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Health

Your Smell Could Attract Mosquitoes

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A new study finds that some people attract mosquitoes much more than others, and it probably involves the way they smell.

The researchers found that people who attract mosquitoes the most produce a lot of certain chemicals on their skin. These chemicals are connected to the scent that attracts the mosquitoes.

Leslie Vosshall is one of the authors of the study and a neurobiologist at Rockefeller University in New York. She said, “If you have high levels of this stuff on your skin, you’re going to be the one at the picnic getting all the bites.”

For many years, there have been a lot of ideas about who is likely to get bitten more. But those ideas have not been supported by strong evidence, Vosshall said.

For the study, researchers designed an experiment to have people’s scents compete against each other.

They asked 64 volunteers to wear stockings around their forearms to absorb, or take in, the scent from their skin. The stockings were put in separate traps at the end of a long tube. Then, dozens of mosquitoes were released.

The mosquitoes came to some traps much more than others. The scientists did the experiment several times, always changing which stockings were competing against each other. At the end, they discovered a huge difference between stockings. The most attractive stocking was around 100 times more attractive to the mosquitoes than the last-place finisher.

The experiment used a kind of mosquito that spreads diseases like yellow fever, Zika and dengue. Vosshall said she would expect similar results from other kinds of mosquitoes. But additional research needs to be done to know for sure.

FILE – An Aedes aegypti mosquito is seen through a microscope at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation laboratory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 14, 2019. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP)

By testing the same people for over a year, the study showed that these big differences remain, said Matt DeGennaro, a neurogeneticist at Florida International University. He was not involved in the research.

“Mosquito magnets seem to remain mosquito magnets,” DeGennaro said.

The researchers found a common factor: Mosquito magnets had high levels of certain acids on their skin. People produce them in different amounts, Vosshall said. The healthy bacteria that live on the skin eat up these acids and produce part of the way our skin smells, she said.

The research could help find new ways to repel mosquitoes, said Jeff Riffell, a neurobiologist at the University of Washington who was not involved with the study. There may be ways to affect the skin bacteria and change the smell that attracts mosquitoes, he said.

However, he said that would be hard to do. Researchers also did the experiment with mosquitoes whose genes were changed to damage their sense of smell. But they still flew to the same mosquito magnets.

Vosshall said mosquitoes have ways to find us even if we change some conditions. “They have many backup plans to be able to find us and bite us,” she said.

I’m Andrew Smith.

Maddie Burakoff wrote this story for the Associated Press. Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English.

Quiz – Study: Your Smell Could Attract Mosquitoes


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Words in This Story

attract –v. to bring attention to something or make something come towards another thing

scent –n. an odor or smell

picnic –n. a meal eaten outdoors, often in a park or other natural setting

stockings –n. tight-fitting covering for legs, feet, or arms, usually made of nylon

dozen –n. a group of twelve items

factor –n. a thing or element that has an effect on a situation or event

repel –v. to force or move away something coming towards an object

backup –n. alternatives, other options

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Health

Some Cancer Patients May Not Need Treatments after Surgery

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After surgery, some cancer patients can safely avoid treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy, say two recent studies that explore shorter, gentler cancer care.

Researchers are looking for ways to predict which cancer patients can avoid unneeded treatment to cut down on costs and bad side effects.

One new study used a blood test to study which colon cancer patients could skip, or not have, chemotherapy after surgery. Another study suggests some low-risk breast cancer patients might not need radiation after the surgical removal of a mass or lump, a surgery known as a lumpectomy.

The research was discussed recently at the yearly meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The colon cancer study, financed by the Australian and U.S. governments and nonprofit groups, was recently published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

The findings let doctors pay careful attention to “the patients we think would truly benefit from chemotherapy and avoid the side effects for patients for whom it’s likely unnecessary,” said Dr. Stacey Cohen of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Cohen reviewed the colon cancer findings and was not involved in the research.

Colon cancer study

Many colon cancer patients are given chemotherapy after surgery, even though they may be cured. The drugs can come with bad side effects such as nausea, anemia and memory problems.

