A new study on loneliness is showing it may not only affect mental health, but it may also be bad for the bones. However, the study found it impacts one group in particular: men. Amid concerns about the rising epidemic of loneliness, researchers wanted to take a closer look at its effects.
Those working on the study exposed adult mice to social isolation and found that there were significant reductions in bone quality and mineral density, but only in the male mice, not the females. One doctor involved in this research did note that "future research is needed to understand how these findings translate to human populations."
HUMANS TILT EARTH
From 1993 to 2010, humans pumped over 2,000 gigatons of groundwater from reservoirs in the Earth's crust, and it changed the tilt of the earth's axis by 31 inches. According to the authors of a new study by the American Geophysical Union, the Earth's axis changes often, and the melting of the polar ice caps or rise in sea levels makes an impact on earth's rotation.
However, this shows that groundwater use also has an impact. By the way, if you've ever wondered how the planet came to be covered in H2O, a new theory published last week in the journal Nature suggests that 4.5 billion years ago, as Earth formed, it sucked up icy particles from space in a "vacuum effect."
Experts say that at some point next year, the pandemic will officially drop its pandemic status, becoming endemic. While this is a milestone to acknowledge, it does not mean we're free of infections, illnesses, and deaths. Dr. Rajeev Fernando, infectious disease specialist, Beth Israel Hospital and fellow, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Chicago-based Internist Dr. Vivek Cherian joined Wake Up With Cheddar to break down the unprecedented surge in U.S. COVID-19 as many prepare to celebrate the new year.
Dr. Soumi Eachempati, co-founder and CEO of Cleared4 and former professor of surgery and public health at Weill Cornell Medical College, joined Cheddar to breakdown what people should know about the recently FDA-approved emergency use of Merck and Pfizer's COVID-19 treatment pills. He noted that not only do people need to be aware of other medications they are taking that could cause adverse effects if coupled with COVID-19 pill treatments, he also talked about the intense in-take regiment. "The Merck pills are actually about 40 pills over five days. The Pfizer ones are three pills over five days, so people have to be prepared for that because it is a lot of pills you'll have to take to get full value from these drugs," Eachempati told Cheddar.
Twitter is exploding with a new meme after the CDC revised its Covid-19 guidelines, shortening the recommended isolation period to five days instead of 10 for when you test positive and are asymptomatic. The change came amid a skyrocketing surge of new cases is the U.S. due to the Omicron variant, drawing criticism from experts and Twitter --with users claiming the government agency is giving funny advise on a variety of issues. But what does the meme say about the public’s trust in the agency? Cheddar News speaks with political strategist Hastie Afkhami.
The list of questions should be getting shorter as we enter the pandemic's third year, but that isn't the case. There's another question to add to that list: is the U.S. doing enough to track the virus and its variants? Lawrence Gostin, faculty director of the O'Neill Institute for national and global health law at Georgetown University, joins Cheddar News.
As we prepare to ring in the new year, COVID cases are hitting an all-time high. Dr. Anthony Fauci has said the safest way to celebrate would be a small gathering with vaccinated family members only... far from the large, flashy parties from a few years ago. Dr. Christina Johns, senior medical advisor at PM Pediatrics, joins Cheddar News to discuss how to celebrate safely.
