8 in 10 COVID-19 patients suffer neurological symptoms, study finds

More than 80 percent of patients with COVID-19 reported symptoms including muscle pain, headaches, dizziness, encephalopathy and "brain fog," a new study found. Photo by Chokniti Khongchum from Pixabay


As President Donald Trump battles the coronavirus, researchers reveal concerning new findings: Neurological symptoms occur in 8 of 10 hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

These symptoms include muscle pain, headaches, dizziness, encephalopathy and "brain fog."

"Encephalopathy, which is characterized by altered mental function ranging from mild confusion to coma, is the most severe neurologic manifestation of COVID-19," said study co-author Dr. Igor Koralnik. He oversees the Neuro COVID-19 Clinic at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

It's not known whether Trump is suffering from any of these neurological problems. He was admitted Friday to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., for treatment of COVID-19. Meanwhile, First Lady Melania Trump and a number of senior U.S. officials have also tested positive for the new coronavirus.

For this new study, the researchers analyzed the charts of more than 500 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 within the Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine health system. The investigators identified neurological symptoms in 42% of patients when their COVID-19 symptoms surfaced, 63% of patients when hospitalized, and 82% of patients at any time during the course of COVID-19.

Many patients reported muscle pain -- 45% -- and headaches -- 38%. Encephalopathy and dizziness were seen in almost one-third of patients. The study also found 16% had taste disorders and 11% had smell disorders.

After discharge from the hospital, only 32% of patients with encephalopathy were able to care for their own affairs, compared to 89% of those who didn't develop encephalopathy, the findings showed.

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Also, the death rate in patients with encephalopathy was much higher -- about 22% -- than in those without encephalopathy -- 3% -- according to the study.

"We are now looking to characterize the long-term neurologic effects of COVID-19 and the cognitive outcomes in patients with COVID-19-associated encephalopathy," Koralnik said in a hospital news release. He is chief of neuro-infectious diseases and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine.

"We're studying this in patients who are discharged from the hospital, as well as in COVID-19 'long-haulers,' who have never been hospitalized but also suffer from a similar range of neurological problems, including brain fog," he added.

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The report was published Oct. 5 in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. The findings will help shape long-term care for people who suffer from neurological complications of COVID-19, Koralnik said.

"Patients and clinicians need to be aware of the high frequency of neurologic manifestations of COVID-19 and the severity of altered mental function associated with this disease," he noted.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on COVID-19.

Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

7 in 10 appendicitis patients treated with antibiotics avoid surgery

Researchers say that antibiotics are as good an option for appendicitis as surgery -- 7 in 10 patients avoid surgery -- based a new study. Photo by Sasint/Pixabay

Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Antibiotics and surgery are both good options for treating appendicitis, according to a study published Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine that found 7 in 10 patients treated with the drugs ultimately avoid surgery.

"About three in 10 patients in the antibiotic group ultimately underwent an appendectomy within 90 days," study co-principal investigator Dr. David Flum said in a statement.

"There were advantages and disadvantages to each treatment, and patients will value these differently based on their unique characteristics, concerns, and perspectives," said Flum, professor and associated chair of surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

The Comparison of the Outcomes of antibiotic Drugs and Appendectomy is the largest study to date comparing antibiotics for appendicitis to appendectomy, which is a surgery to remove the appendix, researchers said.

The goal of the study is to help nearly 300,000 people who visit the hospital each year for appendicitis-related issues choose the treatment that would be best for them with support from the evidence in the study.

Inflammation of the appendix, usually occurring in the teens or 20s, is the most common cause of acute abdominal pain requiring surgery though some mild cases are treated with antibiotics alone.

The study involved 1,552 participants from 25 sites across 14 states, researchers said. One month after treatment, participants rated their general health as about the same in both groups.

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In the antibiotics group, about 71% did not have surgery within three months, and participants in the antibiotic group missed missed about 3 1/2 fewer days of work.

However, more participants in the antibiotics group needed to visit an emergency room or urgent care clinic within three months, 9%, compared with the surgery group, at 4%.

When surgery is successful, the appendix is fully removed, but with the antibiotics, appendicitis can come back and researchers said they will determine how often that happens in follow-up reports.

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For every 100 participants in the antibiotics group, there were about eight unexpected problems. By comparison, in the surgery group, there were about four such problems.

