The race is on to find effective treatments against the new COVID-19 coronavirus spreading through China, and two new therapies show real promise, researchers say.

One is an experimental antiviral medicine that already being used by Chinese doctors on a “compassionate” basis in coronavirus patients and has shown effectiveness in monkey trials.

The other involves transfusing the plasma of people who’ve survived COVID-19 into patients still battling the illness, in hopes of boosting the recipient’s immune defences.

The antiviral is a drug called remdesivir. It’s so new that it’s not yet approved for use by any drug regulator in the world. However, earlier this week the drug’s maker Gilead announced that remdesivir is being given to Chinese patients infected with the new coronavirus because there are no approved treatments.

And in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, researchers found that remdesivir prevented disease in monkeys infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

Good results in monkeys and people

An outbreak of MERS first arose in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and caused worldwide concern before it was brought under control.

Importantly, the MERS virus is closely related to COVID-19, so scientists believe that any agent that works against MERS should prove effective against the new coronavirus.

The new study was led by Emmie de Wit at the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Her team found that remdesivir prevented disease when given to rhesus macaques before they were infected with MERS-CoV. It also improved the monkeys’ condition when it was given to them after they were infected.

The study’s promising results support further clinical trials in humans of remdesivir for both MERS-CoV and COVID-19, the research team said.

Several clinical trials of remdesivir for COVID-19 are already underway in China, and on 4 February Bloomberg News reported that the drug was being tested in patients with the new coronavirus by a medical team at the Beijing-based China-Japan Friendship Hospital.

One of the Chinese clinical trials will assess the effectiveness of remdesivir in as many as 270 patients with mild and moderate pneumonia caused by COVID-19, according to Chinese news outlet The Paper, Bloomberg News reported.

In prior studies, remdesivir protected lab animals against a variety of viruses and has also been shown to effectively treat monkeys infected with Ebola and Nipah viruses. The drug also has been assessed as a treatment for Ebola in people.

‘Encouraging’ findings

Two experts unconnected to the NIAID study were optimistic that the drug can be a weapon against the COVID-19 outbreak, which so far has sickened more than 64 000 worldwide and killed nearly 1 400.

The new research is “really exciting news”, said Dr Eric Cioe Pena, who directs Global Health at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, New York.

He pointed out that MERS is a much more deadly coronavirus infection compared to the new virus, so if remdesivir works against MERS, “many of those infected [with COVID-19] would benefit from treatment”.

In fact, the vast majority of patients with the new coronavirus do recover from their illness, so remdesivir might only be stockpiled and used for the more severe cases, Pena believes.

Dr Robert Glatter is an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He agreed that “the findings of this study in primates with MERS is quite encouraging, and support further investigation into the use of remdesivir in human trials, both for preventative and therapeutic use in those with severe infections with COVID-19.”

He also believes the drug might prove especially useful for “higher-risk individuals with exposure to the virus”, such as health care workers who are in close proximity to infected patients.

Remdesivir was even tried recently in the United States, Glatter pointed out.

“With success seen against other coronavirus infections, Gilead recently provided remdesivir to a patient with COVID-19 [treated] in Seattle. The patient recovered and was released from the hospital,” Glatter said.

“The drug also appears to be safe,” he added, “but the issue of emerging resistance [to remdesivir] will also need to be evaluated in upcoming trials.”

Transfusing immunity

On Thursday, Chinese doctors announced they were trying a second strategy against COVID-19: transfusing the blood plasma of people who’d survived the illness in others already battling the disease.

As reported by The New York Times, Dr. Zhang Dingyu, who directs the Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak, called on residents who’ve recovered from COVID-19 to donate plasma to help others infected.

China National Biotec Group, a state-owned company, said that its testing found that giving critically ill patients immune antibodies from plasma donated by survivors led to a big drop in inflammation within one day of administration.

It’s “a really good idea”, Benjamin Cowling, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong, told the Times. “It’s basically transferring immunity from a patient who has recovered to a patient still fighting the infection, and then helping them to recover.”

The technique has been used in influenza epidemics, Cowling pointed out, but when it comes to COVID-19, the approach still needs to be tested in clinical trials.

So far, the coronavirus outbreak has been largely confined to China. As of Friday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded only 15 cases in the United States, with no deaths and transmission within the broader community.

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Caring for a grandchild might be the best way to fight the isolation of old age, new research suggests.

This conclusion is based on 2014 data collected as part of an ongoing German survey of older adults.

Higher loneliness scores

Among the nearly 3 900 grandparents in the survey, more than 1 100 said they cared for a grandchild. Those who had grandchildren to care for had lower scores on loneliness and social isolation tests, and a larger social network than those who didn’t care for grandchildren.

Meanwhile, grandparents who didn’t care for a grandchild had higher loneliness scores and were in regular contact with fewer people important to them, the study authors said.

