woman sleeping on a sofa in a darkened room
Coronavirus, COVID, Women's Health

Most long COVID cases had mild initial infections, UW study finds

Study found that a staggering 90% of people living with long COVID initially experienced only mild illness with COVID-19. After developing long COVID, however, the typical person experienced symptoms including fatigue, shortness of breath and cognitive problems such as brain fog – or a combination of these – that affected daily functioning. These symptoms had an impact on health as severe as the long-term effects of traumatic brain injury. Our study also found that women have twice the risk of men and four times the risk of children for developing long COVID.

Diet, Gastroenterology, Nutrition

COVID and your gut: how a healthy microbiome can reduce the severity of infection – and vice versa

With COVID, it appears that the make-up of the gut microbiome can influence the course of disease. Research has shown an association between the microbiome profile and levels of inflammatory markers in patients with COVID, where patients with a poorer combination of gut bacteria show signs of too much inflammation. This suggests the microbiome influences the severity of a COVID infection via effects on the immune response.

Coronavirus, Immunology, Public Health, Vaccines

COVID in 2023 and beyond – why virus trends are more difficult to predict three years on

So how will the pandemic be felt in 2023? This question is in some ways impossible to answer, given a number of unknowns. In early 2020 the scientific community was focused on determining key parameters that could be used to make projections as to the severity and extent of the spread of the virus. Now, the complex interplay of COVID variants, vaccination and natural immunity makes that process far more difficult and less predictable.

Dialysis, Diet, Nutrition, Weight Loss

Future Surge in Diabetes Could Dramatically Impact People Under 20 in U.S.

This expected upward trend may lead to as many as 220,000 young people having type 2 diabetes in 2060 —a nearly 700% increaseand the number of young people with type 1 diabetes could increase by as much as 65% in the next 40 years. Even if the rate of new diabetes diagnoses among young people remains the same over the decades, type 2 diabetes diagnoses could increase nearly 70% and type 1 diabetes diagnoses could increase 3% by 2060.

Ears and Hearing

That annoying ringing, buzzing and hissing in the ear – a hearing specialist offers tips to turn down the tinnitus

Roughly 20 million of those have burdensome, chronic tinnitus, and another 2 million struggle with extreme and debilitating tinnitus. The sound varies from patient to patient: buzzing, blowing, hissing, ringing, roaring, rumbling, whooshing or a combination thereof. But whatever the sound, the condition is called tinnitus. And one thing tinnitus patients have in common is that the sound is not an external one. Instead, the noise is literally inside their head.