Journal Watch January 2021

COVID

After COVID Infection, Antibodies Highly Protective for Months, Prospective Study Shows: After infection with SARS-CoV-2, antibodies protect most healthcare workers from reinfection for up to 6 months, results of the first prospective study of the subject reveal. published online The New England Journal of Medicine.

 

COVID-19 Immunity Could Last Longer Than 8 Months: Certain antibodies and memory cells likely last more than 8 months after someone has contracted the coronavirus, especially if they have a strong immune response to COVID-19, according to a new study published in Science.

 

COVID Makes 2020 the Deadliest Year in U.S. History: The number of deaths in the United States is expected to top 3.2 million by the end of December, making 2020 the deadliest year in the nation's history, the Associated Press reported. The number of deaths in the United States is expected to top 3.2 million by the end of December, making 2020 the deadliest year in the nation's history, the Associated Press reported.

 

Vitamin D Fails to Help in Severe COVID-19: Low vitamin D levels are linked with higher risk for severe COVID-19, but treatment that boosted vitamin D levels in critically ill COVID-19 patients did not shorten their hospital stay or lower their odds of intensive care unit admission, needing mechanical ventilation, or dying, doctors in Brazil found.

 

COVID-19 Vaccine Reactions: Allergy Group Updates Guidance: The American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI) has updated its advice regarding risks of allergic reactions to new mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, such as those manufactured by Moderna and by Pfizer-BioNTech. "Reactions to vaccines, in general, are rare," the ACAAI says. Still, the group says, the new vaccines should be given in health care settings where reactions can be treated, and patients "must be observed for at least 15-30 minutes...to monitor for any adverse reaction." Briefly, the ACAAI's advice includes the following:

- Anyone with a severe allergic reaction to the first shot should not get the second shot.

- People with allergies to medications, foods, insects and latex are no more likely than the general public to be allergic to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

-It's not clear yet whether having had an allergic reaction to an older type of vaccine means people will react badly to the mRNA vaccines; these individuals should discuss the vaccine's benefits and risks with their health care providers.

"These recommendations are based on best knowledge to date but could change at any time," the ACAAI says.  American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, online December 22, 2020.

 

Review concludes universal mask use by lay persons reduces the spread of viral infections including SARS-CoV-2: A new narrative review of over 100 research articles concludes that masks and face coverings worn by members of the public reduce the spread of respiratory viral infections including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. The virus travels in the air in tiny droplets and particles, which are blocked to some extent even by 'imperfect' cloth face coverings. Wearing a face covering in a crowded indoor space reduces the chance that an infected person will pass the virus on to others. Even small reductions in the transmission rate can lead to large reductions in the number of people becoming infected over time. Annals of Internal Medicine

Cloth Masks Provide Inferior Protection vs Medical Masks, Suggests Evidence Review: Cloth masks should not be considered equivalent to medical masks for the prevention of COVID-19 in clinical settings, according to an evidence review published Jan. 11 in Annals of Family Medicine. Nevertheless, cloth masks may provide some degree of protection, filtration studies indicate. If clinicians use cloth masks, they should take into account the fit, material, and number of layers, the review authors wrote.

 

Loss of Smell Associated with Milder COVID-19 Cases: About 86 percent of people who have COVID-19 lose some or all of their ability to smell. But the majority who lost their sense of smell experienced a mild form of the disease, according to new research.

 

COVID-19: Research points to long-term neurological effects: A recent paper examining existing evidence argues that SARS-CoV-2 infection might increase the risk of long-term neurological problems, including cognitive decline and dementia. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association

 

COVID forced psychiatric care online. Many patients want it to stay there, study finds. JMIR Formative Research

 Roche, Sanofi Arthritis Drugs Reduce Death Rates Among Sickest COVID-19 Patients: Treating critically ill COVID-19 patients with Roche's Actemra or Sanofi's Kevzara arthritis drugs significantly improves survival rates and reduces the amount of time patients need intensive care, study results showed. The findings, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, showed that the immunosuppressive drugs - Actemra, also known as tocilizumab, and Kevzara, also known as sarilumab - reduced death rates by 8.5 percentage points among patients hospitalised and severely ill with the pandemic disease.

medRxiv 

 

Pfizer Vaccine Appears to Work Against Variant, Research Shows: Laboratory experiments indicate the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will offer protection against the two coronavirus variants found in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

 

Feds to States: Give COVID Vaccine to 65+ and Those With Comorbidities: Federal health officials are urging states to vaccinate all Americans over age 65 and those ages 16 to 64 who have a documented underlying health condition that makes them more vulnerable to COVID-19. US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield, MD, made the recommendation on a briefing with reporters Tuesday, saying that the current vaccine supply was sufficient to meet demand for the next phase of immunization as recommended by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. 

