Your Partner’s Genome May Affect Your Health
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opini...alth-68318
INTRO: People’s health and lifestyle are influenced by the genes of their partners, according to a study published last month (December 14) in Nature Human Behavior. Using data from more than 80,000 couples in the UK Biobank, researchers identified multiple correlations between individuals’ traits and their partners’ genomes, and concluded that around one-quarter of those associations were partly causal, with one person’s DNA having indirect effects on the other person’s health or behavior.
“I was really excited to see this paper,” says Emily McLean, an evolutionary biologist at Oxford College of Emory University in Georgia who was not involved in the work. “Intuitively, it seems like, of course our behaviors are influenced by the individuals around us, and likely by the genes that those individuals are carrying. So it was really great to see some empirical support for that intuitive idea.”
Unlike direct genetic effects, which reflect the influence of your own genes on your phenotype, indirect genetic effects are a form of environmental influence, driven by the genetic traits of people around you. In a simple hypothetical example, a person who is genetically predisposed to smoking might raise their partner’s risk of lung cancer via exposure to cigarette smoke or by encouraging them to smoke more... (MORE)
South African coronavirus mutation might be a threat to vaccines
https://bgr.com/2021/01/04/coronavirus-m...-vaccines/
SUMMRY POINTS: British health officials are more worried about the South African coronavirus mutation than the UK mutation. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said of the South African strain that it is a ”very significant problem,” and that’s why the UK blocked travel to the country. Researchers still need to determine whether current vaccines will work on both strains, but some worry that the South African strain might not be affected by the vaccines.
[...] pert said that if the vaccines don’t work against one of the new strains, the drug could be adapted. The process would not take a year. BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said a few weeks ago that the company would need six weeks to modify the vaccine for a new strain. similar thing happens with the flu vaccines that have to be updated every year to account for the various mutations some of the flu viruses might have acquired... (MORE - details)
Study finds hydroxychloroquine may have boosted survival, but other researchers have doubts
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/health/hy...index.html
EXCERPTS: A surprising new study found the controversial antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine helped patients better survive in the hospital. But the findings, like the federal government's use of the drug itself, were disputed. A team at Henry Ford Health System in southeast Michigan said Thursday their study of 2,541 hospitalized patients found that those given hydroxychloroquine were much less likely to die.
[...] It's a surprising finding because several other studies have found no benefit from hydroxychloroquine, a drug originally developed to treat and prevent malaria. President Donald Trump touted the drug heavily, but later studies found not only did patients not do better if they got the drug, they were more likely to suffer cardiac side effects. The US Food and Drug Administration withdrew its emergency use authorization for the drug earlier this month and trials around the world, including trials sponsored by the World Health Organization and the National Institutes of Health, were halted.
[...] "Our results do differ from some other studies," Zervos told a news conference. "What we think was important in ours ... is that patients were treated early. For hydroxychloroquine to have a benefit, it needs to begin before the patients begin to suffer some of the severe immune reactions that patients can have with Covid," he added.
[...] "It's important to note that in the right settings, this potentially could be a lifesaver for patients," Dr. Steven Kalkanis, CEO of the Henry Ford Medical Group, said at the news conference. Kalkanis said that their findings do not necessarily contradict those of earlier studies. "We also want to make the point that just because our results differ from some others that may have been published, it doesn't make those studies wrong or definitely a conflict. What it simply means is that by looking at the nuanced data of which patients actually benefited and when, we might be able to further unlock the code of how this disease works," he said.
[...] Researchers not involved with the study were critical. They noted that the Henry Ford team did not randomly treat patients but selected them for various treatments based on certain criteria... (MORE - details)
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opini...alth-68318
INTRO: People’s health and lifestyle are influenced by the genes of their partners, according to a study published last month (December 14) in Nature Human Behavior. Using data from more than 80,000 couples in the UK Biobank, researchers identified multiple correlations between individuals’ traits and their partners’ genomes, and concluded that around one-quarter of those associations were partly causal, with one person’s DNA having indirect effects on the other person’s health or behavior.
“I was really excited to see this paper,” says Emily McLean, an evolutionary biologist at Oxford College of Emory University in Georgia who was not involved in the work. “Intuitively, it seems like, of course our behaviors are influenced by the individuals around us, and likely by the genes that those individuals are carrying. So it was really great to see some empirical support for that intuitive idea.”
Unlike direct genetic effects, which reflect the influence of your own genes on your phenotype, indirect genetic effects are a form of environmental influence, driven by the genetic traits of people around you. In a simple hypothetical example, a person who is genetically predisposed to smoking might raise their partner’s risk of lung cancer via exposure to cigarette smoke or by encouraging them to smoke more... (MORE)
South African coronavirus mutation might be a threat to vaccines
https://bgr.com/2021/01/04/coronavirus-m...-vaccines/
SUMMRY POINTS: British health officials are more worried about the South African coronavirus mutation than the UK mutation. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said of the South African strain that it is a ”very significant problem,” and that’s why the UK blocked travel to the country. Researchers still need to determine whether current vaccines will work on both strains, but some worry that the South African strain might not be affected by the vaccines.
[...] pert said that if the vaccines don’t work against one of the new strains, the drug could be adapted. The process would not take a year. BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said a few weeks ago that the company would need six weeks to modify the vaccine for a new strain. similar thing happens with the flu vaccines that have to be updated every year to account for the various mutations some of the flu viruses might have acquired... (MORE - details)
Study finds hydroxychloroquine may have boosted survival, but other researchers have doubts
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/health/hy...index.html
EXCERPTS: A surprising new study found the controversial antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine helped patients better survive in the hospital. But the findings, like the federal government's use of the drug itself, were disputed. A team at Henry Ford Health System in southeast Michigan said Thursday their study of 2,541 hospitalized patients found that those given hydroxychloroquine were much less likely to die.
[...] It's a surprising finding because several other studies have found no benefit from hydroxychloroquine, a drug originally developed to treat and prevent malaria. President Donald Trump touted the drug heavily, but later studies found not only did patients not do better if they got the drug, they were more likely to suffer cardiac side effects. The US Food and Drug Administration withdrew its emergency use authorization for the drug earlier this month and trials around the world, including trials sponsored by the World Health Organization and the National Institutes of Health, were halted.
[...] "Our results do differ from some other studies," Zervos told a news conference. "What we think was important in ours ... is that patients were treated early. For hydroxychloroquine to have a benefit, it needs to begin before the patients begin to suffer some of the severe immune reactions that patients can have with Covid," he added.
[...] "It's important to note that in the right settings, this potentially could be a lifesaver for patients," Dr. Steven Kalkanis, CEO of the Henry Ford Medical Group, said at the news conference. Kalkanis said that their findings do not necessarily contradict those of earlier studies. "We also want to make the point that just because our results differ from some others that may have been published, it doesn't make those studies wrong or definitely a conflict. What it simply means is that by looking at the nuanced data of which patients actually benefited and when, we might be able to further unlock the code of how this disease works," he said.
[...] Researchers not involved with the study were critical. They noted that the Henry Ford team did not randomly treat patients but selected them for various treatments based on certain criteria... (MORE - details)