Journal Watch: May 2022

COVID-19

Covid-19 Prevention

Unvaccinated People Increase COVID-19 Risk, Even Among Vaccinated People: In a new study, researchers at the University of Toronto in Canada say that when they simulated mixing unvaccinated people with vaccinated individuals, a substantial number of new cases would occur among the vaccinated crowd. The choice to remain unvaccinated affects everyone in a community. Those who are vaccinated people should consider continuing to wear a mask in certain public places, especially if they are older, have underlying conditions, or take care of someone who is at higher risk.

 

COVID-19: Vaccines/Boosters

Moderna's combination COVID booster appears more protective against variants, company study finds: A booster shot that includes the original Moderna vaccine plus one directed at the beta variant protects well against a range of COVID-19 variants, a new company study has found. The 50-microgram dose is the same as a current booster dose and appeared just as safe, the company said in a news release. The study included nearly 900 volunteers, 300 of whom received the 50-microgram dose. The rest received twice that amount, which was deemed unnecessary.

 

COVID-19 vaccine protects kids and teens from severe illness: Results of a new multicenter study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that vaccination with a primary series of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine reduced the risk of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations in children ages 5-11 years by two-thirds during the Omicron period. Among adolescents ages 12-18 years who were vaccinated with a primary series of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, protection against COVID-19-associated hospitalization during the Omicron period was lower than during the Delta period, similar to what has been previously shown among adults.

 

Effectiveness of Pfizer's COVID-19 Booster Shot May Drop from 85% to 55% After 3 Months: New researchTrusted Source finds Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine offers robust protection against hospitalization and emergency room visits in the first few months. Still, protection appears to wane over time, even after a booster dose.

 

'Low Severity' Side Effects More Common With COVID-19 Booster Shots Than With Regular Doses: Rare “low-severity” side effects such as fatigue, lymph node swelling, and nausea are more common after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine boosters than with regular doses, according to a new studyTrusted Source published in JAMA Network Open.

 

New study shows fewer people die from COVID-19 in better vaccinated communities: The findings, based on data across 2,558 counties in 48 US states, show that counties with high vaccine coverage had a more than 80% reduction in death rates compared with largely unvaccinated counties. British Medical Journal

 

COVID-19: Treatment

COVID-19 treatments: What we know so far It's important to remember that while new treatments are effective at reducing the severity of symptoms and helping prevent hospitalization and death in people who become infected with COVID-19, they are not a substitute for vaccination, which remains the single most effective strategy to prevent serious disease. Yale Medicine's guide to COVID-19 treatments.

 

COVID-19: Long-Covid

About 30% of COVID patients develop 'Long COVID,' study finds: New UCLA research finds that 30% of people treated for COVID-19 developed Post Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), most commonly known as "Long COVID." People with a history of hospitalization, diabetes, and higher body mass index were most likely to develop the condition, while those covered by Medicaid, as opposed to commercial health insurance, or had undergone an organ transplant were less likely to develop it. Surprisingly, ethnicity, older age, and socioeconomic status were not associated with the syndrome even though those characteristics have been linked with severe illness and greater risk of death from COVID-19. Journal of General Internal Medicine

 

Six in ten people with COVID-19 still have a least one symptom a year later, long COVID study reveals: The researchers in Luxembourg found that COVID-19 symptoms that don't clear up after 15 weeks are likely to last at least a year. An estimated 25-40% of people with COVID-19 develop long COVID—persisting symptoms that can affect multiple organs and include mental health problems. European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases

 

Long COVID associated with different clinical trajectories, characteristics depending on severity of initial infection: A retrospective population-based cohort study of 205,241 adult residents (aged 18 or older) of the Stockholm Region who had received a positive SARS-CoV-2 test between 1^st March 2020 and 31^st July 2021, and were alive 90 days after their test result, with and without a long COVID diagnosis, found almost a third (32%) of those treated for COVID-19 in ICU developed long COVID, as well as 6% of those hospitalized, and 1% of outpatients. Fatigue was the most common registered symptom diagnosis among non-hospitalized patients (26%); while shortness of breath was the most frequently registered symptom diagnosis in both hospitalized patients (23%) and those treated in ICU (39%). Women were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with long COVID compared to men among individuals with milder forms of initial infection, who did not require hospital care. A history of mental illness or asthma was associated with twice the risk of being diagnosed with long COVID in people with initially mild COVID-19. European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases 

 

