Health Sciences In The Media

A story focusing on the misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic mentions an interview in The Atlantic with Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, an immunobiologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson.

The College of Medicine – Tucson will lead a study to determine the impact of carotid disease on cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.

Now that 5 to 11-year-olds are cleared to get Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, some parents are concerned about adverse events from the shot.

Medical research hasn’t always been inclusive, but the All of Us Research Program is changing that.

What happens when oncology practitioners trade their white coat for a hospital gown? How does the emotional toll of their personal cancer journey change the way they interact with their patients? Taylor Riall, MD, PhD, a general surgeon and surgical oncologist at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, shares her experience after a cancer diagnosis.

Changing the way we think about food, not just as fuel but to fight illness and disease, is the focus of a growing culinary medicine program at the University of Arizona, where doctors are being trained to prescribe the right meals as medicine. "Food really is medicine and good food can really heal us, treat, prevent and reverse the diseases of our time," says Farshad Fani Marvasti, MD, MPH, associate professor and director of Public Health, Prevention and Health Promotion Curriculum at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.

COVID-19 has added another health hazard for older adults. Once infected with the virus, people in their 60s, 70s, 80s and above are at increasingly higher risk of experiencing severe COVID-19 illness, hospitalization and death. Although its difficult to precisely measure the impact of immune-system aging, "We know that it adds a massive risk. Those over 80 are 260-fold more likely to die from COVID-19 than those between 18 and 39," says Janko Nikolich-Žugich, MD, PhD, department head and professor of immunobiology at the College of Medicine – Tucson.

Allan J. Hamilton, MD, a professor of neurosurgery at the College of Medicine – Tucson, discusses how the human brain handles stress and the relationship between workplace design and employee well-being. "We get thrown into imbalance, and when we lose that connection with nature, we become perpetually anxious and stressed. Being more inclusive, more diverse and looking at group identity tends to end up being a better equation both for architecture and for the peace of mind of the human brain," Dr. Hamilton said.

Many parents of kids in the 5-11 age group are signaling reluctance to get their youngsters inoculated against the virus, according to national polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Natasha Bhuyan, MD, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Family, Community and Preventative Medicine at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, tweeted Sunday that hundreds of children have died from the virus, making it vitally important for youths to get the shot. “Let’s change the narrative that the COVID vaccine in children is to protect adults – the vaccine is intended to protect *children themselves* from a preventable illness," Dr. Bhuyan tweeted.

A new study suggests that state laws requiring "universal" motorcycle helmet use – instead of helmet laws just for certain ages – may lower the rates of traumatic brain injuries in young riders. Traumatic brain injuries are "the biggest burden in trauma care, so we wanted to see whether having universal helmet laws versus age-specific helmet laws really made a difference in the younger population," said study co-author Bellal Joseph, MD, a trauma surgeon and associate professor of surgery at the College of Medicine – Tucson.