Resources & Information

NPR via Body Electric Podcast
May 21, 2024
Thousands of years ago, our ears were attuned to the subtle sounds of our environment: the rustle of leaves from nearby prey, the growl of an approaching predator, the rumble of a distant storm. Listening closely to these sounds helped us survive.

Today, our auditory world has changed drastically — and gotten much louder. Our lives are filled with a barrage of sound from traffic, sirens, construction, noisy restaurants and concerts.

Medpage Today
May 20, 2024
Does COVID-19 persist in the body? With 17 million adults opens in a new tab or window reporting long COVID symptoms like brain fog and fatigue, the idea of viral persistence has gained traction. “At the beginning of the pandemic, we never expected to have these discussions about SARS-CoV-2 persistence,” said Michael Peluso, MD, MHS, of the University of California San Francisco. “It was just not part of our framework for coronaviruses.” Early papers identified SARS-CoV-2 antigens in blood or tissue, but many were small studies evaluating immunocompromised people, Peluso noted. “None addressed the specificity of the assay, and a common criticism was that this could all be a false-positive signal,” he told MedPage Today.

MedPage Today
May 7, 2024
The term “Lost Generation” was initially used to describe the generation that came of age during World War I, popularized by Ernest Hemingway. It referenced the disillusionment experienced by many, especially intellectuals and creatives, who lived through the war and its aftermath.

Several decades later, the term was applied to another group. The “Woodstock Generation” typically refers to the Baby Boomers, specifically those who were young adults in the 1960s and 1970s during the time of the famous Woodstock Music Festival in 1969. They are sometimes referred to as the “Lost Generation” in a cultural or societal context, as they challenged many conventional norms and values during a time of significant societal upheaval.

Medical News Today
April 23, 2024
A study published in the journal JAMA Network Open reports that midlife and older adults with healthy sleep habits have a better chance of avoiding cardiovascular disease.

Researchers used data collected between 2008 and 2018 from the Dongfeng-Tongji cohortTrusted Source, an ongoing, prospective study in Shiyan, China.

The research team looked at 15,306 individuals with an average age of 66 years with 58% being female and 42% being male. The researchers reported that 5,474 (36%) people had persistent unfavorable sleep patterns and 3,946 (26%) had persistent favorable sleep patterns.

Science Alert
April 9, 2024
Middle-aged Americans are lonelier than their European counterparts. That’s the key finding of my team’s recent study, published in American Psychologist. Our study identified a trend that has been evolving for multiple generations, and affects both baby boomers and Gen Xers. Middle-aged adults in England and Mediterranean Europe are not that far behind the US. In contrast, middle-aged adults in continental and Nordic Europe reported the lowest levels of loneliness and stability over time.

NBC News
April 11, 2024
Measles has spread at a rapid clip this year. From January to March, the U.S. recorded around 30% of the total cases seen since the beginning of 2020. From 2020 through 2023, the U.S. recorded an average of five measles cases in the first quarter of each year. Those low numbers were due, in part, to the Covid pandemic, when fewer people were interacting in person. By contrast, this year’s first-quarter tally was 97, according to a report the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Thursday (4/11).