 

Colleges can prevent 96% of COVID-19 infections with common measures: The combined effectiveness of three COVID-prevention strategies on college campuses--mask-wearing, social distancing, and routine testing--are as effective in preventing coronavirus infections as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to a new study. Annals of Internal Medicine

 

Johnson & Johnson's One-Dose COVID Vaccine Promising in Early Trial: A single-shot COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson has shown very strong results in early clinical trials, potentially providing a significant boost to U.S. vaccination efforts. The vaccine produced an immune response of all 805 clinical trial participants within two months of inoculation, according to results published Jan. 13 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Convalescent Plasma Reduced COVID-19 Deaths: Blood transfusions from recovered COVID-19 patients that contained high antibody levels reduced the number of COVID-19 deaths among other hospitalized patients, according to a new study by Mayo Clinic. .If given early to patients with mild COVID-19, the treatments slowed the progression of disease, they wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Over 75% of People Hospitalized With COVID-19 Had Symptoms 6 Month Later: New research has found that 76 percent of people who had been hospitalized for COVID-19 experienced at least one lingering symptom 6 months after recovering. Long-term symptoms affect people of all ages and have occurred in people with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19.  Doctors suspect the risk factors include genetics, inflammation, and abnormal immune responses. The Lancet studyTrusted Source

 

PAIN

Immersive virtual reality boosts the effectiveness of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for chronic pain: Allowing patients to see as well as feel the effects of electrical stimulation on a virtual image of their own body - can enhance the pain-relieving effectiveness of SCS, reports a study in PAIN®

 

Treatment for chronic pain must address both physical and social pain: Physical pain and social pain may be more closely related than previously thought. Social pain, which typically results from interpersonal rejection or abuse, has been viewed as a non-medical response to external factors. However, recent research suggests that some physical and social stress responses may arise because of shared processing in the brain. Long-term usage of opioid medications could perpetuate a cycle of experiencing both physical and social pain and may increase risk of addiction. American Academy of Family Physicians

 

COMPLEMENTARY & ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

More than half of people using cannabis for pain experience multiple withdrawal symptoms when they're between uses. About 10% of the patients taking part in the study experienced worsening changes to their sleep, mood, mental state, energy and appetite over the next two years as they continued to use cannabis. Many of them may not recognize that these symptoms come not from their underlying condition, but from their brain and body's reaction to the absence of substances in the cannabis products they're smoking, vaping, eating or applying to their skin. Addiction

 

FDA ACTION

• Approves Osimertinib the first adjuvant therapy for most type of lung cancer

• Announced that the common diabetes drug metformin may have unacceptably high levels of a cancer-causing drug.

• Granted the first conditional approval under its expanded authority to KBroVet-CA1 (potassium bromide chewable tablets) to control seizures in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy.

• Conditionally approved Laverdia-CA1 (verdinexor tablets) to treat dogs with lymphoma

• Approved the first generic of glucagon for injection USP, 1 mg/vial packaged in an emergency kit, for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia

 

PREVENTION: Exercise

Research finds increased first-trimester exercise may reduce gestational diabetes risk: Pregnant women who exercise more during the first trimester of pregnancy may have a lower risk of developing gestational diabetes. The analysis found that lower risk was associated with at least 38 minutes of moderate intensity exercise each day--a bit more than current recommendations of at least 30 minutes a day five days a week. Diabetes Care

 

Get the facts on exercise and chronic disease: From Mayo Clinic News Network 

 

Exercise may protect bone health after weight loss surgery: Although weight loss surgery is a highly effective treatment for obesity, it can be detrimental to bone health. A new study suggests that exercise may help address this shortcoming. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research

 

Low fitness linked to higher psoriasis risk later in life: Scientists have now demonstrated a connection between inferior physical fitness in young adults and elevated risk of the autoimmune disease psoriasis. For the male recruits to compulsory military training who were rated as the least fit, the risk of developing psoriasis later was 35 percent higher than for the fittest. PLOS One

 

PREVENTION: Diet/Nutrition

2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommend grains at all life stages: The DGA recommends for the average healthy American adult to consume six one-ounce servings of grain foods daily, with half of those servings coming from whole grains.

 

Including unhealthy foods may diminish positive effects of an otherwise healthy diet: New research reports diminished benefits of a Mediterranean diet among those with high frequency of eating unhealth foods. Eating a diet that emphasizes vegetables, fruit, fish and whole grains may positively affects a person's health, but when it is combined with fried food, sweets, refined grains, red meat and processed meat, we observed that the benefits of eating the Mediterranean part of the diet seems to be diminished." The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association on Jan. 7.

 

Beating the bulge with a nice cup of tea: Researchers led by the University of Tsukuba find that drinking two cups of oolong tea a day can stimulate fat breakdown while you sleep. Nutrients

 

High doses of saccharin don't lead to diabetes in healthy adults: A new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University found the sugar substitute saccharin doesn't lead to the development of diabetes in healthy adults. Microbiome.

