Health Sciences In The Media

Continuing coverage: When it comes to the medicinal and therapeutic properties of Cannabis sativa, an unsolved mystery is whether there exists an “entourage effect,” whereby the pain-relieving effects of the plant as a whole are greater than any of its individual parts. “A lot of people are taking cannabis and cannabinoids for pain,” said lead researcher John Streicher, PhD, a member of the UArizona Health Sciences Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center and associate professor of pharmacology at the College of Medicine – Tucson.

During Monsoon Season, Arizonans can expect to see more scorpions this summer. "Typically, scorpion season is going to range from about May all the way through October, with the peak being in June," said Laura Morehouse, MPH, CHES, a health education specialist at the UArizona Poison and Drug Information Center. The Center has already received over 300 sting reports as of mid-June, Morehouse added.

Why are many health officials saying we don’t need a COVID-19 booster shot, at least not yet? Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, an immunobiologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson, said the efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine isn’t waning several months after being vaccinated. Bhattacharya explained what’s happening in our bodies that allows the vaccine to be so effective, even with the variants.

Bacterial vaginosis is the most common and recurrent gynecological condition affecting nearly 30% of women between the ages of 15 and 44, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A University of Arizona Health Sciences-led study recently identified a specific bacteria family and uncovered how it contributes to bacterial vaginosis, paving the way for new insights into disease prevention and treatment. "Using this study and our 3D model as a foundation, we hope to determine if and how other species are altering the environment to contribute to bacterial vaginosis," said Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz, PhD, a member of the BIO5 Institute and associate professor of basic medical sciences at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.

Two fully vaccinated people have died from COVID-19 in Pima County, according to the county health department. This is an extremely small number compared to the number of fully vaccinated people countywide. The percentage of fully vaccinated people who have died from COVID-19 is about 0.00037%. "At the individual level it's a tragedy because someone took the effort to protect themselves and it failed," said Joe Gerald, MD, PhD, an associate professor of public health policy and management at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. "But at the population level it doesn't represent a threat because these numbers are so small."

Rubin Naiman, PhD, a psychologist, clinical assistant professor of medicine, and sleep and dream specialist at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, discusses how we can better understand who we are through our dreams and our unconscious.

A new University of Arizona Health Sciences study found women on hormone therapy were up to 58% less likely to develop neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, and reduction of risk varied by type and route of hormone therapy and duration of use. The findings could lead to the development of a precision medicine approach to preventing neurodegenerative diseases.

Q&A with Candice Mason, a cancer researcher at the UArizona Cancer Center and skin cancer survivor. She started her own brand of apparel and accessories with UPF 50+ protection, the maximum sun protective rating for fabrics.

Given the chronic and incurable nature of COPD and the limited impact of available therapies, it is understandable why the lure of a promising new treatment approach would be appealing to individuals living with COPD. Unfortunately, these factors also render patients with COPD vulnerable to exploitation by companies offering false hope for novel remedies, explained Marilyn K. Glassberg, MD, of the Division of Pulmonology, Critical Care, and Sleep at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, and colleagues, in a recent review in Chest.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought mRNA vaccines into the limelight. But the technology may also prove to be a powerful weapon against hard-to-treat cancers. A head and neck cancer patient who was treated in a personalized cancer vaccine clinical trial offered at the University of Arizona Cancer Center is featured.