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Kenya Colvin Kenya Colvin, MBS Department of Medical Education Scranton, PA MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: Vaccine hesitancy is a major driver of COVID-19 vaccination disparities between minority and non-Hispanic White communities. Our goal was to understand what factors influenced vaccine hesitancy among individuals in Eastern Pennsylvania to identify more effective ways to promote vaccine uptake within minority communities. MedicalResearch.com:  What are the main findings? Response: We found that the most influential factors on vaccine hesitancy were being younger than 45 years old, identifying as a minority, being concerned the COVID-19 vaccine was ineffective, lack of knowledge about the vaccine, and believing that infection with the COVID-19 virus is not serious. However, unlike similar studies, our analysis indicated that education level was not a significant contributor to hesitancy.  MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report? Response: The COVID-19 vaccines are an effective preventive measure in minimizing risk of complications from the continually evolving COVID-19 virus. Understanding why African American and Hispanic communities are more hesitant toward receiving COVID-19 vaccines and boosters is critical to reducing the COVID-19 related health disparities, such as increased risk of death or hospitalization, faced by these communities. MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work? Response: Our study contained a large proportion of vaccine acceptant and non-Hispanic White participants. To better understand the drivers of vaccine hesitancy among minority communities, a more targeted approach should be used to increase participation from vaccine hesitant, minority community members. Citation: Colvin et al. Profiles of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy by race and ethnicity in eastern Pennsylvania. PLoS One 2023; 18(2):e0280245. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36745588/ The information on MedicalResearch.com is provided for educational purposes only, and is in no way intended to diagnose, cure, or treat any medical or other condition. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health and ask your doctor any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. In addition to all other limitations and disclaimers in this agreement, service provider and its third party providers disclaim any liability or loss in connection with the content provided on this website. Read the full article

Two of the participants without cosmetics (left) and with subtle cosmetics applied by a professional makeup artist (right).  MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a results of this study? Response: Following work on female faces, future research should examine the effect of makeup on several other traits in male faces. MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add? Any disclosures? Response: These results provide the first empirical evidence that makeup increases attractiveness in male faces. The market for male cosmetics products is growing and evolving and this study serves as an initial step in understanding the effect of makeup on the perceptions of male faces. Citation: Batres C, Robinson H (2022) Makeup increases attractiveness in male faces. PLoS ONE 17(11): e0275662. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275662 The information on MedicalResearch.com is provided for educational purposes only, and is in no way intended to diagnose, cure, or treat any medical or other condition. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health and ask your doctor any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. In addition to all other limitations and disclaimers in this agreement, service provider and its third party providers disclaim any liability or loss in connection with the content provided on this website.     Read the full article

