Josh Sullivan Associate Editor Despite immense pressure from the ALS community, Biogen had repeatedly refused to open investigational drug tofersen for use outside of clinical trials. But now, caving to that demand, Biogen has reversed its stance. With a pivotal Phase III study in ALS ongoing and data expected to read out later this year, Biogen just...
Month: <span>May 2021</span>
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Gum disease linked to severe COVID-19 outcomes
Written by Robby Berman on April 25, New research finds a link between COVID-19 severity and gum disease. Nes/Getty Images Researchers at McGill University find a strong link between periodontitis, a common form of gum disease, and severe COVID-19 outcomes. Periodontitis produces an inflammatory response that may spread through the body — scientists have previously linked the...
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Common IBS/IBD treatment blunts COVID-19 vaccine response
by University of Exeter Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain People who take a commonly prescribed drug for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) should not assume they are protected after a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, after a large-scale study found many had poor antibody responses. The research measured antibody responses after vaccination with the Pfizer/BioNTech or the Oxford/AstraZeneca...
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Brain changes following traumatic brain injury share similarities with Alzheimer’s disease
by Jenesse Miller, University of Southern California The image displays a TBI-affected brain’s white matter connectivity as inferred using diffusion tensor imaging and streamline tractography. The brain surface is rendered as a translucent layer to provide anatomical context for the streamline display. White matter connections and the brain surface are displayed using different colors across for...
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TBI: A new roadmap for advancing personalized treatment solutions
COHEN VETERANS BIOSCIENCE NEW YORK, NY (April 26, 2021) -Brain research and advocacy nonprofit Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB) today announced the launch of a National TBI Precision Solutions Research Roadmap, with the advent of the first in a series of publications resulting from its Brain Trauma Blueprint framework program. The Brain Trauma Blueprint is a...
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Pain patients and healthcare providers want CDC opioid guideline revoked
PAIN NEWS NETWORK The CDC’s opioid prescribing guideline has failed to reduce addiction and overdoses, significantly worsened the quality of pain care in the United States and should be revoked, according to a large new survey of patients and healthcare providers by Pain News Network, an independent, non-profit news organization. Nearly 4,200 patients and providers participated...
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Close monitoring for heart risk needed if breast, prostate cancer treatment includes hormones
by American Heart Association Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The hormonal therapies used to treat many breast and prostate cancers raise the risk of a heart attack and stroke, and patients should be monitored regularly and receive treatment to reduce risk and detect problems as they occur, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement, published...
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Smell training, not steroids, best treatment for COVID-19 smell loss
by University of East Anglia Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Smell loss is a prominent symptom of COVID-19, and the pandemic is leaving many people with long-term smell loss. But a new study published today shows that corticosteroids—a class of drug that lowers inflammation in the body—are not recommended to treat smell loss due to COVID-19. Instead, the team...
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Substance use and depression more closely linked for generation Z teens
by University College London Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Substance use and antisocial behavior are more likely to go hand-in-hand with poor mental health for generation Z teens compared to millennial adolescents growing up a decade earlier, finds a new UCL study. Researchers from the Center for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the UCL Social Research Institute and...
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DNA-inspired artificial muscles contract by “supercoiling”
By Michael Irving April 30, 2021 An example of supercoiling in the artificial muscles (right), compared to the looser twist (left)Geoff Spinks. Tiny robots could serve all kinds of useful functions, but shrinking their actuators has proven challenging. Now researchers at the University of Wollongong (UOW) in Australia have made artificial muscles that surpass your...