The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to confirm the findings and that has not yet been substantiated by peer review.
High-pressure oxygen treatment may help with long-term covid
Patients with long-term COVID-19 may see some improvement after breathing pure oxygen in an environment with high air pressure, according to data from a small Israeli trial.
Researchers randomly assigned 73 patients with COVID symptoms lasting at least three months to receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) or a sham treatment.
Patients in the HBOT group spent 40 sessions breathing pure oxygen in a chamber with air pressure two to three times higher than normal, allowing the lungs to receive more oxygen than normal.
Immediately after the last treatment, the HBOT group showed “significant improvements” in thinking skills, energy, sleep, psychotic symptoms and pain compared to the sham group, according to a report published Tuesday in Scientific Reports.
The researchers said symptomatic improvement was associated with magnetic resonance imaging evidence of structural and functional brain healing and improved delivery of oxygen-carrying blood to the brain.
HBOT is often used to treat wounds that are not healing well and has recently been tested as a treatment for traumatic brain injury, but it has long been tested for COVID-19. The first is a randomized trial. The researchers said larger studies are needed to confirm the findings and identify patients who may benefit.
COVID-19 vaccines linked to longer duration for some women
According to a new study, the COVID-19 vaccination may be associated with a short-term prolongation of the menstrual cycle for some women.
The findings are drawn from 3,858 female nurses in the United States and Canada who have been filling out questionnaires about their periods twice a year since 2011.
By December 2021, 91% of them had been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Before the pandemic, 15% reported irregular cycles; It rose to 22.7% in 2021, researchers reported Wednesday in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The report noted that vaccinated women had a 54% higher risk of increased cycle length than women who were not vaccinated, regardless of the type of vaccine and the pandemic strain and health-related factors.
On closer analysis, vaccination was only associated with changes in longer cycles in the first six months after vaccination and in women whose cycles were shorter, longer or irregular before vaccination, not in women with normal length, regular cycles. — Reuters