Research Roundup: The Latest Science, Discoveries, And Breakthroughs
Each week, KFF Health News compiles a selection of the latest health research and news.
ScienceDaily:
Genetic Evidence Confirms Early Puberty Accelerates Aging And Disease
Researchers discovered that early puberty or childbirth doubles women’s risk for major diseases and accelerates aging, while later timing offers protective benefits. Genetic analysis reveals evolutionary tradeoffs, where reproductive advantages early in life create health burdens later. (Buck Institute for Research on Aging, 8/20)
CIDRAP:
COVID Reinfection May Raise Risk Of Persistent Symptoms By 35%
US adults reinfected with SARS-CoV-2 may be at a 35% greater risk for long COVID than those with one-time infections, a team led by the independent research institute RTI International posted last week on the preprint server medRxiv. (Van Beusekom, 8/18)
MedPage Today:
Vascular Aging May Explain Long COVID's Predominance In Women
COVID-19 infection was associated with accelerated aging of blood vessels, especially in women, the CARTESIAN study showed. In an international cohort of patients recruited from 2020 to 2022, COVID-negative controls showed an adjusted mean carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) of 7.53 m/s, while COVID-positive patients had significantly higher PWV ... -- higher measurements of PWV translate to stiffer blood vessels and greater vascular age. (Lou, 8/17)
MedPage Today:
Letting Any Leaky Watchman LAA Implants Slide Linked To Stroke Risk
Any leakage around a percutaneous left atrial appendage (LAA) implant, no matter how small, predicted strokes and other thrombotic events after the procedure, according to a retrospective study. In the Japanese multicenter registry, detectable leaks at Watchman device implantation were linked with a significant increase in risk of transient ischemic attack, ischemic stroke, or systemic embolism within 2 years of LAA closure (adjusted subdistribution HR [sHR] 4.25, 95% CI 1.91-9.44). (Lou, 8/18)
CIDRAP:
Novel Live Type 1 And 3 Oral Polio Vaccines Show Good Safety, Immune Response In Phase 1 Trial
Results of a phase 1 randomized controlled trial show that the novel live attenuated type 1 and 3 oral polio vaccines (nOPV1 and nOPV3) have a favorable safety profile and produce a comparable immune response and viral-shedding profile as the homotypic monovalent (single-strain) Sabin-strain oral vaccines (mOPVs). (Van Beusekom, 8/14)
