Archives: 2021-10-28

Lifelong calcium and 25-hydroxyvitamin D use may shorten life expectancy and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease: a Karolinska Institute study shows.

Supplementation with calcium and vitamin D, alone or together, leads to increases in serum calcium (S-Ca) concentration with a peak 4 h after each ingestion and a more long-lasting elevation in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (S-25(OH)D), the marker metabolite for vitamin D status. Whether regular calcium supplementation elevates S-Ca after several months of use is debatable

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Gene Therapies against Rare diseases Boosted by NIH, FDA and Industry Alliance

The National Institutes of Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 10 pharmaceutical companies and five non-profit organizations have partnered to accelerate development of gene therapies for the 30 million Americans who suffer from a rare disease. While there are approximately 7,000 rare diseases, only two heritable diseases currently have FDA-approved gene therapies. The newly launched Bespoke

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Gene Therapy Shows Early Promise as Angelman Syndrome Treatment

The new therapy was generally well-tolerated and prevented key signs of the condition in animal models. Scientists at the UNC School of Medicine have reported in the journal JCI Insight encouraging early tests of a gene therapy strategy against Angelman syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder that features poor muscle control and balance, hard-to-treat epilepsy, and intellectual disabilities. Angelman

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Alberta University researchers team uncovers new proteases inhibitors to slow SARS-CoV-2 replication mechanism

Novel protease inhibitors show promise for developing safer, more effective COVID-19 treatments. A team of researchers at the University of Alberta has uncovered new antiviral agents that could lead to safer and more effective COVID-19 treatments than other current drugs under development. In a recently published paper in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, the researchers identified novel protease

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How to identify misleading information and fake news in scientific communication

A guide to to determine if something is pseudoscience or real science Click the link Your first exposure to any pseudoscientific claim will almost certainly come in the form of a catchy headline—perhaps a little too catchy. John Gregory, a researcher for the online fact-checking service NewsGuard, warns that fully capitalized words, exclamation points, or strong

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Patients with severe COVID-19 could benefit from higher doses of corticosteroids

A large international study in hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19 has shown that while a higher dose of steroids did not significantly reduce mortality, there was a trend towards benefit without increased side effects. Published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study compared the standard 6mg dose of the steroid dexamethasone

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Previously SARS-CoV-2 infected, if unvaccinated: reinfection by SARS-CoV-2 is likely, study finds

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been much uncertainty about how long immunity lasts after an unvaccinated person is infected with SARS-CoV-2. Now a team of scientists led by faculty at Yale School of Public Health and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte have an answer: Strong protection following natural infection is short-lived. “Reinfection

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COVID-19 Vaccines guarantee protection to non immune family members too

Risk of COVID-19 in families with two to five members. An interesting new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine examines the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to a susceptible individual who is part of a family with COVID-19 immunity. Study: Association Between Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Nonimmune Individuals and COVID-19 Immunity in Their Family

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