Disease

Vicky Makker, an oncologist in New York City, is leading research on the use of diet to increase the effectiveness of a cancer drug. The drug, a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (Pl3K) inhibitor, blocks a growth-promoting pathway. Researchers are putting patients on a ketogenic diet in hopes that it…

Many patients recovering from COVID-19 have expressed concerns about lingering neurological symptoms, such as brain fog, dizziness, and headaches. It is crucial to check in with a physician or primary care clinician to confirm that there are no underlying issues that may further affect your health.…

It is difficult to determine the long lasting effects of COVID-19 since it is still a new disease the world is trying to fight against. Yet, new studies have shown evidence of long-term neurological effects, such as dementia, Alzheimer's (a form of dementia), and other milder mental health…

It has been ten months since Jodee Pineau-Chaisson, a 55-year old woman without pre-existing conditions, contracted COVID-19. Now, she is unable to work due to a myriad of symptoms. She experiences body pain, heart murmurs, memory problems, depression, and chronic fatigue. Many long-haulers also…

Governor Gavin Newsom lifted California’s stay-at-home order last week on Friday which included lifting the ban on outdoor dining. The order was enacted at the beginning of December and was followed by a drop in the Covid-19 transmission rate. Officials estimate that it kept as many as 25,000…

Vaccines are in short supply and hospitals across the country are having to cancel vaccination appointments. The problem is particularly bad in Texas where cases are increasing by about 20,000 each day. There is much confusion on vaccine distribution because as of Friday, 39.9 million doses were…

The KF94 mask has been called out by some media outlets as being a “highly protective” mask option considering the new Covid-19 variants appearing across the globe. KF94 is a South Korean mask that is comparable to the N95. KF stands for “Korean filtration” and 94 represents the efficiency of the…

The deaths in the United States from Covid-19 caused the overall life expectancy to drop by 1.13 years. The life expectancy is now 77.48 years which is the lowest it’s been since 2003. It is also the largest single-year reduction in the past 40 years. This decline is more severe for racial and…

On Saturday Los Angeles County discovered the first case of the new B117 Covid-19 variant. This new strain was first identified in the United Kingdom. The spike protein on the variant has three mutations that have the potential to make vaccines less effective, however, that is not confirmed. The…

An Alzheimer’s drug manufactured by Eli Lilly has shown to slow down the rate that patients lose their ability to think and care for themselves. This was a small clinical trial with 272 patients and has not yet been published or widely reviewed. However, if the findings are true, then this would be…

Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic before masks were mandated, researchers in Denmark conducted a study to determine mask effectiveness. They gathered 6,000 participants and recommended some to wear masks and the others to be the control with no masks. The study did not find a strong indication that…

The Alzheimer’s drug, aducanumab, made by Biogen, would have been the first new Alzheimer’s drug in two decades, but a panel from the Food and Drug Administration recently rejected its effectiveness, suggesting that the evidence was not persuasive enough, and did not show enough effectiveness in…

Minks found in Denmark have contracted the coronavirus and transferred a mutated variant back to humans. The Danish government has decided to kill millions of minks as a precaution. The mink is currently the only known animal case to cause this mutation and retransmission. The mutation did not…

Scientists are becoming more aware of the deadly effects of the coronavirus on the vascular system. For serious COVID-19 infections, the virus can alter the endothelial cells which are inside blood vessels. People who died from COVID-19 have more blood clots and damage to the endothelial cells than…