The virus that causes COVID-19 uses a receptor known as ACE2, found on the surface of certain cells in the human body, to enter its victims. Now, Mount Sinai researchers have found that children have lower levels of ACE2 gene expression than adults, which may explain children’s lower risk of COVID-19 infection and mortality. Gene expression is a measure of how much a gene is transcribed.
Release date: 22 May 2020
Source: Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Is your job killing you?
A new study from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business finds that our mental health and mortality have a strong correlation with the amount of autonomy we have at our job, our workload and job demands, and our cognitive ability to deal with those demands. Read more in Journal of Applied Psychology .
Release date: 19 May 2020
Source: Indiana University
COVID-19 outbreak lasts days longer for each day’s delay in social distancing
Epidemiological researchers have published research finding every day a city delayed implementing social distancing measures after the appearance of a first case added 2.4 days to the length of the outbreak.
Release date: 1 June 2020
Source: University of Texas at Austin
COVID-19 may be less common in children
The virus that causes COVID-19 uses a receptor known as ACE2, found on the surface of certain cells in the human body, to enter its victims. Now, Mount Sinai researchers have found that children have lower levels of ACE2 gene expression than adults, which may explain children’s lower risk of COVID-19 infection and mortality. Gene expression is a measure of how much a gene is transcribed.
Release date: 22 May 2020
Source: Mount Sinai School of Medicine
No evidence of benefit for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients
A large observational study suggests that treatment with the antimalarial drug chloroquine or its analogue hydroxychloroquine (taken with or without the antibiotics azithromycin or clarithromycin) offers no benefit for patients with COVID-19. The study analyzed data from nearly 15,000 patients with COVID-19 receiving a combination of any of the four drug regimens and 81,000 controls.
Release date: 22 May 2020
Source: The Lancet
Coffee and body fat
Women who drink two or three cups of coffee a day have been found to have lower total body and abdominal fat than those who drink less, according to a new study published in The Journal of Nutrition.
Release date: 14 May 2020
Source: Anglia Ruskin University
Hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19
The anti-inflammatory drug hydroxychloroquine does not significantly reduce admission to intensive care or death in patients hospitalized with pneumonia due to covid-19, finds a study from France published by The BMJ today. Adverse events were more common in those receiving the drug.
Release date: 15 May 2020
Source: BMJ
Gut microbiome influences ALS outcomes
Harvard University scientists have identified a new gut-brain connection in the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The researchers found that in mice with a common ALS genetic mutation, changing the gut microbiome using antibiotics or fecal transplants could prevent or improve disease symptoms.
Release date: 14 May 2020
Source: Harvard University
Patient’s own cells to treat Parkinson’s disease
Reprogramming a patient’s own skin cells to replace cells in the brain that are progressively lost during Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been shown to be technically feasible, reports a team of investigators from McLean Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the most recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Release date: 13 May 2020
Source: McLean Hospital
COVID19’s dangerous cardiovascular complications
COVID-19 can cause serious cardiovascular complications including heart failure, heart attacks and blood clots that can lead to strokes, emergency medicine doctors report in a new scientific paper. They also caution that COVID-19 treatments can interact with medicines used to manage patients’ existing cardiovascular conditions.
Release date: 15 May 2020
Source: University of Virginia
New drug for DMD
New experimental drug, vamorolone, can reduce chronic inflammation as well as risk of heart failure in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Scientists affiliated with Children’s National Health System show.