Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain By September 2020, just six months after COVID-19 triggered shutdowns across the US, it was clear that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, had mutated from its original form. The question quickly arose whether existing rapid antigen tests could detect newly emerging variants. Using clinical samples obtained from diagnostic labs throughout …
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and other biomarkers differ for individuals with Alzheimer disease and cognitively normal controls, with the estimated times of divergence varying from 18 to six years before diagnosis, according to a study published in the Feb. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Jianping Jia, MD, Ph.D., from Xuanwu Hospital in …
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain If approved by voters on Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ballot measure to overhaul the state’s mental health services system and sell bonds to finance more than 10,000 treatment beds across California could cost the state up to $14 billion. Opponents of Proposition 1 argue the price is too high. “What California …
The cost of Prop. 1: Newsom’s plan to transform California’s mental health system Read More »
An incarceration history is associated with worse access to and receipt of health care, according to a study published online Feb. 23 in JAMA Health Forum, Jingxuan Zhao, MPH, from the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, and colleagues examined whether incarceration history is associated with access to and receipt of health care in the United …
Incarceration history tied to lower access to health care Read More »
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain In pharmacies in crisis-riddled Argentina, people look at the prices on medicine containers, then put them down again. Even prescription antibiotics and chronic treatments are being ditched in a country where annual inflation exceeding 250 percent means that health care has become a luxury for many. “Between eating and buying medicine, …
Food or medicine? Stark choice for sick Argentines Read More »
Credit: CC0 Public Domain Smoking changes the way genes are expressed, which later contributes to the development of lung cancer and other smoking-related illnesses. But the link between epigenetics (the study of mechanisms that impact gene expression) and smoking is not fully understood, especially in terms of differences across racial and ethnic groups. “We know …
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A perplexing problem for people with recurring urinary tract infections (UTIs) is persistent pain, even after antibiotics have successfully cleared the bacteria. Now Duke Health researchers have identified the likely cause—an overgrowth of nerve cells in the bladder. The finding, appearing March 1 in the journal Science Immunology, provides a potential …
An overgrowth of nerve cells appears to cause lingering symptoms after recurrent UTIs. Read More »
McKenna Shuster works on a linocut art print which she does as a hobby in her home on the last night of a two-week self-isolation while recovering from symptoms of COVID-19 in Somerville, Mass., on March 26, 2020. On Friday, March 1, 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said people who test positive …
COVID-19 no longer means five days in isolation, CDC says Read More »
The 2023 to 2024 seasonal influenza vaccine is effective for reducing the risk for medically attended influenza virus infection, according to research published in the Feb. 29 issue of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Aaron M. Frutos, Ph.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues used a …
2023 to 2024 seasonal influenza vaccine effective for reducing risk, research finds Read More »
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The General Medical Council (GMC) should revise its terminology regarding international medical graduates (IMGs) in the UK, argues a new commentary published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (JRSM), The existing terminology used by the GMC fails to encompass the full spectrum of doctors facing challenges in the …