Health & Fitness

She noticed something odd: In many cases, patients were responding well to antidepressant medications, but their grief, as measured by a standard inventory of questions, was unaffected, remaining stubbornly high. When she pointed this out to psychiatrists on the team, they showed little interest. “Grief is normal,” she recalls being told. “We’re psychiatrists, and we don’t worry about grief. We worry about depression and anxiety.” Her response was, “Well, how do you know that’s not a problem?” Dr. Prigerson set about gathering data. Many symptoms of intense grief, like “yearning and pining and craving,” were distinct from depression, she concluded, and predicted bad outcomes like high blood pressure and suicidal ideation. Her research showed that for most people, symptoms of grief peaked ...

In the last two weeks, the UK and other parts of Europe are reporting a spike in COVID-19 cases due to an omicron sub-variant called BA.2 which is believed to be 30 % more transmissible than the initial strain."It will slowly, but surely overtake omicron," said Dr. Warner Greene and added, "It's moving at a slower pace, but still it will likely become the globally dominant variant."Historically what happens in Europe with COVID, tends to happen in the U.S four to six weeks later.Dr. Warner Greene is a Senior Investigator for the Gladstone Institutes. His work in virology for over 30 years is leading him to keep a close eye on this data."There are hot spots forming in the United States. For example in the Chicago area," said Dr. Greene.Video: China Battles Multiple COVID Outbreaks Dri...

Boston medical researchers in a new groundbreaking study have discovered a “vicious cycle” between daytime napping and Alzheimer’s dementia. The Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers found a link between the two: Excessive daytime napping predicted an increased future risk of Alzheimer’s dementia, and a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s dementia sped up the increase in daytime napping during aging. Daytime napping is common among older adults, but researchers have not known the relationship between daytime napping and cognitive aging. “Our results not only suggest that excessive daytime napping may signal an elevated risk of Alzheimer’s dementia, but they also show that faster yearly increase in daytime napping may be a sign of deteriorating or unfavored clinical progression of the diseas...

Experts have been expressing concern about “long COVID-19” for years now, signaling the damaging long-term side effects of a COVID-19 infection. But there appears to be another type of COVID to monitor — “medium COVID.” Details: So what is “medium COVID,” exactly? Well, NPR’s Nina Feldman described it as a time when you suffer from COVID-19 symptoms after infection, but those symptoms won’t leave you “bedridden or unable to perform daily functions.” “Medium COVID” describes the Americans “caught somewhere in between,” she wrote. It’s for people who experience lingering symptoms from COVID-19 for a few weeks rather than the monthslong experience of long COVID-19. What they’re saying: “There could be more to help people understand that it’s n...

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In years like this one, when the flu vaccine was at best minimally effective, many are skeptical about getting the shots, which are widely available. Dr. Monto said there are efforts underway to produce much better flu vaccines. But, he said, because Congress is not very interested in seasonal flu, the National Institutes of Health had to tie requests for funds for flu vaccine research to pandemic preparedness. Historians say a nonchalance about flu dates back to at least the 19th century. Nancy Bristow, chair of the history department at the University of Puget Sound, looked at newspaper articles and other sources from the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century and found “a perennial refusal to pay attention to flu as a serious illness.” Flu was not frightening, Dr. Bristow sa...

Researchers testing repurposed drugs against Covid-19 found that ivermectin didn’t reduce hospital admissions, in the largest trial yet of the effect of the antiparasitic on the disease driving the pandemic. Ivermectin has received a lot of attention as a potential treatment for Covid-19 including from celebrities such as podcast host Joe Rogan. Most evidence has shown it to be ineffective against Covid-19 or has relied on data of poor quality, infectious-disease researchers said.  Public-health authorities and researchers have for months said the drug hasn’t shown any benefit in treating the disease. Taking large doses of the drug is dangerous, the Food and Drug Administration has said.

CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom — The vast majority of people dealing with “long COVID” are experiencing memory and concentration problems — months after their actual coronavirus infection, a new study warns. Researchers at the University of Cambridge say seven in 10 people experiencing the lingering effects of COVID are now struggling mentally. The study finds long COVID patients are also performing worse on cognitive exams. Moreover, three in four people with a severe case of long COVID say they have been unable to work because of it. The team also found a link between the severity of symptoms and how much fatigue, dizziness, and headache pain patients experienced during their initial bout with the virus. Worryingly, half of long COVID sufferers claim they’ve struggled to get doctors to t...

The number of athletes suffering from myocarditis — inflammation of the heart muscle — after COVID-19 infection is less common than previously thought, the American College of Cardiology said in new guidance released Tuesday. The backdrop: Professional and collegiate sports officials have paused games and leagues due to fears athletes would suffer from myocarditis after a COVID-19 infection, ABC News reports. Yes, but: The ACC said in its guidance — which was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology — that the number of athletes with myocarditis is lower than originally thought. What’s next: The ACC said leagues and athletic organizations need to develop a plan to help athletes return to competitions after infecti...

The Centers for Disease Control has quietly changed it's data representing the number of children who died from Wuhan coronavirus.  ** Correction with updated numbers. The CDC may have removed closer to 70k deaths. Difficult to tell exacts as prior data has been removed. pic.twitter.com/zqoH1Wa1q4— Nicole Saphier, MD (@NBSaphierMD) March 17, 2022 CDC Data Tracker, the totally opaque and out-of-line with CDC's more accurate (NCHS) count of pediatric COVID-associated deaths beloved by grifters and journalists was substantially (~24%) revised downward today. (It's still too high. Maybe one more big fix coming, eventually?) https://t.co/JVMlMhPAK5— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) March 17, 2022 Last fall, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky announced the government agency would reevaluate how virus de...