As countries like the United States and United Kingdom inoculate their residents with never-before used vaccine technology, others, including Russia, China, and India, are investing in more traditional approaches, like inactivated coronavirus vaccines. But no matter the technique, together they have the potential to create multiple lines of defense against SARS-CoV-2. Science senior correspondent Jon Cohen explains how each of these vaccines can protect us from severe illness—and what understanding the details of our immune responses could mean for the future of human trials.
Category Archives: Medicine
Heart Disease: Types & Risk Factors (Cleveland Clinic)
There are lots of things you can do to prevent heart disease! The key is to live a healthy lifestyle and see your doctor for regular checkups.
To learn more about heart disease risk factors, please visit https://cle.clinic/3r3iKQh
Covid-19 Variants: ‘What You Need To Know’ (Video)
Analysis: ‘Preventing The Next Pandemic’ – Bill Gates
The unfortunate reality is that COVID-19 might not be the last pandemic. The threat of the next pandemic will always be hanging over our heads—unless the world takes steps to prevent it. You can learn more about this topic in our 2021 Annual Letter at http://gatesnot.es/3a5KOLU
Digital Health: The Future Of Wearable Devices
Currently, smartwatches provide information such as heart rate, sleep time and activity patterns. In the future, this could be augmented with new classes of wearable devices that monitor, for example, concentrations of cortisol for tracking stress (using electronic epidermal tattoos), biomarkers of inflammation and levels of blood O2 (microneedle patches), skin temperature (electronic textiles), blood pressure (smart rings), concentration of ions (wristbands), intraocular pressure (smart contact lenses), the presence of airborne pathogens and breathing anomalies (face masks), and the concentration of therapeutic drugs (on-teeth sensors)2,10,12,13,14,15,16. Such emerging low-cost wearable sensing technologies, monitoring both physical parameters and biochemical markers, could be used to identify symptomatic and pre-symptomatic cases in future pandemics. The devices could also be used to remotely monitor the recovery of individuals undergoing treatment or self-isolating at home.
Covid19 Infographic: How ‘NFL Safety Protocols’ Reduced Spread Of Virus
Covid-19 Infographics: ‘Why Vaccines Alone Will Not End The Pandemic’
Medical Views: ‘Macular Degeneration Research’
Macular degeneration is a leading cause of visual impairment in people over 65 and can lead to blindness. One in three people will eventually suffer some degree of macular degeneration, which is caused by abnormal blood vessels under the retina, the light-sensitive part of the eye. We treat both the more common “dry” as well as the more dangerous “wet” forms of macular degeneration. While there is currently no cure for this disease, we offer the latest treatments to reduce the risk of vision loss and blindness. These include anti-VEGF drugs—which attack proteins that create the abnormal blood vessels that cause macular degeneration—and photodynamic therapy, in which patients ingest medication that is then activated with a laser.
Analysis: ‘Health Care Reform In The Biden Era’
President Biden has released a health care plan that proposes reducing the age of eligibility for Medicare to 60 years and introducing a public option. Larry Levitt, MPP, Executive Vice President for Health Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Karen Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH, Co-Director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy (CHEP) at @Washington University School of Medicine, and Lawrence O. Gostin, JD from the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University discuss prospects for health care reform under the new administration.
Boomers Daily 