Coronavirus

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A recent study found lower levels of caffeine in the blood of people with Parkinson’s disease. The study compared people with Parkinson’s who carry a particular genetic mutation known to increase Parkinson’s risk with people who carry the same mutation but do not have the disease.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive brain disorder characterized by tremors, rigidity in the limbs and torso, and movement and balance problems. People with the condition also have an increased risk of depression and dementia.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, more than 1 million people in North America and more than 4 million people worldwide have Parkinson’s disease. In the United States, about 60,000 people receive a diagnosis each year.

Around 15% of people with the disease have a family history of Parkinson’s, which suggests they inherited genes that increased their risk of developing the condition. However, most cases result from a complex, poorly understood interaction of genetic and environmental factors.

Several environmental factors, such as head trauma, chemicals, and drugs, have associations with increased risk, whereas exercise has associations with reduced risk.

A 2010 review of previous research found that the more caffeine people regularly consumed, the lower their risk of developing Parkinson’s.

Another study showed that people with Parkinson’s who have no genetic risk factors for the disease have lower caffeine levels in their blood than people without the disease.

A team led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA, set out to discover whether coffee might also protect people with a mutation in the LRRK2 gene. Having this gene increases the risk of developing the disease but does not guarantee it.

The researchers compared people with and without Parkinson’s disease. Both groups contained people with and without a mutation in the LRRK2 gene.

The researchers found that the differences in the blood caffeine levels between people with Parkinson’s and those without were greater among individuals with this genetic mutation.

Dr. Grace Crotty, who led the research, says:

“These results are promising and encourage future research exploring caffeine and caffeine-related therapies to lessen the chance that people with this gene develop Parkinson’s … It’s also possible that caffeine levels in the blood could be used as a biomarker to help identify which people with this gene will develop the disease, assuming caffeine levels remain relatively stable.”

The authors published the study in the journal Neurology.

Five coffee-related chemicals

The scientists analyzed blood plasma samples from 368 individuals enrolled in the LRRK2 Cohort Consortium, a research project established in 2009 coordinated and funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

One group contained 188 individuals with Parkinson’s, and the control group included 180 people without the disease. Around the same proportion of each group had a mutation in the LRRK2 gene.

When the researchers compared the chemical profile of plasma from the two groups, they found the levels of five particular chemicals differed the most — all of them caffeine-related.

Concentrations of all five chemicals were significantly lower among individuals with Parkinson’s disease than those without the disease.

Among those with a non-mutated LRRK2 gene, caffeine concentration was, on average, 31% lower in the plasma of those with Parkinson’s than those without the disease.

Caffeine levels were 76% lower among people with Parkinson’s and a mutated LRRK2 gene compared with controls.

To cross-check their findings, the researchers also looked at questionnaires filled out by 212 of the participants detailing how much caffeine they consumed.

This revealed that people with Parkinson’s and a mutated LRRK2 gene consumed 41% less caffeine per day than people who did not have Parkinson’s regardless of whether they carried the mutated gene.

Alternative explanation

The researchers are careful to point out that their study showed an association between caffeine and Parkinson’s disease. It didn’t prove that caffeine consumption protects people against the disease.

For example, there remains the possibility that having a mutation in the LRRK2 gene not only increases a person’s risk of Parkinson’s but also makes them less inclined to consume caffeinated drinks.

“We don’t know yet whether people who are predisposed to Parkinson’s may tend to avoid drinking coffee or if some mutation carriers drink a lot of coffee and benefit from its neuroprotective effects,” says Crotty.

In addition, Crotty notes that the study looked at people at one point in time, so it does not say anything about when any protective effect occurs or how caffeine might affect the disease’s progression.

Latest figures on COVID-19 released by the World Health Organisation (WHO), yesterday, showed that Africa accounts for one per cent of confirmed cases and three per cent of deaths reported worldwide in the past week.

WHO’s Weekly Epidemiological Update revealed that although Africa had witnessed slow but continuous decline in newly-reported cases since mid-July, there were 11 per cent more cases reported in the last seven days compared to the previous week, reaching over 1.2 million cases.

It noted that the increase in fresh cases was partially attributed to the higher number of countries reporting increases in confirmed cases for 21 countries, compared to 14 countries in the preceding week.

Although more countries are reporting increases, the pattern of increasing cases is driven by South Africa and Ethiopia, which continue to report the highest number of new cases last week followed by Kenya, Uganda and Algeria.

Continuing the trend from last week, the number of reported deaths increased this week with South Africa accounting for most of the new deaths or 74 per cent of the continent’s total death toll.

