Resources & Information

MedPageToday
September 7, 2024
The goal of the COVID vaccine is to keep people out of the hospital and out of the intensive care unit. So the critical question then is: who’s getting hospitalized? Who’s getting hospitalized with COVID? And the answer is, it generally falls into four high-risk groups. One are people who are elderly, which is to say those over 75. Two are people who are immune compromised either because they were born with certain immune deficiencies or they’re taking drugs that suppress their immune system because of cancers or rheumatologic disease. Three are people who are pregnant. And four are people who have high-risk medical conditions like obesity, diabetes, chronic lung disease, chronic heart disease. So that’s who you’re trying to keep out of the hospital.

Time
September 4, 2024
Mosquito-borne diseases seem to be everywhere this year. Towns in Massachusetts are shutting down public parks and other outdoor areas after officials learned that mosquitoes in the region are carrying eastern equine encephalitis, a rare but deadly virus. And Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former top infectious-disease expert in the U.S., recently was hospitalized with West Nile virus that he allegedly acquired from a mosquito buzzing through his backyard. Is this a particularly bad year for disease-spreading mosquitoes in the U.S.? And what can we expect in the future?

Medical News Today
August 16, 2024
Using music to help treat mental illness is one focus of mental illness research. Experts are interested in understanding music therapy and how to achieve the best results from its use. A study published in Cell Reports looked at some of the underlying mechanisms involved in the effectiveness of music therapy as a treatment for depression. The researchers found that subjective enjoyment was a key factor in seeing an effective response in participants with treatment-resistant depression. The results further highlight the underlying reasons why music therapy is helpful and what steps could enhance its effectiveness.

NPR
August 15, 2024
If it seems like a lot of people are getting COVID right now, you’re not imagining it. We’re in the middle of a worldwide summer COVID-19 wave. A high or very high level of COVID-19 virus is being detected in wastewater in almost every state, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least 10 other states have a high amount of COVID in the wastewater.

Medical News Today
August 13, 2024
Since the invention of the very first sugar substitute saccharin in 1879, scientists have been continuing to look for ways to create the sweet taste of sugar without the calories it has. Recently, sugar alcohols have become a common sugar replacement. Sugar alcohols tend to be slightly less sweet or equally as sweet as natural sugar, allowing them to seamlessly replace sugar in some foods. One commonly used sugar alcohol is erythritol — a sugar alcohol naturally found in certain fruits and vegetables and is commercially made through the fermentation of a simple sugar called dextrose found in corn. Previous research has linked erythritol to an increased risk for cardiovascular issues, such as a study published in March 2023 that found an association between erythritol use and an increased risk for major cardiovascular events including heart attack and stroke.

NPR
August 2, 2024
A new generation of blood tests promises to change the way doctors diagnose and treat Alzheimer’s disease. The tests offer a fast and easy way for physicians to learn whether a patient with symptoms of cognitive decline also has the brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s. Evidence of those brain changes is required before doctors can prescribe one of two recently approved drugs that can slow down the disease. As demand for those drugs rises, blood tests could play a crucial role in identifying patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s who would benefit from treatment.