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Coronavirus is most infectious when patients are at the peak of their illness, U.S. health officials said Friday. “Based on what we know now, we believe this virus spreads mainly from person to person among close contacts, which is defined as about six feet, through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a media briefing on Friday. “People are thought to be the most contagious when they are most symptomatic, that is when they are the sickest,” she added. “Some spread may happen by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching the eyes, nose and mouth,” she added. “But remember, we believe this virus does not last long on surfaces. Some spread may happen before people show symptoms. There have been a few reports of this with the new coronavirus, and it is compatible with what we know about other respiratory viruses, including seasonal flu. But right now, we don’t believe these last two forms of transmission are the main driver of spread.” Messonnier also noted that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a new strategy aimed at stemming any potential spread of coronavirus within the United States. The “CDC has begun working with five public health labs across the U.S. to tap into… read on >

Bedtime without your partner on Valentine’s Day could make sleep elusive. But a new study suggests one remedy: Cuddling up with a piece of his or her clothing. Researchers say having a loved one’s natural scent nearby could be as effective a sleep aid as melatonin. “One of the most surprising findings is how a romantic partner’s scent can improve sleep quality even outside of our conscious awareness,” said study senior author Frances Chen. She’s an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. For the study, 155 people were given two T-shirts to use as pillowcases. One had been worn by their lover; the other was clean or had been worn by a stranger. While the participants’ partners were wearing the shirts, they were told not to use deodorant or scents or do anything that might affect their body odor, such as smoking, exercising and eating certain foods. The T-shirts were frozen to preserve their scent. Participants spent two nights in a row sleeping with each shirt. They weren’t told which shirt was which, but they reported feeling more well-rested after using the T-shirt with their lover’s scent. Data from sleep monitors confirmed it. “Our findings provide new evidence that merely sleeping with a partner’s scent improves sleep efficiency. Our participants had an average sleep efficiency improvement of more… read on >

Drugs that many men with prostate cancer might already be taking — cholesterol-lowering statins — may help extend their survival if they have a “high-risk” form of the disease, new research suggests. High-risk patients include men with high blood levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and a “Gleason score” of 8 or more. Gleason scores are a calculation used to gauge prognosis in prostate cancer. Men with a high Gleason score may develop difficult-to-treat cancers. Prior research had suggested that statins and the diabetes drug metformin (often prescribed together) have anticancer properties. However, it hasn’t been clear which of the two drugs is the bigger cancer-fighter, or whether either might help against high-risk prostate cancer. To help answer those questions, a team led by Grace Lu-Yao of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center–Jefferson Health, in Philadelphia, tracked data on nearly 13,000 high-risk prostate cancer patients. All were diagnosed between 2007 and 2011. The study couldn’t prove cause and effect, but it found that statins, taken alone or with metformin, did seem associated with an increase in survival. Men who took both statins and metformin had higher median survival (3.9 years) than those who took statins alone (3.6 years), metformin alone (3.1 years), or those who did not take either drug (3.1 years). The study was published Feb. 8 in the journal Cancer Medicine. “Both metformin and… read on >

A clinical trial of the weight-loss drug Belviq (lorcaserin) shows an association with an increased risk of cancer, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is requesting that its maker withdraw the drug from the U.S. market. Eisai Inc. has already “submitted a request to voluntarily withdraw the drug,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, who directs the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, noted in a statement issued Thursday. Now, “we’re taking steps to notify the public,” she said, adding that “our review of the full clinical trial results shows that the potential risk of cancer associated with the drug outweighs the benefit of treatment.” Woodcock said the FDA is advising that “patients should stop using the medication Belviq and Belviq XR [lorcaserin] and talk to their health care professionals about other treatment options for weight loss. Health care professionals should stop prescribing and dispensing Belviq and Belviq XR.” The agency first announced that Belviq might have links to cancer in a communication issued Jan 15. At the time, the FDA said “we cannot conclude that lorcaserin contributes to the cancer risk,” but “wanted to make the public aware of this potential risk. We are continuing to evaluate the clinical trial results and will communicate our final conclusions and recommendations when we have completed our review.” That review appears to have led to calls for the… read on >

Coronavirus cases in China have nearly reached 64,000, while the death count is approaching 1,400, Chinese health officials reported Friday. For the first time, the number of medical workers who have been infected with the virus was reported Friday, with 1,700 confirmed illnesses and six deaths, The New York Times reported. Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that two new cases have been confirmed in this country, upping the total from 13 to 15. Both of the new cases involved patients who were among the hundreds of American evacuees from China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak. The latest case, announced Thursday, “is among a group of people under a federal quarantine order at JBSA-Lackland in Texas because of their recent return to the U.S. on a State Department-chartered flight that arrived on February 7, 2020,” the CDC said in a statement. “The individual is currently isolated and receiving medical care at a designated hospital nearby,” the agency said. The CDC added that testing of all evacuees is still underway, and “there will likely be additional cases [identified] in the coming days and weeks.” “Most of the disease is in China. However, we can and should be prepared for this new virus to gain a foothold in the U.S,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for… read on >

