Medical news site saw coronavirus coming months ago

On New Year’s Eve, Helen Branswell, a reporter at the science and medical news website Stat, was finishing an article about the development of an elusive Ebola vaccine when she got an inkling of her next big story.

“Hopefully this is nothing out of the ordinary,” she wrote on Twitter, adding a link to a report of an “unexplained pneumonia” in central China.

Two days later, she tweeted a South China Morning Post article about the outbreak and wrote, “Not liking the look of this.”

Stat published Branswell’s first article on the “growing cluster of unexplained pneumonia cases” on Jan. 4. There was some indication, she reported, of “a new virus, and perhaps even a new coronavirus.”

Stat, a digital publication in Boston founded in 2015, was early to a story that would dominate the news. In January, a month before the first confirmed case of unknown origin in the United States, the site published articles on the coronavirus’ ability to be spread by asymptomatic carriers; how it could test President Donald Trump’s penchant for undermining established science; and the determination by experts that containing it “may not be feasible.”

“We have realized this was big and have thrown a lot of resources at it, in Stat terms,” Branswell said.

The site has attracted nearly 30 million unique visitors this year, which is four to five times more traffic than usual, said Rick Berke, the executive editor, who oversees the editorial and business departments.

Part of the reason for the surge is that, like many other publications, Stat has placed its pandemic coverage outside its paywall. But with a staff of roughly 30 reporters and editors well versed in health and science, the site was well-positioned to cover an epoch-defining story.

“We’re not seeing stories first because we’re smarter, faster or more savvy,” said Jason Ukman, a managing editor. “It’s just because this is the world we’ve been plugged into the whole time. We were built for this.”

Stat was started by financier John W. Henry, the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox and the Liverpool Football Club. Before determining that Boston should have a site to cover the industries of its many hospitals, research labs and biotech startups, Henry bought The Boston Globe from The New York Times Co. for $70 million in 2013.

Berke, formerly a reporter and an editor at The Times, came aboard as a co-founder. Another key member of the leadership team is Linda Henry, Henry’s wife, the managing director.

“This realization John had was that we need to tell the story of what’s happening in life sciences, and that story needs to come from Boston,” Linda Henry said.

Berke hired a staff that included veterans of the beat — like Sharon Begley, once a science columnist and an editor for Newsweek, and Ed Silverman, who had reported on the pharmaceutical industry for The Wall Street Journal — in the belief that there was a demand for a news outlet dedicated to health and medicine.

“There wasn’t a site that aggressively, in a very ambitious way, covered these stories every day as their main focus,” Berke said.

Stat is operated separately from The Globe, but the 2 split some back-office functions, occasionally run each other’s articles and share a headquarters on Exchange Place. The site’s main source of revenue is subscriptions, starting at $35 a month with discounts available. Stat also publishes sponsored content in its newsletters and has started soliciting donations.

Before it attracted a wider readership through its pandemic coverage, Stat drew praise for its investigations of the marketing and prescribing of OxyContin; IBM’s efforts to harness artificial intelligence to cure cancer, which, Stat found, fell short of the hype; and how groupthink may have stymied an Alzheimer’s cure.

With articles written in a straightforward style, Stat is meant for a general audience. But it wants to win over specialists, too — readers like William Hanage, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, who praised the site’s coverage as “accessible” yet “still rigorous.”

“There is no single place on the internet that I would go to better update myself on the diversity of views that are out and circulating,” he said.

Hanage added that Branswell’s reporting on the coronavirus had made her “a godlike figure to people who are infectious-disease epidemiologists.”

Branswell, who has published about 50 articles on the pandemic, was a health reporter at The Canadian Press before taking on the infectious-disease beat at Stat in 2015. In October, she profiled the World Health Organization’s head of health emergencies, Mike Ryan.

“We’re not ready,” Ryan told her. “If we can’t stop Ebola, what hope do we have of stopping … Disease X?”

These days, in her time away from work, Branswell reads mysteries and checks in on friends and family (remotely, of course). She also spends time on Twitter, where she serves up reliable information from experts in the field.

“Helen used Twitter the exact same way with Ebola, with Zika, with SARS,” Ukman said. “She’s really, really good at communicating information about an infectious disease.”

Branswell said the next frontier of testing would be serological — to test not if subjects are carrying the virus but if they have already had it.

A nervous reporter asked: Are we going to get through this?

“It’s not going to be over soon,” she said. “And it’s going to be very painful. But yes. We’ll get through this.”

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Women smokers, higher risk of sudden death

Longtime women smokers are two-and-a-half times more likely to suffer sudden cardiac death than non-smokers, a researcher in Canada says.

Dr. Roopinder Sandhu, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, who conducted the study as a visiting scientist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said the study involved 101,018 women who took part in the Nurses' Health Study. In 30 years of tracking, 351 cases of sudden cardiac death were reported, WebMD reported.

Sandhu and colleagues found the amount and duration of cigarette smoking was strongly associated with the women's risk of sudden cardiac death.

