Now there are two new pills that can prevent people from getting severely ill after contracting Covid-19. Researchers say the more recently announced drug, from Pfizer, is 89% effective at cutting the risk of death and hospitalization… while the first, from Merck, has a 50% effectiveness. Both are still experimental in the United States… but the Merck drug has received conditional approval in the UK. The drugs could help tame the pandemic… but researchers emphasize they’re not a replacement for vaccines.
A new type of magnetic brain stimulation is showing promise as a treatment for depression that’s resisted every other therapy. A small study in the American Journal of Psychiatry shows that the treatment, known as SAINT (Stanford accelerated intelligent neuromodulation therapy), eliminated depression in more than three-quarters of the patients it was used on. Treatments last for five days… but their anti-depressive effects appear to last for months.
And finally… if you crave one type of food over another… blame your genes. A study in the journal Nature Human Behavior examined the genes of more than 280,000 people… and identified more than two dozen genetic sequences that cause some people to prefer fatty foods… while others like carbs or proteins. Scientists hope the new knowledge will help them develop better strategies to prevent diabetes and obesity.
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