Health
COVID pandemic restrictions had 'alarming' impact on teenagers’ brains, new study finds
The pandemic’s negative effects on kids and teens — academically, socially and otherwise — have been shown in numerous studies, and now the latest long-term effect appears to be accelerated aging of young brains.
A team of researchers at the University of Washington studied 160 teens between the ages of 9 and 17. They had gathered data in 2018 for a different study on changes in brain structure during adolescence, but the COVID pandemic interrupted that research.
“Once the pandemic was underway, we started to think about which brain measures would allow us to estimate what the pandemic lockdown had done to the brain,” lead author Neva Corrigan, Ph.D., a research scientist at the University of Washington, said in a press release.
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“What did it mean for our teens to be at home rather than in their social groups — not at school, not playing sports, not hanging out?”
The researchers found that the pandemic caused teenage brains to age faster than normal.
The pandemic’s negative effects on kids’ and teens’ mental health have been shown in numerous studies. (iStock)
“The lifestyle changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns appear to have affected brain development during adolescence, causing the brain to mature much faster than is typical,” Corrigan told Fox News Digital via email.
“This accelerated maturation was more widespread throughout the brain, and larger in magnitude, for females as compared to males.”
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On average, the young females’ brains aged 4.2 years faster than normal, and male brains were accelerated by 1.4 years.
Thirty regions in the female brain showed accelerated aging, compared to only two regions in the male brain, researchers found.
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Sept. 9.
The researchers found that the pandemic caused teenage brains to age faster than normal. (iStock)
The researchers believe that the accelerated brain aging was due to the stress associated with the restrictive measures taken to curb COVID’s spread, Corrigan said.
“Accelerated development of the cerebral cortex during development has been well-established by previous research to be associated with chronic stress,” she noted.
Recommendations to parents
This study highlights the fact that teenagers’ brains are highly vulnerable to stressors in their environment, according to Corrigan.
“We recommend that parents of children who were teens during the pandemic stay connected to their teens, and also look out for signs of depression and anxiety, as accelerated cortical thinning increases the risk of developing these and other neuropsychiatric disorders,” she advised.
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“We also think parents should be aware that their teens’ social lives are very important to their brain development, and [they should] encourage healthy activities with peers.”
While these findings “seem alarming,” Corrigan said, it’s not known whether the accelerated aging will have long-term effects on continued brain development throughout the teens’ lives.
“It is not clear whether the cerebral cortex of these teens that showed accelerated maturation will return to a thickness that is more appropriate for their age with time, or whether these effects are permanent,” she told Fox News Digital.
It’s not known whether the accelerated aging will have long-term effects on continued brain development throughout the teens’ lives, a researcher noted. (iStock)
She also pointed out that “cortical thinning” is a natural process in aging and can actually allow the brain to function more efficiently.
“It is not clear that all the consequences of accelerated maturation are negative,” Corrigan added.
Potential limitations
The researchers acknowledged several limitations of the study, the first being its smaller sample size.
“Although we collected data from 160 teens prior to the lockdowns, and 130 teens after the lockdowns ended, larger samples are always better when conducting research,” Corrigan told Fox News Digital.
“What did it mean for our teens to be at home rather than in their social groups — not at school, not playing sports, not hanging out?”
“Also, since the study was not initially designed for the effects of the COVID pandemic, we did not collect the type of behavioral measures that would have allowed us to determine what exact lifestyle disruptions or stressors associated with the lockdowns might have been the greatest contributors to the stress experienced by the teens,” she said.
The researchers also only studied a limited age range, so they couldn’t determine whether the findings apply to other ages.
On average, the young females’ brains aged 4.2 years faster than normal, and male brains were accelerated by 1.4 years. (iStock)
“Finally, we do not know whether contraction of the COVID-19 virus itself may have contributed to these findings, although in the community from which our study sample was derived, we found no reports of a sex disparity in the contraction of the virus,” Corrigan said.
‘Downrange effects’
Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurologist, was not involved in the study, but commented on the “detrimental consequences” of pandemic-related stress for teens.
“We recommend that parents of children who were teens during the pandemic stay connected to their teens, and also look out for signs of depression and anxiety,” a researcher said. (iStock)
“High levels of stress, often associated with elevated cortisol, can wreak havoc on the brain,” he told Fox News Digital.
Cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone, is typically released by the adrenal glands during acute stress, Osborn explained, but it can become harmful when present at high levels for prolonged periods.
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“This chronic elevation is particularly damaging to brain structures like the hippocampus (the region associated with memory) and the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for higher-level cognitive functions like decision-making and social behavior.”
“While the pandemic is over, this is not the end.”
Long-term exposure to high cortisol levels can negatively impact memory, emotional regulation, impulse control, focus and concentration, according to Osborn.
“Over time, these changes may predispose individuals to mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, which are already known to be exacerbated by high cortisol levels,” he added.
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Overall, Osborn said, the study sheds light on “yet another downrange effect” of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The doctor added, “While the pandemic is over, this is not the end.”
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A new injectable therapy is showing positive results in reducing melanoma throughout a five-year period.
The personalized mRNA cancer therapy, called intismeran autogene, combined with the cancer immunotherapy drug KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), is a collaboration between Merck and Moderna.
The results from the phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 27.
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After about a five-year follow-up, the combo drug was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone.
The researchers analyzed data from 157 patients with high-risk stage 3 and 4 melanoma whose cancer had been removed via surgery. The participants were split into two groups — one received the combo therapy and the other only received pembrolizumab, according to a press release.
The therapy was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone after a five-year follow-up. (iStock)
The findings revealed that the combination group saw benefits that were “sustained and durable over time.”
Intismeran autogene is designed using mutations identified in a patient’s own tumor, with the intention of teaching the immune system what the cancer looks like so that it can recognize and attack it.
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According to the researchers, intismeran is “well-tolerated” with a “manageable” safety profile.
The most commonly cited side effects of the personalized mRNA vaccine plus KEYTRUDA were fatigue, injection-site pain, chills, fever and headache. The researchers reported no new long-term safety concerns and no severe vaccine-related adverse events.
The combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study — the final confirmation stage.
Patients with late-stage melanoma have a “significant risk” of cancer recurrence, according to an expert. (iStock)
In a Merck press release from January, Kyle Holen, MD, Moderna’s senior vice president and head of development, oncology and therapeutics, noted that this data highlights the “potential of a prolonged benefit … in patients with resected high-risk melanoma.”
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“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care,” he said.
Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology, global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, also commented that for many patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma, there is a “significant risk of recurrence following surgery.”
Researchers confirmed that the combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study. (iStock)
“As such, demonstrating the longer-term potential of intismeran autogene and KEYTRUDA to reduce the risk of recurrence for certain patients with melanoma is a meaningful milestone,” she said.
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The company cited encouraging five-year follow-up data and pointed to upcoming late-stage INTerpath trial results with Moderna in several hard-to-treat cancers.
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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