The study, published in the journal Circulation: Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology, found women who smoked 25 cigarettes a day or more had more than three times the risk of sudden cardiac death than women who didn't smoke.

source: upi.com

Orange vegetables may reduce breast cancer

U.S. researchers found women with the highest levels of carotenoids -- found in produce -- in their blood had the lowest risk of breast cancer.

A. Heather Eliassen of the Channing Division of Network Medicine, the Department of Medicine at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues, conducted an analysis of eight studies involving 80 percent of the world's published prospective data on plasma or serum carotenoids and breast cancer.

The analysis included 3,055 case subjects and 3,956 matched control subjects.

The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found in more than 3,000 case subjects, there were statistically significantly inverse associations between circulating levels of individual and total carotenoids and breast cancer risk, with a stronger finding in estrogen receptor-breast cancers -- breast cancers that grow in response to the hormone estrogen.

"The inverse associations we observed among ER-negative tumors highlight carotenoids as one of the first modifiable risk factors for this poor prognosis tumor type," the study authors wrote in the study.

Some evidence has shown that carotenoids inhibit the growth of ER-positive breast cancers as well, it's possible that its effect is hidden by hormone related associations which overpower other risk factors. Still, the researchers said: "A diet high in carotenoid-rich fruits and vegetables offers many health benefits, including a possible reduced risk of breast cancer."

The website the World's Healthiest Foods said foods that contain carotenoids include:

-- The orange-colored fruits and vegetables such as carrots, apricots, mangoes, squash, papaya, and sweet potatoes contain significant amounts of beta-carotene, alpha-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin.

-- Green vegetables, especially spinach, kale and collard greens, also contain beta-carotene, and are the best sources of lutein.

-- Lycopene is found in tomatoes, guava, and pink grapefruit.

-- Salmon, shellfish, milk and egg yolks also provide carotenoids.

source: upi.com

More than 650,000 in Britain had norovirus

More than 650,000 people in Britain have already suffered from norovirus -- the winter vomiting bug -- officials at the Health Protection Agency said.

Laboratory tests confirmed norovirus cases up to Dec. 2 were almost double compared to this time last year, but more sensitive testing might also boost the numbers, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Health officials said they didn't know why he norovirus season began early this year or if the poor summer weather might have been a factor.

Norovirus is highly contagious and can be transmitted by contact with an infected person; by eating or drinking contaminated food or water; or by contact with contaminated surfaces or objects, health officials said.

"Norovirus is a short-lived unpleasant infection but most people will fully recover in a couple of days. It is important to remain hydrated as you will be losing a lot of fluids due to the symptoms," Dr. Bob Adak, head of the gastrointestinal diseases department at the HPA told the Telegraph.

"The figures for the last two weeks show that there has been a reduction in the numbers of outbreaks in hospitals although there are clearly a lot of other people becoming unwell as we can see from the number of lab reports."

source: upi.com

U.S. influenza took sharp increase

There was a sharp spike in influenza for the week of Nov. 18 especially in the Southeast and parts of the Midwest, U.S. officials said.

A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said of 5,342 specimens tested, 15.2 percent were positive for influenza.

Five states experienced high influenza-like illness activity -- Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin -- two states experienced moderate influenza-like illness activity and four states experienced low influenza-like illness activity. New York City and 39 states experienced minimal -- hardly any -- influenza-like illness activity and the District of Columbia had insufficient data.

Flu vaccines are designed to protect against three influenza viruses that influenza experts predict will be the most common during the upcoming season. Three kinds of influenza viruses commonly circulate among people: influenza B viruses, influenza A (H1N1) viruses, and influenza A (H3N2) viruses. Each year, one flu virus of each kind is used to produce seasonal influenza vaccine.

The 2012-2013 influenza vaccine is made from the following three viruses:

-- An A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus.

-- An A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2)-like virus.

-- A B/Wisconsin/1/2010-like virus from the B/Yamagata lineage of viruses.

source: upi.com

Children most apt to outgrow egg allergy

Avoiding sweets such as pumpkin bread and cookies this holiday season might not be necessary for children with egg allergies, U.S. researchers say.

"More than half of egg allergic children can tolerate hen's eggs when they are baked at 350 degrees in products such as cakes and breads," Dr. Rushani Saltzman, an allergist at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the lead study author, said in a statement. "Dietary introduction of baked egg by an allergist can broaden a child's diet, improve quality of life and likely accelerate the development of an egg tolerance."

Saltzman said the median dose tolerated was two-fifths of a hen's egg baked at 350 degrees for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Dr. Ruchi Gupta of Children's Hospital of Chicago and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, the lead author of a separate study, found that of the eight common food allergens, children most commonly outgrew egg allergy.

"Food tolerance was observed in 1-in-4 children, with 55 percent outgrowing their egg allergy by age 7," Gupta said. "Developing an egg tolerance is the most common for children, followed by milk. A small proportion outgrew shellfish and tree nut allergies."

Dr. Richard Weber, an allergist who is president-elect of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, said children who have shown a severe reaction to eggs are less likely to outgrow the allergy. Severe symptoms include rapid swelling of the skin and tissue, difficulty breathing and life-threatening anaphylaxis, Weber said.

