Young kids could spread COVID-19 as much as older children and adults, study suggests. A study from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago discovered that children younger than five years with mild to moderate COVID-19 have much higher levels of genetic material for the virus in the nose compared to older children and adults.
The lead author, Dr. Taylor Heald-Sargent, and colleagues analysed 145 cases of mild to moderate COVID-19 illness within the first week of symptom onset. They compared the viral load in three age groups — children younger than 5 years, children 5-17 years and adults 18-65 years, for the study.
The findings, published in JAMA Paediatrics, point to the possibility that the youngest children transmit the virus as much as other age groups. The ability of younger children to spread COVID-19 may have been under-recognised given the rapid and sustained closure of schools and day care during the pandemic suggests the study.
Aerobic Exercise Could Have the Final Say on Fatty Livers
Metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a condition characterised by a build-up of fat in the liver. The liver is central to a suite of vital processes in the body including digestion, blood clotting and energy production. If left untreated, MAFLD can lead to serious complications like liver fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer, as well as cardiovascular and metabolic issues. Risk factors for developing MAFLD include type 2 diabetes and obesity.
A new study from Trinity College Dublin highlights that increased fitness, the result of aerobic exercise participation, may be a more important clinical endpoint for improvement in MAFLD patients during exercise trials, rather than weight loss. In fact, this study clearly demonstrated the clinical benefit of exercise in MAFLD in as little as 12 weeks. The findings were published in the medical journal Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
Arguments Between Couples: Our Neurons Like Mediation
When couples argue, mediation by a third party improves the outcome of the confrontation. But that’s not all: mediation is also linked to heightened activity in key regions of the brain belonging to the reward circuit — this is the main conclusion of a study carried out by scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and published in the journal Cortex.
The experiment consisted of giving couples behavioural questionnaires and subjecting them to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) prior to and following a session in which the two partners argue. Couples who received active mediation reported higher satisfaction than non-mediated couples at the end of the conflict. Heightened activation in the nucleus accumbens, a key region in the reward circuit, was also identified in the mediation group compared to the control group. This is the first time that a controlled, randomised study has succeeded in demonstrating the advantages of mediation for couple conflicts and identifying a related biological signature.