The higher rate of problems in the antibiotics group was related to participants with an appendicolith, which is a calcified deposit within the appendix. These participants had a higher rate of having surgery within three months at 41% compared to the overall group rate for participants using antibiotics of 29%.

Study: Cow's milk doubles babies' risk for asthma compared with breastfeeding

Infants who have breast milk supplemented with cow's milk-based formula are at higher risk for asthma, a study indicated. Photo by lgrodela/Pixabay

Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Infants who receive cow's milk-based formula in addition to breast milk are nearly twice as likely to develop asthma or recurrent wheeze, according to a study published Friday by JAMA Network Open.

Among infants who received milk formula as a supplement to breastfeeding from birth to 5 months, 18% developed asthma or recurrent wheezing, the data showed.

Conversely, only 10% of the infants who were breastfed only -- as well as those who received breast milk plus amino acid-based elemental formula -- during their first few months of life experienced these breathing issues, the researchers said.

"Breastfeeding with or without elemental formula for the first three days or more of life appeared to decrease the risk of asthma or recurrent wheeze in young children compared with breastfeeding plus a small amount of cow's milk formula from the first day of life," wrote the researchers from Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo.

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization both recommend breastfeeding babies for at least six months after birth.

However, not all women are able to breastfeed for a variety of reasons and, in these cases, iron-fortified formulas are recommended.

For this study, researchers followed the health of 302 infants through their respective second birthdays.

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Of the 151 who received no cow's milk-based formula, 15 -- or 10% -- developed asthma or recurrent wheeze, compared with 27 -- or 18% -- of those who did take cow's milk, the data showed.

Among babies with above-average vitamin D levels at age 5 months, asthma or recurrent wheeze developed in 25% of those who received cow's milk compared with 6% of those who didn't, the researchers said.

Although the researchers did not explore why these differences occurred, they suggest that human breast milk may contain certain chemicals and nutrients that bolster the immune system and gut bacteria of babies.

"However, these mechanisms remain essentially unknown and further research is necessary," they wrote.

Turmeric may ease pain of arthritis, clinical trial suggests
By Amy Norton, HealthDay News

It's a must for any good curry, and a new clinical trial suggests that turmeric might ease arthritis pain, too.

Researchers found that an extract of the spice turmeric worked better than a placebo in easing pain from knee arthritis over three months. The treatment was not a home run -- but the pain relief was a bit better than past studies have found with standard medication.

It all suggests that turmeric "can be considered an option" for knee osteoarthritis, said senior researcher Dr. Benny Antony, of the Menzies Institute for Medical Research/University of Tasmania in Australia.

Osteoarthritis is exceedingly common, affecting more than 32.5 million Americans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Knee arthritis is one of the main forms.

The condition arises when the cartilage cushioning the knee joint breaks down over time, leading to symptoms like pain, stiffness and decreased range of motion.

People with knee arthritis often take over-the-counter painkillers, including acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve). But besides being only moderately effective, they can cause side effects like stomach upset. And prolonged use is linked to increased risks of heart disease and kidney damage.

So having other options is important, said Dr. Houman Danesh, a pain management specialist who was not involved in the study.

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"This is a promising, encouraging study," said Danesh, who directs integrative pain management at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

A broader point of the findings, he noted, is that it matters what people with arthritis ingest. Turmeric, or extracts of it, are thought to be anti-inflammatory. So if people continue to eat an inflammation-promoting diet -- full of fried foods and highly processed carbohydrates, for example -- that could negate the good of adding turmeric, Danesh said.

For the current study, Antony and his colleagues recruited 70 people with knee arthritis and randomly assigned them to one of two groups. One took Curcuma longa extract capsules every day for 12 weeks the other took placebo capsules.

Curcumin is a substance in turmeric, and the beneficial activities of turmeric are often ascribed to it. Supplement maker Natural Remedies supplied the capsules for the trial and partially funded it.

After 12 weeks, the researchers found, participants using the extract reported greater improvement in their pain, versus the placebo group. The average benefit was "modest," according to Antony, but still better than past studies have found with pain medications.

There was no clear effect, however, on some MRI findings: swelling in the joint space and the composition of knee cartilage.

Danesh did not find that surprising, noting he would not expect to see those effects.

