The British Medical Journal’s executive editor, Kamran Abbasi, pens a commentary about DANMASK-19, the first trial of mask use during COVID-19 and its controversial “negative” results. Abbasi claims that disagreement among experts, especially about interpretation of a study, is a common occurrence and “the usual business of science,” but the influence of social media has created a major challenge for science.

In the new study, published December 1, 2020, in the open-access journal eLife, researchers from UC San Francisco showed the drug, ISRIB, produced rapid restoration of youthful cognitive abilities in aged mice, accompanied by a rejuvenation of brain and immune cells that could help explain improvements in brain function.

From MedPage Today comes this story about Cliff Willmeng, a registered nurse who was fired from United Hospital in St. Paul, MN, in May 2020. Willmeng believes the hospital board is investigating his conduct due to his standing up for his own safety and that of other nurses when he pressed for hospital scrubs over using and reusing his own, fearing he may bring the virus home.

According to a study published in The Journal of Physiology in 2020, even passive stretching can provide health benefits. Instead of focusing on peak performance, pushing yourself to the limit, or “feeling the burn,” here are four other exercises that have been scientifically proven to produce serious benefits without a serious commitment.

Although the 2020 numbers will look much different, the 2019 Merritt Hawkins survey – representing 93 hospitals — shows significant increases over prior years in revenue driven for hospitals by a range of specialties, including internal medicine, cardiology, neurosurgery, and gastroenterology. How will the pandemic affect the financial outlook in 2020 and beyond, and where did oncology land?

Getting out and enjoying the sunshine seems to be more important than ever right now, and some studies indicated that not getting enough of vitamin D may be a risk factor for all-cause mortality, and numerous researchers have concluded that we should all probably be getting a little more of it. According to the available research, here are three diseases that vitamin D may help you and your patients combat.