Health & Medicine

Health & Medicine

Here’s why COVID-19 vaccines like Pfizer’s need to be kept so cold

Both Pfizer and Moderna built their vaccines on RNA. Freezing them keeps their fragile components from breaking down.

Health & Medicine

New Pfizer results show its COVID-19 vaccine is nearly 95% effective

With final results – including showing its vaccine is 94 percent effective in the elderly – Pfizer is poised to request emergency use authorization.

Neuroscience

Psilocybin may help treat depression, a small study finds

Researchers found that a compound in psychedelic mushrooms eased depression symptoms, but larger studies are needed.

Health & Medicine

Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine is nearly 95 percent effective

Another coronavirus vaccine appears to be very effective in preventing people from developing COVID-19 symptoms.

Health & Medicine

Measles has come back with a vengeance in the last several years

The steep number of measles cases in 2019 doesn’t bode well for 2020, considering disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anthropology

Bolivia’s Tsimane people’s average body temperature fell half a degree in 16 years

A new study echoes other research suggesting that people’s average body temperature is lower today than it used to be.

Health & Medicine

Protecting the brain from infection may start with a gut reaction

In mice, immune cells in the meninges are trained to battle infections in the gut before migrating to the brain.

Health & Medicine

Coronavirus cases are skyrocketing. Here’s what it will take to gain control

Basic public health measures can still curb COVID-19, if everyone does their part.

Health & Medicine

Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective, preliminary trial data show

An analysis of 94 COVID-19 cases shows that the mRNA-based vaccine can protect people from getting sick, though the trial is ongoing.

Genetics

Penicillin allergies may be linked to one immune system gene

Researchers have located a shared hot spot — on the HLA-B gene — in the immune system in people who say they have penicillin allergies.

Neuroscience

FDA advisory panel declines to support a controversial Alzheimer’s treatment

The fate of an Alzheimer’s drug, developed by pharmaceutical company Biogen, remains up in the air.

Health & Medicine

COVID-19’s death rate in the U.S. could spike as new cases soar

Effective treatments are one possible reason the mortality rate from COVID-19 fell over the summer. Rising cases could reverse the trend.