December 17, 2020
If you or a loved one have come down with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19, you know it often takes hold in the respiratory system. This image offers a striking example of exactly what happens to cells in the human airway when this coronavirus infects them. This colorized scanning electron microscope (SEM) image shows SARS-CoV-2-infected human lung cells (purple) covered in hair-like cilia (blue). Those cilia line the inner surface of the airways and help to clear mucus (yellow-green) containing dust and other debris from the lungs. Emerging from the surface of those infected airway cells are many thousands of coronavirus particles (red).
December 16, 2020
What is the average American woman’s risk of developing breast cancer during her lifetime? What is the average American woman’s risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer at different ages? How has the risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer changed in recent years?
December 16, 2020
As one of the five pillars of the Healthy Boiler Program, behavioral health plays a key role in overall employee well-being. According to HelpGuide, talking openly about suicidal thoughts and feelings can save a life. To make that easier for individuals to do, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL) was created. Founded in December 2004 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the lifeline provides free, confidential help to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides free, confidential service 24/7/365
December 16, 2020
Healthcare leaders from East Africa joined faculty members and researchers from Indiana and throughout North America to identify priority health challenges and discuss health innovations that have the potential to address these challenges in a variety of settings.
Indiana CTSI and IU Center for Global Health Host East African Stakeholder Meeting
December 16, 2020
Osteoarthritis (OA) affects more than 300 million individuals globally, with higher prevalence in women than in men. In addition, OA affects women and men differently, with women demonstrating both increased disease severity and disability. The Society for Women's Health Research convened an interdisciplinary group of expert researchers and clinicians for a roundtable meeting to review the current state of the science on OA and to identify knowledge gaps in the scientific literature, especially as they relate to the topics of sex and gender. The current review summarizes discussions from the roundtable and prioritizes areas of need that warrant further attention in OA research, diagnosis, care, and education. Improvements in basic and clinical research, clinical practice, patient education, and policy are needed to allow for better understanding as to the pathogenesis of sex- and gender-related disparities in OA.
December 16, 2020
An observational study has launched to evaluate the short- and long-term health outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), and to characterize the immunologic pathways associated with different disease presentations and outcomes. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19. The study, called the Pediatric Research Immune Network on SARS-CoV-2 and MIS-C (PRISM), will enroll at least 250 children and young adults ages 20 years or younger from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds at approximately 20 sites nationwide. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is sponsoring and funding the study. The PRISM study is part of a research effort led by NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to understand MIS-C.
December 15, 2020
Researchers found that stress may help awaken dormant tumor cells, causing cancer to recur. The findings suggest therapeutic targets to investigate for preventing cancer relapse.
December 15, 2020
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as do most chronic inflammatory disorders, displays unique features and confers different risk factors in male and female patients. Importantly, sex-based differences in IBD exist for epidemiological incidence and prevalence among different age groups, with men and women developing distinct clinical symptoms and disparity in severity of disease. In addition, the presentation of comorbidities in IBD displays strong sex differences. Notably, particular issues exclusive to women's health, including pregnancy and childbirth, require specific considerations in female patients with IBD of childbearing age that can have a substantial influence on clinical outcomes. This Review summarizes the latest findings regarding sex-based differences in the epidemiology, clinical course, comorbidities and response to current therapies in patients with IBD. Importantly, the latest basic science discoveries in this area of investigation are evaluated to provide insight into potential mechanisms underlying the influence of sex on disease pathogenesis, as well as to design more personalized and efficacious care, in patients with IBD.
Sex matters: impact on pathogenesis, presentation and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease
December 15, 2020
Researchers have uncovered a mechanism by which gut microbes can influence the immune response against nearby liver tumors in mice. The results were published December 15, 2020, in Cancer Discovery and shed light on how certain diseases that weaken the protective lining of the gut barrier may exacerbate a type of liver cancer called cholangiocarcinoma.
New connection between gut microbes and liver cancer uncovered in mice
December 14, 2020
The global pandemic has exacerbated the gender pay gap for many, but not all, advanced economies. This column examines evidence from eight countries to show that certain policy responses to the pandemic have better served women’s participation in the labour force than others – notably those tailored to flexible working to accommodate home and childcare responsibilities, as well as those serving industries with greater participation by women. Such policies should be taken into account, especially as historically the reintegration of women into the labour force can take time after a crisis.
The gender gap and COVID-19: Evidence from eight advanced economies
