June 24, 2022 Clinical Research End of week wrap up: Not being able to stand on one legs means you die earlier?, Alzheimer an autoimmune disease?, and COVID vaccines saved millions of lives according to Lancet-published study.
June 15, 2022 Bioengineering Study in Nature outlines how in vitro and in vivo (mouse model), specific white blood cells (B-Cells) can be genetically programmed to produce anti-HIV antibodies thus offer a one-time treatment for the disease. Long way to go but elegant study design.
June 14, 2022 General information ROLLING STONE – “Anti-Vaxxers Are Flipping Out Over Justin Bieber’s Facial Paralysis”. There is no evidence of a connection between COVID vaccine and Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. It is not known if he had the vaccine after getting COVID in Feb ’22.
June 3, 2022 Apps and diagnosis The week: Hep A in strawberries, new rapid tests for Syphilis, Virtual Surgery, and another useless coffee study.
May 24, 2022 Health Policy Ontario Public Health sends notification to health professionals to report suspected cases of monkeypox. Infection remains rare. CDC evaluation data to be reported soon.
March 30, 2022 Health Statistics COVID-19 and Flu do not mix well together. Study in Lancet reports a 4 times relative risk increase for mechanical ventilation in hospitalized patients and are 2.4 times more likely to die compared to someone with COVID-19 alone.
March 9, 2022 Infectious Disease Mild Covid is associated with comparative imaging scans showing pathological changes in brain structure in people age 51-81 taken from UK Biobank data
March 3, 2022 Epidemiology Caveats and limitations aplenty with non-peer-reviewed study relating to Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) between Flu and Omicron.
February 17, 2022 Clinical Research Small study that suggests good looks portends a better functioning immune system ignores cultural determination of attractiveness, normal immune system variability, and cannot demonstrate causality among its other limitations. + it’s as judgmental as hell.