Havana Syndrome Mystery Continues to Deepen
Despite persistent symptoms, no significant evidence of brain injury and no abnormalities in most clinical measures were found in U.S. government personnel who experienced anomalous health incidents (AHIs) known as Havana syndrome, NIH researchers said. After adjusting for multiple comparisons, no differences in MRI measures of brain structure or function emerged between individuals with AHIs […]
Another Study Backs Treatment for Preclinical Rheumatoid Arthritis
Inflammatory markers were reduced in patients with persistent joint pain and other markers for incipient rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as was progression to formal RA diagnosis, after a 6-month course of abatacept (Orencia) in a placebo-controlled trial. While 35% of controls were diagnosed with RA while on treatment in the trial, called ARIAA, only 8% of […]
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%), […]
Weakened Diaphragm May Contribute to Long COVID Dyspnea
A weakened diaphragm could be related to the persistent shortness of breath some people experience long after COVID-19 hospitalization, a small study suggested. Whether patients had received ventilation treatment or not, twitch trans-diaphragmatic pressure following posterior cervical magnetic stimulation was significantly impaired in COVID survivors 15 months after hospitalization compared with healthy controls. Furthermore, this […]
New insights on how some individuals with obesity can lose weight — and keep it off
For decades, there’s been a persistent one-size-fits-all approach to treating obesity: Embrace a diet that’s low in calories. Yet evidence shows that this diet-focused approach simply doesn’t work for a subset of adults with obesity who are adherent in a clinical weight management program. Now, compelling new research published in the journal eBioMedicine challenges the […]
Persistent Olfactory Loss After COVID Predicts Cognitive Impairment
Persistent smell loss after SARS-CoV-2 infection predicted cognitive impairment in older adults, a longitudinal study in Argentina showed. One year after acute infection, anosmia was more strongly associated with cognitive impairment than severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection, reported Gabriela Gonzalez-Aleman, MSc, PhD, of Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina in Buenos Aires, at the 2022 Alzheimer’s Association International […]
Recurrent Facial Swelling, Itching in a Young Woman
What caused persistent facial swelling and itchiness to develop around a woman’s right ear and left lower jaw? That’s the question posed in a recent case report. When the 32-year-old Black woman presented with facial edema and itching, she had already been living with these symptoms for a year, noted Rebecca G. Brady, MD, of […]
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 […]
Tangled messages: Tracing neural circuits to chemotherapy’s ‘constellation of side effects’: Neural pathways behind complex sensory and motor side effects of chemotherapy
Severe and persistent disability often undermines the life-saving benefits of cancer treatment. Pain and fatigue — together with sensory, motor, and cognitive disorders — are chief among the constellation of side effects that occur with the platinum-based agents used widely in chemotherapy treatments worldwide. A new study by Georgia Tech researchers in the lab of […]
Too dry, too hot, or too wet: Increasing weather persistence in European summer
“In our study, we show that persistent weather conditions have an increasing similarity in summer over the North Atlantic, Europe and Siberia, favoring more pronounced extreme weather events. In Europe alone, about 70% of the land area is already affected by more persistent weather situations,” says Peter Hoffmann from the Potsdam-Institute for Climate Impact Research […]