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Drinking coffee or tea may be associated with a lower risk of stroke and dementia, according to a study of healthy individuals aged 50-74 publishing November 16th in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine. Drinking coffee was also associated with a lower risk of post-stroke dementia. Strokes are life-threatening events which cause 10 percent of deaths globally. Dementia is a general […]
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An interdisciplinary panel of infectious disease clinicians and public health experts led by the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have released a first edition of the African Antibiotic Treatment Guidelines for Common Bacterial Infections and Syndromes. Africa Union (AU) Member States and public health stakeholders have identified […]
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Epilepsy and autism spectrum disorders, or ASD, show a remarkable degree of comorbidity and may share pathological mechanisms. Questions that have bogged down scientists about these disorders include: Does autism lead to an increase in epilepsy? Or does epilepsy alter the brain circuit, which then leads to autism? Viji Santhakumar, an associate professor in the Department of Molecular, Cell and […]
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University of Utah Health scientists have documented the spread of a disease gene across continents and over centuries. The genetic mutation causes a heart arrhythmia, known as atrial fibrillation (AF), that manifests in early adulthood and leads to fatigue, stroke, and increased risk of early death. It is important to identify carriers of this genetic legacy, the authors say, since […]
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Levels of dopamine and the placebo effect can determine whether patients with social anxieties improve when treated with SSRIs. A new study shows the effect was four times higher for patients with high expectations of the medication compared with patients with low expectations. This was true even though the groups received the same medical treatment. Although SSRIs influence levels of […]
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High levels of anxiety and depression among medical doctors have been recorded in a new cross-country study that finds Italian doctors most likely to have experienced mental health symptoms during the pandemic. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, measured the mental wellbeing of doctors in Catalonia (Spain), Italy and the UK using over 5,000 survey responses gathered […]
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The number of people experiencing numbness, tingling and pain in their feet with no known cause has been increasing over the last two decades, according at a new study published in the October 27, 2021, online issue of Neurology. Called small fiber neuropathy, the condition has different symptoms than large fiber neuropathy, which can cause weakness and balance issues. But […]
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The emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants that can spread rapidly and undermine vaccine-induced immunity threatens the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The delta variant (B.1.617.2) emerged in India and subsequently spread globally within a short time period. Also in Germany, almost all recent infections are due to this variant. In addition to Delta, so-called Delta Plus sub-variants have been observed, […]
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In pregnant women who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, male placentas showed increased immune activation compared with female placentas, according to a new study published in Science Translational Medicine. The significantly higher levels of certain genes and proteins associated with increased immune activation may help protect male fetuses from becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 in utero, but […]
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The most vulnerable Britons are missing out on their third jabs, with one GP branding the scheme ‘a dog’s dinner’, so why is the Covid booster programme failing? Last week The Mail on Sunday revealed that hundreds of thousands of the UK’s highest-risk patients are in danger of missing out on a vital third Covid jab because many NHS staff weren’t […]
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