Wearing proper gear, watching out for snow and ice hazards, and “walking like a penguin” are just some of the tips that can help prevent winter accidents, one medical expert says. “A variety of injuries can occur during the winter,” cautioned Dr. Mahmood Gharib, a physiatrist at the University of Minnesota Medical School, in Minneapolis. “If someone slips or falls on icy surfaces, an injury can range from spine and musculoskeletal injuries — such as sprains and broken bones — to head and brain injuries — such as a concussion.” Winter sports are also a common cause of injury, Gharib added, while frostbite and hypothermia are additional concerns. People should be mindful of slippery or icy surfaces that may be hard to see. Use extra caution near water runoff areas such as downspouts, landscaping, parking ramps and outdoor stairwells because of the possibility of black ice. Stay on designated sidewalks and avoid taking shortcuts through grass and landscaping, Gharib advised. “Walk like a penguin,” Gharib said in a university news release. This looks like moving slowly and walking flat-footed. Use a wide stance, taking small, shuffle-like steps. Keep your center of gravity over your feet, using your arms for balance. Dress appropriately, wearing multiple layers for warmth. Wear appropriate footwear to limit slipping. Gharib suggests that a few gentle stretching techniques can get your body…  read on >  read on >

While getting a COVID-19 vaccine provides antibodies against the coronavirus, getting a booster shot creates a longer-lasting antibody response, according to new research. “These results fit with other recent reports and indicate that booster shots enhance the durability of vaccine-elicited antibodies,” said senior researcher Dr. Jeffrey Wilson of the University of Virginia (UVA) Health division of asthma, allergy and immunology, in Charlottesville. “Although only about half of the U.S. population that is eligible for a booster has received one, it is increasingly clear that boosters enhance the protection that is conferred by the primary series mRNA vaccines alone,” Wilson said in a university news release. In the study of almost 350 volunteers, getting an mRNA booster (from drugmakers Pfizer or Moderna) made for longer-lasting antibodies for all recipients, the investigators found. That was even true for those who had recovered from a COVID-19 infection. The researchers worked with 117 UVA employee volunteers who had a booster shot and another 228 volunteers who had just a primary vaccine series of two shots. The study results revealed similar antibody levels in both groups about one week to 31 days after their shots. The boosted antibodies then lasted longer. “Our initial thought was that boosters would lead to higher antibody levels than the primary vaccine series, but that was not what we found,” said co-author Samuel Ailsworth. “Instead,…  read on >  read on >

Getting around in winter works best if you’re taking good care of the feet that take you places. Orthopedic specialists at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City say they often see an uptick in avoidable injuries and foot problems during the winter. They offered some tips for winterizing your feet. First, make sure your winter shoes and boots still fit. “Our feet change as we get older, and footwear that fit us last year may now be too tight,” said Dr. Mark Drakos, an orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon at HSS Long Island and the main hospital in Manhattan. “Squeezing your feet into shoes that are too snug can lead to foot pain, blisters, bruises and other problems.” Drakos recommends shopping for new shoes and boots in the late afternoon or evening because feet get larger throughout the day. Take along the socks you plan to wear in cold weather. Thicker socks require more room. Don’t forget good traction, which can help keep you on your feet on snowy or icy ground. “It may seem like common sense, but the first winter storm of the season often catches people off guard, and we tend to see more injuries,” said Dr. Andrew Elliott, an orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon at HSS in Manhattan and Paramus, N.J. Elliott recommends keeping a spare pair…  read on >  read on >

The key to keeping skin soft in winter: Moisturize. “Skin tends to be drier when the weather is less humid, so individuals should moisturize at least twice a day, if not more often,” according to Dr. Vicky Zhen Ren, a dermatologist and assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Ren offered some tips for getting that moisture back into skin. Use an ointment or cream rather than a lotion. Lotions have higher water content and not as much of the agents that prevent dry skin. Apply creams after a shower or bath to lock in the moisture. Choose lukewarm water temperatures instead of hot showers or baths. Limit them to five to 10 minutes. A humidifier at home during the dry season can help. Just be sure to keep it clean. Wear clothing that protects the skin from the wind and cold. Creams that contain urea, lactic acid, ammonium lactate or alpha hydroxy acids may be beneficial for skin that is thick or scaly. However, these may also be irritating if the skin is fissuring or cracking. Anyone can get dry skin. People who have eczema may be especially susceptible to weather changes. Keep track of your skin habits because some symptoms can be a sign of cancer or thyroid, kidney or liver disease. If you’re taking good care of your skin and…  read on >  read on >

