People who are double-jointed might be at increased risk of developing long COVID, a new study reports. Double-jointed folks are 30% more likely to not fully recover from COVID-19 infection, compared with those who are less flexible, researchers report in the journal BMJ Public Health. They also are more likely to experience the persistent fatigue associated with long COVID, results show. These findings demonstrate how COVID attacks different parts of the body, taking advantage of whatever it finds, researchers said. Long COVID is more likely in people with health problems also shared among the double-jointed, researchers noted – fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, migraine, allergies, anxiety, depression and back pain. The presence of what the researchers called “joint laxity” gives “an important clue to differences in connective tissue composition that can affect multiple bodily systems,” explained the research team. It was led by Dr. Jessica Eccles, a clinical neuroscientist with Brighton and Sussex Medical School in Brighton, U.K. For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 3,000 participants in a COVID symptom study. About 1 in 3 people said they had not fully recovered from their last bout with COVID, and among them nearly 30% were double-jointed. After accounting for other risks, double-jointedness was strongly associated with a failure to fully recover from COVID infection and higher levels of fatigue. Long COVID is probably a…  read on >  read on >

Intermittent fasting might be bad for your heart, a new study warns. People who restricted their eating to an 8-hour window had nearly twice the risk of heart-related death compared to folks who ate freely, results show. This runs counter to previous research in which intermittent fasting improved several measures related to heart health, including blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, the researchers noted. “We were surprised to find that people who followed an 8-hour, time-restricted eating schedule were more likely to die from cardiovascular disease,” said senior researcher Victor Wenze Zhong, chair of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in Shanghai. “Even though this type of diet has been popular due to its potential short-term benefits, our research clearly shows that, compared with a typical eating time range of 12-16 hours per day, a shorter eating duration was not associated with living longer,” Zhong added in an American Heart Association (AHA) news release. For the study, Zhong and his colleagues analyzed data on more than 20,000 U.S. adults who participated in an annual federal survey on health and nutrition between 2003 and 2018. The survey tracked participants’ pattern of eating. Many people who adhere to time-restricted fasting tend to eat all their food in an 8-hour window, and then fast for the rest of the day, researchers…  read on >  read on >

“Havana Syndrome” appears to cause real and severe symptoms among federal employees suffering from the mystery illness, but there’s no evidence of brain injury or biological abnormalities among them, a new report shows. Researchers evaluated 81 U.S. diplomats and other federal employees, mostly stationed abroad, who had complained of hearing noise and feeling head pressure just before experiencing headache, dizziness, trouble thinking and other symptoms. These symptoms have been described as “Havana Syndrome” because U.S. government personnel stationed in Havana, Cuba, first reported such cases in 2016. Since then, hundreds of American personnel in stations in many different countries have reported similar symptoms. After nearly five years of research, investigators from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that MRI brain scans of Havana Syndrome patients did not appear significantly different than those taken of healthy patients in a control group. A battery of other medical tests also found no differences between Havana Syndrome patients and healthy controls that would explain their symptoms. These included blood panels, hearing tests, balance tests, vision screening and psychological evaluation. However, researchers hastened to add that these symptoms are genuine, even if a cause isn’t apparent. “While we did not identify significant differences in participants with [Havana Syndrome], it’s important to acknowledge that these symptoms are very real, cause significant disruption in the lives of those affected and can…  read on >  read on >

As millions of Americans prepare to travel abroad this summer and measles outbreaks increase worldwide, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tightened its guidance on how travelers should handle the potential health threat. Americans planning to fly to other countries should consult their doctors at least six weeks before they leave, if they are unsure about whether they are up to date on their measles vaccines, the guidance now says. That’s two weeks earlier than the one month advance notice the CDC said in November would be needed in order to have enough time to get vaccinated. Russia and Malaysia have also been added to the CDC’s map of 46 countries now facing large measles outbreaks. However, the agency warns that the global rise in measles cases remains a threat in other parts of the world. “Measles spreads rapidly and may become a risk to travelers in places not included on the list above. CDC recommends all travelers are fully vaccinated against measles when traveling to any international destination,” the agency stressed in its guidance. In recent weeks, health authorities have ramped up their plea for Americans to get vaccinated before traveling this year.  Officials have cited recent outbreaks linked to travelers who were infected abroad and had been eligible to be vaccinated, CBS News reported.  Those include a cluster of cases reported over the winter in Philadelphia linked…  read on >  read on >

In people with type 1 diabetes, fluctuations in blood sugar levels can affect thinking skills in various ways, new research shows. Researchers looked specifically at what’s known as cognitive processing speed (how fast people process incoming information) and attention. “Our results demonstrate that people can differ a lot from one another in how their brains are impacted by glucose,” said study co-senior author Laura Germine. “We found that minimizing glucose fluctuations in daily life is important for optimizing processing speed, and this is especially true for people who are older or have other diabetes-related health conditions,” Germine said. She directs McLean Hospital’s Laboratory for Brain and Cognitive Health Technology, in Boston. According to the researchers, it’s long been known that big dips or spikes in blood sugar levels can impair thinking in people with type 1 diabetes. But to what extent does this happen, and does it differ between people? To find out, they used wearable digital glucose sensors and smartphone-based cognitive tests to collect data on 200 people with type 1 diabetes as they went through their day. Over the course of 15 days, data on each person’s blood sugar levels was collected via the sensors every five minutes. Participants completed the cognitive tests three times per day. As expected, cognitive skills declined when blood sugar levels were either very low or very high,…  read on >  read on >