Medical Bulletin 18/January/2024 - Video

Here are the top medical stories of the day:

COVID-19 vaccine reduces long COVID in children

Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, reduces the risk of serious acute illness in children and adolescents. However, its role in protecting against persistent health problems in the months after COVID-19, or “long COVID,” was less clear. Now, researchers from 17 health systems in the U.S., in work led by investigators at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), have found that vaccination provides moderate protection against long COVID. Vaccination also has a stronger effect in adolescents, who have a higher risk of developing long COVID than young children.

The findings of the large retrospective study, based on electronic health records analyzed as part of the National Institutes of Health’s Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) initiative, were published today in the journal Pediatrics.

Reference: COVID-19 vaccine reduces long COVID in children; PEDIATRICS

Cannabis has no clear effect on treatment of opioid addiction, US study finds

Cannabis is not an effective treatment for opioid addiction, a new peer-reviewed study of thousands of people being treated for opioid use disorder suggests.

Experts, publishing their results today in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, have found that cannabis is having no significant effect on peoples’ use of opioids, taken outside of medical guidance.

Reference: Cannabis has no clear effect on treatment of opioid addiction, US study finds; The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse; DOI: 10.1080/00952990.2023.2287406

Research aims to harness technology for improved heart and brain health

Research teams share findings and progress on projects aimed at harnessing digital solutions — including text messaging, smartphone apps, wearable devices and artificial intelligence — to improve health, reduce health care disparities, empower people to better manage their health and wellness and enhance patient/clinician connectivity in a special issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Reference: Research aims to harness technology for improved heart and brain health; Journal of the American Heart Association.