Long COVID fatigue eased by four-week occupationaltherapy program, Irish study finds: A pilot occupational therapy program Fatigue Management Education program (FaME-PC), which provided three 1.5-hour-long group-based interventions delivered online by an occupational therapist over a four-week period, focused on self-management techniques to address everyday fatigue and brain-fog. Topics covered included energy planning, dealing with stress and sleep hygiene. Preliminary analysis of the results showed significant improvements in all three areas: fatigue, quality of life and well-being concerns. European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

 

Adults Over 50 Who Get COVID-19 Have Increased Risk of Shingles: A study published by researchers affiliated with pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline — which makes the shingles vaccine ShingrixTrusted Source as well as developing vaccines and monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-10 — found that participants over age 50 who had the novel coronavirus were at a 15 percent higher risk of developing shingles.

 

Women with long COVID-19 syndrome have more symptoms: A new study found that females with Long COVID-19 syndrome were more symptomatic than males. Females were statistically significantly more likely to experience difficulty swallowing, fatigue, chest pain, and palpitations at long-term follow-up, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Women’s Health. Click here to read the article now.

 

Physical activity – double edged sword in long COVID recovery: Writing in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, the researchers from the University of Leeds said physical activity is likely to play a part in helping people to recover from long COVID, but a delicate balance had to be found between doing too much and not enough. The researchers added: “The development of individualised physical activity programmes that could mitigate the negative health consequences of physical inactivity without worsening long COVID symptoms and facilitate a return to independence should be considered a clinical priority.” 

 

COVID-19: Other

Risk factors for severe COVID-19 in hospitalized adults differ by age: A just-published study provides previously unknown answers about which hospitalized COVID-19 patients are most likely to need mechanical ventilation or to die.Vital signs and lab results at the time of hospital admission are the most accurate predictors of disease severity. "Our models show that chronic conditions, comorbidities, sex, race and ethnicity are much less important in the hospital setting for early prediction of critical illness," said Dr. Sevda Molani, lead author of a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports

 

Patients with past cancer history not associated with higher risk of COVID-19-related death or hospitalization: Patients diagnosed with cancer more than one year ago and those not receiving active treatment were no more vulnerable to worse COVID-19 outcomes than patients without cancer, according to a new study. Among COVID-19 patients with a recent cancer diagnosis, a higher chance of mortality was linked to chemotherapy or radiation treatments within three months before SARS-CoV-2 infection. PLoS ONE

 

European Union to Drop Face Mask Mandate for Air Travel on May 16: Face masks will no longer be required on flights in Europe from May 16, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said. However, some airlines may continue to require masks on their flights, the agencies said. In addition, they told airlines to encourage travelers to wear masks on flights to or from areas with public mask policies.

 

PAIN

Lipofilling procedure improves pain and function in finger osteoarthritis: For patients with painful finger osteoarthritis, a nonsurgical procedure called lipofilling – in which fat obtained from another part of the body is transferred into the arthritic joints – produces lasting improvements in hand function and especially pain, suggests a study in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

 

High-frequency spinal cord stimulation shows improved longer lasting pain relief: Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for chronic pain involves delivering low levels of electricity directly into the spinal cord using an implanted device, which modifies or blocks nerve activity to minimize the sensation of pain reaching the brain. In a new paper published in the April 28, 2022 online issue of the journal Bioelectronic Medicine, a research team report high-frequency SCS proved more effective at improving perceived pain reduction (PPR) than low-frequency SCS in patients studied, and that there was some variation in PPR between male and female patients.

 

Corticosteroids raise the risk of hospitalization for pain crises among individuals living with sickle cell disease: People with sickle cell disease (SCD) who were recently prescribed a corticosteroid – a medicine frequently used to treat asthma or inflammation – were found to be significantly more likely to be hospitalized for a severe pain event, according to a paper published today in the journal Blood. The research also found that older adults, women, and people who were not taking the drug hydroxyurea to manage their underlying SCD symptoms were the most likely to be hospitalized.

 

Pain in the neck? New surgical method could be game-changing: Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is a common type of neck surgery that involves removing a damaged disc to relieve pressure on the spinal cord or nerve root and thereby alleviate associated pain, numbness, weakness or tingling. The damaged disc is removed from between two vertebral bones along with simultaneous fusion surgery. The fusion involves placing a bone graft or “cage” and/or implants where the disc was originally located to stabilize and strengthen the area. Results of a study, published in The Spine Journal, the journal World Neurosurgery and Asian Spine Journal showed that the cage-screw and anterior plating combination model has promising potential to reduce the risk of micro motion and subsidence of implanted cages in two or more level ACDFs.

