Body mass index may be more helpful in predicting the risk of a common type of irregular heartbeat in women, while waist size may better predict that risk in men, new research suggests. The link between obesity and atrial fibrillation, or AFib—when the heart beats irregularly and often too fast—is well established. But researchers wanted […]
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Psychedelic experience may not be required for psilocybin’s antidepressant-like benefits
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers have shown that psilocybin—the active chemical in ‘magic mushrooms’— still works its antidepressant-like actions, at least in mice, even when the psychedelic experience is blocked. The new findings suggest that psychedelic drugs work in multiple ways in the brain and it may be possible to deliver the […]
Level of chromosomal abnormality in lung cancer may predict immunotherapy response
Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose cancer cells have low levels of aneuploidy—an abnormal number of chromosomes—tend to respond better to immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs than patients with higher levels, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers will report at the virtual AACR Annual Meeting 2021. In analyzing data from hundreds of patients with NSCLC who […]
Preterm birth may up risk for later mental health issues
(HealthDay)—Higher rates of prescription of psychotropic drugs are seen during adolescence and young adulthood for those born prematurely compared with those born at full term, according to a study published online March 12 in JAMA Network Open. Christine Strand Bachmann, M.D., from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, and colleagues compared the […]
COVID Antibodies May Last Days to Years, Depending on Severity of Infection
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are likely to wane at different rates depending on the severity of the infection, new research suggests. “The key message from this study is that the longevity of functional neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 can vary greatly and it is important to monitor this at an individual level,” […]
COVID-19-associated seizures may be common, linked to higher risk of death
COVID-19 can have damaging effects on multiple organs in the body, including the brain. A new study led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) indicates that some hospitalized patients with COVID-19 experience non-convulsive seizures, which may put them at a higher risk of dying. The findings are […]
Exercise may help slow cognitive decline in some people with Parkinson’s disease
For people with Parkinson’s disease, problems with thinking and memory skills are among the most common nonmotor symptoms of the disease. A new study shows that exercise may help slow cognitive decline for some people with the disease. The study is published in the March 31, 2021, online issue of Neurology. Research has suggested that […]
Your neighborhood may influence your COVID-19 risk
Markers of the pandemic’s impact—testing rates, positivity ratio (cases among total tests), case rates by overall population and deaths—are clustered in neighborhoods, with low-income and predominantly minority communities experiencing worse outcomes than wealthier and predominantly white neighborhoods. The findings, part of the first research to look at comprehensive neighborhood-level data from March through September 2020 […]
Recombinant IFN Plus Antivirals May Boost COVID-19 Recovery Versus Traditional IFN
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – In patients with moderate-severe COVID-19, recombinant super-compound interferon (rSIFN-co) plus baseline antivirals was associated with a shorter time to clinical improvement than the same regimen using traditional interferon-alpha in an exploratory trial in China. “Since no antiviral agents were confirmed to be effective for COVID-19 during our study period, there […]
Variances in critical protein may guide fate of those infected with SARS CoV-2
Of the many perplexing questions surrounding SARS CoV-2, a mysterious new pathogen that has killed an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, perhaps the most insistent is this: why does the illness seem to strike in such a haphazard way, sometimes sparing the 100 year old grandmother, while killing healthy young men and women in the […]