The current transmission pattern in most of the 47 countries in Africa were reported as community transmission (n=39, 83 per cent), with five reporting clusters showing that only Seychelles, Mauritius and Eritrea were currently reporting sporadic cases.

South Sudan reported a decrease in the number of fresh cases with an epidemiological link, with 29 per cent in the previous week compared to 67 per cent in the preceding week. This is attributed to decrease in the proportion of cases that have been detected at border crossing, where travel history could inform an epidemiological link.

Also last week, Mozambique registered 795 new cases at 25 per million population, bringing the total figure to almost 10,000 cases, but the country recorded a gradual decline over the last three weeks including a 39 and 40 per cent decrease in new cases and deaths in the past week, suggesting that the pandemic might be slowing down in the country.

While the number of tests per 1000 inhabitants had remained stable at 0.3 in the last 10 weeks, the rate of positive tests dropped this week to nine per cent, as schools reopened with special measures to prevent further spread of coronavirus.

“Since the last Weekly Epidemiological Update issued on October 5, 2020, about 2.2 million new cases and 39,000 deaths of COVID-19 have been reported in all six WHO regions, constituting the highest number of reported cases so far in a week. Between December 30, 2019 and October 11, 2020, over 37 million COVID-19 cases and one million deaths have been reported globally.

Half of the cases or 48 per cent and 55 per cent of the deaths have been reported in the United States of America, Brazil and Argentina, accounting for the highest number of new cases and casualties.

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Researchers have worked out how to use electromagnetic fields to treat mice with type 2 diabetes.

Scientists have discovered that they can successfully treat type 2 diabetes in mouse models by exposing the rodents to electromagnetic fields.

The research, which appears in the journal Cell Metabolism, opens the door to further studies confirming the findings and exploring whether the therapy could be suitable for use in humans.

Type 2 diabetes

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 34 million people — approximately 1 in 10 — in the United States have diabetes. Of these individuals, the vast majority have type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when a person’s cells do not react to the hormone insulin properly. Insulin, which the pancreas produces, mediates the ability of a person’s cells to receive blood sugar.

In this situation, a person’s body can tell that their cells are not receiving blood sugar properly, and the pancreas produces more insulin in response. At a certain point, the pancreas cannot meet the insulin demand, and, as a consequence, blood sugar levels increase.

The CDC highlight that high blood sugar levels can cause various serious health conditions, including vision loss, kidney disease, and heart disease.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, key approaches to treating type 2 diabetes include eating a more healthful diet and being more physically active.

There are also many medications that can help a person manage the symptoms of diabetes.

However, adherence to type 2 diabetes treatment is relatively low. Research has suggested that at least 45% of people with type 2 diabetes are unable to control their blood sugar levels effectively.

A range of factors may contribute to a person’s ability to keep diabetes symptoms in check, including the perceived difficulties around accessing and taking medications.

Chance discovery

In this context, the scientists behind the present study believe that they may have made a significant discovery in the form of an effective and accessible way of treating mice with type 2 diabetes using electromagnetic fields.

The discovery came about by chance. Sunny Huang, an M.D.-Ph.D. student at the University of Iowa (UI) Carver College of Medicine and the co-lead author of the study, needed access to mice to practice taking their blood and measuring their blood sugar levels.

Dr. Calvin Carter, a postdoctoral researcher in the same lab, let Huang borrow the mice that he was using in an experiment on how electromagnetic fields affect the brains of the animals.

According to Huang: “It was really odd because normally these animals have high blood sugar and type 2 diabetes, but all of the animals exposed to [electromagnetic fields] showed normal blood sugar levels. I told Calvin, ‘There’s something weird going on here.’”

This was especially unusual given that the researchers had either genetically modified the mice in question to give them diabetes or induced the disease by feeding them a 60% high fat diet.

“That’s what sparked this project,” Dr. Carter adds. “Early on, we recognized that if the findings held up, they could have a major impact on diabetes care.”

Diabetes remote control

Huang and Carter worked with Prof. Val Sheffield, professor of pediatrics and of ophthalmology and visual sciences at UI, as well as Dr. Dale Abel, chair of the UI Department of Internal Medicine and an expert on diabetes, to see whether it was possible to verify their findings.

They found that by combining static electric and magnetic fields that were 100 times the Earth’s natural levels and directing these at the mice, they were able to change the mice’s blood sugar levels.

Furthermore, they found that after 3 days of exposing the mice to these fields while they were sleeping, the mice’s insulin resistance had reversed.

In Dr. Carter’s words:

“We’ve built a remote control to manage diabetes. Exposure to electromagnetic fields for relatively short periods reduces blood sugar and normalizes the body’s response to insulin. The effects are long lasting, opening the possibility of an [electromagnetic field] therapy that can be applied during sleep to manage diabetes all day.”

