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Like influenza, could COVID-19 evolve to wax and wane with the seasons? New research suggests it might. Early in the pandemic, some experts suggested that SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — may behave like many other coronaviruses that circulate more widely in fall and winter. To find out if that could be true, researchers analyzed COVID-19 data — including cases, death rates, recoveries, testing rates and hospitalizations — from 221 countries. The investigators found a strong association with temperature and latitude. “One conclusion is that the disease may be seasonal, like the flu. This is very relevant to what we should expect from now on after the vaccine controls these first waves of COVID-19,” said senior study author Gustavo Caetano-Anollés. He is a professor at the C.R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The same research team previously identified areas in the SARS-CoV-2 virus genome undergoing rapid mutation. Similar viruses have seasonal increases in mutation rates, so the researchers looked for connections between mutations in SARS-CoV-2 and temperature, latitude and longitude. “Our results suggest the virus is changing at its own pace, and mutations are affected by factors other than temperature or latitude. We don’t know exactly what those factors are, but we can now say seasonal effects are independent of the genetic makeup of the virus,”… read on > read on >

Stroke survivor Ken Allsford focused intensely on how he wanted to bend his elbow. And then the robot exoskeleton attached to his left arm obeyed his unspoken command, moving his crippled limb. “It was a combination of exciting and trepidation, because sometimes nothing would happen,” Allsford, 61, of Katy, Texas, recalled. “But when you actually see it move without actually making the moves yourself, that’s very exciting.” The experiment with Allsford was part of an ongoing project to see if such a brain-machine interface can help improve the rehabilitation of stroke patients. Ten stroke patients had clinically significant improvements in their arm movement after more than a dozen therapy sessions with a robot exoskeleton powered by their own brains, researchers reported recently in the journal NeuroImage: Clinical. “We found that there was an improvement in 80% of the participants,” said senior researcher Jose Contreras-Vidal, director of the Non-Invasive Brain Machine Interface Systems Laboratory at the University of Houston. Most patients retained their improved function for at least two months after therapy ended, suggesting the potential for long-lasting gains, he added. Physical therapists often help stroke patients overcome paralysis by manually moving the person’s limbs again and again, with the hope that the brain will rewire itself to restore control over the arm or leg, Contreras-Vidal said. This type of therapy has started to rely on… read on > read on >

Stress levels are on the rise as Americans grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic and bitter political divisions, a new American Psychological Association (APA) survey shows. On a 10-point scale where 1 means little to no stress and 10 means a great amount, adults’ average stress level clocked in at 5.6, according to the Stress in America: January 2021 Stress Snapshot. That’s higher than levels reported in APA surveys since April. Eighty-four percent of respondents in the latest survey reported feeling at least one emotion associated with prolonged stress in the prior two weeks. The most common were anxiety (47%), sadness (44%) and anger (39%). And two-thirds said they feel overwhelmed by the number of issues facing the nation. Significant sources of reported stress included the future of the United States (81%); the coronavirus pandemic (80%); and political unrest (74%). Two-thirds said the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was a significant source of stress. Among other key findings: 84% of respondents say the nation has serious societal issues that need to be addressed and 9 in 10 hope that there will be a move toward unity. “Nearly a year into the pandemic, prolonged stress persists at elevated levels for many Americans. As we work to address stressors as a nation, from unemployment to education, we can’t ignore the mental health consequences of this global… read on > read on >

For some patients suffering from knee arthritis, a special procedure may reduce the need for a total knee replacement, Canadian researchers say. By getting what is known as a ‘high tibial osteotomy,’ younger patients with less severe joint damage who are physically active might be able to delay the need for a knee replacement by 10 years or more, though they may have to search for a doctor who performs the surgery. “High tibial osteotomy is a knee surgery aimed at treating patients in earlier stages of osteoarthritis by correcting the alignment of bowed legs and shifting load to less diseased parts of the knee,” explained lead researcher Trevor Birmingham, the Canada research chair of musculoskeletal rehabilitation at the University of Western Ontario. During the procedure, the tibia (shinbone) is cut and then reshaped to relieve pressure on the knee joint. Beyond improving pain and function, a goal of the procedure is to prevent or delay the need for total knee replacement, Birmingham said. Although high tibial osteotomy can improve pain and function and is cost-effective, the procedure is underused in North America, Birmingham said. “Rates of high tibial osteotomy continue to decline, while rates of other knee surgeries continue to rise,” he added. “The low rates of high tibial osteotomy are partially due to the perception that the procedure is only suitable for a… read on > read on >

