The microbiome has been shown to play a role in many diseases like depression, autism spectrum disorders, some cancers and in the process of human development. We are constantly uncovering new information about how the microbiome works. Recent research has shed some light on the effect of artificial sweeteners. Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel discussed that research in their recent Medical Discovery News column.

“Unless you are vegan, odds are that your holiday meal was vaccinated,” wrote Drs. Megan Berman and Richard Rupp in their recent Vaccine Smarts column. “Whether you had prime rib, a Christmas ham or a turkey with all its fixings, vaccination was involved.”

“Every January, I do not engage in social media,” wrote Dr. Sam Mathis is his newspaper column. “I invite you to consider joining me.” You could read a book or go for a walk instead. Mathis also invited readers to walk with him. “I’d like to invite you to come take a walk with me and some UTMB students on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 10 a.m. across the street from the UTMB fieldhouse as part of our inaugural Walk with a Doc Program.”

BQ and XBB present “serious threats to the efficacy of current COVID-19 vaccines,” according to a Columbia study. A University of Texas Medical Branch study came to similar conclusions, finding “low” neutralization of BQ.1.1 and XBB from the updated booster. The new shot is an enhanced version of the COVID-19 vaccine that targets both the original virus and omicron. But compared to its protection against the omicron BA.5 subvariant, the bivalent booster is four times less effective against the BQ.1.1 subvariant and eight times less effective against the XBB subvariant, said Chaitanya Kurhade, an author of the study.

Town Square with Ernie Manouse featured Dr. Jeff Temple for the full hour discussing how to deal with holiday stress and depression. He also answered questions about his research on how the pandemic affected adolescents’ mental health.

Eastern equine encephalitis is a rare virus that has a death rate of 30 percent among infected people, said Scott Weaver, director of the University of Texas Medical Branch Institute of Human Infections and Immunity. Although the virus has been detected in Galveston County before, people should be especially vigilant now because Aedes sollicitans, also known as the eastern saltmarsh mosquito, is especially prevalent among the recent swarms, Weaver said.

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston are looking into the effects of the pandemic on young people's mental health. Jeff Temple, founder of the UTMB Center For Violence Prevention, said a mental health crisis among young people already existed before the pandemic. Students are growing up in a world with a climate crisis, school shootings, geopolitical strife, toxic social media, "and these kids aren’t stupid, they see that," Temple said.

“People are sick of hearing about COVID. So are we!” Drs. Megan Berman and Richard Rupp wrote in the latest Vaccine Smarts column. “But the truth is, the virus is not sick of us, and it’s not going anywhere. There has been nearly a 30 percent increase in COVID hospitalizations among elderly adults in the past two weeks. You should be aware of new information.”

“There is a dangerous misconception out there concerning repeat infections with COVID,” wrote Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel in their Medical Discovery News column.

A couple of recent studies support the health benefits of short bursts of exercise reducing cardiovascular and cancer risk up to 40 to 50 percent. You might think of them as exercise snacks, Dr. Victor Sierpina suggested.