Sunnier areas are associated with fewer deaths from Covid-19, an observational study suggests.
Increased exposure to the sun’s rays – specifically UVA – could act as a simple public health intervention if further research establishes it causes a reduction in mortality rates, experts say.
The study found that people living in areas with the highest level of exposure to UVA rays – which makes up 95 per cent of the sun’s UV light – had a lower risk of dying from Covid-19 compared with those with lower levels. The analysis was repeated in England and Italy with the same results.
The researchers took into account factors known to be associated with increased exposure to the virus and risk of death such as age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, population density, air pollution, temperature and levels of infection in local areas.
The observed reduction in risk of death from Covid-19 could not be explained by higher levels of vitamin D, the experts said. Only areas, with insufficient levels of UVB to produce significant vitamin D in the body, were included in the study.
Release date: 13 April 2021
Source: University of Edinburgh
Sunlight linked with lower Covid-19 deaths
Sunnier areas are associated with fewer deaths from Covid-19, an observational study suggests.
Increased exposure to the sun’s rays – specifically UVA – could act as a simple public health intervention if further research establishes it causes a reduction in mortality rates, experts say.
The study found that people living in areas with the highest level of exposure to UVA rays – which makes up 95 per cent of the sun’s UV light – had a lower risk of dying from Covid-19 compared with those with lower levels. The analysis was repeated in England and Italy with the same results.
The researchers took into account factors known to be associated with increased exposure to the virus and risk of death such as age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, population density, air pollution, temperature and levels of infection in local areas.
The observed reduction in risk of death from Covid-19 could not be explained by higher levels of vitamin D, the experts said. Only areas, with insufficient levels of UVB to produce significant vitamin D in the body, were included in the study.
Release date: 13 April 2021
Source: University of Edinburgh
Leisure physical activity is linked with health benefits but work activity is not
The first large study showing that leisure time physical activity and occupational physical activity have opposite, and independent, associations with cardiovascular disease risk and longevity is published today in European Heart Journal , a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)
Release date: 09 April 2021
Source: European Society of Cardiology
Fit Matters Most When Double Masking to Protect Yourself from COVID-19
A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that wearing two face coverings can nearly double the effectiveness of filtering out SARS-CoV-2-sized particles, preventing them from reaching the wearer’s nose and mouth and causing COVID-19. The reason for the enhanced filtration isn’t so much adding layers of cloth, but eliminating any gaps or poor-fitting areas of a mask.
To test the fitted filtration efficiency (FFE) of a range of masks, UNC researchers worked with James Samet, PhD, and colleagues in the USEPA Human Studies Facility on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. There they filled a 10-foot by 10-foot stainless-steel exposure chamber with small salt particle aerosols, and had researchers don combinations of masks to test how effective they were at keeping particles out of their breathing space.
Each individual mask or layered mask combination was fitted with a metal sample port, which was attached to tubing in the exposure chamber that measured the concentration of particles entering the breathing space underneath the researcher’s mask. A second tube measured the ambient concentration of particles in the chamber. By measuring particle concentration in the breathing space underneath the mask compared to that in the chamber, researchers determined the FFE.
Release date: 16 April 2021
Source: University of North Carolina Health Care
Research identifies gender bias in estimation of patients’ pain
A new study suggests that when men and women express the same amount of hurt, women’s pain is considered less intense based on stereotypes.
According to “Gender biases in estimation of others’ pain,” when male and female patients expressed the same amount of pain, observers viewed female patients’ pain as less intense and more likely to benefit from psychotherapy versus medication as compared to men’s pain, exposing a significant patient gender bias that could lead to disparities in treatments. The Journal of Pain
Release date: 06 April 2021
Source: University of Miami
COVID-19 patients can be categorized into three groups Phenotypes I, II and III
In a new study, researchers identify three clinical COVID-19 phenotypes, reflecting patient populations with different comorbidities, complications and clinical outcomes. The three phenotypes are described in a paper published this week in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.
