geoffrey modest medical blogs

  A Chinese randomized trial found that acupuncture helped men with Chronic Prostatitis /Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CP/CPPS): see  acupuncture helps chr prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain in men AIM2021 in dropbox, or doi:10.7326/M21-1814    Details : -- 440 men from 10 tertiary hospitals in cities across China were randomized to real acupuncture versus sham acupuncture     -- acupuncture was applied in the standard manner with needles inserted to a depth of 25 to 30 mm at the designated acupuncture sites, accompanied with gentle and even manipulations once every 10 minutes, 30 seconds at a time     -- sham acupuncture involved using minimally invasive needles inserted 2 to 3 mm at non-acupoints, without manipulation     -- patients were given 20 sessions over 8 weeks, with follow up  24 weeks after treatment ended --all patients were 18 to 50 years old, and scored at least 15 on the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI)     -- the

  some good and some not-so-good news: 1. the good news: another study was published recently from Qatar, this one finding that a prior Covid infection afforded great protection from severe subsequent infections ( https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2108120  ). Details: -- Qatar had first wave of Covid-19 infections from March-June  2020 (resulting in 40% of the population having detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies), then a resurgence of the Alpha and Beta variants  from Jan-May 2021 -- they have impressive, inclusive databases (at least that's what they sa y: " Using national, federated databases that have captured all SARS-CoV-2–related data since the onset of the pandemic" ) o n demographics, lab results,  vaccinations,  covid cases, severity of cases -- primary outcome: Covid reinfections in those with prior infection (PCR-positive) between Feb 28,2021 and Apr 28, 2021, excluding the 87,547 who had a record of vaccination (reinfection was defined as a positive PCR