Quantum biological phenomenon

Despite static electric and electromagnetic fields being an ever-present aspect of life on Earth, experts know little about their effects on biology.

Research in this area has primarily looked at animals’ directional instincts — for example, birds’ ability to migrate.

According to Dr. Carter, “[t]his literature pointed to a quantum biological phenomenon whereby [electromagnetic fields] may interact with specific molecules.”

“There are molecules in our bodies that are thought to act like tiny magnetic antenna, enabling a biological response to [electromagnetic fields]. Some of these molecules are oxidants, which are studied in redox biology, an area of research that deals with the behavior of electrons and reactive molecules that govern cellular metabolism,” he adds.

The team then reached out to Prof. Douglas Spitz and Prof. Gary Buettner, UI professors of radiation oncology, and Dr. Jason Hansen, of Brigham Young University, all of whom are experts in redox biology.

One such oxidant molecule that has a role in type 2 diabetes is superoxide. The researchers found that exposing this molecule to the combined static electric and magnetic fields that they were generating triggered its signaling.

However, the effect was only present in the liver and did not occur in the muscles.

This signaling led to an antioxidant response to rebalance the redox set point in the mice: the balance between oxidants and antioxidants.

The team then devised a way to confirm this effect. As Dr. Carter explains: “When we remove superoxide molecules from the liver, we completely block the effect of the [electromagnetic fields] on blood sugar and on the insulin response. The evidence suggests that superoxide plays an important role in this process.”

Human applications?

Looking ahead, a key question for the researchers is whether it is possible to replicate these findings in humans, as well as in mice. The lack of an increase in insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle from this intervention may be important, given its importance in diabetic control in humans. If so, then scientists may be able to develop a noninvasive, effective treatment for type 2 diabetes.

The researchers have already taken a step along this path by confirming their findings using human cells in the laboratory.

To take things further, they intend to run the experiment using larger animals whose physiology is closer to that of humans. They also plan to explore in more detail the redox mechanism that seems to be at the heart of the phenomenon.

An in vitro study finds that nitric oxide may suppress SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The researchers suggest that inhaled nitric oxide may be an effective treatment for the disease.

While the world awaits a clinically proven, widely available vaccine, there is an urgent need for more effective treatments for severe COVID-19 infections.

Currently, the only approved antiviral treatment for the infection is remdesivir, which can shorten recovery time for some people hospitalized with COVID-19.

A recent review of the research concludes that nitric oxide, a cell signaling molecule produced naturally by the body, could be a potential treatment for the new coronavirus.

The molecule has anti-inflammatory effects and is a vasodilator, meaning it dilates blood vessels to increase blood flow. It also has antiviral properties.

Previous studies show that nitric oxide is effective against the herpes viruscoxsackievirus, and hantavirus.

According to a 2005 in vitro study involving cell cultures grown in the lab, it also inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV. Closely related to SARS-CoV-2, this coronavirus caused the global outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003.

small clinical study suggests that inhaled nitric oxide at low concentrations not only works as a vasodilator for SARS patients — improving oxygenation of their blood — but also as an antiviral agent.

An in vitro study that appears in the journal Redox Biology now provides the first direct evidence that nitric oxide also inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2.

Scientists at the Zoonosis Science Center at Uppsala University in Sweden conducted the research.

“Until we get a vaccine that works, our hope is that inhalation of [nitric oxide] might be an effective form of treatment,” says the senior author, Åke Lundkvist. “The dosage and timing of starting treatment probably play an important part in the outcome, and now need to be explored as soon as possible.”

Monkey cell cultures

To test nitric oxide’s antiviral effects, Lundkvist and his team used cultures of monkey cells infected with SARS-CoV-2.

They treated the cells with a chemical called SNAP (S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine), which generates nitric oxide. As a control, they treated other infected cells with NAP (N-acetlypenicillamine), an almost identical chemical that does not produce nitric oxide.

SNAP reduced the amount of viral RNA produced by the infected cells and the damage inflicted by the virus. Increased concentrations of SNAP resulted in greater protection against the virus.

By contrast, NAP did not protect infected cells or reduce the amount of viral RNA they produced, confirming that nitric oxide was responsible for the antiviral effects.

The scientists were also able to show that nitric oxide inhibited a key enzyme called a protease that the virus needs to make copies of itself.

Inhaled nitric oxide

In theory, nitric oxide inhaled as gas could improve the outlook for patients with severe COVID-19.

