The updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters intended to defend people against emerging Omicron variants don’t appear to provide any better protection than the original shot does, two new studies find. The new mRNA bivalent boosters produced by Moderna and Pfizer only attack the COVID-19 virus about as well as the companies’ first-wave vaccines, according to a blood testing study led by renowned virologist Dr. David Ho, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University, in New York City. The bivalent shots also failed to promote higher antibody levels or a better immune response than the original COVID-19 vaccines, according to another study led by Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in Boston. Both studies were published online Jan. 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Together, the two studies “suggest that with this rapidly evolving virus, vaccines developed for different strains are not going to add a huge difference in terms of protection,” said Dr. Greg Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group. It appears that human immune systems “imprint” after exposure to the first mRNA COVID vaccines, experts say. They are primed to respond to aspects of the original COVID-19 strain that are shared by all the variants, rather than the novel mutations sported by newer variants. “It may…  read on >  read on >

Despite routine use of a childhood vaccine, the United States still sees outbreaks of mumps. Now, a new study reinforces the belief that it’s due to waning immunity post-vaccination. Mumps is a viral infection best known for causing puffy cheeks, a swollen jaw, fever and general misery. While it’s usually relatively mild, mumps occasionally causes serious complications like brain inflammation and hearing loss. Because of that, children in the United States are routinely immunized against mumps, using the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Yet mumps has seen a resurgence in the past two decades. Since 2006, there has been an uptick in annual cases — often among college-age adults who were vaccinated as children, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Similar patterns have been seen in other countries where vaccination rates are high, leading to two theories on why: waning immunity to mumps in the years after vaccination; or the emergence of new mumps strains that evade the vaccine-induced immune response. The new study — published Jan. 9 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences — supports the waning-immunity view. Using mathematical modeling, researchers found that waning immunity could largely explain the resurgence of mumps in the United States in recent years. They also estimated that about one-third of vaccinated kids start to lose their mumps immunity by age 18. But…  read on >  read on >

Children with autism often have difficulty grasping the emotional cues in other people’s voices, and now researchers may have zeroed in on the reason why. In a study of 43 kids with and without autism, researchers were able to trace such difficulties to a particular brain area — one involved in social communication. Experts said the findings suggest that children with autism are processing the sound of vocal emotions without trouble. The stumbling block can arise in interpreting those sounds. Typically, children learn from an early age to link vocal sounds to particular emotions: They know when their parents are happy or sad, even if they do not understand all the words being said. But many children and adults with autism have difficulty “reading” the emotional cues in other people’s voices, which can make communication much trickier. “Having these skills is crucial in navigating our social world,” said Daniel Abrams, one of the lead researchers on the new study. Oftentimes, he noted, people refrain from plainly saying what they’re feeling, and instead signal it in their tone of voice. “The voice can actually tell you more about emotions than a person’s actual words,” said Abrams, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine. It’s well known that autism, a developmental brain disorder, impairs communication and social skills to varying degrees. But…  read on >  read on >

Giving up nicotine can be a brutal experience that can include everything from physical symptoms, such as headache and nausea, to mood issues, including irritability, anxiety and depression. Yet, it is still possible to get through nicotine withdrawal symptoms with a good plan and specific tools, according to a smoking cessation expert, who offered some suggestions for coping with nicotine withdrawal symptoms. “Nicotine is highly, highly addictive,” said Emma Brett, a staff scientist at University of Chicago Medicine and a group lead in the Courage to Quit program. “Nicotine affects the brain, blood vessels, metabolism. There are effects all throughout the body.” Quitting requires an adjustment period, she stressed. Most commonly, withdrawal symptoms happen in the first week after quitting, peaking at about day three or four, Brett said. Some may experience nicotine withdrawal symptoms for weeks. Some may have few symptoms at all. Using nicotine replacement aids Nicotine replacement products can be helpful to get someone through those initial days, weeks or months. “We know from the research that when people quit and use something like a patch or lozenge or gum, that can almost double the success rate of a quit attempt,” because you’re still getting some nicotine, just it’s delivered in a safe way versus the combustion of a cigarette, Brett said. She suggested staying on the products until having a high…  read on >  read on >

You’ve cut back on your eating, started an exercise routine and just can’t seem to lose weight. What’s going on? It could be a number of issues that are causing you to ask yourself, “Why can’t I lose weight?” The good news is that you can work through them. “It’s very complicated, which is what people need to remember. It’s not a simple task to say I’m going to lose weight and it happens,” said Connie Diekman, a nationally known food and nutrition consultant and former president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “So, give yourself a break.” When it comes to eating, food choices, portion sizes and intent — whether you’re eating because you’re hungry or in an attempt to fill an emotional need — all play a role, Diekman said. Of course, exercise has its place. Not to be discounted is the significant role that biology and genetics play. “Not everyone can achieve the weight loss they want to achieve. In other words, our bodies sometimes are smarter than we are,” Diekman said. That doesn’t mean that everyone can’t achieve what is a healthy weight for them by understanding what they can control. Typically, weight gain or loss is a calculation of energy intake and expenditure, but being overweight or obese is more complex, with genetics, behavior and environmental factors contributing, according…  read on >  read on >

The Grammy-winning singer Adele told a crowd at her New Year’s Eve concert that “really bad sciatica” is causing her to wobble on stage. The award-winning singer first talked about her chronic back problems in a 2021 interview with The Face. “I slipped my first disk when I was 15 from sneezing,” she said. “I was in bed and I sneezed and my fifth one flew out. In January, I slipped my sixth one, my L6. And then where I had a C‑section, my core was useless. … I’ve been in pain with my back for, like, half of my life, really. It flares up, normally due to stress or from a stupid bit of posture.” Someone shared a video on TikTok of the “Hello” singer asking her concert crowd if anyone else had the condition. She received loud screams in response, CBS News reported. “What if it’s becoming more common because we all are sitting down on our asses all day,” Adele told the crowd. Lumbar radiculopathy, better known as sciatica, causes leg, hip, butt and back pain that ranges from mild to severe. Some feel weakness or tingling in their legs and feet. It stems from the sciatic nerve, the largest nerve in the body, extending from the back of the pelvis to the back of the leg just below the knee. The…  read on >  read on >