 

Even One Drink a Day May Raise Your Risk of Atrial Fibrillation: Researchers said they found that having an alcoholic drink every day was associated with a 16 percent increase in risk for atrial fibrillation over an average 14-year follow-up period when compared to people who didn’t drink. European Heart Journal study

 

Low Carb Diet May Help People with Type 2 Diabetes Go Into Remission: A new study, published in The BMJ, found that adhering to a low carb diet for six months was associated with higher rates of remission among people with type 2 diabetes. However, the benefits flattened after about a year likely due to the restrictive diet. Lowering carb intake can help improve blood glucose levels along with other markers of carbohydrate intolerance or insulin resistance.

 

MIND and Mediterranean diets associated with later onset of Parkinson's disease: A new study suggests a strong correlation between following the MIND and Mediterranean diets and later onset of Parkinson's disease (PD). While researchers have long known of neuroprotective effects of the MIND diet for diseases like Alzheimer's and dementia, this study is the first to suggest a link between this diet and brain health for Parkinson's disease (PD). The MIND diet combines aspects of two very popular diets, the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. Movement Disorders

 

Link between dietary fiber and depression partially explained by gut-brain interactions: Fiber is a commonly recommended part of a healthy diet. That's because it's good for your health in so many ways -- from weight management to reducing the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and some types of cancer. A new study also finds that it might be linked with a reduced risk of depression, especially in premenopausal women. Menopause

 

PREVENTION: VITAMINS/SUPPLEMENTS

Could a supplement be as effective as exercise at protecting health? New research suggests that a common dietary supplement, glucosamine, may help reduce overall death risk to a similar degree as regular exercise. Researchers recently found that individuals who took glucosamine/chondroitin on a daily basis for at least 1 year saw a 39% reduction in mortality from all causes of death and a 65% reduction in the likelihood of death from cardiovascular disease. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.

 

Clinical trial finds vitamin D does not ward off colds and flu: A randomized controlled trial of vitamin D supplements has found they do not protect most people from developing colds, flues and other acute respiratory infections. The trial, which is the largest of its kind to study the relationship between vitamin D and respiratory infection to date did show, however, that the supplements may shorten the length of infection slightly and help ease the severity of those illnesses. The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology

 

PREVENTION

New studies suggest vaping could cloud your thoughts: Two new studies from the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) have uncovered an association between vaping and mental fog. Both adults and kids who vape were more likely to report difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions than their non-vaping, non-smoking peers. It also appeared that kids were more likely to experience mental fog if they started vaping before the age of 14. Tobacco Induced Diseases and Plos One

 

Workaholism leads to mental and physical health problems: Workaholism or work addiction risk is a growing public health concern that can lead to many negative mental and physical health outcomes such as depression, anxiety or sleep disorder. Perception of work (job demands and job control) may become a major cause of employees' work addiction. The international group of researchers including the HSE University scientist explored the link between work addiction risk and health-related outcomes using the framework of Job Demand Control Model. The results were published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

 

Can menopause be blamed for increased forgetfulness and lack of attention?

New study suggests that a woman's menopause stage can affect cognitive performance; declines in memory may persist in the postmenopause period. Menopause

 

Acute itching in eczema patients linked to environmental allergens: New research indicates that allergens in the environment often are to blame for episodes of acute itch in eczema patients, and that the itching often doesn't respond to antihistamines because the itch signals are being carried to the brain along a previously unrecognized pathway that current drugs don't target. Cell

 

TREATMENT

Osteoporosis drug could half number of redo hip replacement operations: Researchers have found the osteoporosis drug, denosumab, could protect patients from osteolysis, reduce the need for re-operations, and reduce the health burden of this disease. The Lancet Rheumatology

 

Stopping RAS inhibitors tied to worse outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease: Small studies have suggested that a group of medications called RAS inhibitors may be harmful in persons with advanced chronic kidney disease, and physicians therefore often stop the treatment in such patients. Researchers now show that although stopping the treatment is linked to a lower risk of requiring dialysis, it is also linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular events and death.  Journal of the American Society of Nephrology

 

New guideline supports behavioral, psychological treatments for insomnia

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has published a new clinical practice guideline establishing recommendations for the use of behavioral and psychological treatments for chronic insomnia disorder in adults.

 

Bupropion-Naltrexone Bests Placebo in Methamphetamine Use Disorder: For adults with methamphetamine use disorder, response is higher with receipt of extended-release injectable naltrexone plus oral extended-release bupropion versus placebo, according to a study published in the Jan. 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

 

OTHER

People in rural areas less likely to receive specialty care for neurologic conditions: A new study has found that while the prevalence of neurologic conditions like dementia, stroke, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis (MS) is consistent across the U.S., the distribution of neurologists is not, and people in more rural areas may be less likely to receive specialty care for certain neurologic conditions. The study, funded by the American Academy of Neurology, is published in the December 23, 2020, online issue of Neurology®

A 'ghastly future' unless extraordinary action is taken soon on sustainability : Without immediate and drastic intervention, humans face a "ghastly future" -- including declining health, climate devastation, tens of millions of environmental migrants and more pandemics -- in the next several decades, according to an international team of 17 prominent scientists. Frontiers in Conservation Science