Health

The long-term COVID concern for immune compromised Americans: ‘I’m at risk’

Published

3 years ago

March 12, 2022

The long-term COVID concern for immune compromised Americans: ‘I’m at risk’

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CLEVELAND, Ohio – As pandemic restrictions are lifted throughout the U.S., tens of millions of immunocompromised People really feel they’re in limbo, uncertain about how protected they are surely.

It is estimated that 7 million People — 2.7% of the inhabitants — are immunocompromised, although they make up between 40-44% of great breakthrough COVID infections, in keeping with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. Folks with organ transplants, most cancers, HIV, autoimmune ailments and different immunity-compromising situations are thought of at better danger.

The CDC estimates no less than 7 million People — 2.7% of the inhabitants — are immunocompromised, although they make up between 40-44% of great breakthrough infections.
(Cleveland Clinic)

Mike Olsen, a lung transplant recipient, instructed Fox Information he continues to dwell life on excessive alert due to his weakened immune system.

“Folks can nonetheless unfold the virus to somebody like me, who’s immune suppressed. They don’t understand they will,” Olsen mentioned. “After they take off their masks that places me in a predicament the place I’ve to be extra further cautious now in public.”

COVID LOCKDOWNS MAY BE ENDING, BUT WE ARE FOREVER CHANGED

Vaccines would ordinarily cut back the chance of an infection and extreme sickness, however many immunocompromised individuals barely reply to the COVID photographs, in keeping with Dr. Abhijit Duggal, a pulmonary medication specialist on the Cleveland Clinic. Some individuals with autoimmune problems can’t be totally vaccinated as a result of their preliminary doses led to extreme flare-ups of their regular signs.

“They’ve a better danger of getting sick sufficient to come back to the hospital extra usually, needing the ICU extra usually,” Duggal mentioned. “I do know it’s troublesome two years into the pandemic. However as a result of we’re uncertain concerning the danger for these populations, we must be aware that we defend them.”

Vaccines should substantially slash the risk of infection, but many immunocompromised people barely respond to the vaccination.

Vaccines ought to considerably slash the chance of an infection, however many immunocompromised individuals barely reply to the vaccination.
(Stephen Goin)

Feeling unprotected, a number of of Duggal’s sufferers have lived way more remoted lives throughout the pandemic than most individuals, Duggal instructed Fox Information.

SOME DEMOCRATIC GOVERNORS CALL FOR COVID-19 EMERGENCY DECLARATION EXTENSION; OTHER LEADERS MOVE TO LIFT ORDERS

New immune therapies may provide hope to the immune compromised. Evusheld, a two-antibody cocktail from AstraZeneca, can cut back the chance of creating COVID. And whereas it’s much less efficient towards COVID’S omicron variant, it’s nonetheless protecting. The FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the cocktail to stop infections in immunocompromised individuals.

Nonetheless, these medication are briefly provide. The federal government has ordered just one.7 million doses of Evusheld and distributed 400,000. The U.S. has no less than 7 million immunocompromised adults.

Health

Diabetes, heart disease cases skyrocket — and scientists pinpoint one key reason

Published

30 minutes ago

January 10, 2025

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Diabetes, heart disease cases skyrocket — and scientists pinpoint one key reason

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Millions of new cases of diabetes and heart disease every year are caused by sugary drinks, according to newly published research.

Tufts University in Boston led the study, which found that about 2.2 million new diagnoses of type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease were attributed to sugar-sweetened sodas and juices each year, according to a press release.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine this week.

HEART ATTACK RISK COULD RISE WITH ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER CONSUMPTION, STUDY FINDS

The highest rates were found in Colombia, where 48% of new diabetes cases were linked to sugary drinks, and in Mexico, where nearly a third of cases were attributed to them.

Meanwhile, in Latin America, more than 24% of new diabetes cases were linked to sugary beverages, and 21% in sub-Saharan Africa, the study found.

About 2.2 million new cases of type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease occur each year worldwide due to consuming sugar-sweetened soda and juices, according to the findings of a new study. (iStock)

In South Africa, 27.6% of new diabetes cases and 14.6% of cardiovascular disease cases were attributed to sugary drinks.

Sugary drinks are rapidly digested, causing a spike in blood sugar levels with little nutritional value.

Sugary drinks cause blood sugar to spike because they are “rapidly digested,” the research team said.

