Metformin—a cheap, safe, and widely available diabetes drug—could reduce the incidence of long covid if given during the acute phase of covid-19, a new study indicates.
A two week course of metformin given within three days of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 led to 40% fewer long covid diagnoses over the following 10 months compared with people who had taken placebo, according to a randomised controlled trial.
Leave a commentResearchers at The University of Queensland have discovered that SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses can cause brain cells to fuse, initiating malfunctions that lead to chronic neurological symptoms.
Comments closedAs children are on the list of those most affected by wildfire smoke, some parents are concerned about sending their kids to school due to poor air quality.
During Tuesday night’s Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) budget meeting, Ecology Ottawa Board Chair Katie Gibbs requested that funds go to ensure better ventilation in schools.
Comments closedResearchers have demonstrated that a SARS-CoV-2 infection can induce brain cells to fuse together, with severe impacts on the functioning of neurons. Neurons may fuse together with other neurons or glia, and larger multicellular syncytia may be formed. The fusion of neurons may be one of the causes of the cognitive issues associated with COVID-19.
Comments closedThe Tour de France organisers have drawn up a new COVID-19 protocol for this year’s race to try to limit the risk of infection inside the peloton, with riders, team staff and officials set to wearing face masks at sign-on and in the team paddock, while riders will be banned from signing autographs.
Comments closedAccording to a recent study, over 70% of nearly 850,000 US household COVID-19 transmissions originated with a child. The researchers concluded that children had an important role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2, and that in-person school also resulted in substantial spread.
Comments closedA new Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) study found elevated levels of inflammation in the brains of patients who report persistent symptoms of long COVID.
Using advanced brain scanning with positron emission tomography (PET), the researchers found elevated levels of the protein TSPO, a brain marker of inflammation, in patients with onset of depression within several months after a COVID-19 infection.
Comments closedCOVID-19 continues to have profound health and economic consequences around the world. Aside from the large number of deaths from this viral infection, there is…
Comments closedhe Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de l’Outaouais announced on Wednesday the opening of a satellite clinic for the rehabilitation of post-infectious syndrome to long COVID.
Comments closedA first-ever long COVID clinic opens in the Outaouais.
Comments closedNunavut’s Health Department may have wasted one-third of its COVID-19 vaccines, according to a report presented Tuesday to the Nunavut legislative assembly by Canada’s auditor general Karen Hogan.
Comments closedInfection control epidemiologist Colin Furness said rising deaths from heart attacks and strokes increasingly appear to be related to damage caused by COVID-19 infections.
Comments closedRe: Three Ottawa hospitals loosen masking requirements, still require them in clinical areas, May 15.
I’m really disappointed to hear that masks will no longer be required in certain public spaces at the Queensway Carleton, Montfort and Royal hospitals. Preventative medicine is best.
We need universal masking with N95 and FFP3 respirators to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses.
Comments closedComments closedAll COVID-19 patients (including vaccinated adults and children) are potentially at risk of long-term health damage or death, though some groups are disproportionately affected. These risks multiply with each reinfection.
As of Monday, in Quebec, rapid tests will no longer be offered free of charge to everyone in pharmacies. Only people deemed at high risk of complications and citizens who receive free drugs, according to the public pharmacare system, will have free access to these COVID-19 tests.
Comments closedResearchers are investigating a promising technique that may be used to check for the presence of SARS-CoV-2. A frequency comb involves the use of lasers to look for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are associated with COVID infections.
Comments closedMasks work. Especially respirator-style N95 masks.
Amid an ongoing pandemic and outbreaks of influenza and RSV caused by airborne viruses, arguing over the virus-blocking power of masks remains one of the COVID era’s signature follies. Disconcertingly, despite decades of evidence of their efficacy, some of the disagreement comes from a few in the medical field itself, misusing science and endangering lives.
Comments closedIn a new study, researchers examined the cognitive impacts of COVID-19 on people with dementia. They found that having COVID-19 rapidly accelerated the structural and functional brain deterioration of patients with dementia, regardless of the type of dementia being experienced.
Comments closed