Please contact Rose Branstrom at rbranstr@umich.edu for items you would like
included in our M-LEEaD Newsletter
M-LEEaD’s Community Engagement Core (CEC) has created new resources (hosted on the M-LEEaD website) relating to lead and water.
The EPA’s new Lead & Copper Rule sets a lower limit on the amount of lead allowed in drinking water. Because of this, some Michigan residents were notified of elevated levels of lead and copper in their drinking water for the first time. The new listing of Michigan Lead & Water Resources is a great, comprehensive resource of tips and links on what to do if notified (available in English, Spanish, and Arabic).
Air transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the coronavirus pandemic, was much higher than surface transmission at the University of Michigan, according to a study by researchers at U-M’s School of Public Health. The two-year study looked at public spaces on U-M’s Ann Arbor campus, including classrooms, rehearsal rooms, cafeterias, buses, gyms, student activity buildings, and ventilation and air ducts. Read some of the coverage in US News, Health Day, Health Shots, and The Federal.
Consumers know that drinking water is key to health, but is that water they've left out overnight actually OK to drink the next morning or even a couple of days later? Chuanwu Xi provided comment to Yahoo!Life, sharing the tips on this topic, including one that keeping water in a container for a long time can lead to taste changes and regrowth of microbes in water. Read the full article here.
In the Speaking of Medicine PLOS Blog, Bhramar Mukherjee dives into excess mortality estimates, which help researchers assess the true toll of the pandemic and ensure a fairer comparison across countries. However, imperfect, and incomplete death registration often makes these calculations a tricky “missing data” problem. Read more this problem, and Mukherjee's own experience with modeling the pandemic in India, here.
A new phase 3 study has been published researching an ultrahigh-dose of methylcobalamin for ALS patients. Commenting on the study, Stephen Goutman, MD, director of the Pranger ALS Clinic and associate professor of neurology in the Neuromuscular Program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, said the study findings "appear promising" although "unfortunately, all clinical secondary endpoints were nonsignificant." Read the full article here.
A fusion gene occurs when two genes, which normally reside in different parts of the genome, come together and get fused, and this fusion of genes can initiate the development of cancers. In prostate cancer, recurrent fusion genes are found in upwards of 60 to 70 per cent of prostate cancers. These prostate cancer gene fusions are typically regulated by male hormones and cause increased levels of cancer driver genes. When recurrent gene fusions are discovered for a particular cancer type they are considered the molecular cause of the cancer. Read selections from the interview in The Weekhere.