It might seem like your toddler or preschooler has a nose that is always runny, but experts say that’s normal. “Children under 6 years of age average six to eight colds per year, with symptoms lasting an average of 14 days,” said Dr. Maria Mejia, an associate professor of family and community medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “It’s very normal for children to contract illnesses frequently as their immune systems build.” Most of these colds happen between September and April, Mejia added. Children enrolled in day care or school are simply exposed to a lot of pathogens, viruses and bacteria, which their less developed immune systems just can’t fight off. “A general rule of thumb is that if your child gets better after a week to 10 days, it was most likely a cold,” Mejia noted in a Baylor news release. “If their symptoms persist longer and/or seem to come on after exposure to certain substances or during seasonal changes, allergies are probably to blame.” When a child does appear to have symptoms consistent with an allergy, the primary care provider may recommend visiting an allergist or ear, nose and throat specialist. Children who show signs of a virus should immediately see a doctor if they display one or more of a variety of symptoms, including refusing to drink anything for a…  read on >  read on >

Elon Musk swears by the weight-loss drug Wegovy, and Kim Kardashian is rumored to have used it to shed 16 pounds in three weeks to squeeze into a vintage gown once worn by Marylin Monroe. But the intense public demand for Wegovy has triggered a shortage of the diabetes version of the injectable medication, known as Ozempic. That’s leaving patients with the blood sugar disease in a real bind. Made by Novo Nordisk, semaglutide (Ozempic) has been on the market since 2017 to help manage type 2 diabetes. But in June 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved semaglutide to treat weight loss under the brand name Wegovy. Ever since Wegovy arrived on the market, Novo Nordisk has struggled to meet demand, experts said. Unfortunately, people who want to drop pounds and can’t find Wegovy are getting doctors to write them off-label prescriptions for Ozempic, eating into supplies of a drug that’s vital in the treatment of diabetes. “We’ve heard reports of people really struggling to fill their prescriptions,” said Dr. Robert Gabbay, chief science and medical officer for the American Diabetes Association. “I still see patients at the Joslin Diabetes Center, and I can tell you that some of my patients have said, oh, yeah, you know, I had to go to lots of different pharmacies to finally find it. It’s been a…  read on >  read on >

Researchers think they’ve figured out why people can become reinfected with COVID-19, despite immunity gained from either vaccination or a previous infection. It turns out that antibodies produced in the nose — the first line of defense against respiratory viruses like COVID — decline faster than antibodies found in the bloodstream, British scientists say. Nasal antibodies tend to drop nine months after COVID-19 infection, while antibodies in the blood last at least a year, according to findings published online Dec. 19 in the journal eBioMedicine. The study also found that vaccination is very effective in creating and boosting blood-borne antibodies that protect against severe disease, but had very little effect on nasal antibodies. “Before our study, it was unclear how long these important nasal antibodies lasted. Our study found durable immune responses after infection and vaccination, but these key nasal antibodies were shorter-lived than those in the blood,” said lead researcher Dr. Felicity Liew, from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London. “While blood antibodies help to protect against disease, nasal antibodies can prevent infection altogether. This might be an important factor behind repeat infections with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its new variants,” Liew added in a college news release. The new study evaluated nearly 450 people hospitalized with COVID-19 between February 2020 and March 2021, before the emergence of the Omicron…  read on >  read on >

Groups of whales, dolphins and porpoises are regularly stranded in shallow waters around the coasts of the United Kingdom. Researchers wanted to understand why, so they studied the brains of 22 toothed whales — or “odontocetes” — that were stranded in Scottish coastal waters. The study included five species — Risso’s dolphins, long-finned pilot whales, white-beaked dolphins, harbor porpoises and bottlenose dolphins. The research showed that four of the stranded animals from different dolphin species had some brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease in humans. “These are significant findings that show, for the first time, that the brain pathology in stranded odontocetes is similar to the brains of humans affected by clinical Alzheimer’s disease,” said lead researcher Dr. Mark Dagleish of the University of Glasgow. “While it is tempting at this stage to speculate that the presence of these brain lesions in odontocetes indicates that they may also suffer with the cognitive deficits associated with human Alzheimer’s disease, more research must be done to better understand what is happening to these animals,” Dagleish said in a university news release. The researchers said their results could support the “sick-leader” theory. This means that healthy dolphins would find themselves in dangerously shallow waters after following a confused or lost group leader. While stranded odontocetes can sometimes be moved to deeper waters by teams of experts, others die.…  read on >  read on >