But deciding which patients might not need further treatment has been difficult. So, the scientists studied whether a blood test could help doctors make the decision.

The study involved 455 patients who had surgery because cancer had spread into the colon wall. After surgery, one group received a blood test specially made for the tumor’s genetic information to find any remaining bits of cancer DNA.

Their care was guided by the blood test. If the test showed no signs of remaining cancer, the patients did not get chemotherapy. Meanwhile, doctors made chemotherapy decisions for the rest of the patients in the usual way, guided by careful study of the tumor and nearby tissue.

Fewer patients in the blood test group got chemotherapy — 15 percent in comparison to 28 percent. But about 93 percent of both groups were still free of cancer after two years. In other words, the blood test group did equally well with less chemotherapy.

Dr. Jeanne Tie of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center in Melbourne, Australia, led the research. Tie described the findings in terms of cancer relapse – the return of a cancer after a period of improvement.

“In patients where cancer DNA is not detected after surgery, the chance of cancer relapse is very low, suggesting that chemotherapy is very unlikely to benefit these patients,” Tie said.

ASCO president Dr. Everett Vokes said that not having chemo makes “a big difference in a person’s quality of life if that can be done without having to put them” at risk of the disease coming back.

Breast cancer

The other study followed 500 older women with a common form of early-stage breast cancer and low levels of a protein known as Ki67, a marker for fast-growing cancer.

After surgery, the women took hormone-blocking pills, a common treatment for this type of cancer. But the women did not get radiation treatment.

After five years, 10 of the women saw cancer return in the same breast, and there was one breast cancer death. The study had no comparison group, but researchers said the results compare well to historical data for similar patients who had radiation.

Dr. Timothy Whelan of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, led the study.

“We estimate the benefits of radiation would be very small in this population compared to the side effects,” Whelan said.

Radiation can cause skin problems, tiredness and, less commonly, long-term heart problems and second cancers.

Dr. Deborah Axelrod of NYU Langone Health was not involved in the research.

Axelrod described the study as a “feel-good” message for patients with low-risk tumors. Axelrod added that the data will help doctors understand which of their patients they “can comfortably, with confidence” not give radiation to.

I’m John Russell.

Carla K. Johnson reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.

Studies: Some Cancer Patients May Not Need Treatments after Surgery

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Words in This Story

chemotherapy – n. medical: the use of chemicals to treat or control a disease (such as cancer)

benefit—v. to be useful or helpful to (someone or something)

nausea – n. the feeling you have in your stomach when you think you are going to vomit

anemia – n. medical: a condition in which a person has fewer red blood cells than normal and feels very weak and tired

tumor – n. a mass of tissue found in or on the body that is made up of abnormal cells

hormone – n. a natural substance that is produced in the body and that influences the way the body grows or develops

detect — v. to discover or notice the presence of (something that is hidden or hard to see, hear, taste, etc.)

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Health

Is COVID-19 Behind an Increase in Diabetes Cases?

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Scientists are investigating a possible increase in diabetes cases since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

Diabetes is a condition in which the body cannot control sugars in the blood.

The scientists want to find out if COVID-19 has a connection with the increase or if it is a coincidence.

Increase in diabetes

A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently examined two large U.S. insurance databases. The databases included information about new diabetes cases from March 2020 through June 2021.

The study found that diabetes was more common in children who had had COVID-19. The report did not look at the difference between Type 1 diabetes, which usually starts in childhood, and Type 2, the kind tied to being overweight.

Rates of both kinds of diabetes have risen in U.S. children in recent years. But reports from Europe and some U.S. hospitals suggest the rates may have increased more during the pandemic.

Dr. Inas Thomas of the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital said, “I think we’re all a little worried.”

Her hospital has seen a 30 percent increase in Type 1 diabetes, compared with the years before the pandemic, Thomas said. It is not known how many of the cases had COVID-19 at some point, but the timing raises concerns that there could be a connection, she said.

