Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. A key player in the body’s ability to attack COVID-19 is weakened among people who were infected before getting their first two shots of mRNA vaccine, new research suggests. But even though the key cells (CD8+…
Research reveals molecular and cellular details of abdominal immune system
Because of the nature of organs like the stomach and liver in the abdominal cavity of mammals, infection can lead to life-threatening sepsis. A visceral adipose tissue called omentum helps cordon off any inflamed or injured areas in the abdominal space. The omentum contains lymphoid aggregates (immune cell clusters) that…
Good AND bad news for coffee lovers revealed in new study
Good AND bad news for coffee lovers as study shows they walk 1,000 more steps a day but lose half an hour of vital sleep Researchers at University of California, San Francisco, tracked 100 people They found that coffee boosted their exercise but restricted their sleep READ MORE: Experts find…
How Doctors Can Manage Their Daily Work Stress
As a physician, you may ruminate over an interaction with a patient or worry about a complicated procedure that didn’t go as expected. You work through lunch, see patients after hours, handle numerous emergencies, and plow through endless paperwork and red tape. In short: factors related to practicing medicine can…
Scientists warn of rise in potentially fatal bacterial infection due to global warming
Continued warming of the climate would see a rise in the number and spread of potentially fatal infections caused by bacteria found along parts of the coast of the United States. Vibrio vulnificus bacteria grow in warm shallow coastal waters and can infect a cut or insect bite during contact…
Being ‘socially frail’ comes with health risks for older adults
Consider three hypothetical women in their mid-70s, all living alone in identical economic circumstances with the same array of ailments: diabetes, arthritis, and high blood pressure. Ms. Green stays home most of the time and sometimes goes a week without seeing people. But she's in frequent touch by phone with…
FDA Approves First-in-class Evkeeza (evinacumab-dgnb) for Young Children with Ultra-Rare Form of High Cholesterol
TARRYTOWN, N.Y., March 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the approval of Evkeeza (evinacumab-dgnb) as an adjunct to other lipid-lowering therapies to treat children aged 5 to 11 with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH). Evkeeza is…
Emergence and persistency of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2.3.7 in Taiwan
In a recent study published in the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Emerging Infectious Diseases journal, researchers utilize a whole-genome surveillance (WGS) protocol from the National Taiwan University (NTU) to monitor community transmission and evolution of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Taiwan….
What is the effect of maternal obesity on the brain development of offspring?
During the perinatal period, the maternal diet and behavior affect the developmental trajectory of the offspring. Several studies have indicated maternal depression and obesity enhance the risk of neuropsychiatric disease in offspring. Recently, scientists reviewed the mechanisms associated with the maternal microbiome, breast milk composition, maternal and placental metabolites, altered maternal…
Gut microbes can help diagnose gestational diabetes as early as the first trimester of pregnancy
A new Bar-Ilan University study has found that gestational diabetes can be diagnosed as early as the first trimester of pregnancy—months earlier than typically detected. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a condition in which women without diabetes develop glucose intolerance during pregnancy. GDM, which plagues approximately 10% of pregnant women…