Early data from a clinical study suggest that blocking the Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) protein provided clinical benefit to a small group of patients with severe COVID-19. Researchers observed that the off-label use of the cancer drug acalabrutinib, a BTK…
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Spike in Malaysia virus cases as migrants are infected
Malaysia reported 277 coronavirus cases Thursday, its biggest daily increase, due to a growing outbreak at a migrant detention centre, sparking accusations the government is failing to protect foreign workers. The Southeast Asian nation has had a relatively small outbreak,…
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Patients with ARDS, COVID-19 face significant financial effects in recovery
It begins with shortness of breath. And for approximately one third of patients, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, ends in death. For those who survive, their lives are often turned upside-down. Michigan Medicine researchers have been investigating the downstream…
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Proteins in the blood of COVID-19 patients could help predict how ill they will become
Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have identified 27 protein biomarkers that could be used to predict whether a patient with COVID-19 is likely to become severely ill with the disease. People infected with SARS-CoV-2,…
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Facts and myths about obesity, emerging as a key factor in COVID-19 hospitalization
With so much misinformation surrounding obesity, Dr. Catherine Varney is careful with her words. First of all, she clarifies that her patients are not obese, but rather have obesity, which is a disease and not a lack of willpower. What…
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How to cope if you feel overwhelmed and helpless in the face of racism
We are all currently facing a once-in-a-generation global pandemic – but black people are also dealing with a barrage of systemic racism, and it feels like an assault from every angle. Not only are black people being disproportionately impacted by…
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Social significance of dining out explored in new book by Alan Warde
Alan Warde is co-author of the newly published book: Alan Warde, Jessica Paddock and Jennifer Whillans, “The Social Significance of Dining out: A Study of Continuity and Change,” (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020). Dining out used to be considered exceptional;…
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Thyroid dysfunction in pregnancy being overdiagnosed, overtreated
The current practice of testing most pregnant women for thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) may be leading to overdiagnosis and overtreatment, according to new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). The study of more than 188 000 women in Alberta…
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Using riboflavin, UV light reduces SARS-CoV-2 pathogens in plasma, whole blood
Scientists do not yet know if Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—can be transmitted by blood transfusion. But given the unknowns around this new pathogen, researchers at Colorado State University used existing technologies to…
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Infection risk up in month after CAR T-cell immunotherapy
(HealthDay)—For children and young adults receiving CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell infusion (CTI), infection rates increase in the first month after treatment and then decrease, according to a study published in the May issue of Open Forum Infectious Diseases….
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