And people's experience of pain does not necessarily correlate with the joint findings seen on MRI.

"An image is like a sentence in the story," Danesh said. "There's also a whole context around it."

The findings, published online Sept. 14 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, are an initial step. Antony said larger studies are still needed, and it remains to be seen whether the pain relief holds up over time.

But turmeric is worth a try, according to Antony. In general, he said, the spice -- and curcumin extracts -- are considered safe in moderate doses -- though very high doses could cause gastrointestinal trouble.

Danesh said his advice is to try turmeric, itself, rather than an extract. He also recommended adding black pepper, which enhances the benefits of turmeric. To make it palatable, the two could be mixed into a fruit smoothie, Danesh said.

Turmeric is not the only nondrug option for knee pain, though. Danesh said people can benefit from an exercise program focused on strengthening and activating the gluteal muscles, and developing a more balanced walking pattern.

He suggested first getting an evaluation from a doctor, which might result in a referral for physical therapy.

More information

The Arthritis Foundation has more on osteoarthritis.

Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Survey: 1 in 4 women use cannabis to manage menopause symptoms

Women are increasingly using cannabis to manage menopause symptoms, a new survey finds. Photo by Silviarita/Pixabay

Sept. 28 (UPI) -- More women either are using cannabis or want to start doing so to manage some symptoms of menopause, according to a study presented Monday during the 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting of the North American Menopause Society.

Roughly one in four women in a survey reported they had used or currently were using cannabis to manage their menopause, while fewer than the one in five who indicated they were taking more traditional treatments such as hormone therapy.

Fifty-four percent of women respondents said they experienced hot flashes and night sweats, while 69% reported genitourinary symptoms and 27% said they had insomnia resulting from menopause, the researchers said.

"These findings suggest that cannabis use to manage menopause symptoms may be relatively common," study co-author Carolyn Gibson said in a statement.

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"However, we do not know whether cannabis use is safe or effective for menopause symptom management or whether women are discussing these decisions with their healthcare providers," said Gibson, a psychologist and health services researcher at San Francisco VA Health Care System.

Cannabis is considered an illegal substance under federal guidelines and is not recommended for use by clinicians at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gibson said.

Several states have relaxed laws regarding cannabis use for medical purposes, and millions of people are taking some form of the compound THC -- the active ingredient in marijuana -- to manage numerous chronic health conditions and mood symptoms, including pain and anxiety.
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For this study, Gibson and her colleagues interviewed 232 women -- most of whom were in their mid-50s -- in Northern California who participated in the Midlife Women Veterans Health Survey.

About 27% of those surveyed said they had used cannabis to manage menopause symptoms, including hot flashes and night sweats, the data showed.

An additional 10% of participants expressed an interest in trying cannabis to manage their symptoms in the future, while 19% said they were using hormone therapy, the most commonly recommended approach for managing menopause symptoms.

Cannabis use did not differ by age, race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status or mental health conditions, they said.

"This study highlights a somewhat alarming trend and the need for more research relative to the potential risks and benefits of cannabis use for the management of bothersome menopause symptoms," Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of the North American Menopause Society, said in a statement.

Study: Veterans with acupuncture before surgery have less pain

Acupuncture before surgery results in less pain, a new study shows. File Photo by Senior Airman Mikaley Kline/U.S. Air Force


Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Veterans who have acupuncture before surgery reported less need for opioids for pain, a pilot study presented Monday at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2020 meeting shows.

"Six percent of patients given opioids after surgery become dependent on them, and veterans are twice as likely to die from accidental overdoses than civilians," said study lead author Dr. Brinda Krish,.

"Clearly it is crucial to have multiple options for treating pain, and acupuncture is an excellent alternative. It is safe, cost effective and it works," said Krish, an anesthesiology resident at Detroit Medical Center.

Researchers analyzed two groups of patients treated at John D. VA Medical Center in Detroit. The study's principal investigator, physician anesthesiologist Dr. Padmavathi Patel, provided the acupuncture.

The first group included 21 patients who had traditional acupuncture, which involves the insertion of very thin needles at specific trigger points around the body to relieve pain, and 21 patients who did not.

The second group included 28 patients who received battlefield acupuncture, which a U.S. Air Force doctor developed to reduce pain without use of opioids on the front lines, and 36 patients in control group.

