Boston University Refutes Claims It Created Deadly New COVID Strain
(MedPage Today) -- Boston University has pushed back on media reports that their researchers created a new and deadly strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The institution emphatically denied stories by various media outlets that implied the spawning... (Source: MedPage Today Public Health)
Source: MedPage Today Public Health - October 18, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: news
New Lab-Made Covid-19 Coronavirus At Boston University Raises Questions
A preprint describes how a research team created a new hybrid version of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that killed 80% of the mice that it had infected. But is this being misinterpreted? (Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News)
Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News - October 18, 2022 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Bruce Y. Lee, Senior Contributor Tags: Healthcare /healthcare Innovation /innovation Science /science Coronavirus business pharma Source Type: news
Outrage as Boston University CREATES Covid strain that has an 80% kill rate
The variant - which is a hybrid of Omicron and the original Wuhan virus - killed 80 per cent of mice infected with it at Boston University. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - October 17, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Evidence suggests pandemic came from nature, not a lab, panel says
The acrimonious debate over the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic flared up again this week with a report from an expert panel concluding that SARS-CoV-2 likely spread naturally in a zoonotic jump from an animal to humans—without help from a lab.
“Our paper recognizes that there are different possible origins, but the evidence towards zoonosis is overwhelming,” says co-author Danielle Anderson, a virologist at the University of Melbourne. The report, which includes an analysis that found the peer-reviewed literature overwhelmingly supports the zoonotic hypotheses,
appeared in the
Proceedings of the Na...
Source: ScienceNOW - October 10, 2022 Category: Science Source Type: news
Scientists race to test vaccines for Uganda ’s Ebola outbreak
A multipronged international effort has begun to pull out all the stops to launch trials of experimental Ebola vaccines in Uganda, which declared an outbreak of the deadly disease on 20 September. According to the most recent World Health Organization (WHO) update, Uganda has had 18 confirmed and 18 suspected cases of Ebola, including 23 deaths—an unusually high case fatality rate of 64%. A trial of a vaccine candidate that’s farthest along in development could launch before the end of next month.
Proven vaccines exist for Zaire ebolavirus, which has led to a dozen outbreaks in the neighboring Democratic Republic...
Source: ScienceNOW - September 29, 2022 Category: Science Source Type: news
The Pandemic Changed Paid Sick Leave Policies, But Not For Everyone
Starting next week, Starbucks workers will no longer have access to expanded paid sick leave that the company rolled out for COVID-19 illness, isolation, and vaccination. Going forward, employees will have to use whatever accrued sick time and vacation time they have to cover missed days should they fall sick with the virus—unless the state or city in which they work requires COVID-19 pay.
The coffee chain may be the latest large U.S. company to scrap its more generous sick-leave policies, but it’s hardly the first. When the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its quarantine and isola...
Source: TIME: Health - September 28, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Emily Barone Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
Richer children are less likely to take risks to secure a prize than their poorer peers, study finds
Researchers from Boston University found that wealthier children are less likely to gamble on the possibility of a bigger prize and if there was a chance it would reduce it than poorer children. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - September 28, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
This biologist discovered that lizards and other organisms can influence their own evolution
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On a hot day in July, evolutionary biologist Martha Muñoz is leading four undergraduate students on a scouting expedition in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. As they hike up a steep trail, Muñoz turns over rocks and pokes leaf litter to assess where they might find salamanders when they return that night. She quizzes the students about how the weather might affect their chances, then demonstrates how the crunch of leaves underfoot is an easy way to assess an area’s dryness. Too much crunch means the sala...
Source: ScienceNOW - September 22, 2022 Category: Science Source Type: news
Gas stoves can cause asthma in children and lung disease in adults
Dr Jonathan Levy of Boston University warns that having a gas stove in the household can increase the occupants risk of developing asthma and even cancer because of it emissions. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - September 14, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
U.S. Life Expectancy Declined Nearly a Year in 2021, Deepening Historic Slide
Americans’ life expectancy continued to slide in 2021. According to provisional data from the National Center for Health Statistics released on Aug. 31, life expectancy dropped by 0.9 years in 2021, leading to a total decrease of about 2.7 years between 2019 and 2021—the largest two-year decline in a century.
Once again, COVID-19 was the primary reason Americans died younger, accounting for 50% of the decline. However, other causes of death—including drug overdoses, heart disease, and liver disease—also surged, hinting at the devastating ripple effects the pandemic has had on society.
The life expec...
Source: TIME: Health - August 31, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tara Law Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
Mild electric shocks to the brain may protect older people from memory loss
Researchers suggest this treatment could help Alzheimer ’s patients but critics are unsureGiving mild electric shocks to the brain could protect older people from short-term and long-term memory loss, research suggests.It remains unclear as to whether the approach could help people with dementia. Robert Reinhart, an assistant professor at Boston University and a co-author of the study, said memory loss was a normal symptom of cognitive decline experienced as we age, and that forgetfulness could affect decision-making, planning and learning, for example.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - August 22, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Sascha Pare Tags: Medical research Ageing Dementia Alzheimer's Science Health Source Type: news
Plus-sized models driving new plastic surgery trend of bum lifts and breast implants, study warns
Boston University academics said the presence of larger models like Ashley Graham and Jordyn Woods could be increasing demand for bum lifts and breast implants (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - August 8, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Why Extreme Heat Is So Bad for the Human Body
Blistering temperatures aren’t just uncomfortable. They can quickly escalate to become life-threatening: According to data from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers, more than 700 people nationwide died from heat-related causes annually from 2004 to 2018. Some research suggests that the death toll will rise in the coming years as climate change makes extreme heat more common.
Here’s what you need to know about the health risks of extreme heat and how to understand your own risk.
What happens when the body gets too hot
Human beings evolved in tropical climates and can tolerate heat well by...
Source: TIME: Health - August 2, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tara Law Tags: Uncategorized climate change Evergreen healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
America Is All Too Happy to Let People Die
Last week, we were told the President of the United States has COVID-19, but it wasn’t a big deal, as White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told the media: “We knew this was going to happen. At some point, everyone is going to get COVID.”
Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore, chimed in in the Washington Post endorsing Jean-Pierre’s fatalism, adding: “Another key lesson is that it’s inevitable that everyone—even the president of the United States—will be exposed to the coronavirus[…]COVID-19 is a manageable disease for almost everyone, so long...
Source: TIME: Health - July 27, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Gregg Gonsalves Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 freelance Source Type: news
Plan B Vending Machine in Boston Goes Viral Plan B Vending Machine in Boston Goes Viral
A group of students at Boston University installed the vending machine to dispense emergency contraception at a lower cost for students.WebMD Health News (Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines)
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines - July 18, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Ob/Gyn & Women ' s Health News Source Type: news
