Surpassed only by advanced age and organ transplant as a risk factor, large study shows. Physical inactivity is linked to more severe COVID-19 infection and a heightened risk of dying from the disease, finds a large US study published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Patients with COVID-19 who were consistently inactive during the 2 years preceding the pandemic were more likely to be admitted to hospital, to require intensive care, and to die than were patients who had consistently met physical activity guidelines, the findings show.
As a risk factor for severe disease, physical inactivity was surpassed only by advanced age and a history of organ transplant.
Several risk factors for severe COVID-19 infection have been identified, including advanced age, male sex, and certain underlying medical conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.
But physical inactivity is not one of them, even though it is a well known contributory risk factor for several long term conditions, including those associated with severe COVID-19, point out the researchers.
Release date: 13 April 2021
Source: BMJ
Childhood air pollution exposure linked to poor mental health at age 18
A multidecade study of young adults living in the United Kingdom has found higher rates of mental illness symptoms among those exposed to higher levels of traffic-related air pollutants, particularly nitrogen oxides, during childhood and adolescence.
Previous studies have identified a link between air pollution and the risk of specific mental disorders, including depression and anxiety, but this study looked at changes in mental health that span all forms of disorder and psychological distress associated with exposure to traffic-related air pollutants.
The findings, which will appear April 28 in JAMA Network Open, reveal that the greater an individual’s exposure to nitrogen oxides across childhood and adolescence, the more likely they are to show any signs of mental illness at the transition to adulthood, at age 18, when most symptoms of mental illness have emerged or begin to emerge.
Release date: 28 April 2021
Source: Duke University
Cloth face coverings can be as effective as surgical masks at protecting against COVID-19
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, 139 countries mandated the use of face coverings in public space such as supermarkets and public transports. The World Health Organization also advises the use of face coverings and offers guidance on their effective features. Face coverings suppress the onward transmission of COVID-19 through exhalation and protect the wearer on inhalation.
In a paper published by the Physics of Fluids journal, the researchers detail how they looked at how liquid droplets are captured and filtered out in cloth masks by reviewing and modelling filtration processes, including inertial impaction.
Inertial impaction does not filter as a sieve or colander does – it works by forcing the air in your breath to twist and turn inside the mask so much that the droplets can’t follow the path of the air. Instead, the droplets crash into fibres inside the mask to prevent inhalation.
The team found that, under ideal conditions and dependent on the fit, three-layered cloth masks can perform similarly to surgical masks for filtering droplets – with both reducing exposure by around 50 to 75 per cent. For example, if an infected person and a healthy individual are both wearing masks, scientists believe this could result in up to 94 per cent less exposure.
Release date: 28 April 2021
Source: University of Surrey
Salad or cheeseburger? Your co-workers shape your food choices
Employees’ cafeteria purchases—both healthy and unhealthy foods—were influenced by their co-workers’ food choices, found a large, two-year study of hospital employees. The study made innovative use of cash register data to gain insights into how individuals’ social networks shape their health behavior. The research suggests we might structure future efforts aimed at improving population health by capitalizing on how one person’s behavior influences another.
The foods people buy at a workplace cafeteria may not always be chosen to satisfy an individual craving or taste for a particular food. When co-workers are eating together, individuals are more likely to select foods that are as healthy—or unhealthy—as the food selections on their fellow employees’ trays. “We found that individuals tend to mirror the food choices of others in their social circles, which may explain one way obesity spreads through social networks,” says Douglas Levy, PhD, an investigator at the Mongan Institute Health Policy Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and first author of new research published in Nature Human Behaviour.
Release date: 22 April 2021
Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
Among COVID-19 survivors, an increased risk of death, serious illness
A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that even mild cases of COVID-19 increase the risk of death in the six months following diagnosis and that this risk increases with disease severity. The comprehensive study also catalogues the wide-ranging and long-term health problems often triggered by the infection, even among those not hospitalized.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has progressed, it has become clear that many survivors — even those who had mild cases — continue to manage a variety of health problems long after the initial infection should have resolved. In what is believed to be the largest comprehensive study of long COVID-19 to date, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis showed that COVID-19 survivors — including those not sick enough to be hospitalized — have an increased risk of death in the six months following diagnosis with the virus.
The researchers also have catalogued the numerous diseases associated with COVID-19, providing a big-picture overview of the long-term complications of COVID-19 and revealing the massive burden this disease is likely to place on the world’s population in the coming years.
The study, involving more than 87,000 COVID-19 patients and nearly 5 million control patients in a federal database, appears in the journal Nature .
