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Cyberbullies and Their Victims Can Both Develop PTSD

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Both cyberbullies and their victims can suffer from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a new British study finds. Cyberbullying is bullying online rather than in person. It’s so pervasive that pediatricians should routinely ask their patients about it as part of psychological assessment, the researchers said. “Parents, teachers and health professionals need to be aware of possible PTSD symptoms in young people involved in cyberbullying,” said study author Ana Pascual-Sánchez and colleagues. She’s in the psychiatry division at Imperial College London. Cyberbullying among teenagers is estimated to range from 10% to 40%, said the researchers. Because it can be done anonymously day or night, it poses special risks, they noted. For the study, Pascual-Sánchez and her team collected data on more than 2,200 11- to 19-year-olds from four London schools who were surveyed about their experiences. The survey found that 46% had a history of any kind of bullying: 17% were victims; 12% were perpetrators; and 4% were both. Traditional bullying was more common than cyberbullying, the researchers found. Still, about 13% of the teens had been cyberbullied; 8.5% had bullied others online; and 4% had been both victims and perpetrators. About 16% of the kids had been bullied in person; 12% had bullied others in person; and 7% had been both victims and perpetrators, the researchers found. There was some overlap between types…  read on >

As Pro Sports Ponder Reopening, Flu Study Suggests Danger of COVID Spread

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Restarting professional sports with fans in attendance may not be a good idea as it may increase COVID-19 deaths, a new flu study suggests. Cities with pro teams appear to have more flu deaths than cities without them, which may be important as the NBA, NFL and other leagues consider playing games while the coronavirus pandemic continues, researchers say. Several professional sports leagues in the United States have said they plan to resume play without fans in the stands while many soccer leagues around the world are doing the same, but France, Japan and Spain have announced plans to allow some sports fans back into stadiums before summer’s end. In the flu study, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1962 to 2016 indicate that flu deaths increased 5% to 24% during the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB seasons. The biggest increase was for NHL games. Because COVID-19 is more contagious than the flu, researcher Brad Humphreys said, “Don’t let the fans back into the games.” Humphreys is a professor of economics at West Virginia University. “Opening pro sports games to fans is probably a terrible idea, in terms of public health,” he said in a university news release. “You’re right on top of people and everybody’s yelling, screaming, high-fiving and hugging. And you’ve got people eating and drinking. You could…  read on >

Transfusions of COVID Survivor Blood a Safe Treatment for Patients

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Blood plasma transfusions from people who have developed antibodies to the new coronavirus appear to be safe for many COVID-19 patients, a large study suggests. The experimental treatment — called convalescent plasma therapy — is popular because no drug has been approved specifically to treat coronavirus infection. A week after 20,000 COVID-19 patients deemed at risk for progressing to a severe or life-threatening condition received plasma therapy, their risk of death dropped to 9%, compared to 12% in a previous study, Mayo Clinic researchers reported. Fewer than 1% had serious side effects, the researchers added. The study included men and women, and significant numbers of patients who were Black, Hispanic or Asian. “We’re optimistic, but must remain objective as we assess increasing amounts of data,” principal investigator Dr. Michael Joyner, a vice chairman for research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said in a clinic news release. The researchers can’t say for sure that the transfusions from recovered patients save lives. Joyner’s team pointed out that the results might be due to patients being less ill, or to better medical care. But because the treatment is being widely used with COVID-19 patients, study continues. Right now, convalescent plasma therapy is the only antibody treatment for COVID-19. Plasma is the liquid part of the blood. It contains both red and white blood cells, as well…  read on >