"While these studies show many positive findings for children with egg allergy, parents must practice caution," Weber said. "Introducing an allergen back into a child's diet can have severe consequences, and only should be done under the care of a board-certified allergist."

Both studies were presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology annual scientific meeting.

source: upi.com

Kidney transplants among Filipinos with diabetes rising

MANILA, Philippines – Kidney transplants among Filipinos afflicted with diabetes have been steadily rising the past 20 years, a leading Filipino urologist said.

Dr. Benjamin l. Mendoza, a US-trained urologist, noted that “most kidney transplants we are doing are those afflicted with diabetes.”

In the 1980s Filipinos afflicted with kidney disease was due to infection, inflammation and hypertension, but during the last two decades the culprit is diabetes.

”About 1,000 kidney transplants are being performed in the country per year during the past two decades and counting,” Dr. Mendoza told the Philippines News Agency in an interview.

”Fifty percent is attributed to diabetes and the other half is due to various illnesses,” Dr. Mendoza added.

To avoid diabetes, the best antidote is diet, regular exercise, including brisk walking for at least half an hour, and a regular medical check-up, particularly blood sugar or even urinalysis, Dr. Mendoza said.

”Drinking plenty of water is also good but intake of water must be done during the day. Drinking plenty of water at night is not advisable because one’s sleep is interrupted when one has to go to the rest room to urinate.”

”Early detection of diabetes is also a big advantage for a patient to enable him to control his blood sugar level,” he said.

Kidney transplant is very expensive, ranging from P1 million if you have a donor and P3 million or more if you have none, Dr. Mendoza said.

Dr. Mendoza holds clinic at the National Kidney Institute, St. Luke’s Medical Center, East Avenue Medical Center and other big hospitals in Metro Manila.

He said it is very expensive to have a kidney transplant.

”The cost is at least one million pesos that is if you have a donor and is more if you have none, running into P3 million,” Dr. Mendoza said.

However, he advised kidney patients to coordinate with kidney foundations found in some big hospitals like the National Kidney Institute.

”The foundation will help facilitate the finding of a donor,” he said.

Dr. Mendoza also said the donor will be taken cared of by the foundation, including livelihood and insurance.

The US-trained doctor warned “to avoid dealing with middlemen in kidney transplant because they are more expensive as their only motive is money.”

”You will be shortchanged,” Dr. Mendoza said.

A prospective donor will be screened thoroughly before he is considered donor, he said.

”We have to make sure that the would-be donor is not suffering from major illness,” he said.

Once a donor is found to be compatible with the patient’s kidney, the donor will undergo a surgery called open or laparoscopy wherein the incision is limited to a small portion of the stomach, Dr. Mendoza said.

It will take one to two weeks to screen a donor.

Dr. Mendoza also said that foreigners are coming to the country to undergo kidney transplant because the cost is much less.

“Filipino doctors are at par with the world’s best and our facilities are also comparable to the best in the world,” he said.

source: interaksyon.com

Vitamin D - plus calcium - tied to extra years

Older people who take vitamin D and calcium supplements may live a bit longer than their peers, according to an international review of several studies covering more than 70,000 people.

Researchers writing in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology found that older people who were given the supplements were 9 percent less likely to die over three years than those given placebo pills. Vitamin D alone had no impact on death rates.

A 9 percent dip in death risk over a three year period might sound small, but lead researcher Lars Rejnmark said that effect is "at least as pronounced" as the benefits linked to cholesterol-lowering statins and blood pressure drugs.

"In my view, a 9 percent reduced mortality in the general population of elderly is of major importance," Rejnmark, an associate professor at Aarhus University in Denmark, told Reuters Health by email.

"Except for stopping smoking, there are not many other known interventions that are capable (of) such a reduction in the risk of death."

Rejnmark and his colleagues combined the results from eight clinical trials that involved more than 70,000 older adults, mostly women.

In each trial, people were randomly assigned to take vitamin D or a placebo. Some studies used a combination of vitamin D and calcium.

The doses varied, but most trials used a daily vitamin D dose of 10 to 20 micrograms. In the United States, health officials suggest that most adults get 15 micrograms (or 600 IU) of vitamin D per day, while people older than 70 should aim to get 20 micrograms (or 800 IU).

In trials that used calcium, the dose was 1,000 milligrams per day. In general, women older than 50, and everyone over 70, are told to get 1,200 milligrams of calcium each day.

Vitamin D and calcium are probably best know as bone-builders. Older women often take the supplements to ward off the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis - and some trials have found that the supplement combination can prevent falls and bone fractures in the elderly.

But that probably does not explain the lower death risk in this study. When the researchers factored in hip and spine fractures, they did not account for the dip in death risk.

Another possibility is that supplements curbed people's risk of dying from cancer. Rejnmark said there's some evidence that calcium and vitamin D may lower the odds of colon cancer, but the evidence is not yet "firm".

For now, he said, the findings supported getting the recommended amounts of vitamin D and calcium.

Some members of Rejnmark's team had connections to supplement makers that market vitamin D and calcium products.

source: interaksyon.com