Therapy Inches Closer to Approval
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Rachel Nuwer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

MDMA-assisted therapy seems to be effective in reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a study published on Thursday. The research is the final trial conducted by MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, a company that is developing prescription psychedelics. It plans to submit the results to the Food and Drug Administration as part of an application for approval to market MDMA, the psychedelic drug, as a treatment for PTSD, when paired with talk therapy. If approved, “MDMA-assisted therapy would be the first novel treatment for PTSD in over two decades,” said Berra Yazar-Klosinski, the senior author of the study, which was published in Nature Medicine, and the chief scientific officer at the company. “PTSD patients can feel some hope.”PTSD affects about 5 percent of the adult population of the United States each year.

Persons: ”, Berra Yazar, Stephen Xenakis Organizations: Public, Corporation, Food and Drug Administration, Nature Medicine, Psychedelic Practitioners Association Locations: United States

☆ Covid-19 has changed and so has our immunity. Here’s how to think about risk from the virus now
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

So if people are less likely to be hospitalized or die from a Covid-19 infection now, has the danger passed? Through genetic bad luck, some people may just be at higher risk of serious reactions to Covid-19 infections, and they probably wouldn’t know it. Researchers defined it as any new or continuing symptoms more than 90 days after a Covid-19 infection. Based on his experience treating long Covid patients, Griffin said that the percentage reported in the Australian paper seems high. Earlier in the pandemic, pediatric infectious disease specialists were on the lookout for a rare complication of Covid-19 infection in kids called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C.MIS-C starts two to six weeks after a Covid-19 infection.

Persons: CNN —, we’ve, aren’t, Good, ”, Megan Ranney, Covid, ” Ranney, that’s, Evusheld, haven’t, you’ve, they’re, They’re, Mandy Cohen, It’s, –, Jesse Bloom, Daniel Griffin, it’s ‘, Griffin, “, Peter Chin, Chin, Hong, Nathaniel Hendrix, Hendrix, it’s, hasn’t, she’s, Kristin Englund, shouldn’t, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, “ It’s, Ellie Murray, ” Murray Organizations: CNN, US Centers for Disease Control, Yale School of Public Health, Covid, National Institutes of Health, FDA, US Department of Health, Human Services, CDC, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, HHS, Columbia University, University of California, Census Bureau, Nature Medicine, American Board of Family Medicine, Nature, Veterans Affairs, Cleveland Clinic, CNN Health, Boston University School of Public Health Locations: South Africa, Botswana, United States, China, Seattle, Israel, Denmark, United Kingdom, Portugal, US, Switzerland, Thailand, Australia, San Francisco, Ohio

☆ Long Covid symptoms create a greater burden of disability than heart disease or cancer, new study shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

These health problems include heart problems, blood clots, diabetes, neurologic complications, fatigue and difficulties with mental health and have come to be known collectively as long Covid. That means long Covid creates a higher burden of disability than either heart disease or cancer, which cause about 52 and 50 DALYs for every 1,000 Americans, respectively, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease study. Studies have since shown that vaccination and early treatment can help curb long covid risk. That may have resulted in some people being included in the control group when they should have been in the infection group. “Our findings highlight the substantial cumulative burden of health loss due to long Covid, and emphasize the ongoing need for health care for those faced with long Covid,” said Al-Aly.

Persons: DALY, weren’t, ”, Ziyad Al, Aly, “ That’s, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, Al Organizations: CNN —, Institute for Health Metrics, Veterans Affairs, Louis Health Care, Nature, CNN, CNN Health

☆ How Bad Is a Second (or Third or Fourth) Case of Covid?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Dani Blum | More About Dani Blum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Reinfection and long CovidThe chances you will get long Covid from a reinfection are fairly unpredictable — several experts interviewed for this story used the metaphor of Russian roulette. The milder your symptoms, the less likely you are to get long Covid, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. But every time you get infected, no matter the severity, there is always a chance that you can develop longer-term symptoms. Dr. Sala said he frequently sees patients who were more or less fine after their first couple of infections wind up with long Covid in the wake of a third or fourth infection. Still, it’s not a foregone conclusion that reinfection definitively raises the risk of long Covid, said Fikadu Tafesse, a virologist at Oregon Health & Science University.