Healthcare professionals already use inhaled nitric oxide to treat a range of heart and lung conditions.

In addition to antiviral effects, previous research suggests that it boosts the amount of oxygen in the blood by dilating blood vessels in parts of the lung where airflow is highest.

It also reduces blood clotting in the lungs, which is a particularly serious problem for COVID-19 patients who require ventilation.

Writing in their paper, the authors of the new study conclude:

“There is a great need for effective antivirals against SARS-CoV-2 in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Based on this study and previous studies on SARS-CoV in vitro, and in a small clinical trial, we conclude that [nitric oxide] may be applied for clinical use in the treatment of COVID-19 and other human coronavirus infections.”

The new study involves treating infected cell cultures with a chemical that generates nitric oxide in situ.

The researchers are yet to prove that the gas has antiviral effects when inhaled, so they now plan to conduct further research in animal models of COVID-19.

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New research suggests that catalase, a naturally occurring enzyme in humans, plants, and animals, can suppress the replication of the new coronavirus in rhesus monkeys. The results also indicate that this low cost enzyme could dampen the inflammatory response that occurs in severe COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect in the United States and worldwide.

As of October 5, 2020, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center Dashboard reported 209,734 and 1,037,604 COVID-19-attributed deaths in the U.S. and globally, respectively. Currently, there is a lack of specific antiviral agents to treat COVID-19 and no preventive vaccine.

Some evidence suggests that severe cases of COVID-19 may be the result of an abnormal overactive immune response known as a cytokine storm. Without treatment, a cytokine storm may result in substantial morbidity and mortality.

The issue of cytokine storms

Infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, triggers a local immune response. White blood cells infiltrate the tissue, causing the excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Increased levels of ROS cause hydrogen peroxide to accumulate in tissues, leading to tissue damage, hyperinflammation, and increased viral replication. ROS further promote cytokine release.

The overproduction of inflammatory cytokines can occur in severe cases of COVID-19. Treatment to reduce the production of cytokines and the inflammatory response may, therefore, help treat this disease.

Immunosuppressive medications that doctors currently use to treat cytokine storm include steroids, intravenous immune globulin, Janus kinase inhibitors, and cytokine blockers, such as anakinra or tocilizumab. However, some of these medications are expensive, and side effects may complicate therapy.

This is where catalase comes into play. Catalase is a naturally occurring antioxidant enzyme present in the liver, red blood cells, and alveolar epithelial cells — the cells that line the insides of the alveoli in the lungs.

It effectively breaks down hydrogen peroxide in the body into oxygen and water. Catalase is also currently available as a dietary supplement and food additive.

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Beijing University of Chemical Technology in China, and other Chinese institutions recently speculated that catalase could decrease hydrogen peroxide levels in the body.

This, they said, could minimize downstream ROS levels and cytokine release, ultimately suppressing the excess inflammation, oxidative cell injury, and viral replication that occur in severe COVID-19.

To confirm their hypothesis, the team of scientists set out to conduct several experiments — in cell cultures and rhesus macaque monkeys — using n(CAT), catalase nanocapsules that consist of catalase molecules coated with a thin shell of polymer. This coating enhances stability and prolongs the time that catalase remains in the blood.

The researchers report their findings in the journal Advanced Materials.

Anti-inflammatory effect in cell cultures

First, the researchers assessed the effects of n(CAT) in human cell cultures. They tested the effectiveness of n(CAT) in preventing oxidative damage to human pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells.

The results indicated that n(CAT) was able to protect, as well as resuscitate, alveolar cells that had sustained damage as a result of exposure to hydrogen peroxide.

The researcher went on to culture white blood cells with n(CAT) and human alveolar cells injured by hydrogen peroxide. The addition of n(CAT) in this context also resulted in the protection and resuscitation of damaged alveolar cells.

Another experiment studied the ability of n(CAT) to control the production of cytokines in white blood cells.

The researchers found that adding n(CAT) to white blood cells resulted in significantly lower concentrations of cytokines — including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) — in these cell cultures than in those without added n(CAT).

The addition of n(CAT) to human alveolar cells that the team had cultured with activated white blood cells also showed that n(CAT) significantly increased cell health.

These results indicate that n(CAT) can protect lung cells from certain types of injury, demonstrating an anti-inflammatory effect.

‘Far-reaching implications’

Finally, the researchers tested the effectiveness of n(CAT) in suppressing the replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in rhesus monkeys.

The investigators first infected all the rhesus macaques with the new coronavirus by administering the virus through the nose.

They then gave two monkeys a saline solution, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), also through the nose. These animals acted as the control group.

