Author Archives: Karely Vega, MD

New research by investigators from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai shows that behavioral activation therapy is as effective as antidepressant medications in treating symptoms of depression in patients with heart failure. Heart failure affects nearly 6 million adults in the United States, and approximately 50% of heart failure patients experience symptoms […]

A study exploring the mechanisms behind why cognitive performance improves in response to exercise, has found that dopamine plays a key role. The neurotransmitter and hormone — which is tied to pleasure, satisfaction and motivation — is known to increase when you work out. New findings suggest it is also linked to faster reaction time […]

At least 65 million people around the world have long COVID, a condition where they continue to experience COVID-19 symptoms for months after their symptoms originally start. The most common symptoms of long COVID are fatigue, dizziness, mobility issues, sleep problems, cognitive impairment, and brain fog or inability to concentrate. These types of lingering symptoms […]

Lifestyle and genetics, and a range of other factors within and outside our control, are known to contribute to development of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that add up to increased risk for serious health problems. A new study has found that stress, through its propensity to drive up inflammation in the body, is […]

Numerous factors contribute to skin aging, including environmental, genetics and lifestyle. Researchers at the Center for Microbiome Innovation (CMI) at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) and L’Oréal Research and Innovation discovered the skin microbiome could hold the key to understanding how the skin ages. Their findings were recently published in Frontiers […]

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in plastics pose a serious threat to public health and cost the U.S. an estimated $250 billion in increased health care costs in 2018, according to new research published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. Plastics contain many hazardous, endocrine-disrupting chemicals that leach and contaminate humans and the environment. These chemicals […]

Individuals with obesity are more likely to have monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a benign blood condition that often precedes multiple myeloma, according to new research published in Blood Advances. Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer of the plasma cells, a type of white blood cells that produce antibodies to fight infection.  MGUS, characterized […]

The use of the antipsychotic drugs quetiapine and haloperidolis associated with an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD) caused by drug-induced QT prolongation, reports a new study in Heart Rhythm, the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society, the Cardiac Electrophysiology Society, and the Pediatric & Congenital Electrophysiology Society, published by […]

In people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), changes in neurons appear to activate immune cells. Lowering the inflammation could reduce the symptoms of the disease, according to a study led by Chantelle Sephton, a professor at Université Laval’s Faculty of Medicine. ALS is caused by the loss of upper motor neurons, located in the brain, […]