New research adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests men are far more vulnerable to severe COVID-19 than women are. Although both genders fall ill in the same numbers, men are 2.5 times more likely to get severe disease and die, the study from China showed. The finding comes as scientists in New York and California are starting to test a novel hypothesis that sex hormones might play a part in disease severity. Last week, doctors on Long Island started treating COVID-19 patients with estrogen to boost their immune systems, The New York Times reported. And beginning next week, physicians in Los Angeles will start treating male patients with progesterone, a hormone that is predominantly found in women. Progesterone has anti-inflammatory properties and might prevent the immune system from overreacting, the researchers explained. “There’s a striking difference between the number of men and women in the intensive care unit, and men are clearly doing worse,” Dr. Sara Ghandehari, a pulmonologist and intensive care physician at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, told the Times. She is the principal investigator for the progesterone study. But experts who study sex differences in immunity warned that hormones may not be the answer. Even elderly women with COVID-19 are outliving their male peers, despite drastic reductions in levels of hormones for women after menopause, they noted. In the study…  read on >

As the U.S. coronavirus case count climbed past 1 million and the death toll neared 60,000, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that forces beleaguered meat processing plants to stay open so the country’s food supply isn’t threatened. The order used the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure, to try to keep chicken, pork and other meat flowing to supermarket coolers, the Associated Press reported. More than 20 meatpacking plants have been shuttered under pressure from local authorities and their own workers because of the virus. Others have slowed production as workers have fallen ill or stayed home to avoid getting sick, the wire service said. But unions representing workers in those plants quickly fired back at the order, saying the White House was prioritizing cold cuts over workers’ health, the AP reported. Meanwhile, a troubling study out of China found evidence that the novel coronavirus can spread through air. That had been demonstrated in lab experiments, but now Chinese scientists say they captured tiny droplets containing genetic markers for the virus in real-world conditions, The New York Times reported. “Those [droplets] are going to stay in the air floating around for at least two hours,” said Linsey Marr, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech who was not involved with the Chinese study. “It…  read on >

Work stress may increase your risk for ending up in the hospital with peripheral artery disease, a new study suggests. Peripheral artery disease (PAD) occurs when cholesterol or other fatty substances accumulate in blood vessels away from the heart — usually in the legs — and restrict blood flow. Left untreated, PAD increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Previous studies have linked work stress to other types of artery-clogging disease, but few have specifically examined PAD. This new study assessed the association between work stress and hospital treatment for PAD. The results were published April 28 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. “Our findings suggest that work-related stress may be a risk factor for peripheral artery disease in a similar way as it is for heart disease and stroke,” lead study author Katriina Heikkilä said in a journal news release. She’s a senior researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Researchers analyzed the health records of 139,000 men and women who took part in 11 studies conducted between 1985 and 2008 in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom. Participants were ages 39-49 on average, and had no history of PAD when the studies began. Over an average 13 years of follow-up, 0.2% to 1.8% of the participants were hospitalized for PAD. The risk was 1.4 times higher among those…  read on >

Young people who pull themselves out of poverty may be no better off when it comes to their heart health, a new study suggests. Researchers found that “upwardly mobile” U.S. adults tended to be less stressed and depressed than peers who spent their whole lives below the poverty line. Unfortunately, it did not make a difference in their cardiovascular health. They were just as likely to have conditions like obesity and elevated blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol, the study found. The results might sound surprising, said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist and volunteer expert with the American Heart Association. After all, both higher income and better mental health have been consistently linked with better physical health. “But I can think of a few reasons for the findings,” said Goldberg, who was not involved in the study. “When you consider it, these are people who work very hard,” she said. “They may be really focused on their jobs, at the expense of other things. They may have no time for exercise, or end up eating a lot of grab-and-go foods.” Compared with people whose income stays low, Goldberg said, they may be less worried about money and security — and, therefore, in better mental shape. But that doesn’t necessarily mean their lifestyles are healthy. Lead researcher Gregory Miller agreed that lack of time for exercise…  read on >

While health experts continued to call for a national strategy to test more Americans for coronavirus, President Donald Trump on Monday announced a “blueprint” for boosting testing capacity as some states began reopening their economies. But the national guidance says states must develop their own testing plans and rapid-response programs while the White House provides “strategic direction and technical assistance,” and helps “align laboratory testing supplies and capacity with existing and anticipated laboratory needs,” the Washington Post reported. Trump was joined at the media briefing by some major retailers who said they had ramped up both testing and the production of medical supplies. They predicted they would doubling both their rate of testing and the number of sites that would be available to the public in the next month. Admiral Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health, told CBS News that the Trump administration is prepared to send all 50 states enough tests to screen 2 % of their population per month for the virus, roughly 6.6 million people. By Sunday, the United States had conducted about 5.5 million tests, according to the Covid Tracking Project, which compiles those figures from individual states. But that number is only equivalent to about 1.7 % of the U.S. population, the Post reported. In contrast, Germany increased testing earlier than the United States did and had tested 2.5…  read on >

Domenico Piccininni is one of the hundreds of thousands of people who have had a COVID-19 infection and recovered after a bit of misery, but with no lasting complications. What sets him apart from many other survivors is that Piccininni is trying to help people who now have more severe COVID-19 infections. On Thursday, the Atlanta-area resident donated his plasma. Plasma is a component of blood that contains antibodies, which are made by the immune system in response to a specific infection. Because the 50-year-old Piccininni recovered from a COVID-19 infection, his body now produces antibodies that are primed to fight the new coronavirus. The hope is that giving his plasma and antibodies (called “convalescent plasma”) will help kick-start the fight against the virus for people who are currently very sick with COVID-19 infections. Piccininni is a reluctant hero, though. At first, he thought he wouldn’t want anyone to even know that he had been sick with COVID-19. He worried there might be a potential stigma. “I felt like [having had the infection] might be like a scarlet letter, but the doctor said I should think of it more like a badge of honor, because I could help people,” Piccininni said. He also admitted to being a bit uneasy about the procedure because he didn’t quite know what to expect. “My wife volunteered me,” he…  read on >