Month: February 2022

Even as the latest COVID surge recedes, doctors and patient advocates warn that the virus could leave a new epidemic in its wake: millions more cases of the rare, mysterious condition known as chronic fatigue syndrome.  Researchers increasingly see parallels between chronic fatigue syndrome, which affects 1.5 million Americans, and long COVID, the barrage of symptoms including exhaustion, persistent pain and cognitive impairment that can linger for months in some patients.  The connection between the two disorders is still being studied, but some research suggests the pandemic could more than triple the prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME.  “When we saw COVID happening, people in the ME community were some of the first to raise alarm ...

The infections come after 29,000 turkeys were destroyed in Indiana once officials detected the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, last week in Dubois County. Federal officials said the Indiana outbreak was the first confirmed case in commercial poultry in the United States since 2020. Story continues below advertisement Avian influenza is carried by wild bird populations that spread the virus to domestic birds. Outbreaks involving more virulent strains result in higher mortality rates in domestic birds, potentially causing disruptions to the food supply. The outbreak in Fulton County was found after the operation reported an increase in poultry deaths to Kentucky officials. Avian influenza doesn’t pose a public health risk to humans, U.S. agriculture offi...

Alzheimer's is an insidious brain disease marked by a slow mental decline that can develop unnoticed for decades before symptoms arise, but hidden signs of the condition might exist much sooner.   New research suggests that the thinning of a person's retina – the light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye – in middle age is linked to cognitive performance in their early and adult life.  While much more research is needed, the team behind this new study says the findings might one day pave the way towards a simple eye test that could help predict a person's risk for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia. "Given we haven't been able to treat advanced Alzheimer's, and that the global prevalence of the disease is increasing, being able to ide...