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Patients keep asking Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, the same question: Is it time to get another Covid shot?

The virus is circulating at high levels across the country. That might suggest it’s prime time for another dose of protection. But updated vaccines that target newer variants of the virus are expected to arrive this fall.

Experts said the right time for your next Covid shot will depend on your health status and what you’re hoping to get from the vaccines.

If you’re trying to get the most protection against the leading variants:

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These metabolic shifts may be causing significant differences in cardiovascular health and immune function.

For many people, reaching their mid-40s may bring unpleasant signs the body isn’t working as well as it once did. Injuries seem to happen more frequently. Muscles may feel weaker.

A new study, published Wednesday in Nature Aging, shows what may be causing the physical decline. Researchers have found that molecules and microorganisms both inside and outside our bodies are going through dramatic changes, first at about age 44 and then again when we hit 60. Those alterations may be causing significant differences in cardiovascular health and immune function.

The findings come from Stanford scientists who analyzed blood and other biological samples of 108 volunteers ages 25 to 75, who continued to donate samples for several years.

“While it’s obvious that you’re aging throughout your entire life, there are two big periods where things really shift,” said the study’s senior author, Michael Snyder, a professor of genetics and director of the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine at Stanford Medicine. For example, “there’s a big shift in the metabolism of lipids when people are in their 40s and in the metabolism of carbohydrates when people are in their 60s.”

The mental health of adolescents and young adults has been on the decline and it’s partly because of “harmful megatrends” like financial inequality, according to a new report published on Tuesday in the scientific journal The Lancet Psychiatry. The global trends affecting younger generations also include wage theft, unregulated social media, job insecurity and climate change, all of which are creating “a bleak present and future for young people in many countries,” according to the authors.

Full text link: https://dnyuz.com/2024/08/13/are-we-thinking-about-the-youth-mental-health-crisis-all-wrong/

Lacking purpose in life and having few opportunities for personal growth may increase the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a frequent precursor of dementia, a study suggests.

These aspects of psychological wellbeing noticeably decline two to six years before memory loss and thinking problems are diagnosed, researchers found.

The study adds to mounting evidence linking psychological wellbeing to brain ageing, including the development of dementia.

Researchers tracked 910 people in Illinois in the US for an average of 14 years to assess whether they developed MCI or dementia.

Fever Feels Horrible, but is Actually Awesome!

International recommendations are shifting toward a more conservative approach to alcohol use amid growing concern about its role in promoting cancer.

Even light drinking was associated with an increase in cancer deaths among older adults in Britain, researchers reported on Monday in a large study. But the risk was accentuated primarily in those who had existing health problems or who lived in low-income areas.

The study, which tracked 135,103 adults aged 60 and older for 12 years, also punctures the long-held belief that light or moderate alcohol consumption is good for the heart.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/15659995

New research from the University of Southern California indicates cannabis may help individuals reduce or quit opioid use. Lead author Sid Ganesh, a PhD student at USC's medical school, interviewed 30 opioid and cannabis users in Los Angeles. Participants, receiving services from a methadone clinic and syringe exchange, found cannabis useful for managing opioid use due to easier access. The study, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, highlights cannabis's role in easing withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

Bleeding and in pain, Kyleigh Thurman didn’t know her doomed pregnancy could kill her.

Emergency room doctors at Ascension Seton Williamson in Texas handed her a pamphlet on miscarriage and told her to “let nature take its course” before discharging her without treatment for her ectopic pregnancy. 

When the 25-year-old returned three days later, still bleeding, doctors finally agreed to give her an injection intended to end the pregnancy. But it was too late. The fertilized egg growing on Thurman’s fallopian tube would rupture it, destroying part of her reproductive system. 

That’s according to a complaint Thurman and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed last week asking the government to investigate whether the hospital violated a federal law when staff failed to treat her initially in February 2023.

“I was left to flail,” Thurman said. “It was nothing short of being misled.”

Even as the Biden administration has publicly warned hospitals to treat pregnant patients in emergencies, facilities continue to violate the federal law.

More than 100 pregnant women in medical distress who sought help from emergency rooms were turned away or negligently treated since 2022, an Associated Press analysis of federal hospital investigations has found.

USC study finds cannabis can help manage withdrawal symptoms, as well as cravings and anxiety after withdrawal

New research from the University of Southern California shows that cannabis might help some people stop or cut down on their opioid use.

“We interviewed 30 people who were using opioids and cannabis and injecting drugs,” said Sid Ganesh, a PhD student at USC’s medical school and lead author of the study.

The participants, who were receiving services from a methadone clinic and a syringe exchange in Los Angeles, said cannabis was a useful tool to help manage their opioid use, in part because it has become so much easier to access in recent years.

Opioid use disorder patients often have to jump through hoops to access life saving treatments such as suboxone and methadone, and the overdose-reversal drug naloxone.

The study, published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, received federal funding through the National Institute of Drug Abuse, which has more typically supported research that looks at cannabis’s harms rather than potential benefits. Notably, the study is unique because it uses qualitative data and focuses on the lived experience of people who use drugs.

Universal free school lunches could lead to fewer obesity cases, improved attendance, and fewer suspensions, according to a study in JAMA Network Open. The Texas A&M-led study reviewed six programs covering over 11,000 schools. Researchers found that universal free school meals were associated with increased meal participation and some positive effects on attendance, particularly for students from food-insecure homes.

Article is a really nice read