The findings were unchanged even after the researchers took into account factors such as marital status, domestic arrangements, household income, self-rated health, physical activity levels and depressive symptoms.

The study can’t prove that taking care of grandchildren by itself makes older people less lonely, only that there appears to be an association.

It might be that grandparents who felt less lonely and isolated to start with are more likely to care for a grandchild, said study author Eleanor Quirke, of the department for health economics and health services research at Hamburg-Eppendorf University Hospital, and colleagues.

Supplementary grandchild care

The study also didn’t account for how near to their grandchildren grandparents lived or how often they provided care, all of which could have affected the findings.

The report was published online in the journal BMJ Open.

“Assisting their families to balance work and family by providing supplementary grandchild care may boost grandparents’ self-esteem, and may also facilitate ongoing positive relationships with their children and grandchildren,” Quirke’s team suggested.

“Moreover, caring for grandchildren may also expand the social circle of grandparents and allow for further opportunities to establish relationships with other parents or grandparents,” the study authors explained in a journal news release.

But it’s also possible the positive effect might wear off if grandparents have to spend so much time caring for a grandchild that it interferes with their lives, the researchers added.

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If you’re dedicating valuable time in your day to a sweat sesh, chances are you want to know it’s actually worth your time, right? Okay, now raise your hand if you’ve heard different fitness philosophies about the most-effective way to rev your heart rate. Specifically, some people say cardio is the ultimate calorie-burner, while other swear by strength training. Well, it’s time to set the record straight.

It’s true that people tend to expend more calories in the moment while doing cardio exercise like running when compared to lifting weights, says Laura Miranda, a doctor of physical therapy, fitness nutrition specialist, and certified personal trainer. “But weights, or anaerobic workouts, keep our excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), or post-workout calorie burn, going from hours to days.” So you shouldn’t count them out entirely when you’re creating a cardio training plan.

The reason weight training has such a prolonged calorie-burn effect is because the greater the intensity, the more oxygen your body will need post-workout to recover and repair muscles, explains Miranda. By choosing exercises that ramp up that afterburn effect, “you get more bang for your buck in the long term,” she says. “Muscle is the most metabolically active tissue, so the more of it we have, the more effective we are at burning calories all day long.”

But yeah, which exercises burn the most calories exactly? Unsurprisingly, on a list of the best burners below — ranked in order of effectiveness — aerobic exercise tends to win in terms of immediate results. (FYI: Calorie burn is estimated for a 56-kilo person and a 84-kilo person, according to guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine. The more you weigh, the more calories you tend to burn on any particular task — but a lot of other factors come in to play, too, so this isn’t an exact science.) But there a quite a few top contenders from the weight category too.

No matter which type of workouts you choose, opt for the “bonus burn” — tips from Miranda and New York City-based trainer Noam Tamir, owner of TS Fitness — to torch even more total calories.

10 Best Exercises For Weight Loss

1. Jumping rope

The burn: 667–990 calories/hour if you’re jumping at 120 skips per minute

The bonus burn: Try using a weighted jump rope to engage your arms and shoulders even more.

2. Running Up Hill/Stair Sprints

The burn: 639–946 calories/hour

The bonus burn: “You want to sprint at a pace that you can only maintain for about 20 seconds, and follow that with a recovery run at half of the intensity of the sprint and double the time,” says Miranda.

READ MORE: 10 Of The Best Fat-Burning Workouts You Can Do At The Gym

3. Kickboxing

The burn: 582–864 calories/hour

The bonus burn: Make sure you keep the rest periods between rounds of jabs and kicks super short. Aim for 30 seconds of rest for every 90 seconds of sparring.

4. Cycling intervals

The burn: 568–841 calories/hour

The bonus burn: Adding high-intensity intervals throughout a steady-state or low-intensity ride will increase the afterburn even more.

5. Running

The burn: 566–839 calories/hour at a 10-minute mile pace

The bonus burn: Run at a steady-state pace (i.e. a 7 out of 10 in terms of effort), and you’ll continue to burn extra calories over the rest of the day.

To torch more during and after your workout, add short bursts of sprints or faster running into your jog, says Tamir. He recommends keeping a 2:1 work-to-rest ratio to get the most afterburn. For example, if you run for 60 seconds, walk 30 seconds.

6. Kettlebell circuit

The burn: 554–822 calories/hour

The bonus burn: Tamir says that a HIIT circuit using kettlebells can keep the afterburn going for 36 hours after you leave the gym. To get the best results, make sure you’re not stopping to rest between each move.

Tamir recommends switching between upper- and lower-body movements so you can keep exercising for a longer period of time. Try doing a set of kettlebell swings, kettlebell squats, and kettlebell push presses. Then, rest for 15 to 20 seconds after completing the three moves.