In both acupuncture groups, veterans reported significant reduction in post-operative pain and post-operative opioid use compared to control patients undergoing surgery without acupuncture.

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"Some patients were open to trying acupuncture right away, and others became more interested when they learned more about the risk of opioid use," Krish said.

"It's easy, patients love it, it's not just another medicine and it's very safe. Because battlefield acupuncture was developed by an armed services doctor, veterans also were more willing to participate."

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Male frog in Brazil loyal to two females during breeding season

Male Thoropa taophora frogs mate with and remain loyal to two females during breeding season. Photo by Fábio de Sá

Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Scientists have discovered a frog species in Brazil's Atlantic rainforest that practices harem polygyny.

The discovery, described Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, marks the first time biologists have observed a male frog offering his companionship and loyalty to two females during a breeding season

"Single-male polygyny with reproductive fidelity occurs in invertebrates, bony fishes, and some tetrapods, such as lizards, mammals, and birds," researchers wrote in the new paper.

According to the study's authors, the practice is not well-documented among amphibians.

To confirm the practice of polygyny among Thoropa taophora frogs, researchers observed the behavior of males during the course of the breeding season.

The research team, led by Fabio de Sá, a biologist at Sao Paulo State University, watched as male frogs regularly patrolled their territory and emitted loud calls to scare off intruders. For several weeks, males remained close to their eggs and tadpoles, guarding them from predators.

Female behavior observed by the research team suggests each harem features a hierarchical structure. Scientists noted that when a higher ranking female started cannibalizing eggs, the male would mate with her, ensuring that her genes would be carried by the new eggs.

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"When a secondary or a peripheral female cannibalizes eggs, the monopolist male immediately approaches and briefly embraces the female, which stops cannibalism," researchers wrote.

When scientists analyzed the genes of tadpoles produced by different harems, they found the dominant female's genes accounted for between 56 percent and 97 percent of the offspring.

De Sá and colleagues estimate the unique behavior of Thoropa taophora frogs evolved due to the pressures of the competition among males for ideal breeding grounds and fit females.

Breeding earlier because of climate change may put birds at risk


Researchers at Cornell University have been tracking the reproductive success of tree swallows for the last 30 years, finding they have mated about three days earlier per decade over that time. Photo by David Chang van Oordt/Cornell University

Sept. 29 (UPI) -- As the climate warms, spring temperatures are arriving earlier and earlier, causing some animals to alter their breeding and migrational patterns.

Research published this week in the journal PNAS suggests some birds may be putting themselves at risk by mating and breeding earlier in the year, when they are more likely to face inclement weather events -- and a lack of food.

"We actually can look at it empirically for our specific study location using really great long-term weather records collected near Ithaca, N.Y., that start in 1893," study co-author Conor Taff told UPI in an email.

"What we see is that springs have gotten warmer overall in that time period, but the date of the last major cold snap has not changed," said Taff, postdoctoral fellow in behavioral ecology at Cornell University.

To better understand how birds are adapting to shifts in seasonal weather patterns, researchers turned to a 30-year effort to track the nesting success of tree swallows living near Ithaca.

In addition to reproduction data, researchers analyzed fluctuations in insect abundance over the last 25 years, as well as climate patterns stretching back 100 years.

Their analysis showed tree swallows have been mating roughly three days earlier every decade for the last 30 years. The climate and insect data showed fledglings born earlier were at greater risk of exposure to inclement weather and a subsequent reduction in food availability.

Lots of bird species have altered their breeding schedules in response to changes in food availability, researchers found.

"For example, a lot of migrant birds depend on gleaning caterpillars and bugs from tree branches," Taff said. "Those food sources don't become available until after the spring leaf-out. With climate change, leaf-out happens earlier, so food is available earlier and many bird species have changed their timing to match that."

However, leaves and caterpillars can usually withstand a few cold days. The latest research showed cold spells have a much more significant impact on the availability of flying insects, the main food source for tree swallows.

"Even a day of cold weather can drastically reduce the amount of flying insects available," Taff said. "Those prey species might just be delayed and emerge a few days later when it warms up, but that doesn't help the swallows if their nest has already failed."

If climate change slows and stabilizes, scientists might expect birds to adapt to the risks posed by an earlier breeding season, but researchers worry birds and other animals simply can't keep up with the accelerated pace of human-caused climate change.

