Clinical Research

Atopic dermatitis (AD), also called atopic eczema, is a common, chronic, recurrent, inflammatory disorder of the skin which affects 5 percent of children worldwide and perhaps more. Moisturizers bring some relief but studies from PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane library identified relevant studies from their inception through 28 February, 2022 and the systematic review and network meta-analysis of 11 randomized controlled trials involving 3,483 infants found that they can also prevent eczema in high-risk infants.  They evaluated the quality of eligible studies using the Cochrane risk of bias…

It's no secret that a lot of people eat when they are depressed, and that social distancing, fear, and isolation during COVID-19 lockdowns and other government restrictions caused some depression to be worse. Being young is always a time of struggle and the pandemic saw a resulting surge in obesity, which has meant a surge in type 2 diabetes. Unlike type 1 diabetes, where the body can't produce insulin, type 2 diabetes is where the body is overwhelmed by the calories consumed and can't produce enough, or builds up resistance. Type 2 is generally preventable, and sometimes even reversible with…

A new study correlates SARS-CoV-2 specific T cells to lung function and those who suffer from long-term COVID symptoms, which impacts an unclear number of people. The study found that patients suffering from long COVID symptoms had virus-specific T cell levels more than 100 times higher than those who recovered from the disease. The study addressed the cause of long COVID by better understanding the adaptive immune response to the SARS-CoV-2. The research team’s findings linked systemic inflammation, persistent pulmonary symptoms and reduced lung function to the presence of high numbers of…

A new study finds that hugging a romantic partner can prevent the acute stress response of female bodies. Women who embrace their romantic partner prior to undergoing a stressful experience had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in saliva compared to women who did not embrace their partner. No effect was found for men. Some papers have claimed that massages, embraces combined with hand-holding, and embraces combined with affectionate communication can reduce signs of stress in women but those usually do not include men nor any effects of a brief embrace. The work was an analysis of…

In a pilot study, a fat injection procedure improved symptoms of plantar fasciitis in patients, and the authors of the paper hope it will get a company or NGO interested in a clinical trial.  Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common causes of heel pain, affecting about 2 million people in the United States. It’s caused by inflammation of the plantar fascia, connective tissue that runs from the heel to the toes and supports the foot arch. The acute form of  plantar fasciitis can be treated with stretching, shoe orthotics or cortisone injections. But about 10% of patients progress…

Nearly 30 years ago, scientists agreed that for clinical trial results to be valid for both sexes, they needed more women. Yet women seem to be a lot less likely to sign up for clinical trials for cardiovascular disease. The authors of a new paper outline the issue as to why: Differential Care – Low rates of referral to cardiologists and specialty programs for more aggressive care might lead to fewer women being treated by specialists recruiting for clinical trials. Ageism – Older patients are disproportionately represented in clinical trials overall, which is further compounded in women as…

Blood pressure is a risk factor for a heart event and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are common prescriptions. Both types of medicines work on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, a group of related hormones that act together to regulate blood pressure. ACE inhibitors lower blood pressure by blocking an enzyme early in the system so that less angiotensin, a chemical that narrows blood vessels, is produced, and blood vessels can remain wider and more relaxed. ARBs block receptors in the blood vessels that angiotensin attaches to,…

Hydroxychloroquine is an effective drug for the treatment of diseases like lupus and malaria and because it is used off-label for maladies that act in a biologically similar way to how COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, acts in the body, there has been discussion that clinical trials might show it having a positive therapeutic impact. Could it prevent COVID-19, though? A clinical trial of health care workers finds that it does not, though the good news is that because the trial was health care workers they had low rates of infection anyway, likely due to other prevention measures.…

Maria-Rosa was a robust woman in her late forties with a loud voice and an infectious laugh. She was a project manager at a local contracting firm, a grandmother, and a born nurturer. During her multiple visits to the emergency department, she got to know some of the staff and was constantly asking after their little ones and offering them her brand of “take-no-prisoners” life advice. Every time we saw Maria-Rosa, it seemed to be for a different concern. The first few times, she came in with acute back pain. No matter what she did, the pain kept getting worse. Her diagnoses were inconclusive…

About 300 year die each year due to heat, but if you look at the statistics of heat deaths another 300 list heat as a "contributing" cause, which means something else killed them but heat may have made the thing that caused the death more likely. Though a 100 percent increase seems odd, that heat as a contributing cause could be a factor is not a surprise.  What about when that number doubles again to 1,300 and the story becomes that climate change deaths have increased by 400 percent? Is that a sign we are getting better data or a sign that government epidemiologists want attention…