Health & Fitness

CNN  —  Metformin use by men in the three-month period before they conceived a child was linked to a 40% higher risk of birth defects in the offspring, according to a study published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. Metformin is a first-line drug in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The research, which was done out of Denmark, used national registries to follow over 1 million births between 1997 and 2016 and compared the risk of major birth defects in babies based on paternal exposures to diabetes medications. The study observed only children who were born to women under 35 and men under 40. Babies born to women with diabetes were excluded. The ...

The BA.2 variantdoesn’t appear to cause more severe symptoms compared to previous coronavirus variants. But any change to that could delay the full return to normal, an infectious disease expert recently told the Deseret News. Driving the news: Dr. Robert Quigley, an infectious disease expert and senior vice president of International SOS, a leading medical and security services company, told the Deseret News that the BA.2 variant’s predicted uptick may lead to a return of mandates and restrictions. What he said: “The BA.2 variant has the potential to prolong the existing Omicron surge globally which would be manifested by a flattening slope,” Quigley told the Deseret News. “If, in fact, we begin to see an uptick in cases for this BA.2 varia...

SWANSEA, United Kingdom — Your risk of ending up in the hospital with COVID-19 may literally be in your own hands. A new study finds finger length displays a link to a person’s sex hormone levels. What does this have to do with COVID-19? Researchers at Swansea University say a patient’s testosterone levels play a key role in how sick they get after infection. Previous studies show that having a longer ring finger is a sign of higher testosterone levels in the womb. On the other hand, a longer index finger signals higher levels of estrogen. Typically, men have longer ring fingers and women have longer index fingers. The new study examined this link between the sex hormones before birth and during puberty and the rate of COVID hospitalizations. Their findings reveal that people with “fe...

Photo: Esra Hacioglu/Anadolu Agency (Getty Images) A team of researchers say they’ve found an effective way to block the most common source of cat allergies using the gene-editing technology CRISPR. Their findings also suggest that hypoallergenic cats can be just as healthy as the typical feline. Allergies are most associated with the fur and dander that cats shed into the environment, but those aren’t the true culprit. A protein produced by cats called Fel d 1—which ends up in their saliva and tears and, by extension, the fur that they’re constantly cleaning—is thought to cause over 90% of cat allergies. This has made the protein an appealing target for scientists trying to reduce the burden of cat allergies, which may affect up to 20% of people. Researchers at the Virginia-based bio...

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus remains a global public health crisis. Although widespread vaccination campaigns are underway, their efficacy is reduced due to emerging variants of concern (VOCs)1,2. Development of host-directed therapeutics and prophylactics could limit such resistance and offer urgently needed protection against VOCs3,4. Attractive pharmacological targets to impede viral entry include type-II transmembrane serine proteases (TTSPs), such as TMPRSS2, whose essential role in the virus lifecycle is to cleave the viral spike protein to expose the fusion peptide for cell entry5,6. Here, we identify and characterize a small-molecule compound, N-0385, which exhibits low nanomolar potency and a selectivity index of >106 at inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection i...

But not enough. And so one Saturday, my wife looked at me across the kitchen table and said, “We’re not doing anything today. Why don’t we make a quick visit to the ER?” We drove to Massachusetts General Hospital, walked in, and at intake I was asked why I was there. Now, whenever anything seems amiss, I consult WebMD (where the symptoms either mean there’s nothing to worry about or death is imminent) and so, armed with my Internet-based degree in medicine, I explained that I was out of breath, likely had a low-grade case of walking pneumonia, and if someone could just prescribe me some Zithromax or Cipro, I’d be grateful. I think it was the words “out of breath” that set off the alarm bells. Almost immediately, my vitals were being taken, I was given a quick echocardiogram, and suddenly...

A type of ultraviolet light called Far-UVC could dramatically change how we combat the transmission of airborne pathogens in indoor environments, scientists report in a new study.   Researchers say the technology represents a new 'hands off' way of curbing the spread of COVID-19, compared to existing control measures that involve significant changes in people's behavior – such as abiding by lockdowns, physical distancing, mask-wearing, or getting vaccinated. In contrast to the challenges of these effective but often unpopular measures, installing Far-UVC lighting in indoor environments could be about as easy as changing a light bulb, scientists say – and the effectiveness of the device's antimicrobial radiation is no less impressive. "Far-UVC rapidly reduces the amount of active micr...

A population-based study in Australia has found that the quality of your neighborhood can be linked to the risk of developing dementia later in life. The research was based on the health data of 4,656 individuals from various states and regions between 2016 and 2020, as part of a larger study called the Healthy Brain Project. These participants were between the ages of 40 and 70, and none of them had been formally diagnosed with dementia.   Breaking down the results, the authors found those who lived in wealthier neighborhoods scored significantly higher on memory tests and lower on dementia risk tests than those who live in disadvantaged areas. The differences were especially large among older adults and individuals with higher dementia scores. "Together, these data suggest that per...

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Heart abnormalities were detected in some adolescents months after COVID-19 vaccination, according to a study. Researchers at Seattle Children’s Hospital reviewed cases of patients younger than 18 who went to the hospital with chest pain and elevated serum troponin levels, two key markers of heart inflammation, within a week of getting a second dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. While 35 patients fit the criteria, 19 were excluded for various reasons, including receiving care in another state after the initial visit. Cardiac imaging of the remaining 16 patients, performed three to eight months after they were first examined, showed 11 had persistent late gadolinium enhancement, a heart abnormality, though at lower levels than months earlier. The follow-up imaging als...