Three monkeys received n(CAT) through inhalation, and two more received PBS by inhalation and n(CAT) through injection. The animals that received n(CAT) treatments did so on days 2, 4, and 6 of the experiment.

By the second day, two of the three macaques that received n(CAT) through inhalation had significantly lower viral loads of SARS-CoV-2 than the monkeys in the control group.

The two macaques that received n(CAT) intravenously also demonstrated significantly lower viral loads than the control group after day 2 of the experiment.

The administration of n(CAT) — whether intravenous or by inhalation — did not seem to cause any detectable tissue damage.

The study thus suggests that catalase can suppress the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in rhesus macaques without causing any unwanted effects. Additionally, according to the experiments in cell cultures, catalase protected alveolar epithelial cells and regulated cytokine production in white blood cells.

“There is a lot of focus on vaccines and antiviral drugs, and rightly so,” says senior author Prof. Yunfeng Lu, at UCLA.

“In the meantime,” Prof. Lu continues, “our research suggests this enzyme could offer a very effective therapeutic solution for treatment of hyperinflammation that occurs due to SARS-CoV-2 virus, as well as hyperinflammation generally.”

Study co-author Dr. Gregory Fishbein, who is Prof. Lu’s colleague at the same institution, also adds:

“This work has far-reaching implications beyond the treatment of COVID-19. Cytokine storm is a lethal condition that can complicate other infections, such as influenza, as well as noninfectious conditions, like autoimmune disease.”

Still, the study results need confirmation from future randomized controlled studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of catalase in humans who have contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Only then will researchers be able to establish whether this enzyme is truly effective in treating COVID-19.

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A new study suggests that face masks have a negligible negative effect on the levels of carbon dioxide and oxygen that a person breathes.

The findings even hold true for individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The research, which appears in the journal Annals of the American Thoracic Society, contributes to dispelling some of the myths surrounding the use of face masks in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Face masks

As the world gains access to more information about SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, scientists have become increasingly convinced that masks can help reduce its spread.

The primary way that SARS-CoV-2 transmits involves viral particles entering a person’s respiratory tract. This typically happens after another person coughs, sneezes, or speaks near them, producing droplets or aerosols that transport the virus.

Consequently, face masks play an important role in reducing exposure to the virus and limiting the amount of the virus that a person can project toward others.

There is a growing consensus about the value of face masks in reducing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, though this has not always been the case.

Initially, little was known about the new virus and policy had to be developed based on the best available evidence, following scientific models that drew on data from earlier epidemics involving similar viruses.

As a consequence, guidance about mask wearing has varied from country to country, and some major health bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), have changed their advice over time.

In many ways, these changes and discrepancies are inevitable when providing advice about an urgent public health crisis while scientists are continually discovering new information. Dogmatically sticking to a position despite the changing evidence or offering advice when there is little evidence to justify it are unlikely to be better approaches.

However, research has shown that significant changes in official guidance reduce people’s trust in the science that is the basis of the policy.

In addition, the use of face masks has become a political battleground, with vocal proponents on the right denouncing enforced mask wearing, either as an infringement of freedom or a suspected element in a broad conspiracy that COVID-19 was mobilized or fabricated.

In this context, some people have proposed that face masks are a threat to public health, supposing that the masks reduce the amount of inhaled oxygen or increase the amount of inhaled carbon dioxide.

COPD patients

To test this theory, the researchers behind the present small study recruited 15 house staff physicians, who had no health issues affecting their lungs, and 15 veterans with COPD.

The veterans were in the hospital so that doctors could check their oxygen levels as part of their regular COPD monitoring.

The monitoring involved, among other things, blood oxygen levels checked with a blood test before and after a 6-minute walking exercise. This exercise was done while wearing a mask, as per hospital protocol during a pandemic.

The researchers used a LifeSense monitor to check the baseline room air, and then continually took measurements throughout the time that the participants were wearing masks.

No significant changes

The researchers found no clinically significant changes in any of the participants’ end tidal carbon dioxide measurements — the amount of carbon dioxide in an exhalation. They also found no changes in blood oxygen levels after 5 or 30 minutes of wearing a mask while resting.

As expected, the participants with COPD had lower blood oxygen levels than those without the respiratory disease. No participant with COPD had any major changes in their gas exchanges due to wearing a mask.

In the words of senior study author Dr. Michael Campos, of the Miami Veterans Administration Medical Center and the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine, “We show that the effects are minimal at most, even in people with very severe lung impairment.”

If a person experiences shortness of breath while wearing a mask, the study suggests, this does not result from reduced oxygen levels or an increase in carbon dioxide levels.

