U.S. Science Embrace of Wuhan “Gain-Of-Function” Viral Research Proved A Slippery Slope
By MIKE MAGEE
The truth hurts.
Eighteen months into a disaster that has claimed 3.5 million lives around the globe, the truth is seeping out. Human error likely caused the Covid pandemic, and America’s Medical-Industrial Complex was right in the middle of it.
Signs of a “great awakening” have emerged from various corners in the month of May.
On May 14, UNC’s top virologist, Ralph Baric, who worked closely with Wuhan chief virologist and batwoman extraordinare, Shi Zhengli, signed on with 17 other scientists to a Science editorial that demanded a reexamination of Covid’s causality writing “theorie...
Source: The Health Care Blog - June 4, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: COVID-19 Health Policy Mike Magee Wuhan Source Type: blogs
The Future of COVID-19 Therapies and Vaccines
Against all odds and breaking development records, we now have several approved COVID-19 vaccines rolling out worldwide. No need for DIY vaccines; these research-backed shots have repeatedly been shown to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections and its spread. In May, following new evidence of efficacy in children, the FDA further approved administering the Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children aged between 12 and 15 years. Before, only those aged 16 and up could get the vaccine but vaccinating more children will be key to achieving herd immunity and ending the pandemic.
With such a promising outlook of available vaccine...
Source: The Medical Futurist - June 1, 2021 Category: Information Technology Authors: Pranavsingh Dhunnoo Tags: Covid-19 Digital Health Research therapy Fauci cdc vaccine pfizer Moderna SARS SARS-CoV-2 trials Duke Human Vaccine Institute Altimmune Nigel McMillan Source Type: blogs
Last Dance – a song
My “After the Lockdown” EP/LP was meant to hum a positive note as we seemed to be emerging from the covid pandemic, not that that will really be a thing, this disease is with us forever now, it will become endemic with its endless variants (there are more than 10000 of those by now) like influenza…
…so, my latest song didn’t end up quite as positive as the allusions of ones written and recorded earlier in the year. Once again featuring Taylor acoustic six-string guitar, Fender Telecaster electric guitar (always on the neck pickup), Yamaha electric bass guitar, percussion and synths played on a...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - May 15, 2021 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Music Source Type: blogs
Don ’t forget about influenza and the lessons learned from COVID [PODCAST]
“When the public was made aware of the risk of transmitting the virus and the far-reaching measures of social distancing, closing schools, and lock-down, most Americans willingly complied. After all, they became aware, for the first time, of the risk of aerosolized viral particles present in theatres, churches, restaurants, and classrooms. But we physicians already […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - April 22, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/the-podcast-by-kevinmd" rel="tag" > The Podcast by KevinMD < /a > < /span > Tags: Podcast COVID-19 coronavirus Emergency Medicine Infectious Disease Source Type: blogs
Could COVID-19 infection be responsible for your depressed mood or anxiety?
Doctors told you that your COVID-19 virus infection cleared months ago. However, even though you no longer struggle to breathe, and your oxygen levels have returned to normal, something doesn’t feel right. In addition to constant headaches, you find yourself struggling with seemingly easy tasks. The fatigue you experience makes moving from the bed to the kitchen feel like an accomplishment. But most troubling for you is a feeling of dread, a nervousness so severe you can feel your heart pounding. Constant worries now keep you from sleeping at night.
What are the mental health effects of COVID-19?
We are still learning ab...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 19, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Stephanie Collier, MD, MPH Tags: Behavioral Health Coronavirus and COVID-19 Mental Health Prevention Stress Source Type: blogs
Sweat Sensor Warns of Impending COVID-19 Cytokine Storm
Researchers at the University of Texas and EnLiSense, a Texas startup, have developed a skin sweat sensor that can measure cytokine levels continuously for up to 168 hours. The technology has been adapted so that it can detect cytokines involved in the deadly cytokine storms that occur in patients with COVID-19 and other illnesses, such as influenza. The researchers hope that it might serve as an early warning system for an impending storm, allowing early treatment.
Cytokine storms involve a massive release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, leading to intense inflammation that can cause significant damage to organs, someti...
Source: Medgadget - April 16, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiology Critical Care Medicine Public Health Source Type: blogs
American Industrial Policy in Action
Scott LincicomeIn case you haven't noticed, U.S. industrial policy is having (yet another) moment. Armed with the latest data and cross-country comparisons, a large and bipartisan cadre of industrial policy advocates in Washington are eager to shovel billions of taxpayer dollars into the open arms of American manufacturers of "essential goods" and "critical technologies." The risks (China, pandemics, whatever), so the theory goes, greatly outweigh any harms that a few, scattered industrial policy failures might cause along the way, so whynot just throw money at the (perceived) problems? These advocates, however, rarely ack...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 8, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: Scott Lincicome Source Type: blogs
NIRVANA Test Rapidly Identifies and Sequences COVID-19 Viral Variants
Researchers at the Salk Institute in California, working with outside collaborators, have developed a COVID-19 test that can rapidly identify and sequence the causative virus, helping to track new variants. The test, called “nanopore sequencing of isothermal rapid viral amplification for near real-time analysis,” (NIRVANA), can also simultaneously test for other viruses, such as influenza, that may cause similar symptoms.
