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Peer-reviewed Research

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 6-May-2025 06:09 ET (6-May-2025 10:09 GMT/UTC)

Mental well-being and physical activity can form a positive cycle

University of Jyväskylä - Jyväskylän yliopisto
Peer-Reviewed Publication

According to a recent study, the tendency to experience positive affectivity contributed to people being physically active or even increasing their activity during the COVID-19 restrictions. In contrast, depressive feelings were linked to lower physical activity. The results suggest that mental well-being can help maintain a physically active lifestyle. Mental well-being and physical activity may thus form a positive cycle.

Journal: BMC Public Health

New USF study: Surprisingly, pulmonary fibrosis patients with COVID-19 improve

University of South Florida
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Pulmonary fibrosis in patients with COVID-19 tends to resolve, while idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis always progresses. Scientists believe key immune elements – cells and genes – may explain resolution versus progression of the disease.

Study tracks physical and cognitive impairments associated with long COVID

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Two-thirds of people with post-COVID-19 syndrome have persistent, objective symptoms – including reduced physical exercise capacity and reduced cognitive test performances – for a year or more, with no major changes in symptom clusters during the second year of their illness, according to a new study published January 23^rd in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Winfried Kern of Freiburg University, Germany, and colleagues.

Journal: PLOS Medicine

Child mortality has risen since pandemic, new study shows

University of Bristol
Peer-Reviewed Publication

While child deaths in England fell temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic, they have now risen to new heights, a new study from researchers at the University of Bristol and based on unique National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) data has found.

Journal: PLOS Medicine
Funder: National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) Programme, National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West)

A new vaccine approach could help combat future coronavirus pandemics

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new experimental vaccine could offer protection not only against many variants of SARS-CoV-2, but also other sarbecoviruses that could spill over from animals to humans.

Journal: Cell
Funder: National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, NIH/National Institutes of Health, Wellcome Leap, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Caltech Merkin Institute for Translational Research

Three out of four Spaniards believe that there should be external control to guarantee the quality of journalism on health issues

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) has carried out a study which shows the desire of Spanish society to have mechanisms to ensure the veracity of the news they receive through the media on health issues. This demand, moreover, has proven to be a shared concern of the public, since neither age, gender nor social class is a determining factor in the public's response.

Ultrasensitive test detects, serially monitors intact virus levels in patients with COVID-19

Mass General Brigham
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Investigators from Mass General Brigham have found that a method originally designed for cancer detection can also identify and monitor even tiny amounts of SARS-CoV-2 intact viral particles in blood and other fluids from patients with acute COVID-19 infections, creating the potential for guiding future treatment of patients. The research is published in Science Advances.

Journal: Science

Who to vaccinate first? Penn engineers answer a life-or-death question with network theory

University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Engineering and medical researchers at Penn have developed a groundbreaking framework that can determine the best and most computationally optimized distribution strategy for COVID-19 vaccinations in any given community. Published in PLOS One, this study addresses one of the most critical challenges in pandemic response — how to prioritize vaccination efforts in communities with individuals of different risk levels when supplies are scarce and the stakes are high.

Journal: PLOS One
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

Females have a 31% higher associated risk of developing long COVID, UT Health San Antonio-led RECOVER study shows

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A nationwide RECOVER study led by The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, funded by the National Institutes of Health, finds that females are at 31% more risk for long COVID.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Sex differences in long COVID

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: This study found that female sex was associated with an increased risk of long COVID compared with male sex, and this association was age, pregnancy, and menopausal status dependent. These findings highlight the need to identify biological mechanisms contributing to sex specificity to facilitate risk stratification, targeted drug development, and improved management of long COVID.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Electroacupuncture-assisted ribavirin dosing for long COVID: A randomized controlled trial

Xia & He Publishing Inc.
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Various devices are used to study the unique electrical properties of acupuncture points (APs), with Voll’s electropuncture diagnostics (EAV) occupying a prominent role. The technical design of EAV allows for the testing of drugs to determine their individual selection and dosages. However, the physiological basis of this phenomenon remains unclear. This study investigated the feasibility of evaluating the electrodermal activity of APs to determine the daily dose of ribavirin using electroacupuncture according to the Voll diagnostic system in patients with long COVID.

Journal: Future Integrative Medicine

Influence of COVID-19 infection experience on fear

University of Tsukuba
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at University of Tsukuba have found that contracting COVID-19 significantly affects fear levels. Mild cases tend to alleviate fear, whereas severe cases tend to increase it. Over time, fear generally decreases. Factors such as age, sex, and a history of respiratory disease also influence fear levels.

Journal: BMJ Open

How did health insurance coverage changes affect older adults? Two new studies take a look

Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan
Peer-Reviewed Publication

With lawmakers in Washington, D.C. and state houses getting ready to make major health policy decisions, a pair of new University of Michigan studies shows how past policy decisions have affected older Americans with modest or low incomes. The new findings could also help inform upcoming decisions about health insurance programs that are currently open to people with incomes under about $60,000 per person, and programs aimed at those living in or near poverty.

Journal: JAMA Health Forum
Funder: NIH/National Institute on Aging

New global research reveals strong public trust in science

University of Bath
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Largest global study since COVID-19 pandemic shows scientists are trusted around the world

Journal: Nature Human Behaviour

Race and ethnicity and diffusion of telemedicine in Medicaid for schizophrenia care after onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In this cohort study of Medicaid beneficiaries with schizophrenia, telemental health care diffused rapidly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in state-operated agencies. Together, agency-level and beneficiary-level race and ethnicity findings suggest within-agency racial and ethnic differences in diffusion of telemental health care. States should monitor the diffusion of innovations across vulnerable populations.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

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