Most patients included in the study (613 patients, or 60 percent) presented with what the researchers dubbed “phenotype II.” 236 patients (23.1 percent) presented with “phenotype I,” or the “Adverse phenotype,” which was associated with the worst clinical outcomes; these patients had the highest level of hematologic, renal and cardiac comorbidities (all p<0.001) and were more likely to be non-White and non-English speaking. 173 patients (16.9 percent) presented with “phenotype III,” or the “Favorable phenotype,” which was associated with the best clinical outcomes; surprisingly, despite having the lowest complication rate and mortality, patients in this group had the highest rate of respiratory comorbidities (p=0.002) as well as a 10 percent greater risk of hospital readmission compared to the other phenotypes. Overall, phenotypes I and II were associated with 7.30-fold (95% CI 3.11-17.17, p<0.001) and 2.57-fold (95% CI 1.10-6.00, p=0.03) increases in hazard of death relative to phenotype III.
Release date: 02 April 2021
Source: US News Mail
Those Late-Night Snacks May Be Hurting You at Work
A recent study finds that unhealthy eating behaviors at night can make people less helpful and more withdrawn the next day at work.
“For the first time, we have shown that healthy eating immediately affects our workplace behaviors and performance,” says Seonghee “Sophia” Cho, corresponding author of the study and an assistant professor of psychology at North Carolina State University. “It is relatively well established that other health-related behaviors, such as sleep and exercise, affect our work. But nobody had looked at the short-term effects of unhealthy eating.”
The study, is published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
Release date: 07 April 2021
Source: North Carolina State University
Masks, Ventilation Stop COVID Spread Better than Social Distancing
The results indicate masks and proper ventilation may be key to allowing more capacity in schools, businesses and other indoor areas.
A new study from the University of Central Florida suggests that masks and a good ventilation system are more important than social distancing for reducing the airborne spread of COVID-19 in classrooms.
The research, published recently in the journal Physics of Fluids, comes at a critical time when schools and universities are considering returning to more in-person classes in the fall.
Release date: 05 April 2021
Source: University of Central Florida
Sugar not so nice for your child’s brain development
Children are the highest consumers of added sugar, even as high-sugar diets have been linked to health effects like obesity and heart disease and even impaired memory function.
However, less is known about how high sugar consumption during childhood affects the development of the brain, specifically a region known to be critically important for learning and memory called the hippocampus.
Release date: 31 March 2021
New research led by a University of Georgia faculty member in collaboration with a University of Southern California research group has shown in a rodent model that daily consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages during adolescence impairs performance on a learning and memory task during adulthood. The group further showed that changes in the bacteria in the gut may be the key to the sugar-induced memory impairment.
Release date: 31 March 2021
Source: University of Georgia
Evidence supports Covid hearing loss link
Hearing loss and other auditory problems are strongly associated with Covid-19 according to a systematic review of research evidence led by University of Manchester and NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) scientists.
Professor Kevin Munro and PhD researcher Ibrahim Almufarrij found 56 studies that identified an association between COVID-19 and auditory and vestibular problems.
They pooled data from 24 of the studies to estimate that the prevalence of hearing loss was 7.6%, tinnitus was 14.8% and vertigo was 7.2%.
They publish their findings in the International Journal of Audiology.
Release date: 22 March 2021
Source: Taylor & Francis Group
Cardiorespiratory fitness improves grades at school
By confirming the link between children’s cardiorespiratory fitness and their school results, researchers at the UNIGE underline the importance of physical education classes at school.
Recent studies indicate a link between children’s cardiorespiratory fitness and their school performance: the more athletic they are, the better their marks in the main subjects – French and mathematics. Similarly, cardiorespiratory fitness is known to benefit cognitive abilities, such as memory and attention. But what is the real influence of such fitness on school results? To answer this question, researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland tested pupils from eight Geneva schools. Their results, published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, show that there is an indirect link with cardiorespiratory fitness influencing cognitive abilities, which in turn, influence school results.
Release date: 30 March 2021
Source: Université de Genève