For Kids, Sleep Study Needed to Parse out the Kind of Snoring That Means Surgery
Mild obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was not easily distinguishable from primary snoring in children without polysomnography, analysis of randomized clinical trial data showed. The only clinical and demographic factors significantly more commonly associated with mild OSA than primary snoring were Black race (OR 2.08), obesity (OR 1.80), and high urinary cotinine levels above of 5 […]
COVID Infection May Impair Semen Quality, Even After Mild Cases
Semen quality remained impaired more than 3 months after a mild COVID-19 infection, according to a small study from Spain involving unvaccinated men. Testing performed a median 100 days after infection among existing patients at one of six reproductive centers showed lower sperm counts, slower motility, and lower overall sperm quality compared with pre-infection tests […]
Long COVID Cognitive, Depressive Symptoms Tied to Brain Inflammation Marker
An index of gliosis was linked with persistent neurocognitive symptoms after mild or moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection, a small case-control study showed. Compared with healthy controls, PET measures of translocator protein total distribution volume (TSPO VT), a marker of gliosis, was elevated in people with ongoing cognitive and depressive symptoms after COVID-19 (mean percentage difference 17%), […]
FDA Approves First Oral Antiviral Drug for COVID-19
The FDA has granted full approval to nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) for treating adult outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at risk for severe disease, the agency announced on Thursday. “Today’s approval demonstrates that Paxlovid has met the agency’s rigorous standards for safety and effectiveness, and that it remains an important treatment option for people […]
Dementia Strikes One in Ten Americans Over 65
About one in 10 U.S. adults over 65 has dementia and even more have mild cognitive impairment, updated national estimates suggested. In a nationally representative cross-sectional study of about 3,500 older adults, 10% (95% CI 9-11) were classified as having dementia and 22% (95% CI 20-24) as having mild cognitive impairment, according to Jennifer Manly, […]
Regular Exercise Program May Stall Cognitive Decline
Sedentary older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment who engaged in regular exercise for a year maintained their cognition without decline, topline data from the EXERT trial showed. Older adults who engaged in either moderate intensity aerobic training or stretching, balance, and range-of-motion exercises for 12 months showed no change from baseline in ADAS-Cog-Exec scores, […]
Persistent Brain Fog After Mild COVID Infection Tied to CSF Markers
People with persistent cognitive changes after mild COVID had elevated levels of immune activation and immunovascular markers in their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) 10 months after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, a small study showed. In a late-breaking abstract presented at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) annual meeting, Joanna Hellmuth, MD, MHS, of the University of California […]
Tide Turns on Withholding Blood Pressure Meds for Pregnant Women
WASHINGTON — Consensus is growing that clinicians can be confident treating mild hypertension in otherwise healthy pregnant women without hurting their babies, based on the CHAP study. In this large randomized trial, treating high blood pressure (BP) to a target of <140/90 mm Hg resulted in better outcomes than did usual care, as evidenced by […]
Why are people with allergic asthma less susceptible to severe COVID?
The vast majority of people infected with the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 experience mild cold-like symptoms, moderate flu-like symptoms, or no symptoms at all, but the virus is so transmissible that it still spread deep into lung tissue to cause severe disease and death in thousands of people in the United States in 2022 alone. […]
Exercise post-vaccine bumps up antibodies, new study finds
Researchers at Iowa State University found 90 minutes of mild- to moderate-intensity exercise directly after a flu or COVID-19 vaccine may provide an extra immune boost. In the newly published study, participants who cycled on a stationary bike or took a brisk walk for an hour-and-a-half after getting a jab produced more antibodies in the […]