Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Research Roundup: Covid; PTSD; Cancer Surgery; Male Infertility
A fourth dose of an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine produces a good antibody response in half of kidney transplant recipients who did not respond adequately after three doses, according to a study involving 92 transplant patients yesterday in Annals of Internal Medicine. (1/11)
Israeli healthcare workers who received a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine had significantly lower rates of infection in the next 39 days, according to a single-center study yesterday in JAMA. (Van Beusekom, 1/11)
In other research —
Scientists have shown in both anxious rats and military veterans with PTSD that acute stress is associated with increased myelination of axons in areas of the brain associated with memory and emotions. These areas in the brain's gray matter are normally only lightly myelinated. Since myelin speeds communication in the brain, the increased myelination may be making some neural circuits hyperresponsive to memories of trauma. (University of California - Berkeley, 1/7)
The surgery department at Gainesville, Fla.-based UF Health has successfully performed its first cytoreductive surgery and heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy to treat abdominal cancer. The procedure, known as CRS/HIPEC, involves the surgical removal of tumors, followed by chemotherapy administered directly to the abdominal cavity to clear out remaining cancer cells, the academic health system said Jan. 10. The chemotherapy solution is heated, which makes the tumors more permeable and responsive to treatment. The health system said the patient has recovered well. (Carbajal, 1/11)
Scientists at Newcastle University have identified a new genetic mechanism that can cause severe forms of male infertility. The study, published today in Nature Communications, shows that new mutations, not inherited from father or mother, play a major role in this medical condition. Experts have found that mutations occurring during the reproduction process, when the DNA of both parents is replicated, can result in infertility in men later in life. (Newcastle University. 1/10)
