People with schizophrenia may face a higher risk for severe COVID-19, a new study suggested.
Compared with COVID-19 patients without a psychiatric disorder, those previously diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorder had more than a two times higher risk for mortality within 45 days of a confirmed case (odds ratio 2.67, 95% CI 1.48-4.80), reported Katlyn Nemani, MD, of New York University Langone Medical Center in New York, and colleagues.
This association was significant even after adjusting for medical risk factors including smoking status, hypertension, heart failure (HF), myocardial infarction, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer, they wrote in
However, people with other mood disorders (OR 1.14, 95% CI 0.87-1.49) or anxiety disorders (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.65-1.41) didn t see any increased risk of COVID-related mortality, according to the authors.
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The U.S. government issues new dietary guidelines every five years that are designed to help Americans develop healthy eating habits and prevent diet-related chronic diseases. For the 2020–25 guidelines, much of the recommendations remain the same, though there are a handful of changes. The updated guidelines:
Recognize that more than half of U.S. adults have one or more diet-related chronic disease, and emphasize that everyone, regardless of health status, can benefit from changing food and beverage choices to follow healthier diet patterns
Stress the importance of a long-term overall healthy dietary pattern, rather than focusing on individual nutrients, foods, or food groups in isolation
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Astrocytes influence behaviour
Scientists at FAU and their colleagues in Spain have discovered that astrocytes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) play an important role in the brain in goal-directed behaviour when weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of a decision. They have recently published their findings in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Up to now, scientists have often presumed that only neurons, which are the cells responsible for carrying electrical impulses in the brain, play a role in decision-making processes. However, a collaborative project involving the laboratories of Prof. Dr. Alexey Ponomarenko, Professorship for Physiology at FAU, and Dr. Gertrudis Perea from the Cajal Institute in Madrid, Spain in partnership with the New York University Langone Medical Center, has now proven that astrocytes play the central role in decision making. Astrocytes are a type of glial cell, which form the scaffolding for nerve cells. Experiments conducted by the study