Experts said that holiday activities pose more risk in large crowds, indoors and in poorly ventilated spaces where the virus spreads more easily. People should gather outdoors, wear masks and perform rapid tests before meeting unvaccinated family and friends and before returning to work, said Joshua Barocas, associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
“That is absolutely a concern as we move into this coming school year that we have this more contagious variant, and this is a group of individuals who won’t be eligible for vaccination yet,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus and vice chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases.
Damage done by the coronavirus to the membranes of red blood cells that carry oxygen may explain why many COVID-19 patients have alarmingly low oxygen levels, according to new research. Specifically, the virus attacks the membranes' most abundant protein, called band 3, said senior researcher Angelo D'Alessandro of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Obese teens who diet to lose weight may have more success if they also focus on getting enough rest, a small study suggests.The effort is worth it, though, to avoid poor sleep becoming a lifelong problem, said Stacey Simon of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora. "Health habits learned in adolescence often continue into adulthood, so learning good sleep and eating strategies in adolescence is critical,” Simon, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.
People with type 1 diabetes may be more than twice as likely to develop potentially fatal complications when they use cannabis somewhat regularly than when they avoid the drug or rarely indulge, a study suggests. “Cannabis is a known addictive substance, and this potentially problematic aspect of cannabis use should be assessed in patients with type 1 diabetes,” study leader Gregory Kinney of the Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora and colleagues write.
Among people with diabetes who develop high blood pressure, those who delay getting it under control may be more likely to have heart attacks and strokes than their counterparts who manage it promptly, a recent study suggests. “Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which includes coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction (heart attack), and stroke. Diabetes is also a risk factor for the same clinical endpoints,” said lead researcher Dr. Sridharan Raghavan at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center.
“If a woman came in and said she was taking birth control and got pregnant we assumed she did something wrong, missed a pill or wasn’t using the method like she was supposed to,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Aaron Lazorwitz of the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “We need to believe the patient and to understand that there are other things outside of her control, like genetics, that could cause birth control to fail.”
Even so, the results confirm that all heart failure patients need to be cautious about approaching elective surgery and make sure they manage their disease as much as possible before their operations, said Dr. Amrut Ambardekar, a cardiology researcher at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, who wasn’t involved in the study. “Patients with heart failure can be treated to (stabilize) their symptoms; however, this balance can be easily tipped by the stress of a surgery,” Ambardekar said by email.