What causes diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes develops when the pancreas, an organ near the kidneys, produces little or no insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar. It is thought to involve an autoimmune reaction. That means the body’s defense system attacks insulin-making cells in the pancreas. Patients must use manufactured insulin to deal with the condition.

Experts have believed for a long time that some earlier infection may set off that autoimmune reaction.

With COVID-19, “We don’t know if it’s a direct effect or some other factor that’s not fully understood yet, but we are hoping that this trend may help us figure out the trigger for what causes Type 1 diabetes,” Thomas said.

At Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, Type 1 diabetes cases jumped almost 60 percent during the first year of the pandemic, compared with the previous 12 months. Researchers recently reported the finding in the medical publication JAMA Pediatrics.

Just two percent of those children had had active COVID-19. The report did not have information on any previous infections. But the sharp increase was striking and “clearly there’s a lot more work to be done to try to answer why is this happening,″ said Dr. Jane Kim. She co-wrote the report.

Type 2 diabetes mostly affects adults. It changes how the body uses insulin, leading to poorly controlled blood sugar. Causes are uncertain but genetics, too much weight, inactivity and unhealthy eating habits play a part. It can sometimes be treated or cured with lifestyle changes.

Nolan Balcitis, left, plays the board game Monopoly with his family at their home in Crown Point, Ind., on March 5, 2022. From left are Nolan, Bryan, Tabitha and Colin Balcitis. Nolan was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes six months after a mild case of f COVID-19.

Around the world, more than 540 million people have diabetes, including about 37 million in the United States. Most have Type 2 diabetes. Many more have higher than normal blood sugar levels, or prediabetes.

Rising diabetes cases might reflect conditions involving pandemic restrictions. These could include delayed medical care for early signs of diabetes or unhealthy eating habits and inactivity in people already at risk for Type 2 diabetes.

A diabetes center at Chicago’s La Rabida Children’s Hospital has seen an increase in prediabetes during the pandemic. Center co-director Rosemary Briars suspects long hours of online learning without physical activity played a part.

Dr. Rasa Kazlauskaite is a diabetes specialist at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center. She said steroid drugs that are sometimes used to reduce inflammation in hospitalized patients with infections including COVID-19 can cause blood sugar increases leading to diabetes. Sometimes the condition goes away after steroids are stopped, but not always, she said.

The physical stress of severe COVID-19 and other illnesses can also cause high blood sugar and temporary diabetes, she added.

Does the virus have an effect on insulin production?

Developing evidence suggests that the coronavirus — like some other viruses — can attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. That process might cause at least temporary diabetes in some people.

To learn more, scientists in Denmark are getting adults recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes to take part in a study. The study group includes some people who had COVID-19.

Over time, the researchers try to find out whether the condition progresses faster in those who had COVID-19. Such a study could help show how or if the infection might affect the development of diabetes, said researcher Dr. Morten Bjerregaard-Andersen. He is a diabetes specialist at the Hospital of South West Jutland.

“The theory is if you had COVID-19, then your own insulin production will be more compromised than if you weren’t infected,” Bjerregaard-Andersen said.

I’m John Russell.

Lindsey Tanner reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.

Quiz – Is COVID-19 Behind an Increase in Diabetes Cases?


Start the Quiz to find out

__________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

coincidence – n. the occurrence of events that happen at the same time by accident but seem to have some connection

autoimmune –adj. of or related to the system that protects the body against infection and disease

factor –n. something that helps produce or influence a result; one of the things that cause something to happen

trend – n. a general direction of change

reflect – v. to show (something) : to make (something) known

theory – n. an idea that is suggested or presented as possibly true but that is not known or proven to be true

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Health

First Woman Is Reported Cured of HIV

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A patient in the United States with the disease leukemia has become the first woman to be cured of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The patient received stem cells from a donor. Stem cells are special cells that can become any kind of cell in the body. The donor was naturally resistant to HIV, researchers told reporters Tuesday.

The woman has been described as a 64-year-old woman of mixed race. Her case was presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Denver, Colorado.

