Credit: iStock This year, as science celebrated the discoveries that gave us mRNA vaccines to fight COVID-19 and gene editing treatments for sickle cell disease, our contributors also brought you fascinating, fun and insightful physiology stories on the I Spy Physiology blog. From the always-popular topic of spaceflight to the always-important matter of mental health, … Continue reading 2023’s Most-read I Spy Physiology Posts
COVID-19
How COVID-19 Affects the Gut Microbiome
Credit: iStock COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is known as primarily a respiratory disease. However, between 11% and 39% of people diagnosed with COVID-19 report having gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting or belly pain. GI symptoms are associated with a high risk of hospitalization and disease severity. As our understanding of the … Continue reading How COVID-19 Affects the Gut Microbiome
Stay Hydrated to Keep Your Muscles Happy
Credit: iStock Water balance is one of the most important functions of the body. The cells in the body require a stable environment to survive and work like they should. As originally put by the 19th century French physiologist Claude BernardMD: “La fixité du milieu intérieur est la condition de la vie libre, independante” (The … Continue reading Stay Hydrated to Keep Your Muscles Happy
Why It’s Still Important to Stay Active to Reduce COVID-19 Severity
Credit: iStock As we head into our third year living in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, we’ve learned that the virus, in all its variants, is likely here to stay. In previous blog posts about the health benefits of physical activity during the pandemic, we have explained that adults should participate in at least 150 minutes … Continue reading Why It’s Still Important to Stay Active to Reduce COVID-19 Severity
COVID-19: What’s Sex Got to Do with It?
Credit: iStock The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge the scientific community. Scientists across the globe are still trying to figure out the risk factors for severe COVID-19. Being male seems to be a higher risk, and many researchers are looking into why males experience COVID-19 symptoms more severely than females. My lab studied the … Continue reading COVID-19: What’s Sex Got to Do with It?
Spotlight On: Autophagy
Credit: iStock Defects in autophagy have been linked to several diseases, including cancer, neurodegeneration, and infectious and immunological diseases. The significance of this process was highlighted in 2016 when Yoshinori Ohsumi, PhD, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his decades-long research on autophagy. You might already be wondering: What is autophagy … Continue reading Spotlight On: Autophagy
Spotlight On: SARS-CoV-2
Credit: iStock SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, emerged into the human population late in 2019. COVID-19 is an airway infection much like the common cold. One in six colds are caused by coronaviruses, although these are other types of coronaviruses. Why, then, did COVID-19 become such a devastating pandemic that has led to the … Continue reading Spotlight On: SARS-CoV-2
Spotlight On: Smell
Credit: iStock Each time we stop to smell the roses, we should thank our sense of smell (olfaction) that allows us to detect airborne chemicals (odors) from the environment. Olfaction is one of the ancient senses used by animals to monitor the external environment. Although olfactory systems vary in different animals—insects, for example, use antennae, … Continue reading Spotlight On: Smell
2021’s Most-read I Spy Physiology Posts
Credit: iStock This year, as the pandemic continued, the lights of labs and classrooms switched back on as scientists and students returned to studying, working and researching in person. Our I Spy blog contributors wrote about a wide range of topics this year, including aging, the physiological effects of grieving, achieving optimal physical performance and … Continue reading 2021’s Most-read I Spy Physiology Posts
The COVID ‘15’: Staying Healthy and Informed during a Pandemic
Credit: iStock When the world came to an abrupt halt in early 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, some people who had been keeping up with a healthy lifestyle, including proper nutrition and exercise, slid out of these habits. This happened for a variety of reasons, such as lack of access to exercise equipment, … Continue reading The COVID ‘15’: Staying Healthy and Informed during a Pandemic