If you need more than two hands to count the number of lovers you’ve had in your life, new research suggests you might want to worry about your cancer risk. People who have had 10 or more sexual partners had higher odds of being diagnosed with cancer than those who were less sexually active, researchers report. Women with that many sex partners had nearly double the risk of developing cancer as women who remained virgins or only had one sexual partner, the study found. Meanwhile, men’s odds of a cancer diagnosis were increased by nearly 70% compared with those reporting one or no sex partners, and by 57% for those who had two to four sex partners during their life. “We expected there to be an association between number of sexual partners and cancer risk as previous research has shown that specific sexually transmitted diseases may lead to several cancers,” said study co-author Lee Smith, director of research at the Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University in England. “Indeed, a higher number of sexual partners means greater potential exposure to STIs [sexually transmitted infections]. “It is interesting that the risk is higher in women when compared to men,” Smith continued. “This may be because the link between certain STIs and cancer is stronger in women, such as HPV and cervical… read on >

While fewer Americans are smoking these days, the habit has remained stubbornly persistent among stroke survivors, new research shows. The researchers found that the prevalence of smoking among U.S. stroke survivors has not improved since 1999 and, as of 2016, stood at 26%. That’s in contrast to the trend among Americans in general, who are gradually leaving cigarettes behind. Between 1999 and 2016, the study found, the smoking rate among the overall population fell from about 25% to 19%. The findings are concerning, experts said, considering the fact that smoking is a major risk factor for stroke. And among stroke survivors, those who continue to smoke are more likely to have — or die from — a repeat stroke or a heart attack, according to lead researcher Dr. Neal Parikh. He is an assistant professor of neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, in New York City. Parikh said that the study results point to a need to “prioritize” smoking cessation as part of stroke recovery. The findings are based on nearly two decades of data from an ongoing federal health survey. Among over 49,000 U.S. adults who participated between 1999 and 2016, just under 3% were stroke survivors. Over those years, the general smoking rate declined to a statistically significant degree, according to Parikh. In contrast, there was no significant change among stroke survivors:… read on >

After charting a slight decline in growth earlier this week, new coronavirus cases in China jumped by almost 15,000 in a single day, while the death count spiked to 1,367, Chinese health officials reported Thursday. Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced late Wednesday that a 14th case of coronavirus has been confirmed in this country. The patient was one of the hundreds of American evacuees from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak. “Most of the disease is in China. However, we can and should be prepared for this new virus to gain a foothold in the U.S,” Dr. Nancy Messonier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a media briefing on Wednesday. “At some point, we are likely to see community spread in the U.S. or other countries, and that will trigger a change in our response strategy.” Though it’s not clear why so many new cases were confirmed in China in the past 24 hours, it is believed that doctors are now using lung scans to diagnose people who appear to have coronavirus symptoms, The New York Times reported. The medical reasoning is that doing so will get more ill people treated more quickly, the newspaper said. But U.S. experts noted that lung scans are not as precise as the tests health officials have… read on >

Researchers who have pinpointed an antibody linked to life-threatening autoimmune disorders in children say their discovery could lead to faster diagnosis and treatment of these patients. The investigators identified the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody in their study of 535 children with central nervous system demyelinating disorders and encephalitis. MOG antibodies damage the protective covering (myelin sheath) that surrounds nerve fibers in the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord, which means that messages can’t be passed along these nerves. Of the 116 children who tested positive for MOG antibodies and received appropriate treatment, 85% had complete or near-complete recovery, according to the study published Feb. 10 in The Lancet Neurology journal. The findings suggest that the MOG antibody is associated with more life-threatening autoimmune conditions than previously thought. These include neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders and encephalitis, which cause severe brain and nervous system symptoms such as vision loss, muscle weakness and loss of coordination and speech, the researchers said. This group of neurological disorders can mimic similar conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS), making them difficult to diagnose correctly. Until about 10 years ago, patients with these diseases were thought to have atypical forms of MS, and the prognosis and best treatment methods were unknown. Over the last 10 years, research has shown that several demyelinating diseases are associated with the MOG-antibody biomarker, and that patients… read on >

Getting your surly teens off the couch might trigger a long-term turnaround in their moods, new research suggests. “Our findings show that young people who are inactive for large proportions of the day throughout adolescence face a greater risk of depression by age 18,” said study author Aaron Kandola, a psychiatry Ph.D. student at University College London (UCL). “We found that it’s not just more intense forms of activity that are good for our mental health, but any degree of physical activity that can reduce the time we spend sitting down is likely to be beneficial,” he explained in a university news release. “We should be encouraging people of all ages to move more and to sit less, as it’s good for both our physical and mental health,” Kandola added. In the study, more than 4,200 participants in England wore devices that tracked their movement for at least 10 hours over at least three days when they were ages 12, 14 and 16. They also completed questionnaires to assess depressive symptoms such as sadness, loss of pleasure and poor concentration. Every additional 60 minutes of inactivity a day at age 12, 14 and 16 was associated with an increase in depression scores of 11%, 8% and 10.5%, respectively, by age 18. Those with high levels of inactivity at all three ages had just over 28%… read on >

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Coronavirus Spreads Most Easily When Patients Are Sickest: CDC

Restful Romance: Smelling Your Lover’s Shirt Can Help You Sleep

Cholesterol Drugs Might Help Curb ‘High-Risk’ Prostate Cancers

FDA Requests Market Withdrawal of Diet Drug Belviq Due to Cancer Risk

Coronavirus Cases Top 64,000 Worldwide, With Nearly 1,400 Deaths Reported

More Sex Partners, Higher Cancer Risk?

Even After Stroke, Many Smokers Still Light Up

Coronavirus Cases, Deaths Shoot Up Sharply, While 14th Case Reported in U.S.

Scientists Spot Antibody That Might Help Diagnose, Treat Autoimmune Disorders

Got ‘Couch Potato’ Teens? It’s Not Helping Their Mental Health