Mayo Clinic Health Matters

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Breaking down the booster dose terminology for COVID-19 vaccines Aug 18, 2021

Show notes

COVID-19 booster vaccines are on the horizon.in the news and

"A vaccine booster dose is generally an additional dose above and beyond the primary series needed to achieve protective immunity," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "So the dose that was approved this past week would be better classified as an “additional dose” for those who are moderately to severely immunocompromised." Dr. Poland says those people will have already received two doses but need the additional dose in order to improve their immune response to the vaccine.

Dr. Poland continues, "If we got to the point where we would offer a third dose of the same vaccine to older adults, health care providers and essential workers that would be a booster dose. Then if we used a variant-specific vaccine, which researchers are working on, that would be called a variant booster dose."

In this Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Poland talks extensively about additional and booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, he discusses the latest COVID-19 research regarding pregnancy and fertility.

He also addresses concerns about the variants that experts are predicting will come after the current delta variant. "So, for the unvaccinated, they keep moving into more and more dangerous phases of the pandemic, as each new variant arises," says Dr. Poland.

Research disclosures for Dr. Gregory Poland.

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Cancer caregivers need care themselves Aug 16, 2021

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When someone is diagnosed with cancer, partners, family members and friends often step into the role of being a cancer caregiver. They are rarely trained for the job of caregiving, but often become indispensable to the person for whom they care, administering medications, managing side effects, communicating with the cancer care team and so much more.

But what about the toll this takes on the caregiver themselves?

"I think the self-care for the caregiver is something that we often forget about, and we often don't emphasize enough on the clinical side," says Dr. Joan Griffin, a researcher in Health Care Delivery at Mayo Clinic. "And it's really important, because it's a long, hard marathon to be a cancer caregiver."

Extended periods of providing care for someone else can affect the caregiver's own quality of life, including their sleep and mood. It can even lead to depression.

On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Griffin shares what caregivers of cancer patients can expect and offers tips on how to take care of themselves at the same time.

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Kick your COVID-19 bad habits Aug 13, 2021

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For more than a year, COVID-19 has forced people to depart from their normal routines. Physical isolation, working from home, and added stress and anxiety about a deadly coronavirus have led some people to develop bad habits that have consequences on both physical and mental health.

"When we're under stress, we revert back to what's comfortable," says Dr. Benjamin Lai, a Mayo Clinic family medicine physician. "COVID-19 has brought unpredictability and a sense of loss of control. So, we fall back to what's familiar. Some eat for comfort. Some seek alcohol. Some spend too much time on social media. It all boils down to dealing with chronic stress."

So how can these bad habits developed during the pandemic be broken?

On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Lai discusses strategies for getting back to healthier habits.

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It's like a Code Red hospital alert Aug 11, 2021

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An overwhelming surge of COVID-19 cases is underway in the U.S. As the delta variant continues to spread, the lambda variant is showing up, and some people are refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19 or wear face masks.

"Mymessage today is a hospital term and that's Code Red," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "It is Code Red in the U.S. and for the globe regarding these variants." Dr. Poland adds that the public has been thinking that the COVID-19 pandemic was over but nothing could be further from the truth.

"You see article after article of people pleading for the vaccine, once they're intubated, or dying, or are begging their family to tell everybody, "We were wrong about this,'" says Dr. Poland. "People who were mocking vaccines and masks are now dead of COVID-19. It makes you feel beside yourself because you're watching a population-wide tragedy occurring, yet can't get the message across to people. How do you save the public from itself?"

Dr. Poland encourages people to consider these 5 tips to help prevent the spread of COVID-19:

Listen to credible experts, not people who are celebrities or politicians, but people who know the science.
Get vaccinated.
Wear a proper mask properly.
Limit your travel to only that which is essential.
Avoid crowds and if it's inevitable you have to be around a crowd, stay to the periphery and wear a mask.

In this Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Poland goes into detail about the latest COVID-19 research, back-to-school masking, air travel and explains why people who have already had COVID-19 still need to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

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How Mayo hopes to slam the door when COVID-19 comes knocking Aug 09, 2021

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The COVID-19 pandemic has brought public awareness to vaccines and how vaccines work. A vaccine is any agent that causes the immune system to remember a specific disease-causing entity, thereby preventing future infections. In the case of COVID-19, that's a coronavirus.

At Mayo Clinic, decades of research have led to development of a new vaccine platform — a single-cycle adenovirus nasal vaccine — that is now being tested in a phase 1 clinical trial for COVID-19.

“Single-cycle is particularly potent as a nasal vaccine, fighting SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) at its site of entry,” says Dr. Michael Barry, director of Mayo Clinic’s Vector and Vaccine Engineering Laboratory.

On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Barry discusses the research behind vaccine development and the possibility of future applications for the new vaccine platform.

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Overtreating an underactive thyroid Aug 09, 2021

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The thyroid gland creates and produces hormones that play a role in many systems throughout the body. When your thyroid makes too much or too little of these important hormones, it’s called a thyroid disease.