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Tim Vyse Professor of Molecular Medicine and Dr David Morris Non Clinical Lecturer in Molecular Genetics Guy’s Hospital, London MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We observed a correlation between the genetic associations with severe COVID-19 and those with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, Lupus), and aimed to discover which genetic loci were shared by these diseases and what biological processes were involved. This resulted in the discovery of several genetic loci, some of which had alleles that were risk for both diseases and some of which were risk for severe COVID-19 yet protective for SLE. The locus with most evidence of shared association (TYK2) is involved in interferon production, a process that is important in response to viral infection and known to be dysregulated in SLE patients.  Other shared associated loci contained genes also involved in the defense response and the immune system signaling. These results add to the growing evidence that there are alleles in the human genome that provide protection against viral infection yet are risk for autoimmune disease. MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report? Response: The relationship between Lupus risk and COVID-19 outcome is complex with multiple areas of the genome being involved in altering risk for Lupus and COVID, some of which are shared. A few DNA variants were found to be risk for both diseases, whereas others were protective for severe COVID-19, yet risk for Lupus.  The genes in the areas that of the genome that increased risk of Lupus and protected against severe COVID-19 are involved in a process known as interferon production. The immune system’s use of interferon is important in response to viral infection and known to be abnormally regulated in several autoimmune diseases, including lupus. This is an exciting result made possible by the large genetic studies in COVID-19 and Lupus, and opens the door to our understanding of how the biology of the immune system is calibrated to protect us against infection from viruses and other infectious agents, but at the risk of developing autoimmune disease MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a results of this study? Response: An understating of the link between autoimmune disease and the risk of infectious disease will be improved by comparing large genetics studies of SLE and other autoimmune disease with genetic studies of other infectious diseases.  Studies in the genetics of infectious diseases are challenging due to the strong environmental component to risk.  However, population-based surveys detailed experiences with common infectious disease should provide valuable information. The prevalence of SLE and severe COVID-19 varies over ancestry and sex. Larger studies in non-Europeans in both diseases are required to address cross ancestry differences. Studies on African populations will help identify specific genetic polymorphisms causal for both diseases in areas of the genome that we have identified as association yet are unable to explore in high enough resolution due to correlation in the genome, an issue that is helped by increasing diversity in samples for genetic association studies. SLE is more prevalent in females while COVID-19 shows higher rates of infection and serious disease in males. Studies focused on sexual dimorphism in disease will help understand the causes of these two disease and others where a sex bias is observed. MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add? Any disclosures? Response: The relationship between infectious disease and autoimmune disease risk has long been debated, but a clear answer unforthcoming, to date.  The pandemic nature of COVID has allowed scientists to study this question in a robust and meaningful way.  The results of this study are strong evidence that there are genes in the human genome that provide protection against viral infection, but they do this at the expense (in a Darwinian sense) of being risk factors for autoimmune disease.  Is this one explanation for why autoimmune diseases have persisted in the human population? Citation:  Wang Y, Guga S, Wu K, Khaw Z, Tzoumkas K, Tombleson P, et al. (2022) COVID-19 and systemic lupus erythematosus genetics: A balance between autoimmune disease risk and protection against infection. PLoS Genet 18(11): e1010253. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1010253 The information on MedicalResearch.com is provided for educational purposes only, and is in no way intended to diagnose, cure, or treat any medical or other condition. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health and ask your doctor any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. In addition to all other limitations and disclaimers in this agreement, service provider and its third party providers disclaim any liability or loss in connection with the content provided on this website.     Read the full article

Clare Jensen Clare Jensen O’Haire Research Team Center for the Human-Animal Bond Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?  Response: Service dogs for PTSD are becoming more common and the evidence shows they can help improve mental health and quality of life for many veterans with PTSD. However, some veterans benefit more than others. Our research goal was to ask for the very first time: Why? MedicalResearch.com:  What are the main findings? Response: We found that veterans who were paired with less excitable service dogs were more likely to have stronger bonds with their service dogs. There were no effects of service dog breed-composition or origin on any measures of veteran mental health. In other words, mixed-breed dogs and dogs from animal shelters were no less effective than purebred dogs and dogs raised by puppy-raisers. Lastly, we found that lower PTSD symptoms and better mental health were seen among veterans with less excitable service dogs and those with a stronger human-animal bond. MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report? Response: This study provides new information about how and why service dogs may improve mental health for some veterans with PTSD, but continued research is essential to understand more about these veteran-service dog partnerships. If we can learn which dogs and which human-animal interactions lead to the best outcomes, we can better prepare service dogs to thrive in their roles and help maximize benefits for more service dog and veteran pairs. MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?  Response: We are especially grateful to the military veterans who were so willing to share their time and experiences with us. Without their contributions, none of this would be possible. Citation: Clare L. Jensen, Kerri E. Rodriguez, Evan L. MacLean, Ahmad Hakeem Abdul Wahab, Arman Sabbaghi, Marguerite E. O’Haire. Characterizing veteran and PTSD service dog teams: Exploring potential mechanisms of symptom change and canine predictors of efficacy. PLOS ONE, 2022; 17 (7): e0269186 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269186   The information on MedicalResearch.com is provided for educational purposes only, and is in no way intended to diagnose, cure, or treat any medical or other condition. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health and ask your doctor any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Some links may be sponsored and no links are warranted or endorsed by MedicalResearch.com or its parent company, Eminent Domains Inc. In addition to all other limitations and disclaimers in this agreement, service provider and its third party providers disclaim any liability or loss in connection with the content provided on this website.   Read the full article