As SARS-CoV-2 continues to mutate, health authorities are increasingly concerned about new variants being more dangerous, more transmissible, and more difficult to treat or vaccinate agains...
Source: Medgadget - April 5, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Medicine Public Health Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, March 29th 2021
Discussion of Systemic Inflammation and its Contribution to Dementia
Fisetin Reduces D-Galactose Induced Cognitive Loss in Mice
Reprogramming Cancer Cells into Normal Somatic Cells
Considering Longevity Medicine and the Education of Physicians
Researchers Generate Thyroid Organoids Capable of Restoring Function in Mice
In Search of Transcriptional Signatures of Aging
A Pace of Aging Biomarker Correlates with Manifestations of Aging
Targeting Tissues with Extracellular Vesicles
Calorie Restriction Slows Aging of the Gut Microbiome in Mice
Mitochondrial DNA Heteroplasmy in the Aging Heart
Evidence...
Source: Fight Aging! - March 28, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Fully vaccinated against COVID-19? So, what can you safely do?
Congrats on getting your COVID-19 vaccine! You qualify as fully vaccinated two weeks after your second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, or two weeks after your single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Maybe you’re wondering what you can safely do now that you’re fully vaccinated. As an infectious disease specialist, I’ve provided answers to some common questions. Please keep in mind that information about COVID-19 and vaccines is evolving, and recommendations may change as we learn more.
Can I gather with people outside my h...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - March 25, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Amy C. Sherman, MD Tags: Coronavirus and COVID-19 Health Parenting Relationships Vaccines Source Type: blogs
What the Exponential Rise in Mortality with Age Tells Us About the Nature of Aging
When charting rising mortality against increasing chronological age, the result is a smooth exponential curve - the Gompertz-Makeham law of mortality. We might well ask how the exceptionally complicated process of degenerative aging, consisting of many distinct mechanisms butting heads and breaking things in a stochastic manner, can produce this outcome. This is one of the questions posed by epidemiologists in today's open access paper. It is a good example that shows how a scientist can hypothesize about the operation of mechanisms given only data on the outcomes of those mechanisms.
For context, the authors of the...
Source: Fight Aging! - March 22, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
The Year of Living Dangerously
It ' s been exactly one year since our lives changed. On March 10, 2020, Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency for Massachusetts, changing the way many of us travel. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, its first such designation since declaring H1N1 influenza a pandemic in 2009. On March 15, 2020, I flew to Minnesota and prepared my Rochester apartment for a lockdown. I said my goodbyes to colleagues on March 16 and flew back to Boston. We ' ve run the Mayo Clinic Platform at a distance for the past year.During the pandemic, those old enough to have overcome ...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - March 16, 2021 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
Influenza: a deadly risk in schools before COVID
The Washington Post published an interesting article in its weekly health section on March 2. 2021. The article had an impactful graphic using data from the Centers for Disease Control that showed the number of pediatric deaths due to influenza over the last four years. Of course, this was a flu season and year unlike […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 11, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/joan-naidorf" rel="tag" > Joan Naidorf, DO < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions COVID-19 coronavirus Infectious Disease Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, March 1st 2021
This study may have important implications for preventing cell senescence and aging-induced tendinopathy, as well as for the selection of novel therapeutic targets of chronic tendon diseases.
Our results showed that the treatment of bleomycin, a DNA damaging agent, induced rat patellar TSC (PTSC) cellular senescence. The senescence was characterized by an increase in the senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity, as well as senescence-associated changes in cell morphology. On the other hand, rapamycin could extend lifespan in multiple species, including yeast, fruit flies, and mice, by decelerating DNA damage ...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 28, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
On the Aging Adaptive Immune System
An interesting fact about the adaptive immune system: the number of T cells in the body remains much the same across the entire lifespan, even after the supply of new T cells all but ceases in middle age. T cells are created as thymocytes by hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow, and then mature in the thymus. The supply of new cells from the bone marrow is negatively affected by age, while the thymus atrophies, active tissue becoming replaced with fat. Lacking replacements, the T cell population in the body becomes increasingly exhausted, senescent, and otherwise damaged. Many T cells become inappropriately specialized t...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 26, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