And thyroid disease is common.

"We know that about 10% of people have some degree of thyroid dysfunction," says Dr. Juan Brito Campana, a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist.

There are several different types of thyroid disease, including hyperthyroidism, or overactive thyroid; hypothyroidism or under active thyroid; and Hashimoto’s disease, where the immune system attacks the thyroid gland. Hypothyroidism is the most common thyroid disease. Treatment for hypothyroidism involves daily use of levothyroxine, a synthetic thyroid hormone that restores adequate hormone levels.

Levothyroxine is one of the most common prescription drugs in the U.S., but a new study by Mayo Clinic researchers suggests it is significantly overused in people with mild hypothyroidism or no apparent thyroid dysfunction. These results were published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Brito Campana discusses diagnosis and treatment for thyroid disease, and what the research on the overuse of levothyroxine means for patients.

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The COVID-19 delta variant has changed everything Aug 04, 2021

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A fourth COVID-19 surge is blanketing the U.S., and the delta variant is the culprit.

"Where did this delta variant come from? It came from unvaccinated people getting infected in large numbers allowing the virus to continue mutating," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group.

In the past, a person with COVID-19 might infect two to four people. But with the delta variant, one person can infect nine people, according to Dr. Poland. He says if you want to protect yourself and your family, wear a mask, especially indoors, and get vaccinated with an appropriate series of one of the COVID-19 vaccines.

"These are the most studied vaccines in the history of the world," Dr. Poland emphasizes. "There have never been this many people who have received this many doses of vaccines during this amount of time with as much scrutiny as these COVID-19 vaccines have had."

In this Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Poland answers questions about a person's waning immunity and the likelihood of COVID-19 booster shots. He also explains the two phases of immunity and goes into detail about the extensive Federal Drug Administration license approval process for COVID-19 vaccines.

Research disclosures for Dr. Gregory Poland.

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Who should be screened for lung cancer? Aug 02, 2021

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World Lung Cancer Day was recognized on August 1, to raise awareness about the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Lung cancer accounts for 12% of new cancer cases annually in the U.S., and more than 21% of all cancer deaths this year will be attributable to lung cancer, according to National Cancer Institute estimates.

People who smoke have the greatest risk of developing lung cancer, but it can occur in people who don't smoke, as well. One of the challenges is that lung cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage.

"Unfortunately, when tumors grow within our lungs, it's not something that our bodies can sense or feel," says Dr. Aaron Mansfield, a Mayo Clinic medical oncologist. "So we miss it at its earliest stages, unless we're doing screening. For more than half the patients, lung cancer presents when it is already metastatic."

Research has shown that lung cancer screening can detect cancer at an earlier stage and reduce the risk of dying from lung cancer.

"Right now, this screening is recommended for people who are at higher risk based on their age and smoking history," says Dr. Mansfield.

On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Mansfield, discusses screening, diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer.

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Managing asthma in children Jul 30, 2021

Show notes

In childhood asthma, the lungs and airways become easily inflamed when exposed to certain triggers, such as inhaling pollen or catching a cold or other respiratory infection. Childhood asthma can cause bothersome daily symptoms that interfere with play, sports, school and sleep. In some children, unmanaged asthma can cause dangerous asthma attacks.

Childhood asthma isn't a different disease from asthma in adults, but children face unique challenges. The condition is a leading cause of emergency department visits, hospitalizations and missed school days.

The right treatment can keep symptoms under control and prevent damage to growing lungs.

On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Angela Mattke a Mayo Clinic pediatrician and host of "Ask the Mayo Mom" is joined by Dr. Manuel Arteta, a Mayo Clinic pediatric pulmonologist, to discuss managing asthma in children.

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Stopping the spiral of the COVID-19 variant Jul 28, 2021

Show notes

Transmission of the COVID-19 delta variant is increasing.

"We're in this constant spiral, right now,” says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group.

“The delta variant is so highly contagious,” he says. “The number of delta viral particles in the upper respiratory system is reportedly 1,000 times higher than with the original COVID-19 virus. If we can't find ways to get people vaccinated, we are going to be in a world of hurt. And I don't say that to be alarmist. I say it to be a realist, based on what’s happening right in front of us.”

But Dr. Poland says the spiral can be stopped by getting higher rates of immunization.

"Getting a COVID-19 vaccine will prevent the development of worse and worse variants. It will prevent severe cases of hospitalization and death, even in the face of a variant,” he says. "The alternative is to lose another 600,000-plus Americans. Only this time it will, unfortunately, involve younger people."

Dr. Poland explains further, "Every time somebody gets infected with the delta variant, there's the opportunity for that virus to mutate and transmit to other people," says Dr. Poland. "This means that immunization rates to control herd immunity will probably have to be in the 85% to 95% range."

In this Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Poland continues to talk about the delta variant, breakthrough infections, booster shots and much more.
Research disclosures for Dr. Gregory Poland.

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