When consumed on a long-term basis, these types of beverages, in addition to increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, can also lead to weight gain and insulin resistance, the researchers added.

Caffeinated drinks like soda, iced tea, coffee and juice

Men are more likely than women to suffer the consequences of sugary drink consumption, as are younger adults compared to their older counterparts, a new study asserts. (iStock)

Professor Dariush Mozaffarian, the study’s senior author, said in a university press release, “Sugar-sweetened beverages are heavily marketed and sold in low- and middle-income nations.”

He added, “Not only are these communities consuming harmful products, but they are also often less well-equipped to deal with the long-term health consequences.”

FRIENDS, FAMILY MAY PROTECT AGAINST HEART ATTACK, STROKE AND TYPE 2 DIABETES, STUDY SUGGESTS

Certain groups are more likely to experience negative health effects from sugary drinks, including men and younger adults, the researchers noted, as news agency SWNS also noted.

New Jersey-based registered dietitian Erin Palinski-Wade, who was not involved in the research, said the findings were to be expected, as diets rich in added sugars are more likely to increase the risk of chronic health conditions, including type 2 diabetes.

When consumed on a long-term basis, these types of beverages can also lead to weight gain and insulin resistance, experts say. (iStock)

“Sugar-sweetened beverages are a major cause of added sugar in the diet and easy to overconsume, as they provide little fullness,” she told Fox News Digital.

“The high calorie content and lack of satisfaction due to little protein, fat or fiber in these drinks can lead to excess calorie consumption, which can lead to weight gain — especially gains in visceral fat (belly fat), which has been found to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes,” she went on.

“Sugar-sweetened beverages are easy to overconsume, as they provide little fullness.”

Palinski-Wade pointed out that there were some limitations to the new research.

“This was an observational study, not a causation study, and shows only an association between diets containing sugar-sweetened beverages and diabetes,” she noted.

“It does not prove that those drinks alone trigger an onset of type 2 diabetes.”

What needs to change?

To remedy the issue, the study authors called for a “multi-pronged approach,” including public health campaigns, regulations on advertising and taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, the release stated.

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“We need urgent, evidence-based interventions to curb consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages globally, before even more lives are shortened by their effects on diabetes and heart disease,” first author Laura Lara-Castor, now at the University of Washington, said in the release.

Approximately 65% of adults in the U.S. consume sugar-sweetened beverages daily. (iStock)

Mexico implemented a sugary drinks tax in 2014, which has shown to be effective in reducing consumption, the researchers stated.

“Much more needs to be done, especially in countries in Latin America and Africa, where consumption is high and the health consequences severe,” wrote Mozaffarian.

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“As a species, we need to address sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.”

Many different factors are involved in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, Palinski-Wade noted.

“As a species, we need to address sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.”

“However, reducing your intake of sugar-sweetened beverages can go a long way toward improving overall blood sugar regulation and future health.”

The new research was supported by the Gates Foundation, the American Heart Association and Mexico’s National Council for Science and Technology.

Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for further comment.

Health

CDC monitoring possible spike of HMPV cases in China

Published

9 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

CDC monitoring possible spike of HMPV cases in China

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is closely monitoring reports of a spike in human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in China.

HMPV, which was discovered in 2001, is common but underdiagnosed due to its similarities to the common cold, according to the CDC.

Cases of the virus in the United States are at “pre-pandemic” levels and are not “a cause for concern” at the moment, but there is a large spike in northern China, especially in children 14 and under, according to media reports in Beijing.

BIRD FLU UPTICK IN US HAS CDC ON ALERT FOR PANDEMIC ‘RED FLAGS’: REPORT

Chinese government officials said the reported spike coincides with seasonal illness and seems to be less severe than in other years.

The CDC says cases of the virus are at “pre-pandemic” levels in the U.S. and are “not currently a cause for concern.” (CDC)

“Respiratory infections tend to peak during the winter season,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Dr. Eileen Schneider, a medical epidemiologist in the CDC’s Division of Viral Diseases, said HMPV is “associated with approximately 20,000 hospitalizations among children younger than 5 years.”

AT HOME ‘MEDICINE BALL’ TEA, SOOTHING AND WARM, COULD HELP KICK A COLD

The virus can also be a cause for concern in “older adults and immunocompromised patients.”

HMPV has symptoms similar to the flu and other respiratory viruses. (iStock)

Schneider said HMPV presentation is usually mild and can include respiratory symptoms such as cough, fever and nasal congestion.