 

Do pain relievers impede bone drug’s efficacy?: New research published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research suggests that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that are taken to reduce pain may block the beneficial effects of bone-protective drugs called bisphosphonates. In the study of 5,212 community-dwelling women aged 75 years and older, the use of NSAIDs did not seem to have a direct impact on individuals’ bone fracture risk, but the medications appeared to negate the bone-protective effects of the oral bisphosphonate, clodronate, on preventing osteoporotic fractures.

 

Discovery reveals blocking inflammation may lead to chronic pain: Using anti-inflammatory drugs and steroids to relieve pain could increase the chances of developing chronic pain. New research puts into question conventional practices used to alleviate pain. Normal recovery from a painful injury involves inflammation and blocking that inflammation with drugs could lead to harder-to-treat pain. Science Translational Medicine

 

Temporomandibular (TMJ) disorder-induced pain likely to worsen in late menopause transition: The loss of estrogen during the menopause transition can cause a number of physical changes and health concerns—from thinning hair and atrophied vaginal mucous membranes to hot flashes and increased risk for osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. A new study suggests that it may also increase jaw pain resulting from temporomandibular disorder (TMD). Study results are published online in Menopause.

 

Restrictive, Vegan-Based Diet Linked to Fewer RA Symptoms: A small new study of women suggests that adopting a low-fat vegan diet and then eliminating remaining trigger foods may dramatically reduce symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) within months. The study was published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. It's not clear whether the vegan diet or the restriction of trigger foods – or both or neither – was helpful. Significant weight loss in the diet group could have played a role in reducing symptoms.

 

COMPLEMENTARY & ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

Can Complementary Therapies Ease Cancer Treatment Symptoms? What the Science Says: Time

 

FDA ACTION

• Approves New Drug Tirzepatide for People with Type 2 Diabetes

• Approved Radicava ORS (edaravone) oral suspension for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

• Approved a new indication for Olumiant (baricitinib) for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized adults requiring supplemental oxygen, non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

• Permits Marketing for New Test, Lumipulse G β-Amyloid Ratio, to Improve Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease

• Approves First COVID-19 Treatment, Veklury (remdesivir),  for Young Children

 

PREVENTION: Exercise

For stroke survivors, modified cardiac rehabilitation can reduce the chances of death by 76%: Survivors of serious stroke can reduce their chances of dying within the year if they complete a modified cardiac rehabilitation program that includes medically supervised exercise, prescribed therapy, and physician follow-up, according to new research published in the Journal of Stroke & Cerebrovascular Diseases.

 

Study sheds light on the benefits of exercise in fatty liver disease: Exercise supports the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by impacting on several metabolic pathways in the body, a new study shows. Regular HIIT exercise over a period of 12 weeks significantly decreased the study participants’ fasting glucose and waist circumference, and improved their maximum oxygen consumption rate and maximum achieved workload. These positive effects were associated with alterations in the abundance of a number of metabolites. In particular, exercise altered amino acid metabolism in adipose tissue. Scientific Reports

 

Reducing sedentary time mitigates the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases: A new study suggests that reducing daily sedentary time can have a positive effect on the risk factors of lifestyle diseases already in three months. Spending just one hour less sitting daily and increasing light physical activity can help in the prevention of these diseases. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport

 

PREVENTION: Diet/Nutrition

Vegan diets boost weight loss, lower blood sugar in adults with overweight or type 2 diabetes: A 12-week vegan diet may result in clinically meaningful weight loss and improve blood sugar control in overweight adults and those with type 2 diabetes, according to a meta-analysis of 11 randomised trials involving almost 800 participants (aged 18 or older). European Congress on Obesity (ECO). 

 

A diet rich in protein, zinc and niacin and low in saturated fat makes blood vessels more flexible: A new study presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) has linked key nutrients, including protein, zinc and niacin, to improvements in heart health. “A Mediterranean diet, rich in protein (lean dairy products, fish, poultry, and eggs), rich in vegetables, nuts, seeds and with moderate consumption of fruits and grains, can contribute to improving vascular flexibility, thus indirectly protecting the cardiovascular system.

 

Diet type can increase potentially harmful gas in the gut: Published in Clinical Nutrition, researchers from the University of Minnesota Medical School looked at colonic hydrogen sulfide — a toxic gas in the body that smells like rotten eggs — production in people in response to animal- and plant-based diet interventions. In the majority of participants, a plant-based diet resulted in a lower hydrogen sulfide production compared to an animal-based (i.e., western) diet. In some individuals, plant-based diets did not lower hydrogen sulfide production and even led to some increases in it.

