Ann Enkoji normally enjoys seeing her dental hygienist, but when her dentist’s office in Santa Monica, Calif., canceled her cleaning visit last spring, she felt relieved. She had been wary of keeping the appointment anyway, worried about someone else’s fingers and instruments exploring her mouth at a time when more than 25,000 Americans were contracting…
Although it is still challenging to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, researchers at the University of Miami are using all the strategies they can to fend off the spread. That includes using cutting-edge research to detect SARS-CoV-2–the virus that causes COVID-19–in wastewater. Detecting traces of the virus in sewage flowing from campus buildings may provide…
Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a simple optical technique used to detect volumetric changes in peripheral blood circulation. It’s used in smart watches, for example, to monitor pulse and heart rate, but PPG biosensors are also found in millions of smartphones, but without any current clinical applications. In a study published online in the February 2021 issue…
Irvine, Calif., Feb. 9, 2021 — Monoclonal antibodies are showing promise for improving outcomes for COVID-19 patients, but when a hospital is already beyond capacity, administering them can be a challenge. As hospitalizations soared across California, clinicians with UCI Health created a system for delivering monoclonal antibodies that is keeping hospital beds available for patients…
During a study with captive vampire bats at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, a young vampire bat pup was adopted by an unrelated female after its mother died. Although this observation was not the first report of adoption in vampire bats, it is uniquely contextualized by more than 100 days of surveillance-camera…
DALLAS, Feb. 9, 2021 — Participants in a two-year, lifestyle intervention/weight-loss program provided through health coaches at their primary care center were able to lower their blood sugar and improve their cholesterol levels, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation Journal. Researchers with the PROmoting Successful Weight Loss…
DALLAS, Feb. 9, 2021 — Dietary information from three large, well-known heart disease studies suggests drinking one or more cups of caffeinated coffee may reduce heart failure risk, according to research published today in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal. Coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke are among the top causes of…
KEY STUDY FINDINGS INCLUDE: 2.9% of U.S. adults report a current peanut allergy. About one in six adults with a peanut allergy developed it after age 18. Approximately one in five adults with peanut allergy report visiting the emergency department for food allergy treatment each year. Patients who developed their peanut allergy during adulthood…
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and other institutions have identified a novel strategy that can eliminate bacteria in a specific location before they cause an infection. The strategy uses a phage, a virus that infects and destroys bacteria, that can specifically locate in the same place the bacteria live in the gastrointestinal tract. The…
Exposure to radiation can wreak indiscriminate havoc on cells, tissues, and organs. Curiously, however, some tissues are more vulnerable to radiation damage than others. Scientists have known these differences involve the protein p53, a well-studied tumor-suppressor protein that initiates a cell’s auto-destruct programs. Yet, levels of this sentinel protein are often similar in tissues with…