Michele Cohen Marill June 23, 2021 The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is adding a warning to the fact sheets for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines as medical experts continue to investigate cases of heart inflammation, which are rare but are more likely to occur in young men and teen boys. Doran Fink, MD, Ph.D.,...
Month: <span>July 2021</span>
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Russia warns of ‘explosive’ virus surge
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Russia warned on Wednesday of an “explosive” spread of the Delta coronavirus variant in the country that was made worse by a sluggish vaccination campaign leading to rapidly rising infections and deaths. Citing increases in cases of coronavirus in all Russian regions, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova called for stronger restrictive...
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What is a STING antagonist?
By Michael Greenwood, M.Sc. Reviewed by Sophia Coveney, B.Sc. Stimulators of interferon genes (STING) are cytosolic sensors associated with the endoplasmic reticulum that respond to the presence of dsDNA in the cytosol, usually indicative of an invading pathogen or self-leaked DNA from damaging events. Image Credit: Christoph Burgstedt/Shutterstock.com Cytoplasmic DNA is firstly bound with the...
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‘Never seen anything as effective’ – the not-so-new-drug repurposed for a rare disease
The earliest signs of alkaptonuria are often subtle and harmless, like a diaper stained black. However, over the years, this rare genetic disease can lead to a lifetime of surgery. Now, after 20 years of research, a not-so-new drug can offer relief for thousands of patients worldwide. Image credit: Pixabay (Free Pixabay license) The disease,...
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In many cases, MS starts long before the diagnosis
TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH (TUM) Persons suffering from the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis can develop various neurological symptoms caused by damage to the nervous system. Especially in the early stages, these may include sensory dysfunction such as numbness or visual disturbances. In most patients, MS starts with recurring episodes of neurological disability, called relapses or...
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Do hormonal contraceptives impact glaucoma risk?
WILEY Women who currently use hormonal contraceptives face more than a 2-fold higher risk of developing glaucoma, according to an analysis of electronic medical records for women aged 15-45 years from 2008 to 2018. The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology analysis included 2,366 women who developed glaucoma and 9,464 controls. Although current users of hormonal contraceptives may have a...
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Universal health care benefited colon cancer survival
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH PHILADELPHIA – Patients with colon cancer enrolled in the U.S. military’s universal health care system experienced improved survival compared with patients in the general population, according to results published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. “Colorectal cancer has the third-highest death rate...
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Rapid progression in cardiovascular disease risk factors can reveal high-risk individuals
UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI Current American Heart Association, European Society of Cardiology, and UK National Health Service guidelines recommend 5-yearly health checks for screening of individuals at high cardiovascular disease risk. These health checks include measurement of major risk factors, such as systolic blood pressure, cholesterol profile, blood glucose, and smoking status. If lifestyle interventions are...
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Salton Sea aerosol exposure triggers unique and mysterious pulmonary response
by University of California – Riverside In recent decades, the Salton Sea has been undergoing a rapid retreat, causing increased exposure to the dry lakebeds. Credit: Stan Lim, UC Riverside. Communities surrounding the Salton Sea, the inland body of water straddling California’s Riverside and Imperial counties, show high rates of asthma due, possibly, to high aerosol...
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How a specialty contact lens restored one patient’s sight
by University of Southern California Maria and Dr. Chiu together. Credit: University of Southern California Three years ago, an outside clinic diagnosed Maria Contreras with keratoconus, a degenerative eye disease that causes thinning and bulging of the cornea. Though the clinic followed her for years, Maria saw no improvement in her vision and continued to suffer from poorly corrected irregular...