For many challenges, individual variability among birds and other animals ensures that some prove more resilient to newfound challenges than others. But research suggests that when it comes to cold weather, even the most resilient birds are no match.

"We know that this kind of between-individual difference is important and describes the variation that selection can operate on, but the effect of a bad cold snap in these populations is so strong that basically all the birds who happen to be at a vulnerable stage are impacted," Taff said.

Taff and his research partners are working to more closely analyze the affects of temperature and food availability on breeding success among swallows.

"We have several lines of investigation going on now that look at how early life conditions, including the temperature when nestlings are in the nest, influences behavior and performance throughout the lifetime," Taff said.

Washington state ag officials look for giant hornets ahead of 'slaughter phase'


Washington state scientists are seeking to find and destroy the nest of giant Asian hornets ahead of what they call the "slaughter phase." Photo by Filippo Turetta courtesy of Wikimedia Commons


Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The Washington State Department of Agriculture is desperately looking to track down a nest of giant Asian hornets before they go into what scientists call "the slaughter phase."

Six giant Asian hornets have been caught, trapped or reported since Sept. 21 in Washington state, according to agriculture officials.

Sven-Erik Spichiger, an entomologist with the agriculture department, said officials believe they are dealing with a nest and that it's critical that scientists find and destroy it before the slaughter phase or before the insects reproduce enough to build new nests.

The hornets, sometimes dubbed "murder hornets" because they prey on other insects -- including honeybees, which are critical to agriculture in the state -- were first spotted in the United States last year.

"Asian giant hornets this time of year start going into what we call the slaughter phase," Sven-Erik Spichiger, a department entomologist, said during a news conference Friday. "They will visit apiaries, basically mark a hive, attack it in force, removing every bee from the hive, decapitating them, killing all of the workers and then spending the next few days harvesting the brood and the pupae out of the hive as a food source."

The first of the recent sightings occurred two weeks ago when a landowner in Whatcom County, near the Canadian border, caught two hornets.

On Sept. 30 a scientist trapped one hornet alive -- a first for the Department of Agriculture.

Human biology appears to have two seasons, not four, study says


While color changes to trees during the fall is an annual highlight for many -- including the tourists pictured in Forest Park in St. Louis in November 2019 -- researchers say the human body only registers two seasons, not the four marked on the calendar. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

The human body apparently disagrees with Mother Nature on how many seasons there are.

Instead of four seasons, human biology appears to have two, according to a team of Stanford University researchers.

"We're taught that the four seasons -- winter, spring, summer and fall -- are broken into roughly equal parts throughout the year, and I thought, 'Well, who says?' " said Michael Snyder, a professor and chair of genetics. "It didn't seem likely that human biology adheres to those rules."

So he and his colleagues conducted a study guided by people's molecular compositions to let the biology reveal how many seasons there are.

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They analyzed four years of molecular data from 105 people, aged 25 to 75. About four times a year, participants provided blood samples that were analyzed for molecular information about immunity, inflammation, heart health, metabolism, the microbiome and more. Participants' diet and exercise habits were also tracked.

Overall, the study found that more than 1,000 molecules ebb and flow during the year, especially during late spring-early summer and late fall-early winter.

For example, late spring coincided with a rise in inflammatory biomarkers known to play a role in allergies, a spike in molecules involved in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, a peak in HbAc1, a protein that signals risk for type 2 diabetes, and the highest annual levels of the gene PER1, an important regulator of the sleep-wake cycle.

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In early winter, there were increases in immune molecules that help fight viral infections molecules involved in acne development and markers of high blood pressure.

The researchers also found differences between people who were insulin-resistant -- their bodies don't process glucose normally -- and those who weren't.

Insulin-resistant people had higher levels of Veillonella, a type of bacteria involved in lactic acid fermentation and the processing of glucose, throughout the year, except during mid-March through late June, according to findings published this month in the journal Nature Communications.

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Snyder noted that the study involved people in California, and it's likely that the molecular patterns of people in other regions would differ.

Understanding such seasonal changes in human biology could help guide health care and the design of clinical drug trials, he suggested.

More information

RELATED Arctic bird turns down immune system to conserve energy in winter

NASA has more on Earth's seasons.

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