 

Characteristics of a “longevity diet”: In an article that includes a literature review published April 28 in Cell, a multi-pillar approach based on studies of various aspects of diet, from food composition and calorie intake to the length and frequency of fasting periods. The key characteristics of the optimal diet appear to be moderate to high carbohydrate intake from non-refined sources, low but sufficient protein from largely plant-based sources, and enough plant-based fats to provide about 30 percent of energy needs. Ideally, the day’s meals would all occur within a window of 11-12 hours, allowing for a daily period of fasting, and a 5-day cycle of a fasting or fasting-mimicking diet every 3-4 months may also help reduce insulin resistance, blood pressure and other risk factors for individuals with increased disease risks.

 

Poor diet associated with increased diabetes risk acrossall gradients of genetic risk: Genetic risk factors and diet quality are independently associated with type 2 diabetes; a healthy diet is linked to lower diabetes risk across all levels of genetic risk. That’s the conclusion of a study of more than 35,000 US adults publishing April 26^th in PLOS Medicine.

 

A calorie-reduced diet can not only delay the development of diabetes, but also has a positive effect on the immune system: Researchers have now shown for the first time that this effect is mediated by an altered gut microbiome*, which slows down the deterioration of the immune system in old age (immune senescence). The study has been published in Microbiome.

 

Drinker's sex plus brewing method may be key to coffee's link to raised cholesterol: Drinking 3–5 daily cups of espresso was significantly associated with increased serum total cholesterol, particularly among the men. A daily tally of 6 or more cups of plunger coffee was also associated with raised cholesterol, and to a similar degree in both sexes: 0.30 mmol/l higher among the women vs 0.23 mmol/l higher among the men. While instant coffee was associated with an increase in cholesterol in both sexes, this didn't rise in tandem with the number of cups drunk, when compared with those who didn't opt for coffee powder/granules. Open Heart

 

The glycemic index may be counterproductive for helping Americans adopt healthier diets: "The GI is increasingly used and interpreted as a measure of overall carbohydrate food quality, with some proponents advocating for its broader adoption as a public health tool. However, the GI model doesn't address nutrient density or translate well to healthy dietary patterns, and its narrow focus on just one dimension of carbohydrate-containing foods may divert public attention away from approaches to improving health that are accessible, affordable, culturally appropriate and environmentally sustainable," stated Nicholls, owner of Food Context, LLC. "At best, it's an incomplete gauge of carbohydrate food quality. At worst, it may be counterproductive to achieving the dietary recommendations set forth in the DGA." Frontiers in Nutrition

 

High Levels of Antioxidants Linked to Lower Risk of Dementia: People with higher levels of certain antioxidants in their blood may be less likely to develop dementia later on, a new study shows. This adds to growing evidence that eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables rich in these phytonutrients may have long-term benefits for the brain. Researchers used data on over 7,200 participants from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination SurveyTrusted Source Neurology,

 

Diets high in fiber associated with less antibiotic resistance in gut bacteria: Healthy adults who eat a diverse diet with at least 8-10 grams of soluble fiber a day have fewer antibiotic-resistant microbes in their guts, according to a new study. The results lead directly to the idea that modifying the diet has the potential to be a new weapon in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. And this does not require eating some exotic diet, but eating a diverse diet, adequate in fiber, a diet that some Americans already eat. mBio

 

PREVENTION: Vitamins/Supplements

Calcium supplements linked to earlier death in older people with heart valve disease: Calcium supplements, frequently given to older people to lessen the risk of brittle bones (osteoporosis) and fractures, are linked to a heightened risk of death among those with aortic valve stenosis, a progressive and potentially fatal condition, finds research published online in the journal Heart. Supplemental vitamin D alone didn't seem to affect survival. But supplemental calcium plus vitamin D was associated with a significantly higher (31%) risk of death from any cause and a doubling in the risk of a cardiovascular death. And it was associated with a 48% heightened risk of AVR compared with those not taking supplements.

 

Task Force Says Most People Don't Need to Take Aspirin Daily: U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF)  has released new guidelines on daily aspirin use that significantly changes its policy from 12 years ago. The organization now says people between ages 40 and 59 with no history of heart problems don’t need to take daily aspirin to help prevent cardiovascular disease. Most people ages 60 and older shouldn’t take daily aspirin, mainly due to the risk of excessive bleeding. Experts say most people can reduce their heart disease risk by not smoking, eating a healthy diet, and exercising regularly.

