Health Sciences In The Media

Experts say heart disease may be particularly worrisome in the era of the new coronavirus. Fearing COVID-19, "patients experiencing a heart attack or stroke are delaying their essential care, causing a new public health crisis,” said Dr. Martha Gulati, chief of cardiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.

Antibody testing will help health experts better assess how many people contracted the novel coronavirus. "As they grow, they'll start to produce the spike protein," University of Arizona immunologist Deepta Bhattacharya said. "You can basically trick the cells into making what you want."

With experts saying that up to 50% of people exposed to COVID-19 experience few to no symptoms, determining who has developed virus-fighting antibodies is critical to restarting social interaction, said Dr. Michael Dake, senior vice president for the University of Arizona Health Sciences.

Thirty new doctors are entering the field early to aid in the fight against COVID-19, the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix announced Monday. That’s one-third of the medical school’s 2020 graduating class.

Michael Johnson, an assistant professor of immunobiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, is investigating if copper could be used to alter the binding of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Medical students just starting out in the business also have been jumping in. The University of Arizona and several other schools have let their fourth-year medical students apply for early graduation. “They could be a big help, you could unleash up to 200 newly meted physicians to go out on the frontlines and help,” University of Arizona President Dr. Robert Robbins said.

Sleep experts say many people are experiencing deep vivid, memorable and realistic dreams during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Dreams are our brains' processing and organizing and integrating and making sense of things. We're dumped in this new environment and we're trying to figure out our place in it," said Michael Grandner, director the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson.

More than 1 million people speak Spanish at home in Arizona, but experts say official coronavirus bilingual communication has lagged. Dr. Cecilia Rosales, a public health expert and the interim associate dean of community engagement at the University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, leads a team that conducts mobile health screenings for Spanish-speaking communities in the state.

The University of Arizona Health Sciences delivered another 500 COVID-19 sample collection kits to Banner - University Medical Center Wednesday afternoon.

Researchers at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson have invented a new respiratory-assist device that provides fast, safe relief to those who experience difficulty breathing.