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Subscribe to Second Opinion for a weekly roundup of health and medical science news. Omicron has completely changed what we thought we knew about COVID-19 — given how quickly it develops in the body, causes symptoms to emerge and infects others — meaning the tools we have to try to contain it are no longer as effective.

Key Takeaways The primary outcome was the rate of seropositivity after 2 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine with rates of seropositivity after 1 dose, rates of positive neutralizing antibody (nAb), cellular responses and adverse events as secondary outcomes. Two thirds of patients (67%) with hematological malignancies were seropositive after 2 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The 24-hour news cycle is just as important to medicine as it is to politics, finance, or sports. At MedPage Today, new information is posted daily, but keeping up can be a challenge. As an aid for our readers, here is a 10-question quiz based on the news of the week. Topics include this year’s

If you’re one of those who said “weight loss” will be part of their New Year’s Resolutions for 2022, chances are, running is one of the exercises you’re considering to include in your 2022 fitness routine. In general, any type of movement is already better than sitting for hours, so taking it up a notch by hitting the

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The US Supreme Court appeared to agree Friday with the federal government that it is within its rights to require that healthcare facilities that accept Medicare or Medicaid dollars vaccinate workers against COVID-19, but justices seemed more skeptical that the government

One of the first studies to track whether COVID-19 vaccination might affect menstrual cycles found a small and temporary change. Research published Wednesday tracked nearly 4,000 U.S. women through six menstrual cycles and on average, the next period after a shot started about a day later than usual. But there was no change in the

Among antiseizure medications (ASMs) used as monotherapy in poststroke epilepsy (PSE), lamotrigine is associated with the lowest risk for mortality and valproic acid is associated with the highest risk, new research suggests. Investigators assessed more than 2500 patients, most in their late seventies, using carbamazepine as a comparator. Results showed that valproic acid, phenytoin, and

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices had sharp questions for both sides Friday during oral arguments in two sets of cases involving federal vaccine mandates. “Why isn’t this necessary to abate a grave risk?” Justice Elena Kagan asked Scott Keller, an attorney representing the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a plaintiff in the lawsuit seeking

There is fear that COVID-19 vaccination could mess up a woman’s menstrual cycle, but a new study is clearing that up with its “reassuring” findings on how the biological preparations tend to affect periods.   Researchers reported Wednesday that they found only a small and temporary change in the menstrual cycle of women who got jabbed

In 2014, when the Food and Drug Administration found serious problems with a life-sustaining heart pump, its warning letter to the manufacturer threatened to notify other federal health agencies about the inspection’s findings. But for years, no such alert ever went out. Instead, the agency added the warning letter to an online database alongside thousands

The more infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19 appears to produce less severe disease than the globally dominant Delta strain, but should not be categorized as “mild,” World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Thursday. Janet Diaz, WHO lead on clinical management, said early studies showed there was a reduced risk of hospitalization from the variant

The number of individuals over 40 with dementia will nearly triple worldwide and double in the United States by 2050 unless steps are taken to address risk factors, new research suggests. Results from a study of 195 countries and territories estimates that by 2050, 153 million people are expected to have dementia worldwide — up

[embedded content] Mikhail Varshavski, DO, who goes by “Doctor Mike” on social media, is a board-certified family medicine physician at the Atlantic Health System’s Overlook Medical Center in Summit, New Jersey. In this video, Varshavski recounts the story of a patient who came to him after being misdiagnosed by other doctors due to fat-bias. Following

The damage to the heart caused by a myocardial infarction is not just a result of ischemia caused by the blocked artery but is also brought about by bleeding in the myocardium after the artery has been opened, a new study suggests. This observation is leading to new approaches to limiting infarct size and treating

Pediatric hospitals across Ontario are urging pregnant people to get vaccinated because they’re seeing an increase in infants hospitalized with COVID-19. Since mid-December, CHEO, eastern Ontario’s children’s hospital in Ottawa, and Hamilton’s McMaster Children’s Hospital have admitted a total of six babies under the age of 12 months with the virus.  “Previous to that, it was

Preschoolers who experienced community-acquired pneumonia in infancy were significantly more likely than those with no history of pneumonia to develop chronic respiratory disorders, based on data from approximately 7000 individuals. “Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) during the first years of life cause injury to the rapidly developing lung at its most critical stage,” wrote Rotem

With 2022 now upon us, that means planning for the year ahead. Whether you made a resolution, set an intention, or are just trying to get through your to-do list this week, we all have objectives and goals. Below, you’ll find what members of The Lab — our new advisory board of early-career healthcare professionals

There is mounting evidence that people who contracted COVID-19 and recovered developed antibodies that could attack their organs and tissues in the long run.  Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center recently reported that a SARS-CoV-2 infection could trigger an immune response involving self-attacking antibodies that could last months after the initial infection and recovery.  Autoantibody Reactivity For

Adjunctive treatment with the novel oral medication REL-1017 (esmethadone) is effective in adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) who have failed other antidepressants, new research suggests. REL-1017, from Relmada Therapeutics, is a novel N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) channel blocker that preferentially targets hyperactive channels while maintaining physiologic glutamatergic neurotransmission. Results from a phase 2a study showed

COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy was not associated with preterm delivery or underweight newborns, according to a study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday. The rate of preterm birth was roughly five per cent among more than 10,000 women who received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to seven

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. People who have had prior SARS-CoV-2 infection report significantly more symptoms of cognitive dysfunction and specifically executive dysfunction than people in the general population with no such infection, according to new data published on the preprint server medRxiv. Researchers, led by

You used to come to us struggling to breathe and begging for our help, and while we stood over you preparing for intubation, we would feel all the feels while looking into eyes that we knew might never open again. We would break down and cry while telling your family that you didn’t make it