Novel autoantibody adds fuel to COVID-19 ‘firestorm’ of inflammation, blood clots

Researchers at Michigan Medicine have discovered yet another functional autoantibody in COVID-19 patients that contributes to the disease’s development and the “firestorm” of blood clots and inflammation it induces. A growing body of studies suggests COVID-19 emulates many aspects of systemic autoimmune disorders, including the release of a flurry of overactive immune cells that produce…

Of lives and life years: 1918 influenza vs COVID-19

IMAGE: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/12/1/05-0979_article view more  Credit: CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases, January 2006 From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic there have been countless comparisons to the 1918 influenza pandemic in terms of overall medical impact. Many of the comparisons addressed overall cases which, given the lack of a confirmatory lab test in 1918 and no meaningful case…

Words matter: Language can reduce mental health and addiction stigma, NIH leaders say

WHAT: In a perspective published in Neuropsychopharmacology, leaders from the National Institutes of Health address how using appropriate language to describe mental illness and addiction can help to reduce stigma and improve how people with these conditions are treated in health care settings and throughout society. The authors define stigma as negative attitudes toward people…

How Republican Coronavirus Vaccine Opposition Got to This Point

After Sherri Tenpenny, a Cleveland-area doctor, falsely suggested during a hearing last month in the Ohio House of Representatives that Covid vaccines left people “magnetized” and could “interface” with 5G cellular towers, Republican lawmakers thanked her for her “enlightening” testimony. In Congress, Republicans who once praised the Trump administration for its work facilitating the swift…