Release date: 22 April 2021
Source: Washington University School of Medicine
Disrupted sleep is linked to increased risk of death, particularly in women
For the first time, a study has shown a clear link between the frequency and duration of unconscious wakefulness during night-time sleep and an increased risk of dying from diseases of the heart and blood vessels, and death from any cause, particularly in women.
The study of 8001 men and women, which is published in the European Heart Journal, found that women who experienced unconscious wakefulness most often and for longer periods of time had nearly double the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease during an average of between 6 and 11 years’ follow-up, when compared to the risk in general female population. The association was less clear in men, and their risk of cardiovascular death increased by just over a quarter compared to the general male population.
Unconscious wakefulness, also known as cortical arousal, is a normal part of sleep. It occurs spontaneously and is part of the body’s ability to respond to potentially dangerous situations, such as noise or breathing becoming obstructed. Pain, limb movements, trauma, temperature and light can also be triggers.
Release date: 20 April 2021
Source: European Society of Cardiology
Air pollution may affect severity and hospitalization in COVID-19 patients with respiratory disease
Patients who have preexisting respiratory conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and live in areas with high levels of air pollution have a greater chance of hospitalization if they contract COVID-19, says a University of Cincinnati researcher.
Particulate matter is very small, small enough to be inhaled deep into the lungs, they cross into the blood and also affect other organ systems. Air pollution as a result of emissions from automobiles, factories or other sources is a generator of particulate matter.
The study’s findings were published online in the scholarly journal Respiratory Medicine .
Release date: 13 April 2021
Source: University of Cincinnati
Differing immune reponses discovered in asymptomatic cases versus those with severe COVID-19
Using data from the Human Cell Atlas, researchers have identified the differences in immune cells’ response in those who had no symptoms compared to severe symptoms.
The largest study of its type in the UK has identified differences in the immune response to COVID-19, between people with no symptoms, compared to those suffering a more serious reaction to the virus.
Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Newcastle University, University College London, University of Cambridge, EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and their collaborators within the Human Cell Atlas initiative, found raised levels of specific immune cells in asymptomatic people. They also showed people with more serious symptoms had lost these protective cell types, but gained inflammatory cells. These differences in the immune response could help explain serious lung inflammation and blood clotting symptoms, and could be used to identify potential targets for developing therapies.
The research, published in Nature Medicine, is one of the only studies to include people who were asymptomatic. This large-scale collaborative study is part of the Human Cell Atlas* initiative to map every cell type in the human body, to transform our understanding of health, infection and disease.
Release date: 20 April 2021
Source: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Physical inactivity linked to more severe COVID-19 infection and death
Surpassed only by advanced age and organ transplant as a risk factor, large study shows. Physical inactivity is linked to more severe COVID-19 infection and a heightened risk of dying from the disease, finds a large US study published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Patients with COVID-19 who were consistently inactive during the 2 years preceding the pandemic were more likely to be admitted to hospital, to require intensive care, and to die than were patients who had consistently met physical activity guidelines, the findings show.
As a risk factor for severe disease, physical inactivity was surpassed only by advanced age and a history of organ transplant.
Several risk factors for severe COVID-19 infection have been identified, including advanced age, male sex, and certain underlying medical conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.
But physical inactivity is not one of them, even though it is a well known contributory risk factor for several long term conditions, including those associated with severe COVID-19, point out the researchers.
Release date: 13 April 2021
Source: BMJ
COVID-19 in our dust may help predict outbreaks
A study done in rooms where COVID-19 patients were isolated shows that the virus’s RNA – part of the genetic material inside a virus – can persist up to a month in dust.
The study did not evaluate whether dust can transmit the virus to humans. It could, however, offer another option for monitoring COVID-19 outbreaks in specific buildings, including nursing homes, offices or schools.
Karen Dannemiller, senior author of the study, has experience studying dust and its relationship to potential hazards like mold and microbes.
The study, published in the journal mSystems, found some of the genetic material at the heart of the virus persists in dust, even though it is likely that the envelope around the virus may break down over time in dust. The envelope – the crown-like spiked sphere that contains the virus’s material – plays an important role in the virus’s transmission to humans.
Release date: 13 April 2021
Source: Ohio State University
Multivits, omega-3, probiotics, vitamin D may lessen risk of positive COVID-19 test
Taking multivitamins, omega-3, probiotics or vitamin D supplements may lessen the risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 infection–at least among women–indicates a large population study, published online in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health.
But taking any of vitamin C, zinc, or garlic supplements wasn’t associated with a lower risk of testing positive for the virus, the findings show.
There has been plenty of celebrity endorsement of the use of dietary supplements to both ward off and treat COVID-19 infection since the start of the pandemic, note the researchers.
Release date: 19 April 2021
Source: BMJ