News of the World

[kyonides]

Heart Inflammation Risk Higher From Moderna Vaccine
Than COVID-19 for Those Under 40: Study

The risk of developing a form of heart inflammation is higher for people younger than 40 after receiving Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine than it is from contracting COVID-19, according to a new study.

Researchers found 15 excess cases per 1 million people who received a second dose of the vaccine compared to 10 extra cases of myocarditis following a positive COVID-19 test. Moderna’s vaccine is typically taken in a two-dose regimen.

The risk of myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation, was much higher following the second dose of the Moderna vaccine, but there were still 8 excess cases per 1 million people following the first dose as well.

“Time to abandon the belief that COVID-19 myocarditis risk is always higher than mRNA vaccine myocarditis risk. For some individuals, myocarditis risks of the vaccine(s) are higher than those of the disease,” Euzebiusz Jamrozik, an infectious disease expert who works at the University of Oxford, wrote on Twitter.

The elevated risk stood out against what researchers found for the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines. People were found to be more at risk of contracting myocarditis from COVID-19 than from either of those vaccines, regardless of age.
...
The study was published in Nature and was carried out by professors from multiple colleges, including the University of Oxford, which helped develop the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Researchers utilized data from the English National Immunization database, which includes information on all people vaccinated in England. The database featured information on 38.6 million people through Aug. 24.

Jan. 6 Committee Confirms Schiff Presented
Doctored Text Message Between Meadows and Jordan

The House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol acknowledged on Wednesday that it doctored a text message between former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), excluding content about how they wanted former Vice President Mike Pence to handle electoral votes during the Joint Session of Congress earlier this year.

On Monday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the head of the House Intelligence Committee, showed a graphic during a hearing on newly obtained communications between Meadows and others, including Jordan. The graphic was displayed as the Jan. 6 panel was discussing whether to hold Meadows in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over information related to the probe.

The graphic included the title “Lawmaker Text to Meadows.”

The message was presented as follows: “On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence, as President of the Senate, should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all.”

“You can see why this is so critical to ask Mr. Meadows about. About a lawmaker suggesting that the former vice president simply throw out votes that he unilaterally deems unconstitutional in order to overturn a presidential election and subvert the will of the American people,” Schiff said.

However, the message was actually a direct quote from former Department of Defense Inspector General Joseph Schmitz, according to The Federalist. The text included an attachment of Schmitz’s determination that Pence could object to electoral votes from states.

The text was also altered to cut off the rest of the sentence, which stated, “in accordance with guidance from founding father Alexander Hamilton and judicial precedence,” the outlet said.

Scientists Claim They May Have Discovered the Cause of Alzheimer’s

Scientists at the University of California–Riverside said in recent findings that the key to understanding Alzheimer’s may have to do with “tau” proteins that likely cause neurofibrillary tangles—which are found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. Previously, researchers suggested that amyloid plaques, which are a buildup of amyloid peptides, may be the cause.

Both amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are critical indicators that doctors look for when trying to diagnose Alzheimer’s.

“Roughly 20 percent of people have the plaques, but no signs of dementia,” said UCR chemistry professor Ryan Julian in a statement. “This makes it seem as though the plaques themselves are not the cause.”

Researchers focused on the different structures a single molecule can manufacture, known as isomers.

“An isomer is the same molecule with a different three-dimensional orientation than the original. A common example would be hands. Hands are isomers of each other, mirror images but not exact copies. Isomers can actually have a handedness,” Julian said.
...
If a protein stays too long—generally more than 48 hours—some amino acids in the proteins convert into the “other-handed” isomer, they noted.
...

The human body has a process called autophagy, they noted, which clears used or defective proteins from cells. When people age, autophagy can slow down, although it isn’t clear why, Julian said, which is what his team is attempting to figure out.

Biden Ups Federal Funds for Kentucky Disaster Relief

President Joe Biden took an aerial tour over parts of Kentucky Wednesday morning to assess storm damage from deadly weekend tornadoes, and later in the day approved the federal government covering the entire cost for cleanup.

Over the weekend, Biden approved Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s request for a major disaster declaration, making federal funding available for the state, and on Monday approved disaster declarations for Tennessee and Illinois as well.

On Wednesday, Dec. 15, Biden upped the funds to Kentucky from 75 percent to 100 percent of the cleanup cost over the following 30 days.

When reporters asked if more money is needed from Congress, Biden said, “We don’t need it now.”

“It’s incredible how ya’ll have stepped up,” the president said Wednesday during an address in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. “I’m going make sure the federal government steps up and that we do every single thing.”

More than 30 tornadoes tore through Kentucky and seven other states over the course of Friday and Saturday, killing at least 88 people, including 74 in Kentucky, and leaving thousands more without a home or without power.

FDA Strengthens Warning Over Severe Condition
Linked to Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 Vaccine

U.S. drug regulators this week formally strengthened a warning to Americans regarding a severe condition linked to Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Blood clots and low blood platelet levels, known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), are now listed as a contradiction, or a medical reason for somebody not to get the shot.

“Do not administer” the vaccine to individuals with a history of the set of conditions following the vaccine or any other adenovirus-vectored COVID-19 vaccine, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says in an updated fact sheet (pdf) for health care providers administering vaccines.

TTS has been reported in “a wide range of individuals 18 years and older” since administration of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine began earlier this year, regulators say.

The highest reporting rate, approximately 1 case per 100,000 doses administered, has occurred in women aged 30 to 49.

About 15 percent of the TTS cases have been fatal.