Fauci Warns Congress of ‘Disturbing’ Spikes in Coronavirus Cases

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious disease expert, warned Congress on Tuesday of “disturbing spikes” in coronavirus cases, as seven states reported record-high numbers of hospitalizations and 33 states and U.S. territories saw sharp jumps in new infections. “The next couple of weeks are going to be critical in our ability to address those surges that we are seeing in Florida, in Texas, in Arizona and other states,” Fauci told members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, The New York Times reported. He noted that the country is still in the grip of the pandemic’s first wave, the Washington Post reported. “That’s something I’m really quite concerned about,” Fauci testified. “A couple of days ago, there were 30,000 new infections. That’s very disturbing to me.” On Tuesday, the United States recorded 34,700 new cases, the highest total since April 25, according to the Associated Press. New coronavirus cases have surged to their highest level in two months and are now back to where they were at the peak of the outbreak, the wire service said. During their testimony before Congress on Tuesday, Fauci and Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also warned of a perfect storm that could be unleashed this winter, when the flu season will intersect with the coronavirus pandemic, producing what Fauci described as…  read on >

What Behaviors Will Shorten Your Life?

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Smoking, drinking too much and divorce are among the social and behavioral factors most strongly linked to dying early, a new study says. Researchers analyzed data from more than 13,600 U.S. adults between 1992 and 2008, and examined 57 social and behavioral factors among those who died between 2008 and 2014. The 10 factors most closely linked with dying were: being a current smoker; history of divorce; history of alcohol abuse; recent financial difficulties; history of unemployment; past smoking; lower life satisfaction; never being married; history of food stamps, and negative affectivity. “It shows that a life span approach is needed to really understand health and mortality,” said lead author Eli Puterman, an assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. He co-authored the study with researchers from Johns Hopkins University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California, San Francisco, and Stanford University. Puterman noted, for example, that he and his colleagues looked at a 16-year history of unemployment, not just whether people were currently out of work. “It’s more than just a one-time snapshot in people’s lives, where something might be missed because it did not occur,” Puterman explained in a UBC news release. “Our approach provides a look at potential long-term impacts through a life span lens.” Life expectancy in the United States has stagnated for three…  read on >

One-Time Treatment Eases Parkinson’s — in Mice

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In findings that could pave the way to a new treatment for Parkinson’s disease, scientists have figured out how to spur the production of new brain cells in mice. The advance centers on a protein found in various cells in mice and humans. Researchers found that blocking it in the mouse brain caused certain “support cells” there to transform into specialized neurons that produce the chemical dopamine. In Parkinson’s disease, dopamine-producing brain cells gradually die off, leading to movement symptoms like tremors, stiff limbs and coordination problems. In the new study, lab mice that grew new neurons also showed improvements in Parkinson-like movement problems. Experts stressed that mice, of course, are not humans. And much more research is needed to see whether the approach could be safe and effective for people with Parkinson’s, or other degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s. “But the prospect of using this general approach is exciting,” said James Beck, chief scientific officer for the Parkinson’s Foundation. Beck, who was not involved in the research, said the work fits into a broader concept called “transdifferentiation” — where one type of cell in the body is coaxed to convert into a different type. In theory, the approach could be used to replace damaged tissue in a host of conditions, from heart disease to diabetes to spinal cord injuries. “It’s exciting to think…  read on >

In Early Trial, an Ancient Drug Shows Promise Against Severe COVID-19

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There’s new evidence that a 2,000-year-old medicine might offer hope against a modern scourge: COVID-19. The medication, called colchicine, is an anti-inflammatory taken as a pill. It’s long been prescribed for gout, a form of arthritis, and its history goes back centuries. The drug was first sourced from the autumn crocus flower. Doctors also sometimes use colchicine to treat pericarditis, where the sac around the heart becomes inflamed. Now, a team of Greek researchers reporting Wednesday in JAMA Network Open said their small trial suggests colchicine may indeed help curb severe COVID-19. The trial involved 105 Greek patients hospitalized in April with COVID-19. Besides receiving standard antibiotics and antivirals (but not remdesivir), half of the participants got daily doses of colchicine for up to three weeks, while the other half did not. The results “suggest a significant clinical benefit from colchicine in patients hospitalized with COVID-19,” according to the team led by Dr. Spyridon Deftereos, a cardiologist at Attikon Hospital in Attiki, Greece. Specifically, while the condition of seven of 50 patients who didn’t get colchicine “clinically deteriorated” to a severe stage (for example, requiring mechanical ventilation to survive), this was true for just one of the 55 patients who did receive colchicine, the researchers said. Writing in a journal editorial, a group of U.S. physicians agreed that the study has limits, but applauded the…  read on >