It is the first case involving the use of blood from the umbilical cord. The umbilical cord connects a pregnant mother to her fetus. Use of umbilical blood is a somewhat new method. Doctors are considering making the treatment available to more people.

The woman had been receiving the umbilical cord blood to treat her leukemia. Leukemia is a cancer that starts in blood-forming cells in bones. Since receiving the treatment, the woman has been in remission. She has been free of HIV for 14 months. She has not needed HIV treatments known as antiretroviral therapy.

The two earlier cases in which patients were cured happened in males who had received adult stem cells. Adult stem cells are often used in bone marrow transplants.

“This is now the third report of a cure in this setting, and the first in a woman living with HIV,” said Sharon Lewin in a statement. She is soon to be the head of the International AIDS Society.

The woman’s case is part of a larger study led by Dr. Yvonne Bryson of the University of California Los Angeles, and Dr. Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. It is being financially supported by the U.S. government.

The study aims to follow 25 people with HIV who receive a transplant with stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood for the treatment of cancer and other serious conditions.

Patients in the study first receive treatment to destroy cancerous cells. Doctors then transplant stem cells from individuals with a genetic mutation which makes them resistant to HIV. Scientists believe the patients receiving the transplant will develop an immune system resistant to HIV.

Lewin said bone marrow transplants do not cure most people living with HIV. But she said the report “confirms that a cure for HIV is possible and further strengthens using gene therapy” as an effective way to cure HIV.

The study suggests that an important part of the treatment’s success was using HIV-resistant cells.

“Taken together, these three cases of a cure post stem cell transplant all help” in discovering the parts of the transplant that were important to a cure, Lewin said.

I’m Dan Novak.

Dan Novak adapted this for VOA Learning English from reporting by Reuters.

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Words in This Story

donor — n. a person who gives something (such as blood or a body organ) so that it can be given to someone who needs it

umbilical cord — n. a long, narrow tube that connects an unborn baby to the placenta of its mother

remission — n. a period of time during a serious illness when the patient’s health improves

transplant— v.(medical) to perform a medical operation in which an organ or other part that has been removed from the body of one person is put into the body of another person

mutation –n. a change in the genes of a plant or animal that causes a different quality to be recognized

immune system –n. the system that protects the body from disease and infections

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Health

Omicron Version of COVID-19 Found in New York City Deer

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American researchers say they tested a group of deer in New York City and found that some of them were infected with the Omicron version of COVID-19.

The highly infectious version, or variant, was identified in the white-tailed deer population on the city’s Staten Island. The Omicron variant was found in seven of the 68 deer tested between December 13 and January 31.

The results are reported in a study carried out by researchers at Penn State University in Pennsylvania. The study was financed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Earlier COVID-19 variants were also found in white-tailed deer in New York and several other U.S. states. But the Staten Island study is the first to find evidence of the Omicron variant in deer or any other animal population, said Suresh Kuchipudi. He is a professor of virology at Penn State who led the research team.

Kuchipudi told The Associated Press the finding “opened up the possibility that, like the previous variants, Omicron can and has spilled over into animals.” He added that for this reason, the presence of COVID-19 in animal populations needs to be closely watched.

In this file photo, a deer crosses Atlantic Drive inside the Gateway National Recreation Area – Sandy Hook, N.J., Jan. 3, 2019, in Highlands, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Kuchipudi added that the spillover of Omicron from humans to deer suggests the possibly that vaccine-resistant versions of the virus could mutate and spread in non-humans.

“When the virus completely mutates, then it can escape the protection of the current vaccine,” Kuchipudi said. “So, we’d have to change the vaccine again.”

The researchers also reported that nearly 15 percent of the 131 deer captured on Staten Island had COVID-19 antibodies. This finding suggests that the animals had past coronavirus infections, and they were reinfected with new variants.

In August, the USDA said it found the world’s first cases of COVID-19 in wild deer in Ohio. This expanded the list of animals known to have been infected with the sickness. The information was based on findings collected months before Omicron became the most dominant variant found in human populations around the world.

