Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Giving chemotherapy in the morning can extend survival of glioblastoma patients

An aggressive type of brain cancer, glioblastoma has no cure. Patients survive an average of 15 months after diagnosis, with fewer than 10% of patients surviving longer than five years.

31 Mar 2021

CDC and NIH launch community COVID-19 testing initiative

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health, has launched an innovative community health initiative called "Say Yes! COVID Test" starting in Pitt County, North Carolina, and coming soon to Chattanooga/Hamilton County Tennessee.

31 Mar 2021

Study explores racial differences in outcomes of COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU

In a study that looked at racial differences in outcomes of COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit, researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit found that patients of color had a lower 28-day mortality than white patients.

31 Mar 2021

Nearly 25% of graduate nursing students report elevated levels of stress, anxiety and depression

Researchers at the University of Colorado College of Nursing have found that nearly one-quarter of graduate nursing students have reported elevated levels of stress, anxiety and depression, compounded in the past year by the COVID-19 pandemic.

31 Mar 2021

2021 AGS Annual Scientific Meeting goes virtual for the first time

The worlds of work, education, and networking have changed drastically in the past year, and the American Geriatrics Society is evolving with them.

31 Mar 2021

Study looks at U.S. mammography screening rates during the COVID-19 pandemic

In looking at the broader impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health and wellbeing, public health experts are examining screening rates for cancer.

31 Mar 2021

Study of twins reveals differences in adaptive immunity towards SARS-CoV-2

Twins may look alike on the outside, but not so much on the inside. That's one takeaway from a new preprint study posted to the medRxiv server where Brazilian researchers observed different T-cell responses in two pairs of identical twins exposed to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). One twin who was reinfected with SARS-CoV-2 four months after had low recognition of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell epitopes.

31 Mar 2021

Study compares performance of open-label placebo to blinded placebo in IBS patients

For decades, the power of the placebo effect was thought to lie in patients' belief that they were -- or at least, could be -- receiving a pharmacologically active treatment.

30 Mar 2021

Prime editing enables more precise correction of genetic problems than traditional CRISPR

The latest gene editing technology, prime editing, expands the "genetic toolbox" for more precisely creating disease models and correcting genetic problems, scientists say.

30 Mar 2021

Study finds rapid increase in IgG and IgA antibody levels following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination

A new study describes the kinetics of the antibody response to the earliest approved vaccines against COVID-19, which were developed on an mRNA platform.

30 Mar 2021

New diagnostic test can detect COVID-19 virus even when it mutates

A team of scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has developed a diagnostic test that can detect the virus that causes COVID-19 even after it has gone through mutations.

30 Mar 2021

Low-cost hypertension management intervention can be cost-effectively scaled up in rural South Asia

A low-cost intervention to improve hypertension--or high blood pressure (BP)--prevention and management can be cost-effectively scaled up for rural communities in low- and middle-income countries, according to findings from a multi-country trial published in The Lancet Global Health.

29 Mar 2021

Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine causes steep drop in COVID-19 among healthcare workers

A team of scientists from Spain has recently evaluated the efficacy of an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2). Their findings reveal that a 2-dose regimen of BNT162b2 vaccine is capable of providing almost 100% protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers.

29 Mar 2021

Corticosteroid therapy in pregnant women with COVID-19

A new study describes the outcome of corticosteroid use in pregnancy.

29 Mar 2021

Type 2 diabetes drug can successfully reduce symptoms associated with tuberous sclerosis complex

A team of researchers led by UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) has found that metformin - a drug commonly used to treat Type 2 diabetes - can successfully reduce symptoms associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), including reduction in the frequency of seizures and the size of brain tumors.

29 Mar 2021

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted birth statistics in the U.S.?

A new study examines national-level changes in fertility, preterm birth and other obstetric outcomes, in the U.S., over the period of the pandemic throughout 2020.

29 Mar 2021

Researchers develop new rapid and highly sensitive SAR-CoV-2 RNA detection test

In an alternative approach to the PCR-based methods, CRISPR-Cas proteins have been employed by a large team of researchers to identify the SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA in patient samples with PCR-derived cycle threshold (Ct) values up to 22 - corresponding to ~1600 copies/µl in the assay.

29 Mar 2021

New recommendations for addressing disparities in cancer care

New recommendations co-developed by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute call for a significant expansion of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers to understand the causes of inequities in cancer care and a commitment to building sustained community partnerships to reduce them.

29 Mar 2021

Persistent impact on smell and taste in COVID-19 patients one year later

The presentation of the infection ranges from asymptomatic, through dry cough with fever, anosmia/dysgeusia, to shortness of breath with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). A new preprint research paper posted to the medRxiv* server reports on the clinical progression of anosmia and dysgeusia, in particular, one year after the infection.

29 Mar 2021

Single Sputnik V vaccine dose elicits robust immune response in previously infected individuals

A new preprint research paper posted to the medRxiv server describes successful immunization of the vaccinated population with a single dose of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.

29 Mar 2021