7. Stationary bike

The burn: 498–738 calories/hour (at a vigorous pace)

The bonus burn: To get the most afterburn, Tamir says to start with 10 seconds of intense pedalling (100 RPMs or more) and 50 seconds of rest. Then, move to 15 seconds of sprints and 45 seconds of rest, and do 20 seconds of sprints 40 seconds of rest after that. Don’t forget to turn up the resistance as you progress!

READ MORE: 5 Non-Boring Cardio Moves That Do Wonders For Torching Fat

8. Rowing machine

The burn: 481–713 calories/hour at 150 watts, which you can check on the machine

The bonus burn: To get maximum torching power, row in super-fast, one-minute intervals (150 watts), and take 30- to 60-second active rest periods by alternating between squats, pushups, and planks.

9. Loaded kettlebell carries

The burn: 476–705 calories/hour

The bonus burn: Walking with weighted kettlebells forces you to practice strong posture and core control. “My fav method is the three-in-one,” says Miranda. “Start walking with two kettlebells overhead, walk as far as you can until you need to stop. Then, drop the bells to the front racked position and continue walking until you need to stop again. Finally, drop them down to the farmer’s carry position (at your sides), and continue walking as long as you can.” This is one cycle, rest two minutes, then repeat.

10. Stairs

The burn: 452–670 calories/hour when going 77 steps per minute

The bonus burn: To up the ante, hold a two- to four-kilo dumbbell in each hand to get your upper body fired up, too.

Bottom line: Whether you’re working the Stair Master or running steps around town, à la Rocky, stair climbing provides a good mix of aerobic and anaerobic exercise.

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Macaela Mackenzie

Roses are red, violets are blue, sleep experts have a Valentine’s Day gift idea for you.

A box of chocolates and a candlelight dinner might seem romantic, but your partner might also embrace a lifestyle change: no more snoring.

“While snoring is disruptive to bed partners and can cause frustration in a relationship, it can also be an indicator of a serious health problem,” said Dr Kelly Carden, president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).

“Snoring is a common symptom of obstructive sleep apnoea, a chronic disease that involves the repeated collapse of the upper airway during sleep,” she explained in an AASM news release. “When sleep apnoea is untreated, it can increase the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke and other health problems.”

For occasional snorers, the AASM offers this advice:

• Lose weight. Weight gain can worsen snoring and lead to obstructive sleep apnoea. Shedding a couple of kilograms might eliminate your snoring.
• Change positions. Some people find that they snore while sleeping on their back. If this is the case, try sleeping on your side instead.
• Avoid alcohol, muscle relaxants and certain medications. Substances like these can relax your throat or tongue muscles, leading to snoring.
• Get a diagnosis. If you’re snoring loudly each night, talk to your doctor about it or consult a sleep specialist.

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Following weight-loss surgery, teens may see some aspects of their health improve, but overall mental health isn’t likely to budge, a new study suggests.

In the five years after gastric bypass surgery, teens experienced small gains in self-esteem and some improvement in binge-eating, but no sizable boost in overall mood, researchers found.

Mental health problems

“The transition from adolescence to young adulthood is a vulnerable time, not least in adolescents with severe obesity,” said study author Kajsa Jarvholm, from Skane University Hospital in Sweden. “Our results provide a complex picture, but what’s safe to say is that weight-loss surgery does not seem to improve general mental health.”

For the study, researchers collected data on 161 obese Swedish teens, ages 13 to 18. Half had obesity surgery.

The researchers also collected data on psychiatric drugs prescribed to the teens and any specialist treatment for mental problems in the five years before and after surgery. The teens also reported any mental health problems.

Before surgery, the number of teens taking psychiatric drugs was similar between those who did and didn’t have the operation – 20% in the surgery group and 15% among the others.

Five years after surgery, the number of teens taking psychiatric drugs increased in both groups. An increase in use of specialist mental-health care was also seen.

Teens who had surgery were significantly more likely to have had inpatient or outpatient care for mental problems, the researchers found. But those who had surgery may be monitored more closely, which might account for the increased care.

Some limitations

Five years after surgery, teens who had the operation said they had improved self-esteem. They also reported less binge-eating, emotional eating and uncontrolled eating. Their overall mood, however, had not changed, the researchers noted.

The report was recently published in the journal The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

The authors highlighted some limitations to the study. For one, the surgical patients weren’t randomly chosen. Also, the severity of obesity was unequal between the two groups (the surgery group had an average BMI of 45; the non-surgery group’s average BMI was 42), and the sample size was small.

Still, “we suggest that adolescents and their caregivers should be given realistic expectations in advance of embarking on a surgical pathway,” Jarvholm said in a journal news release. Also, as teens begin treatment, long-term mental health follow-up and support should be a requirement, she added.

People living with obesity encounter weight bias and discrimination, which can negatively affect mental health, said the author of an accompanying editorial, Dr Stasia Hadjiyannakis, from the University of Ottawa in Canada. “We must advocate for and support strategies aimed at decreasing weight bias and discrimination,” she wrote.

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