So far, the USDA has reported COVID-19 in animals including dogs, cats, tigers, lions, snow leopards, otters, gorillas and minks.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

The Associated Press and Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

virology – n. a part of science that deals with viruses and viral diseases

mutate – v. to cause (a gene) to change and create an unusual characteristic in a plant or animal : to cause mutation in (a gene)

dominant – adj. the main or most important part of something

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Health

European Countries Consider Living with COVID-19

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Some European countries are making new policies to deal with COVID-19 as a usual, infectious disease, similar to the flu, and not as a public health crisis.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Spain, for example, ordered people to stay at home for more than three months. People including children were not permitted to go outside, even for exercise. The economy sharply slowed.

Officials said the measures prevented a collapse of the health care system. But last year, Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that the draconian measures were not constitutional.

Now, Spain is planning to employ a different policy. The country has one of Europe’s highest vaccination rates, but also is suffering economic weakness. The government is planning to deal with the next increase in infections not as an emergency but as a normal infectious disease.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wants the European Union to consider similar changes.

The goal is to move away from using crisis measures and toward treating the new coronavirus in the way that many countries deal with the flu and measles.

Other European countries including Britain and Portugal are planning similar action.

Britain lifts measures

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Parliament Wednesday that the infectious Omicron version of the new coronavirus “has peaked nationally.”

Johnson said beginning on January 27, many COVID-19 measures would end. These include required vaccination proof to attend public events. The country will also end its requirement that face coverings, or masks, be worn in public. As of Thursday, British secondary schools no longer require mask use.

“We will trust the judgement of the British people and no longer criminalize anyone who chooses not to wear one,” Johnson said.

Last month, British officials renewed strong restrictive measures to slow the spread of the Omicron version of the virus.

Johnson noted that more than 90 percent of those over the age of 60 in Britain have had a third additional, or booster, vaccination against the virus.

COVID-19 as ‘endemic’

Portugal has one of the world’s highest vaccination rates. On New Year’s Day, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said the country had “moved into the endemic phase” of the pandemic. Endemic means a disease will continue to exist in some areas for years to come. The president was speaking about easing crisis-level restrictions.

The number of Omicron infections has again gone up. But the number of people admitted to the hospital and deaths among vaccinated people in Europe are much lower than at earlier times in the pandemic.

In some places, the idea of returning to normal life can conflict with efforts to get more people vaccinated. In Germany, for example, 73 percent of people have been fully vaccinated. Health Ministry spokesman Andreas Deffner said Monday that, “We still have too many unvaccinated people,” especially noting older citizens.

FILE – A teacher wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of coronavirus checks the temperature of her student at Maestro Padilla school as the new school year begins, in Madrid, Sept. 7, 2021. (AP)

Over 80 percent of Spain’s population has received two vaccination shots. Health officials are placing their attention on booster shots for adults.

Dr. Salvador Trenche is head of the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine. It has called on policies that treat the virus as endemic. He said widespread vaccination and infection mean efforts can be placed on prevention, testing and watching moderate- to high-risk groups. COVID-19 “must be treated like the rest of illnesses,” he told the Associated Press.

The plan has been called the “flu-ization” of COVID-19 by the Spanish media.

For now, some observers say the discussion about how to deal with endemic COVID-19 is limited to rich countries. They have used vaccines and public health systems to deal with the severest effects of the pandemic. And it is unclear how the endemic-linked policies will coexist with the so-called “zero-COVID” policies in several Asian nations, including China.

China has put in place very strong measures to protect the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics from the virus that was first identified in Wuhan.

A special area has been set up in the city for thousands of international visitors. Neither the visitors nor the competitors will be permitted to leave the area until they go home.

I’m Mario Ritter, Jr.

Aritz Parra reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English with additional AP stories. ____________________________________________

Words in This Story

draconian –adj. very severe or cruel

expire –v. to end : to no longer be valid after a period of time

peak –v. to reach the highest level or point

approach –n. a way of dealing with something; a way of doing or thinking about something

illness –n. sickness; disease

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