August 19, 2021 Bioengineering Cancer patients’ own glioblastoma cells used in 3d bioprinting to develop living model to test efficacy of potential treatments prior to in vivo use. Still early days but very cool if succeeds and is adapted for clinical use. #GoScience
August 12, 2021 Addiction Small study of young people with no history of smoking or vaping showed single vaping session led to cellular oxidative stress responses (cause of inflammatory disease, heart disease, etc). More investigation needed to determine long-term use outcomes.
August 9, 2021 Clinical Research In vitro cell-culture study demonstrates that fenofibrate (used as adjunct to statins to lower cholesterol and lipid levels) reduces severity of coronavirus infection. Human trials to follow to determine if this holds true in vivo. #GoScience
August 6, 2021 Allergy/Immunology Retrospective study finds that the flu vaccine has benefits against severe effects of COVID-19. How it does this remains unknown but if true, it will be fascinating and enlightening to figure out how our immune response works in this setting.
August 5, 2021 Clinical Research Heparin seems to reduce progression of COVID-19 in hospitalized people with moderate symptoms but not for the critically ill. Study author states that more research required to find the therapeutic “sweet spot”.
July 6, 2021 Clinical Research Ontario study reports that one dose is good but two doses are better against variants. Keep on keeping on. #vaccineswork
June 22, 2021 Clinical Research Preprint longitudinal controlled MRI-imaging study notes direct evidence of brain abnormalities in people who had COVID (matched and compared to those did not) that could explain the symptoms of Long-COVID. #LongHaulers #LongCovid #VaccinesWork
May 27, 2021 Allergy/Immunology German study proposes a mechanism behind the rare blood clots associated with AstraZeneca vaccine.
May 19, 2021 Clinical Research For those who have had AstraZeneca as their first dose, small Spanish study shows that using Pfizer as the second dose is safe and effective. More evaluation and other trials are ongoing but still, good news.
May 14, 2021 Clinical Research Give research the time to answer the question about the need for yearly Covid-19 vaccine boosters given that variants, present and future, will continue to be an issue for a while. Speculation is a mug’s game. Evidence is better.