Myocardial Involvement After Hospitalization for COVID-19 Complicated by Troponin Elevation: A Prospective, Multicenter, Observational Study

People hospitalized with COVID-19 may have an increased risk for heart damage, but not so much the type of inflammation previous research suggested, according to a new study. Early in the pandemic, several studies suggested many COVID-19 survivors experienced heart damage even if they didn’t have underlying heart disease and weren’t sick enough to be hospitalized. The

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90% reduction in COVID-19 deaths after booster dose: Hong Kong study

A booster (third) dose of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine was associated with a 90% reduction in death in people with multiple health conditions compared to 2 doses, according to a new study from Hong Kong published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.221068. “We found a substantially reduced risk of COVID-19–related death in adults with multimorbidity who received a

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Decreased serotonin transporter activity in the mitral valve contributes to progression of degenerative mitral regurgitation

Serotonin can impact the mitral valve of the heart and potentially accelerate a cardiac condition known as degenerative mitral regurgitation, according to a new study led by researchers at Columbia University’s Department of Surgery in collaboration with the Pediatric Heart Valve Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), the University of Pennsylvania, and the Valley

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NIH researchers are shedding light on a mystery medical condition called VEXAS syndrome believed to affect more than 15,000 people in the United States.

Identified in 2020, VEXAS syndrome is a rare, genetically linked disorder with a high death rate. VEXAS syndrome is a disease that causes inflammatory and hematologic (blood) manifestations. The syndrome is caused by mutations in the UBA1 gene of blood cells and acquired later in life. Patients do not pass the disease to their children. The syndrome

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Could a viral illness increase chances of developing Alzheimer’s or other neurodegenerative disease?

NIH biobank study suggests vaccinations against viruses may also reduce risk of neurological disorders Some viral illnesses may increase a person’s chances of later developing Alzheimer’s disease or another neurodegenerative disorder. Though a causal link cannot be confirmed, an NIH study in which researchers mined the medical records of hundreds of thousands of people in

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Results on 5 gene therapy trials expected in the first 2023 semester

Can gene therapy trials for vision loss, hemophilia, and melanoma break through in 2023? fter another turbulent year in gene therapy development, all eyes are on five major trial readouts set for H1 2023. The clinical studies target rare blood disorders, inherited retinal diseases, and metastatic melanoma—each of which poses distinct trial design challenges. First, two small

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COVID-19 patients retain elevated risk of death for at least 18 months after infection

 COVID-19 is associated with higher risks of cardiovascular disease and death in the short- and long-term, according to a study in nearly 160,000 participants published today in Cardiovascular Research, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Compared to uninfected individuals, the likelihood of COVID-19 patients dying was up to 81 times higher in

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COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma for the Treatment of Immunocompromised Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis published in Jama Network

A review of 9 studies suggested that plasma therapy may work in a group of immunocompromised people During the first months of 2020, when the coronavirus was spreading around the world, it was not known what the routes of transmission were and what medications could be beneficial to treat COVID-19 . Among other options, it began to be postulated that the blood plasma

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Evidence of haemorrhages in fetal brain tissue associated with the presence of SARS-CoV-2

New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London has found evidence of small haemorrhages in fetal brain tissue during the peak of COVID-19 cases in the UK. The research, published in Brain, found that the haemorrhages are linked to a reduction in blood vessel integrity. The cause of these

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Cornell University study identifies four major subtypes of long COVID

The post-COVID syndrome known as long COVID has four major subtypes defined by different clusters of symptoms, according to a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine. The study, published Dec. 1 in Nature Medicine, was the largest of its kind to examine long COVID. The researchers, who represent clinicians and informaticists, used a machine-learning algorithm

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