Parkinson’s Disease is one of several degenerative diseases in our neurologic system. It has a celebrity patient, Michael J. Fox. Still, with a million patients living with the disease in the US and sixty thousand new diagnoses annually, it lacks a biomarker to aid in early detection. An artificial intelligence program looking at nocturnal breathing may change that and, ultimately, how we care for these patients.
Disease
It has long been accepted that statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) cause muscle pain. Everyone knows this. But a study published in Lancet tells us that only a small number of cases of muscle pain are actually from the drugs. Interesting and a bit surprising.
Climate change is real; we contribute to it. But warmer temperatures aren't driving unprecedented increases in the number of heart attacks we suffer.
We spend quite a bit on body-affirming surgery in the US. According to the Aesthetic Society, in 2021, we spent $14.6 billion on procedural care, including liposuction and breast augmentation, to mention the top two. That doesn’t include the nips, tucks, revisions, or injectables to fill or paralyze. One form of body-affirming surgery remains quite controversial, genital gender affirming surgery – a new study follows up on our earlier reporting.
Most of our previous COVID-19 analyses focused on national and regional trends. A recent article indicated that the pandemic might be entering a new period of less lethal infections [1]. This trend might relate to a new variant, exposure differences, or additional vaccination acceptance. Here we draw on weekly state-level data to explore such relationships, including two other COVID-19 metrics: percentages of positive tests and rates of hospitalization.
The global population is becoming increasingly sedentary, an inevitable result of labor-saving technologies. Some might argue that our couch-potato ways go against our evolutionary design; we were hunters and gatherers, and that rarely allowed time for sitting around. A new study considers whether sitting is the great Satan of a healthy life.
If you find yourself wondering why the science press is afforded so little respect these days, maybe overhyped claims are contributing. Last week, various lay publications and press releases reported that posture significantly affects how fast the body absorbs medicine. The results were based on a new model to simulate drug dissolution in the human stomach. Sounds important and impressive, no? No. Read on.
Daily infection rates are a crucial metric for assessing the spread and intensity of COVID-19, but daily death counts have been of more concern to public health. The lag between infection and death is well known but seldom recognized by the media or various COVID tracking websites. When we hear a pronouncement of increased caseloads but reassurance since death rates remain stable, we’re tempted to respond, “Just wait!”
This summer, there have been more shark sightings, attacks, and public awareness than the summer of “Jaws” in 1975. Systemic infections by fungus are relatively rare in humans (athlete’s foot is a fungal skin infection); one theory holds that our core temperature of 98.6 is a bit too low for most fungal infections to thrive. [1] What do these two seemingly disparate facts have in common – the role of rising temperatures and humans’ biological niche? According to a new study, our rising temperatures may bring us more intense weather and more intense pathogens.
It seems that for some, Monkeypox is a derogatory term. I’m unsure whether this has to do with the use of the word "monkey," its association with Africa, or some other ill-defined reason. To be fair, naming diseases is important, especially in a time of social media; we all want to be worrying and arguing about the same problem. Not to worry, the World Health Organization has issued some best practices.
Everybody wants to protect our planet, but environmentalism long ago morphed into a radical progressive movement. Where did it go wrong? As the COVID pandemic gradually recedes, what do we know about ivermectin?
In our somewhat academic household, “solving differential equations” was a euphemism for tackling a challenging intellectual problem with an uncertain outcome. Pinning down the health effects of air pollution exposure is one such problem.