Home Blog Page 22

Exercise leads to immune system boost

Photo of man exercising
Working out strengthens more than just your muscles – it strengthens your immune system, too. SelectStock/E+ via Getty Images

These at-home exercises can help older people boost their immune system and overall health in the age of COVID-19

Mark A. Gluck, Rutgers University – Newark ; Bernadette A. Fausto, Rutgers University – Newark , and Lisa Charles, Rutgers University – Newark

Older adults, especially those over 65, have five times the risk of hospitalization and 90 times the risk of death from COVID-19 compared with younger adults.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 78% of the more than 114,000 COVID-19 related deaths between May and August 2020 were people age 65 and older. Many of those individuals had compromised immune systems due, in part, to a variety of other health conditions including obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory disease and hypertension. The CDC suggests these additional health problems could lead to increased severity of COVID-19.

Continue
Ad Title
ARTICLE INLINE AD

Virus evolution could undermine a COVID-19 vaccine

drawing depicting virus under attack
Jose A. Bernat Bacete/Moment collection/Getty Images

Viruses evolve defenses, this allows them to adapt and could undermine a COVID-19 vaccine – but this can be stopped

Andrew Read, Penn State and David Kennedy, Penn State

The first drug against HIV brought dying patients back from the brink. But as excited doctors raced to get the miracle drug to new patients, the miracle melted away. In each and every patient, the drug only worked for a while.

Continue
Ad Title
ARTICLE INLINE AD

Americans missing out on robust health benefits of fish

Photo of sardines
Sardines are rich in oils and protein. Photo by Ahmed Nadar for Unsplash, CC BY-ND

Americans don’t eat enough fish and miss out on robust health benefits

Michael Tlusty, University of Massachusetts Boston

26 lbs. - Recommended annual amount of seafood that Americans should eat
CC BY-NC-ND

Eating fish can provide powerful advantages for the heart and brain, yet Americans eat less than half of the 26 pounds per year that experts recommend. By contrast, Americans buy seven times more chicken and beef annually than fish.

Continue
Ad Title
ARTICLE INLINE AD

COVID-19 and obesity

Photo of patient with IV
Oceanside, N.Y.: A COVID-19 patient, in a medically induced coma, is connected to life-sustaining devices providing blood pressure medication, antibiotics, sedation, feeding and assistance breathing at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside, New York on April 14, 2020. (Photo by Jeffrey Basinger/Newsday via Getty Images)

COVID-19 reveals how obesity harms the body in real time, not just over a lifetime

A COVID-19 patient is connected to life-sustaining devices at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside, New York on April 14, 2020.

Cate Varney, University of Virginia

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust the obesity epidemic once again into the spotlight, revealing that obesity is no longer a disease that harms just in the long run but one that can have acutely devastating effects. New studies and information confirm doctors’ suspicion that this virus takes advantage of a disease that our current U.S. health care system is unable to get under control.

Continue
Ad Title
ARTICLE INLINE AD

How the internet is changing the way we grieve

Photo of woman with cell phone
Social media has become a powerful platform to cope with grief.

Loss and grieving during the era of social media

Jo Bell, University of Hull

People don’t die in the same way that they used to. In the past, a relative, friend, partner would pass away, and in time, all that would be left would be memories and a collection of photographs. These days the dead are now forever present online and digital encounters with someone who has passed away are becoming a common experience.

Continue
Ad Title
ARTICLE INLINE AD

Unexpected find in the clouds of Venus

Artist drawing of Venus
A radar mosaic image of Venus. NASA.gov

The detection of phosphine in Venus’ clouds is a big deal – here’s how we can find out if it’s a sign of life

Paul K. Byrne, North Carolina State University

On Sept. 14, 2020, a new planet was added to the list of potentially habitable worlds in the Solar System: Venus.

Phosphine, a toxic gas made up of one phosphorus and three hydrogen atoms (PH₃), commonly produced by organic life forms but otherwise difficult to make on rocky planets, was discovered in the middle layer of the Venus atmosphere. This raises the tantalizing possibility that something is alive on our planetary neighbor. With this discovery, Venus joins the exalted ranks of Mars and the icy moons Enceladus and Europa among planetary bodies where life may once have existed, or perhaps might even still do so today.

Continue
Ad Title
ARTICLE INLINE AD

Monarch butterflies at risk

Photo of Monarch butterflies sitting together on a plant
Monarch butterflies cover a tree at El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Michoacán, Mexico. D. André Green II, CC BY-ND

Monarch butterflies’ spectacular migration is at risk – an ambitious new plan aims to help save it

D. André Green II, University of Michigan

One of nature’s epic events is underway: Monarch butterflies’ fall migration. Departing from all across the United States and Canada, the butterflies travel up to 2,500 miles to cluster at the same locations in Mexico or along the Pacific Coast where their great-grandparents spent the previous winter.

Continue
Ad Title
ARTICLE INLINE AD

Vaccine distribution will require specialized handling

Photo of refrigerated trailers
Trucks, planes and storage facilities all need to be able to keep a vaccine cold. J2R/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Keeping coronavirus vaccines at subzero temperatures during distribution will be hard, but likely key to ending pandemic

Anna Nagurney, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Just like a fresh piece of fish, vaccines are highly perishable products and must be kept at very cold, specific temperatures. The majority of COVID-19 vaccines under development – like the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines – are new RNA-based vaccines. If they get too warm or too cold they spoil. And, just like fish, a spoiled vaccine must be thrown away.

So how do companies and public health agencies get vaccines to the people who need them?

Continue
Ad Title
ARTICLE INLINE AD

Nutrition as a first line of defense

Photo of a basket of fresh vegetables
Eating lots of fruits and vegetables will boost the immune system. Stevens Fremont via Getty Images

Good nutrition can contribute to keeping COVID-19 and other diseases away

Grayson Jaggers, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

The connection between the pandemic and our dietary habits is undeniable. The stress of isolation coupled with a struggling economy has caused many of us to seek comfort with our old friends: Big Mac, Tom Collins, Ben and Jerry. But overindulging in this kind of food and drink might not just be affecting your waistline, but could potentially put you at greater risk of illness by hindering your immune system.

Continue
Ad Title
ARTICLE INLINE AD

Using ultraviolet light to aid in disinfecting indoor spaces

Photo of workers disinfecting subway car with UV light
MOSCOW, RUSSIA - NOVEMBER 2, 2017: Lamps that produce ultraviolet (UV) light disinfect a Moscow Underground train carriage at the Kaluzhskoye maintenance depot. Sergei Bobylev/TASS (Photo by Sergei BobylevTASS via Getty Images)

Ultraviolet light can make indoor spaces safer during the pandemic – if it’s used the right way

Karl Linden, University of Colorado Boulder

Ultraviolet light has a long history as a disinfectant and the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, is readily rendered harmless by UV light. The question is how best to harness UV light to fight the spread of the virus and protect human health as people work, study, and shop indoors.

Continue
Ad Title
ARTICLE INLINE AD
1...212223...36Page 22 of 36

Ad Box1

Custom Ad 1
Cutsom Ad 1 Ad

Recent Posts