Cyberbullies and Their Victims Can Both Develop PTSD

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Both cyberbullies and their victims can suffer from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a new British study finds. Cyberbullying is bullying online rather than in person. It’s so pervasive that pediatricians should routinely ask their patients about it as part of psychological assessment, the researchers said. “Parents, teachers and health professionals need to be aware of possible PTSD symptoms in young people involved in cyberbullying,” said study author Ana Pascual-Sánchez and colleagues. She’s in the psychiatry division at Imperial College London. Cyberbullying among teenagers is estimated to range from 10% to 40%, said the researchers. Because it can be done anonymously day or night, it poses special risks, they noted. For the study, Pascual-Sánchez and her team collected data on more than 2,200 11- to 19-year-olds from four London schools who were surveyed about their experiences. The survey found that 46% had a history of any kind of bullying: 17% were victims; 12% were perpetrators; and 4% were both. Traditional bullying was more common than cyberbullying, the researchers found. Still, about 13% of the teens had been cyberbullied; 8.5% had bullied others online; and 4% had been both victims and perpetrators. About 16% of the kids had been bullied in person; 12% had bullied others in person; and 7% had been both victims and perpetrators, the researchers found. There was some overlap between types…  read on >

As Pro Sports Ponder Reopening, Flu Study Suggests Danger of COVID Spread

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Restarting professional sports with fans in attendance may not be a good idea as it may increase COVID-19 deaths, a new flu study suggests. Cities with pro teams appear to have more flu deaths than cities without them, which may be important as the NBA, NFL and other leagues consider playing games while the coronavirus pandemic continues, researchers say. Several professional sports leagues in the United States have said they plan to resume play without fans in the stands while many soccer leagues around the world are doing the same, but France, Japan and Spain have announced plans to allow some sports fans back into stadiums before summer’s end. In the flu study, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1962 to 2016 indicate that flu deaths increased 5% to 24% during the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB seasons. The biggest increase was for NHL games. Because COVID-19 is more contagious than the flu, researcher Brad Humphreys said, “Don’t let the fans back into the games.” Humphreys is a professor of economics at West Virginia University. “Opening pro sports games to fans is probably a terrible idea, in terms of public health,” he said in a university news release. “You’re right on top of people and everybody’s yelling, screaming, high-fiving and hugging. And you’ve got people eating and drinking. You could…  read on >

Transfusions of COVID Survivor Blood a Safe Treatment for Patients

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Blood plasma transfusions from people who have developed antibodies to the new coronavirus appear to be safe for many COVID-19 patients, a large study suggests. The experimental treatment — called convalescent plasma therapy — is popular because no drug has been approved specifically to treat coronavirus infection. A week after 20,000 COVID-19 patients deemed at risk for progressing to a severe or life-threatening condition received plasma therapy, their risk of death dropped to 9%, compared to 12% in a previous study, Mayo Clinic researchers reported. Fewer than 1% had serious side effects, the researchers added. The study included men and women, and significant numbers of patients who were Black, Hispanic or Asian. “We’re optimistic, but must remain objective as we assess increasing amounts of data,” principal investigator Dr. Michael Joyner, a vice chairman for research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said in a clinic news release. The researchers can’t say for sure that the transfusions from recovered patients save lives. Joyner’s team pointed out that the results might be due to patients being less ill, or to better medical care. But because the treatment is being widely used with COVID-19 patients, study continues. Right now, convalescent plasma therapy is the only antibody treatment for COVID-19. Plasma is the liquid part of the blood. It contains both red and white blood cells, as well…  read on >