Dr. Campos explains, “Dyspnea, the feeling of shortness of breath felt with masks by some, is not synonymous [with] alterations in gas exchange. It likely occurs from restriction of air flow with the mask in particular when higher ventilation is needed on exertion.”

While recognizing that masks may be uncomfortable for some, the authors make clear that wearing a mask is key in maintaining the health of the wearer and those around them. They write:

“It is important to inform the public that the discomfort associated with mask use should not lead to unsubstantiated safety concerns, as this may attenuate the application of a practice proven to improve public health.”

Though the study was small, its findings emphasize that wearing a mask is still important — given the mounting evidence that masks reduce viral transmission and the lack of any evidence to the contrary.

As Dr. Campos summarizes, “The public should not believe that masks kill.”

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A study of 160 people in the United States finds associations between worries around COVID-19 and substance use. The authors warn that the pandemic may increase the risk of substance abuse in some people and advocate for specific interventions to protect mental health.

Beyond the physical effects of the novel coronavirus, the onset and continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic have dramatically affected people’s mental health in the United States and worldwide.

recent study highlighted how levels of depression in the U.S. have tripled during the pandemic. Symptoms of anxiety may also be on the rise, according to recent trends in Google searches.

Understandably, the pandemic generates fear in many people, as the world finds itself in an unprecedented situation filled with uncertainty.

People manage uncertainties in different ways, but there is a risk that the stress the pandemic causes may trigger an ongoing mental health problem in some people.

A recent study led by the University of Houston, TX, finds that worry about COVID-19 may be a risk factor for substance use, which could, in turn, lead to misuse in some people.

The findings, which appear in Psychiatry Research, suggest the pandemic could adversely affect mental health for years to come.

COVID concerns

This study explored worries and fears about COVID-19 among three groups of people: those who do not use substances, people who were substance users before the pandemic, and people who started to use substances during the pandemic.

The substances in question included alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis, e-cigarettes, stimulants, opioids, and other drugs. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, these are among the most commonly used substances in the U.S.

In total, 160 people took part in the online study between April and May 2020.

The survey took around 30 minutes to complete and included questions about COVID-19 exposure and diagnosis, fears and worries about the pandemic, and a series of questions about substance use, including when and how people used substances and why they did so.

Worry fuels substance use

Almost 6% of the participants said they had received a diagnosis of COVID-19, and around half reported having pre-existing medical conditions.

Many of the participants also reported changing their substance use since the start of the pandemic.

Some participants reported starting using the following substances since the beginning of the pandemic:

  • alcohol (8.8%)
  • cigarettes (6.9%)
  • stimulants (5.6%)
  • opioids (5.6%)
  • cannabis (5%)
  • e-cigarettes (4.4%).

The results also found that worrying about the pandemic had associations with using substances to cope. Substance users reported worrying about COVID-19 more than non-users, and people who started using substances during the pandemic (excluding opioids) had the highest levels of worry.

“Results generally suggest the persons using substance experience the highest levels of COVID-19-related worry and fear,” the authors explain in their paper. “Additionally, worry about COVID-19 is related to coping motives for substance use.”

COVID-19-specific interventions

The authors say that doctors could find their findings useful. They suggest that doctors assessing levels of worry about COVID-19 help identify people at greatest risk for substance use, and ultimately substance abuse.

With this knowledge, doctors might prevent such problems from developing, for example, by recommending therapy or helping the person develop healthy coping mechanisms. The authors write:

“These results provide preliminary evidence that COVID-19-related worry and fear may be putative risk factors for substance use initiation in the face of COVID-19, and these results may provide critical clinical information for helping individuals cope with this pandemic.”

The authors state the importance of developing specialist interventions for COVID-19-specific mental health problems, including addictions, as the pandemic continues to evolve.

It is crucial to roll out such initiatives early to prevent a wave of mental health problems in the future, says Prof. Michael Zvolensky, senior author of the study.

“The impact of COVID-19 on psychological symptoms and disorders, addiction, and health behavior is substantial and ongoing and will negatively impact people’s mental health and put them at greater risk for chronic illness and drug addiction. It will not equally impact all of society. Those at greater risk are those that have mental health vulnerabilities or disorders,” he closes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers advice and helplines on managing stress during the pandemic.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and 17.9 million people die of the ailments yearly, representing 31 per cent of the world’s total mortalities.

In Nigeria, Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for 29 per cent of all deaths. CVD, predominantly hypertension is responsible for 11 per cent of all the NCD’s deaths that occurred prematurely in persons below 70 years.

Meanwhile, to mark the World Heart Day (WHD), September 29, experts have harped on the need to raise awareness and mobilise international action against cardiovascular disease.

