by Waun’shae Blount, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Maribel Jose and Zhellann Aguilar test Covid-19 samples in the lab. Credit: Keith Weller/Johns Hopkins Medicine One of the most commonly used diagnostic tools, particularly during this pandemic, is the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction test (RT-PCR), which uses a person’s respiratory sample to detect viral...
Exposure to ‘good bacteria’ during pregnancy buffers risk of autism-like syndrome
by University of Colorado at Boulder Giving beneficial bacteria to stressed mothers during the equivalent of the third trimester of pregnancy prevents an autism-like disorder in their offspring, according to a new animal study by University of Colorado Boulder researchers. The study, published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, marks the latest in a...
Zika infection soon after birth leads to long-term brain and behavior problems
by Emory University Researchers from the Yerkes National Primate Research Center have shown Zika virus infection soon after birth leads to long-term brain and behavior problems, including persistent socioemotional, cognitive and motor deficits, as well as abnormalities in brain structure and function. This study is one of the first to shed light on potential long-term...
PICKY EATERS MAY NOT GROW OUT OF IT
If your preschooler pushes their dinner plate away or wages battles against taking another bite of a vegetable they don’t like, they may not grow out of it anytime soon, according to a new study. By age four, children could be established picky eaters, the new study suggests. And the more parents try to control...
FDA greenlights Neuroelectrics to help patients with Major Depression at home amidst Covid-19 restrictions
Neuroelectrics announced that the FDA has approved the Investigational Device Exemption supplemental protocol study submitted by Neuroelectrics to help patients with Major Depression Disorder (MDD) that cannot access their current non-invasive brain stimulation treatment (rTMS* or ECT**) due to COVID-19 related restrictions. COVID-19 pandemic has made evident the urgent need for a safe, effective, home-based...
Female Gulf War combat veterans have persistent symptoms more than 25 years later
AUGUSTA, Ga. (May 25, 2020) – More than a quarter century after the Gulf War, female veterans who saw combat have nearly a twofold risk of reporting more than 20 total medical symptoms, like cognition and respiratory troubles, than their fellow female veterans who were not deployed, investigators report. A sizeable percentage of the female...
US regulators approve new type of contraceptive gel
by Linda A. Johnson Phexxi, a contraceptive made by San Diego-based Evofem Bioscience. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday, May 22, 2020 approved the new contraceptive. (Christine Blackburne via AP) U.S. regulators on Friday approved a birth control gel that works in a new way to prevent pregnancy. Phexxi—pronounced FECK’-see—comes in an applicator that...
‘Time is vision’ after a stroke
A person who has a stroke that causes vision loss is often told there is nothing she can do to improve or regain the vision she has lost. New research from the University of Rochester, published in the journal Brain, may offer hope to stroke patients in regaining vision. The Rochester team found that survivors...
Preclinical study offers hope for Hirschsprung’s
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles surgeon achieves milestone in using tissue engineering to grow complete gut nervous system CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL LOS ANGELES Babies with Hirschsprung’s disease are born with an incomplete or absent gut nervous system. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles investigator Tracy Grikscheit, MD, runs a laboratory that investigates the therapeutic potential of tissue engineering –...
Conjunctivitis Can Be Sole Covid-19 Symptom
(Reuters Health) — Acute, non-remitting conjunctivitis may be the only presenting symptom of Covid-19 infections in some instances, according to case reports on five patients in Italy. “Conjunctivitis per se is not a very common finding among positive subjects, but when it occurs, it generally presents with or anticipates other symptoms, such as fever, general...