45 articles from SUNDAY 15.11.2020
Rock of ages … how asteroid dust may reveal secrets of life on Earth
A six-year mission will soon bring back a few grains of soil that could explain how water arrived on our planetIn a few days, a capsule containing samples of soil from a distant asteroid will be released by a robot spaceship and dropped into Earth’s upper atmosphere. If all goes well, the container will parachute safely on to the Woomera test range in South Australia on 6 December, completing a...
Social media firms must face sanction for ‘anti-vax content’, demands Labour
Opposition claims that online disinformation poses a threat to the effective take-up of coronavirus vaccinesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSocial media companies that fail to act to “stamp out dangerous anti-vaccine content” should be subject to financial and criminal penalties, Labour has demanded.As hopes rise that a vaccine against coronavirus could be ready...
The defeat of polio proved that immunisation saved lives, but there's a sting to the tale
The rising number of vaccine-derived polio outbreaks has important implications for how we deal with Covid-19Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHalf a century since its eradication in the west, it is hard today to appreciate the terrible effect that polio had on people’s lives then and how feared it was as a disease. The virus killed hundreds every year in the UK...
Vaccination hesitancy is about lack of trust. Compulsion is not the answer | Kenan Malik
Better to build social solidarity than to dismiss reluctance to be immunised as ignoranceCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage“If a strain as deadly as the 1918 influenza emerges and people’s hesitancy to get vaccinated remains at the level it is today, a debilitating and fatal disease will spread.” So wrote Heidi Larson in 2018. Larson is director of the...
Cannabis resin now 25% more potent, global study reveals
Concentrations of intoxicating THC have risen, data from more than 80,000 street drug samples gathered over 50 years shows Cannabis resin – or “hash” – has increased in strength by nearly 25% over the past half century, a major international study has revealed.Researchers with the Addiction and Mental Health Group at the University of Bath analysed data from more than 80,000 cannabis...
May I have a word about… the language of epidemiologists | Jonathan Bouquet
Would you admit to being an expert in health and disease at a party? No, me neitherIt seems like only yesterday that another frustrated teacher uttered those fell words: “Bouquet, your behaviour is a disgrace”, a charge that was almost certainly always true. Fast forward to today and what do we find?Epidemiologist after epidemiologist warns that we must modify our “behaviours” if we are to...
An average of 1,100 Americans are dying every day from COVID-19 as the death rate quickly climbs, heading towards summer and spring levels
Cases and hospitalizations continue to rise rapidly as well, breaking records most days and outpacing the rise in the number of tests being...
A novel monoclonal antibody therapy cuts LDL cholesterol by half in a high-risk patient population,
- EurekAlert
- 20/11/15 06:00
The investigational drug evinacumab reduced low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol--the so-called "bad" cholesterol--by 50 percent in patients with severe hypercholesterolemia whose condition is resistant to standard treatments, a phase 2 study from the Icahn School of Medicine of Mount Sinai and other global academic sites has found.
Cannabis strength soars over past half century -- new study
- EurekAlert
- 20/11/15 06:00
Largest study on how cannabis has changed over time finds increased strength putting consumers at greater risk of harm
From the inside out - how the brain forms sensory memories
- EurekAlert
- 20/11/15 06:00
New study identifies a region of the thalamus as a key source of signals encoding past experiences in the neocortex.
Identification of the SARS-CoV-2 virus features causing COVID-19 using primate model
- EurekAlert
- 20/11/15 06:00
Features of the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19, which could be useful for developing vaccines and treatment strategies, were identified using a nonhuman primate model developed at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology(KRIBB).
Omega-3 fatty acids vs corn oil, major adverse cardiovascular events in patients at high risk
- EurekAlert
- 20/11/15 06:00
This randomized trial examines the effects on cardiovascular outcomes of a carboxylic acid formulation of EPA and DHA (omega-3 CA) with documented favorable effects on lipid and inflammatory markers in patients with atherogenic dyslipidemia and high cardiovascular risk.
Omega-3s did not reduce cardiac events in recent heart attack survivors
- EurekAlert
- 20/11/15 06:00
Omega-3 supplements in commonly available forms appear to be ineffective in preventing further cardiovascular events among elderly people with recent heart attacks.When compared to a placebo, an omega-3 fatty acids supplement in addition to statin therapy and/or a blood thinner did not reduce the number of cardiac events in a study of more than 1,000 patients in Norway.
Patients taking statins experience similar side effects from dummy pills
- EurekAlert
- 20/11/15 06:00
People taking dummy pills and statins experienced similar side effects in a new study.
Sensors get a laser shape up
- EurekAlert
- 20/11/15 06:00
Laser writing breathes life into high-performance sensing platforms.
Side effects often attributed to statins were the same for those taking a placebo
- EurekAlert
- 20/11/15 06:00
Study participants who reported side effects from cholesterol-lowering medications known as statins also reported the same side effects when they unknowingly took placebo pills.These side effects are real, and it appears may be mostly due to the psychological rather than the pharmacological effects of statins since symptoms were consistent when taking the placebo.
STRENGTH trial finds new fish oil medication did not reduce the risk of cardiac events
- EurekAlert
- 20/11/15 06:00
A medication derived from fish oil, containing the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, was evaluated in a large, international study of more than 13,000 people who had existing heart disease or who were at high risk of heart disease due to other medical conditions.The medication did not reduce the risk of cardiac events compared to a corn oil-based placebo in the STRENGTH trial.
The right tune for blood
- EurekAlert
- 20/11/15 06:00
Repetitive elements trigger RIG-I-like receptors to enhance hematopoietic stem cell formation
Sage expert:'flip-flopping' on Covid restrictions unwise
Prof John Edmunds calls for consistent UK government strategy and warns against relaxing measuresCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEncouraging the public to visit bars and restaurants and then closing down such venues when Covid-19 cases spike is not a “sensible way to run the epidemic”, a government scientific adviser has said.Prof John Edmunds, a member of the...
Elon Musk says 'most likely' has a moderate case of COVID-19
Musk said on Thursday that rapid antigen test results from the same machine and the same test showed he tested positive twice and then negative twice all on the same day. Musk's presence at the weekend launch of four NASA astronauts into orbit aboard his SpaceX company's spacecraft had been thrown into question due to...