They also highlighted the imperative to strengthen CVDs’ management in primary healthcare institutions with a view to reducing the high death rate.

Addressing newsmen in Lagos, President, Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF), Mallam Ismaila Shuaibu, said the initiative was for individuals, government, and the entire heart community to come together to engage in fun activities, increase public education and advocate for universal access to CVD protection, detection, and treatment.

He explained that CVD which comprises of hypertension, heart disease, and stroke are the world’s number one leading cause of death and disability.

Shuaibu noted that as part of measures to reduce the burden of CVD, the foundation is intensifying efforts to raise public awareness about heart disease and their associated risk factors including ways to promote cardiovascular health.

Also, former President, Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology, Mrs. Dolapo Coker, said the most important way to fight any ailment is to boost the immune system.

The nutritionist explained that food is the primary healthcare system of any disease urging the general population to take more fruits and vegetables.

Coker continued: “We are blessed in Nigeria because we have these vegetables in abundance. We need to educate the populace not to depend on fast food but on God-given organic food. Everyone can avoid CVD, the basic thing is good nutrition and also to make sure its awareness is heightened.”

She added that the government should lead an awareness campaign to let the masses realise things that are against health.

Coker, however, stated that there is no bad food rather every food must be taken in moderation.

Executive Director, NHF, Dr Kingsley Akinroye said that smoking, tobacco high blood pressure, and obesity are causes of CVD stressing the need for individual and societal behaviour change.

He added that it is vital to make access to healthcare, healthy foods, and a healthy way of life accessible and affordable to all people.

Akinroye said the theme for 2020 World Heart Day, “Use Heart To Fight Cardiovascular Disease” was to unite the global health community to beat cardiovascular disease and also ask individuals, communities, and governments to use the heart to make better choices for society, loved ones and ourselves.

He noted that the call to action is about using our head, influence, and compassion to beat the cardiovascular disease, the world’s number one killer.

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A study finds that 10 minutes of massage or relaxation can activate the body’s system for overcoming stress.

The damaging effects of stress are well-known, but fortunately, our bodies have a built-in system for managing and recovering from it. This system is called the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS).

While there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that taking time to relax — especially when it involves massage — can activate the PSNS, the new study by psychologists at the University of Konstanz in Germany has scientifically measured and confirmed this effect.

In their paper, the researchers conclude that short periods of relaxation may be psychologically and physiologically regenerative and that the effect is even more pronounced with massage.

The senior author of the study is Prof. Jens Pruessner of the university’s Neuropsychology lab, who is a member of the Cluster of Excellence “Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour.” He explains the importance of the new research:

“To get a better handle on the negative effects of stress, we need to understand its opposite — relaxation. Relaxation therapies show great promise as a holistic way to treat stress, but more systematic scientific appraisal of these methods is needed.”

The study appears in the September 2020 issue of Scientific Reports.

The study

For their study, the team divided the participants into three groups.

The first group received 10-minute head-and-neck massages with a moderate pressure intended to stimulate the PSNS’s vagus nerve. This nerve contains some 75% of the PSNS nerve fibers, branching out to the many organs in the body with which the system interacts.

The second group of individuals received much softer 10-minute neck-and-shoulder massages as a means of determining the PSNS-activating effect of simple tactile contact.

A third control group simply sat at a table relaxing for 10 minutes.

The researchers used both physiological and psychological measurements to evaluate the degree to which each intervention, or lack of, had activated the participants’ PSNS.

Neuropsychology doctoral student Maria Meier led the team, who assessed the tests’ physiological effect by measuring the participants’ heart rate, as well as their heart rate variability (HRV). HRV is a measurement of variations in the time intervals between heartbeats.

For example, when the body is in fight-or-flight mode, there is very little variation because the heart beats quickly at a steady rate. This will provide a low HRV value. When the body is relaxed, a greater degree of variation occurs, resulting in a higher HRV.

All of the participants had significantly higher HRV levels afterward. However, the most dramatic increases in HRV belonged to those who had received massages. The type of massage did not matter.

Simple tactile contact proved just as effective for helping an individual relax as a massage designed specifically to activate the PSNS.

Psychologically, all participants reported feeling less stressed and more relaxed after the tests.

Overall, the experiments confirmed that simply taking a few moments to relax can help a person manage stress. Adding a relaxing massage does even more to activate the PSNS and alleviate the physical and mental effects of stress.

Stress management

Meier concludes: “We are very encouraged by the findings that short periods of disengagement are enough to relax not just the mind but also the body. You don’t need a professional treatment in order to relax. Having somebody gently stroke your shoulders, or even just resting your head on the table for 10 minutes, is an effective way to boost your body’s physiological engine of relaxation.”