Persons: Peter Chin, Ziyad Al, Aly, Sala, that’s, ”, it’s, reinfection, Fikadu Tafesse, “ Organizations: University of California, Nature Medicine, U.S . Department of Veterans Affairs, Louis Healthcare, Oregon Health & Science University Locations: San Francisco, St

☆ ‘The greatest feeling in the world’: Deep brain stimulation helps stroke survivor regain independence
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Nicholas thought he’d be playing for life, but the music stopped for him one night in 2017. About a year after his stroke and after months of PT, his doctors thought that was about all the progress he’d make. After a few months, Nicholas started to realize that the device was helping. He estimates that he’s 40% to 50% better than after physical therapy alone. “I had hope.”Machado believes that deep brain stimulation, in addition to physical therapy, could help improve movement for many more people even years after a stroke.

Persons: Stan Nicholas, Nicholas, he’d, couldn’t, ” Nicholas, it’s, ”, Dr, Andre Machado, Cleveland Clinic, “, ‘, Machado, ” Machado, Nicholas, didn’t, we’ll, Nicholas ’, Sanjay Gupta Organizations: CNN, Nature, CNN Movement, Cleveland, CNN Health Locations: Cleveland, United States

☆ The Ongoing Mystery of Covid’s Origin
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( David Quammen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

But as the researchers describe it, these apparent contradictions were simply a reflection of their fast-evolving views. It showed that such an RBD had evolved in the wild and might well have gotten into SARS-CoV-2 by recombination, the natural gene-swapping process. The genome was 96.2 percent identical to the SARS-CoV-2 genome as sampled from people during the early days of the pandemic. RaTG13 has attained renown, not just because it constituted strong evidence of SARS-CoV-2’s ancestry in bat viruses but also because the Mojiang mine figures in some of the more lurid scenarios for a lab-leak origin. The inference is that Shi’s team, a year after the mine workers died, may have taken the virus back to Wuhan.

Persons: Andersen, ”, Slack, Matt Wong, ” Andersen, Zhengli Shi, Shi, RaTG13 Organizations: Twitter, Nature, Wuhan Institute of Virology Locations: Houston, Yunnan Province, Wuhan, Tongguan, Mojiang, Yunnan

☆ Europe heat wave: Struggling outdoor workers threaten strikes and walkouts
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Caolán Magee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —As swaths of southern Europe continue to swelter under a deadly heat wave, for many outdoor workers, it’s turning into a brutal endurance test. “When it comes to protecting the health of outdoor workers during extreme heat events, there are really just three fundamental pieces — water, shade and rest,” Dahl told CNN last week. Yet some experts say many countries are far from prepared for dealing with extreme heat. Extreme heat also reveals a deep divide in the labor market, between those forced to be outside and those able to retreat to air-conditioned offices, the report added. Many workers in the global supply chain will be highly vulnerable to climate change impacts like heat, Parsons said.

Persons: Marina Calderone, Simona Granati, “, Stelios Misinas, ”, Laurie Parsons, Kristina Dahl, ” Dahl, Parsons Organizations: CNN, Acropolis, Reuters, Royal Holloway, University of London, “, Union of Concerned, European Trade Union Institute, European Union, Nature Medicine Locations: Europe, Rome, Naples, Italy, Greece, Athens, Saronida, Italian, Lodi, Royal

☆ Summer Heat Waves Killed 61,000 in Europe Last Year, Study Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Delger Erdenesanaa | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

More than 61,000 people died because of last year’s brutal summer heat waves across Europe, according to a study published on Monday in the journal Nature Medicine. The findings suggest that two decades of efforts in Europe to adapt to a hotter world have failed to keep up with the pace of global warming. “In an ideal society, nobody should die because of heat,” said Joan Ballester, a research professor at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and the study’s lead author. This summer is likely to be even worse: On top of climate change, the Earth has entered a natural El Niño weather pattern during summer for the first time in four years, bringing about conditions that will turn up the heat in many parts of the world. The season is already shattering various global temperature records.

Persons: ”, Joan Ballester Organizations: Nature Medicine, Barcelona Institute, Global Health Locations: Europe

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