Pharmacologic management of COPD is focused on improving patients’ quality of life while reducing the frequency of exacerbations. In this new clinical practice guideline, an expert panel addressed six “emerging questions around COPD management that were not covered in the previous guideline published in 2011,” noted Shawn Aaron, MD, co-chair of the guideline committee and...
Month: <span>April 2020</span>
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Mindful yoga reduces testosterone by 29% in women with polycystic ovary syndrome
Other androgen levels, like DHEA, were also reduced, and depression and anxiety levels improved by 55% and 21%, respectively, according to the study in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. “There are effective pharmacologic options for managing PCOS. However, they come with the potential for some significant side effects,” says Diana Speelman, PhD, Associate...
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Loss of smell and taste validated as COVID-19 symptoms in patients with high recovery rate
BY: CAROL YAN, MD, Loss of smell and taste has been anecdotally linked to COVID-19 infections. In a study published April 12, 2020 in the journal International Forum of & Rhinology, researchers at UC San Diego Health report the first empirical findings that strongly associate sensory loss with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the...
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Chloroquine COVID-19 trial stopped after patient deaths
Researchers in Brazil were testing chloroquine in 81 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. About half were prescribed 450 mg twice daily for five days, and the others were prescribed 600 mg for 10 days, The New York Times reported. But within three days, some patients taking the higher dose developed serious heart rhythm disorders, resulting in 11...
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How a Premier U.S. Drug Company Became a Virus ‘Super Spreader’
By: Kim Barker is an enterprise reporter BOSTON — On the first Monday in March, Michel Vounatsos, chief executive of the drug company Biogen, appeared in good spirits. The company’s new Alzheimer’s drug was showing promise after years of setbacks. Revenues had never been higher. Onstage at an elite health care conference in Boston, Mr....
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Pancreatic cancer hidden in plain sight
Pancreatic cancer does not respond to certain anticancer treatments that boost immune responses. A mechanism active in tumour cells that contributes to this evasion of immune targeting has been uncovered. A consistent hallmark of pancreatic cancer is the inability to treat it with immunotherapy — an approach that harnesses the body’s immune response to target...
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Why a Virtual Visit to the Doctor May Be the Safest, Most Affordable Option
by Cathy Cassata In March, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began allowing Medicare beneficiaries to receive care via telehealth. Telemedicine is best served when it occurs between you and a doctor you already have a relationship with. To help keep patients with chronic conditions out of the emergency room, and to leave room...
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Study shows Iceland got it right with early, widespread virus testing
by Ivan Couronne Iceland has provided a textbook example of how to get out ahead of a looming pandemic: per capita, it has tested more people for coronavirus than any other country on earth and it got started a month before the first case was even confirmed in the tiny Nordic island nation. In a...
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Transcranial ultrasound stimulation can modulate hypothalamus: study
by Li Yuan, Chinese Academy of Sciences Transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) is emerging as a non-invasive brain stimulation method that can achieve a highly focused stimulation of deeper brain areas. The hypothalamus is the link between the endocrine and nervous systems. Previous studies showed that ultrasound could induce brain activityand the sensory discrimination ability of...
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“Event” Cells in the Brain Help Organize Memory into Meaningful Segments
Neurons in the hippocampus categorize what we experience into abstract, discrete events, such as taking a walk versus having lunch By Simon Makin on April 13, 2020 Our recollection of events is usually not like a replay of digital video from a security camera—a passive observation that faithfully reconstructs the spatial and sensory details of...