Equally important as the study’s finding is the development of a system for objectively evaluating relaxation therapies. With experts often citing stress as the driver of diseases such as depression, a reliable means of validating relaxation techniques clearly has value.

Says Meier, “Massage, being such a commonly used relaxation therapy, was our first study. Our next step is to test if other short interventions, like breathing exercises and meditation, show similar psychological and physiological relaxation results.”

Image credit: PixelsEffect / Getty Images.

A recent small-scale study has concluded that hospitalized patients with COVID-19 are less likely to have life threatening complications if they have sufficient vitamin D levels.

A new study demonstrates that people with sufficient levels of vitamin D are less likely to develop life threatening COVID-19 complications when hospitalized with the disease.

The research, published in the journal PLOS ONE, could be valuable for doctors attempting to reduce the mortality rates of COVID-19 in the absence of an effective vaccine.

If further studies back up these findings, vitamin D supplements might offer a cost-effective way to limit the risk of severe COVID-19. It is important to note that this recent study has several limitations, which we address below.

Treatments

Since the sudden emergence of the virus SARS-CoV-2 and the disease that it causes, COVID-19, scientists have paid a great deal of attention to the development of a vaccine.

Experts consider a vaccine to be crucial in reducing the effects of the virus, even if it is not yet clear to what extent an initial vaccine would moderate rates of transmission and infection.

Alongside the endeavor to develop a vaccine, researchers are also focusing on developing effective COVID-19 treatments. Even if none can make a person immune to the virus, treatments may be able to reduce the disease’s severity.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have approved two drugs as treatments for COVID-19: remdesivir and dexamethasone.

Another candidate is vitamin D. Research has suggested that it might, in theory, be effective, but corroborating this requires further efforts.

235 hospitalized patients

Rather than analyzing the effects of vitamin D as COVID-19 treatment, the researchers behind the present study looked at the effects of a person’s vitamin D levels on the severity of the disease.

To do so, they analyzed data from patients with confirmed COVID-19 who had been admitted to the Sina Hospital, in Tehran, Iran.

Of the 611 people admitted with confirmed COVID-19 before May 1, 2020, there were records of the 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, an indication of overall vitamin D levels, for 235 patients. Their mean age was 58.7 years, ranging from 20–90 years, and 37.4% were older than 65.

The researchers classified the patients into two groups: those with vitamin D levels of at least 30 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) — an amount considered sufficient by the Endocrine Society — and those with lower values.

They then analyzed the severity of the patients’ COVID-19 signs and symptoms using guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Severe or critical disease might involve a range of issues, including shortness of breath, respiratory failure, or a significantly reduced blood oxygen level.

Significant association

After cross-checking the patients’ vitamin D levels with the severity of their COVID-19 symptoms and accounting for confounding factors, the researchers found that having a vitamin D level of above 30 ng/ml was significantly associated with having less severe COVID-19.

Among the 235 patients with confirmed COVID-19, only 32.8% had sufficient levels of the vitamin.

The researchers also found that the patients with sufficient vitamin D had higher blood lymphocyte counts and lower levels of C-reactive protein in their blood — both of which indicate a positive immune response.

The researchers speculate that this may have reduced the likelihood of developing cytokine storm, which can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome in COVID-19 patients, sometimes resulting in death.

Numerous benefits

The findings highlight, the researchers say, that vitamin D sufficiency may be important in the eventuality that people develop COVID-19 alongside another respiratory disease, such as influenza.

According to the study’s corresponding author, Dr. Michael F. Holick, director of the General Clinical Research Unit at the medical campus of Boston University, in Massachusetts, “There is great concern that the combination of an influenza infection and a coronal viral infection could substantially increase hospitalizations and death due to complications from these viral infections.”

For the researchers, their findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation would be valuable. As Dr. Holick notes: “Because vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency is so widespread in children and adults in the United States and worldwide, especially in the winter months, it is prudent for everyone to take a vitamin D supplement to reduce [the] risk of being infected and having complications from COVID-19.”

Several limitations

It is worthing noting the present study’s limitations. First, the researchers only had access to a relatively small number of patients. Before drawing solid conclusions, scientists need to carry out much larger studies.

Also, various issues can influence both vitamin D status and COVID-19 severity, such as socioeconomic factors and smoking status. The scientists accounted for neither of these in their analysis.

Also, because the study was cross-sectional, the researchers could not prove that vitamin D insufficiency caused an increase in disease severity.

To address these limitations, the researchers call for “large-scale studies and randomized clinical trials.”