 

More Antioxidants, Lower Dementia Risk?: Researchers from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging reviewed data from 7,283 people who were at least 45 years old at the beginning of the study. The participants underwent physical exams, had their blood antioxidant levels tested, and were followed for an average of 16 years to see who developed dementia during that time. The researchers found that people with the highest amounts of the antioxidants lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-cryptoxanthin in their blood at the start of the study were less likely than those with lower levels to develop dementia decades later. The finding could help pave the way for more research into the effects of antioxidants on cognitive health, including whether adding more antioxidants to the diet can help ward off dementia. The study was published in the May 4, 2022, online issue of Neurology. 

 

 

PREVENTION: Other

New brain stimulation treatments help smokers quit: A new systematic review published by Addiction has found that non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) may improve smoking abstinence rates 3 to 6 months after quitting, compared with sham brain stimulation.

 

Helping Others Can Make You Happier as You Age: A study, published in the journalFrontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, reports that people who donate to charity and do for others see an increase in their production of oxytocin, a mood-enhancing hormone connected to things such as reproduction that was long thought to decrease as a person ages.

 

How taking ownership of your health can help you increase your lifespan: A study published this month in Age and Ageing by The Japan Collaborate Cohort (JACC) Study group at Osaka University assessed the impact of modifying lifestyle behaviors on life expectancy from middle age onwards. The researchers found that adopting five or more healthy lifestyle behaviors increased life expectancy even for individuals greater than 80 years of age, and importantly, also for those with chronic conditions. he lifetime gains were highest for reducing alcohol intake, not smoking, losing weight, and increasing sleep, adding up to 6 years of life for healthy 40-year-olds. This benefit was prominent even among older individuals (80 years or more) and those with one or more major comorbidities including cancer, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and kidney disease, and in each life stage from middle age onwards. Smoking worsens prognosis for men with prostate cancer: Smokers have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer, but a higher risk of dying from the disease, according to a large population study led by Lund University in Sweden. The researchers followed more than 350,000 people over several decades, and the results are now published in European Urology

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TREATMENT

Antidepressants Don't Necessarily Improve Quality of Life in the Long Run, Study Says: Over time, antidepressants do not necessarily cause significantly better health-related quality of life compared to people who don’t take the drugs, according to a new studyTrusted Source.

 

New clinical practice resource on hearing loss: The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) has released a new Clinical Practice Resource that will help direct the treatment of patients with hearing loss. The guidelines were published in Genetics in Medicine

Heavy antibiotic use tied to development of Crohn's, colitis: The more antibiotics that seniors take, the greater their risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a new study suggests. For the study, researchers analyzed prescribing records for 2.3 million adults aged 60 and older in Denmark who were newly diagnosed with IBD from 2000 to 2018. The investigators found a link between any antibiotic use and higher rates of IBD, and the risk rose significantly with each course of antibiotics. Compared to those with no antibiotic use in the previous five years, one course of antibiotics was associated with a 27% higher risk of a new IBD diagnosis, two courses with a 55% higher risk and three courses with a 67% higher risk. Four courses were tied to a 96% higher risk, and five or more courses with a 236% higher risk, the researchers reported.

Six lithium dose predictors for patients with bipolar disorder: Six predictors could help determine the amount of lithium needed to treat patients with bipolar disorder, according to a large study. The study also pinpoints genetic markers that seem to influence how quickly the body eliminates lithium from its system. The Lancet Psychiatry.

  

OTHER

Study finds infertility history linked with increased risk of heart failure: Women who had experienced infertility had a 16% increased risk of heart failure compared with women who did not have an infertility history. Journal of the American College of Cardiology

 

Review shows high prevalence of fatigue in adults with IBD: A meta-analysis  of 20 studies examining the global prevalence, risk factors, and impact of fatigue in adults with Irritable Bowl Syndrome found that a prevalence of 47% for fatigue. The most commonly reported fatigue-related risk factors were sleep disturbance, anxiety, depression, and anemia. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology

 

Anticipating a side effect makes it more likely you'll experience it. A fascinating meta-analysis examined data from 12 clinical trials of COVID vaccines, involving over 45,000 participants, and found about two-thirds of common side effects people experience after vaccination could be due to a nocebo response, rather than the vaccine itself. The nocebo response heightens symptoms if a person anticipates them. It can increase pain if someone expects something will hurt.