Expanded unemployment benefits, passed by Congress last spring to ease the economic pain of the pandemic, appear to have held hunger at bay for millions of Americans, new research shows. Called “The CARES Act” when it was put into effect nearly a year ago, the law expanded who is eligible for unemployment benefits and how long that coverage would last. A weekly federal supplement of $600 was also added to the coverage. The move ultimately cut in half the chance that a middle-class recipient would need to eat less because of financial hardship, the study authors said. And it cut by roughly one-third the risk that a recipient would face so-called “food insecurity.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as “limited or uncertain access to adequate food.” “The COVID-19 recession is markedly different from prior recessions in that it is so concentrated among people in low-income households,” explained study author Julia Raifman. She’s an assistant professor in the department of health law, policy, and management at Boston University School of Public Health. “This has led to millions of people experiencing food insecurity,” Raifman said. “And households with children are more likely to report food insecurity,” with potentially dire implications. For example, it is “not possible for children to concentrate on school if they do not have enough to eat. And there will be… read on > read on >

MONDAY, Feb. 1, 2021 (American Heart Association News) — Medical science has come a long way since the days of “bikini medicine,” when the only time doctors managed a woman’s health differently than a man’s was when treating the parts of her body found under a bikini. Over the past few decades, researchers have uncovered countless ways in which women’s and men’s bodies react differently to the same diseases. And just as it’s now widely recognized women experience heart disease differently than men, scientists are beginning to understand why the sexes experience illness differently in another vital organ – the brain. It’s not that male and female brains are built differently, said Lisa Mosconi, director of the Women’s Brain Initiative at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. It’s that they age differently. Women bear the brunt of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, accounting for 2 of every 3 people diagnosed. Women are twice as likely as men to experience major depression. They are three times more likely to be diagnosed with autoimmune disorders that attack the brain, such as multiple sclerosis. They are four times more likely to have migraines and also are more likely to die from strokes. What’s driving these disparities? While multiple factors are at play, Mosconi said, it’s hormones – testosterone in men and estrogen in women –… read on > read on >

Homemade juices are a popular way for health-conscious people to get their veggies. But the juicing method of choice makes a difference, a recent study suggests. Researchers found that three different techniques — using either a blender or a low- or high-speed juicer — produced beverages with different levels of antioxidants and various plant compounds. But anyone hoping for a simple verdict on the best buy is out of luck. The nutrient findings were mixed, and no “winner” appliance emerged, according to senior researcher Bhimanagouda Patil. “We’re not making any recommendations on which method is best,” said Patil, who directs the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center at Texas A&M University. In general, the study found, both juicers beat the blender when it came to antioxidant activity and phenolics — a broad group of plant compounds. Low-speed juicing, in particular, often churned out the highest concentrations. But that also depended on the vegetable in question: With kale, for example, low-speed juicing clearly squeezed out the most phenolics. That wasn’t the case, however, with beets or carrots. Meanwhile, blenders were not always in last place. They performed well when it came to compounds called alpha-amylase inhibitors, which help control blood sugar levels after a meal. “It’s complicated,” Patil said. Beyond that, the study assessed only a limited number of vegetables and plant compounds — what Patil called… read on > read on >

Consuming greater amounts of certain omega-3 fatty acids found in fish may reduce the risk of asthma in kids — but only those with a common gene variant, British researchers say. They focused on the long chain omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are known to have anti-inflammatory properties. “Asthma is the most common chronic condition in childhood and we currently don’t know how to prevent it,” said study senior author Seif Shaheen, of Queen Mary University of London. “It is possible that a poor diet may increase the risk of developing asthma, but until now most studies have taken ‘snapshots’, measuring diet and asthma over a short period of time,” he said in a university news release. To find out if intake of omega-3s might matter, the researchers analyzed data on more than 4,500 Britons who were born in the 1990s and whose health has been tracked since birth. The researchers analyzed the association between intake of EPA and DHA from fish at 7 years of age and rates of newly diagnosed asthma in these kids as they reached 11 to 14 years of age. Overall, omega-3 intake from fish was not associated with asthma onset. But it did seem tied to a lower odds for asthma in a subgroup of children with a particular genetic makeup. The DNA… read on > read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Like Flu, COVID-19 May Turn Out to Be Seasonal

Researchers Use Computers and ‘Exoskeletons’ to Help Stroke Survivors

Poll Finds Americans Highly Stressed by Politics, Pandemic

Knee Procedure Done Earlier Might Prevent Knee Replacement Later

Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Helped Keep Millions of Americans From Going Hungry

AHA News: Hormones Are Key in Brain Health Differences Between Men and Women

What’s the Most Nutritious Way to Juice Your Vegetables?

Like Flu, COVID-19 May Turn Out to Be Seasonal

Researchers Use Computers and ‘Exoskeletons’ to Help Stroke Survivors

Omega-3s From Fish Might Curb Asthma in Kids, But Genes Matter