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“The symptoms are often clinically indistinguishable from infection with other common respiratory viruses, such as flu and respiratory syncytial virus,” she said.

An art teacher paints a poster to raise awareness against the spread of the HMPV virus in Mumbai, India, on Jan. 6, 2025. (Indranil Aditya/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

There is no vaccine or cure for the virus at this time, the CDC said.

But the infection typically does improve with resting, drinking fluids and over-the-counter medication.

Health

‘Approaching the Light’: Peter Fenwick and Stories of Near-Death Experiences

Published

16 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

‘Approaching the Light’: Peter Fenwick and Stories of Near-Death Experiences

I didn’t fully understand the limits of my body until this past June, when I fell down my fire escape and floated outside myself in a near-death experience, much like the ones Peter Fenwick — a psychiatrist who researched end-of-life phenomena — documented over the course of his career. (Dr. Fenwick died on Nov. 22 at 89.)

I was at my own housewarming party, standing on the fire escape with two friends, when I fell, tumbling around 12 feet and hitting my head. I lost consciousness for several minutes.

As my friends tell it, the paramedics arrived quickly, detached the screen from a window on the second floor and hauled me downstairs in a stretcher. As they loaded me into the ambulance, I rose above myself and watched the fanfare: the concerned neighbors stepping into the street; the pale pink of sunset; my own body, small and far away in the stretcher as my roommate held my palm and my friend held my ankle. Their touch snapped me back into consciousness. I immediately felt pain and begged for water.

It wasn’t the first time I’d had what felt like an out-of-body experience. When I was a teenager, I became fascinated by astral projection — intentional out-of-body travel — and began to put it into practice at night. One evening, I hurtled toward the ceiling and watched myself sleep. A line tugged out from my sternum to my belly button. It resembled an umbilical cord: silver and long as a rope.

I had a similar sensation after my fall, albeit without the cord. The doctors diagnosed a severe concussion, and I spent the next three weeks recovering in my new home. At first, I struggled to derive meaning from my sudden proximity to death. Then I thought about fragility — and the thousands of minute ways humans evade death every day without knowing it — and my experience concretized into a newfound appreciation of our bodies’ capacity for self-preservation and a diminished fear of death.

I was reminded of my near-death experience when I learned that The New York Times, where I work, would be publishing Dr. Fenwick’s obituary.

His 1995 book, “The Truth in the Light,” which he wrote with his wife, Elizabeth, included anecdotes from more than 300 people who recounted having near-death experiences — which he categorized with labels like “out of the body,” “approaching the light,” “meeting relatives” and “the life review.” Below are some of the stories he collected.

Meeting Relatives

In 1987, Dawn Gillott was in a hospital in England with microplasma pneumonia and undergoing emergency surgery in the intensive therapy unit when she suddenly felt herself floating above her body and through a tunnel, where she came upon an open field.

There was a bench seat on the right where my Grampi sat (he had been dead seven years). I sat next to him. He asked me how I was and the family. I said I was happy and content and all my family were fine.
He said he was worried about my son; my son needed his mother. I told Grampi I didn’t want to go back, I wanted to stay with him. But Grampi insisted I go back for my children’s sake. I then asked if he would come for me when my time came. He started to answer, “Yes, I will be back in four —” then my whole body seemed to jump. I look around and saw I was back in the I.T.U.
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Approaching the Light

Avon Pailthorpe was driving on a dark, rainy day in 1986 when her car aquaplaned and she went into a spin. She then felt herself shooting, head first, into a tunnel.

As the tunnel began to lighten, there were presences. They were not people and I didn’t see anything but I was aware of their minds. They were debating whether I should go back. This is what made me so safe; I knew that I had absolutely no responsibility to make any decision. This is an almost unknown situation for me, and it was wonderfully liberating. I also knew I could not influence what decision they made, but that whatever it should be it would be right.

The Life Review

Allan Pring was given anesthesia while undergoing minor surgery in 1979 and quickly lost consciousness.

I experienced the review of my life which extended from early childhood and included many occurrences that I had completely forgotten. My life passed before me in a momentary flash but it was entire, even my thoughts were included. Some of the contents caused me to be ashamed but there were one or two I had forgotten about of which I felt quite pleased. All in all, I knew that I could have lived a much better life but it could have been a lot worse.

Amisha Padnani contributed research.