WHO Reports ‘Substantial’ Drop In Global COVID-19 Cases. U.S. Stays Elevated.
Global coronavirus cases saw their “first substantial decline” in more than two months last week, the World Health Organization reported Tuesday. Yet cases in the U.S. continue to remain highly elevated, particularly among children, according to a separate pediatric report. New COVID-19 cases fell over the last week in all six global regions the WHO […]
New DNA-based chip can be programmed to solve complex math problems
The field of DNA computing has evolved by leaps and bounds since it was first proposed nearly 30 years ago. But most DNA computing processes are still performed manually, with reactants being added step-by-step to the reaction by hand. Now, finally, scientists at Incheon National University, Korea have found a way to automate DNA calculations […]
Idaho to Ration Health Care; WHO Says COVID Is ‘Here to Stay’; Superhuman Immunity?
Note that some links may require registration or subscription. For the first time since the pandemic started, Idaho activated its “crisis standards of care” in two districts in the northern part of the state due to staffing shortages and a lack of ICU beds; only four of the state’s 400 ICU beds remain open. (Boise […]
I Was A Gay Boy Who Tried To Kill Myself. Now I Know It Wasn’t My Fault.
I was 10 years old when I first attempted suicide. Thankfully, I did not succeed. But over the years that followed, I would try to end my life at least a half dozen more times. I wasn’t alone. Recent findings from the Trevor Project show that 42% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in […]
Will Guidelines on Safe Return to Youth Sports Make a Difference?
As high school and youth sports leagues return to action — some for the first time since 2019 — national medical societies and committees have tinkered with existing guidelines to prevent COVID-19 spread and issued some new calls. But, given the wide variance in local situations and vaccination rates, they are largely avoiding new national […]
Your Thrilling Case May Be Your Patient’s Worst Nightmare
It’s been over 25 years, but I still remember my first clinical rotation as a third-year medical student: ob/gyn. It was so refreshing to finally take care of patients, to be in a hospital, and to see the things we learned in the classroom translated into clinical care. I’ll never forget a case from that […]
Sustained fast rates of evolution explain how tetrapods evolved from fish
One of the biggest questions in evolution is when and how major groups of animals first evolved. The rise of tetrapods (all limbed vertebrates) from their fish relatives marks one of the most important evolutionary events in the history of life. This “fish-to-tetrapod” transition took place somewhere between the Middle and Late Devonian (~400-360 million […]
FDA Approves First Drug for Von Hippel-Lindau-Associated Tumors
The FDA has approved the first therapy for cancers associated with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease. Belzutifan (Welireg), distributed by Merck, targets hypoxia-inducible factor 2α, which drives growth of malignant and benign tumors in VHL. In the absence of approved systemic therapies, most patients with VHL undergo multiple surgeries in their lifetime to remove renal cell […]
More than one in ten COVID-19 patients infected in hospital in UK’s first pandemic wave, study finds
More than one in ten COVID-19 patients in 314 UK hospitals caught the infection in hospital during the first pandemic wave say researchers conducting the world’s largest study of severe COVID-19. The research into hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) was led by Dr Jonathan Read from Lancaster University with colleagues from other UK universities including the Universities […]
Start Rhythm Control Early for Afib With Heart Failure
Tackling rhythm control early, with ablation or antiarrhythmic medication in the first year after atrial fibrillation (Afib) diagnosis, helped outcomes in people with heart failure (HF), a prespecified subanalysis of the EAST-AFNET 4 trial showed. The early strategy cut the composite of cardiovascular death, stroke, or hospitalization for worsening HF or for acute coronary syndrome […]