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Lisa Jarvis
For Lisa Jarvis's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
A new study has found that women with long COVID had significantly lower levels of testosterone compared to those who had recovered from their infection.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2024
Sex differences could be key to the successful treatment of long COVID
New research links testosterone levels to the severity of long COVID in women.
As of April 4, the bird flu virus had been confirmed in more than a dozen herds across six U.S. states, with Kansas, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas all reporting infected cows.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2024
Bird flu in cows demands vigilance, not panic
Bird flu had been confirmed in herds across six U.S. states, with Kansas, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas all reporting infected cows.
Preliminary results from new research offer hope in the fight against glioblastoma, the terrible form of cancer that took the lives of Arizona Sen. John McCain and U.S. President Joe Biden’s son, Beau.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 28, 2024
This brain cancer breakthrough should excite you
Recent research shows progress in using the immune system to combat glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer.
It turns out that the mutations that make some people vulnerable to the neurological condition once had a useful function, protecting their ancestors from pathogens.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2024
Ancient DNA could be hiding all kinds of health secrets
Ancient genomes are unlocking the past and may provide blueprint for the origin of diseases.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed that 8.8 million people in the U.S. in 2022 were living with long COVID.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2024
A promising turn in the quest to treat long COVID
A new study doesn’t explain why the immune response is out of whack, but it is an important new piece to the vexing puzzle that is long COVID.
New research estimates that nearly 65,000 pregnancies have resulted from rape in the 14 states that imposed total abortion bans after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2024
Post-Roe America’s national shame: 65,000 forced pregnancies
New data has been filling in the picture of what access to reproductive health care looks like in the U.S. And the image forming is increasingly grim.
Smart chemotherapy is in the spotlight again as Big Pharma invests billions in next-generation cancer drugs.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2023
Targeted cancer drugs finally live up to the hype
The newfound understanding of how these cancer drugs work could lead to broader applications in treating various tumors
Abortion rights activists and counterprotesters demonstrate outside the U.S. Supreme Court in June on the first anniversary of the court ruling in the Dobbs vs. Women’s Health Organization case, overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision. 
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2023
U.S. abortions haven’t dropped since Dobbs ruling
The #WeCount project says the number of U.S. abortions increased by about 2,000 between June 2022 and June 2023 compared with the prior 12-month period.
A prescription injector for Ozempic, a weight loss drug
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2023
Ozempic cuts alcohol cravings. Liquor companies aren’t ready.
A survey conducted by Morgan Stanley’s AlphaWise research unit found that people consumed 62% less alcohol while taking weight loss drugs.
A new study defines some critical differences in certain biomarkers of people with long COVID.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2023
Long COVID is real. Now the evidence is piling up.
In what the researchers believe is a first, they did a detailed study of the differences between people with long COVID and those who are healthy.
Katalin Kariko (right) and Drew Weissman, the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their discoveries enabling the development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2023
Nobel for mRNA vaccines shows the power of perseverance
Decades of work by Nobel Prize winners Kariko and Weissman made the rapid development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines possible.
Preliminary data suggests that updated COVID-19 boosters, which are matched to a previous variant known as XBB, could still offer protection against the new edition.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2023
New Pirola COVID-19 variant shows value of booster shots
Data suggests the updated COVID-19 boosters, which are matched to the XBB variant, could still offer decent protection against the new edition.
In 1990, there were five times as many men who had alcohol use disorder than women — now it’s two times, according to the director of a research institute on alcoholism and alcohol abuse.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2023
Women are drinking more alcohol and it’s killing them
Analysis of data from the CDC found that alcohol-related deaths among women increased by nearly 15% per year between 2018 and 2020.
Novo Nordisk' anti-obesity drug Wegovy
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2023
Insurers can’t avoid covering weight-loss drugs forever
Evidence is mounting that drugs like Wegovy not only help patients lose weight but also help prevent heart attacks and strokes.
As many as half of women with postpartum depression go undiagnosed.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 9, 2023
New postpartum depression pill is a vital breakthrough
Pharma companies seem to be finally listening to the female half of the population.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2023
Eli Lilly’s new weight-loss drug is even better than Ozempic
When it comes to manipulating the human metabolism, we’re entering entirely new territory with new drugs.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2023
Eradicate breast cancer? The hunt for a vaccine looks promising
Women in the future may soon be able to get a series of shots that teach their immune systems how to quash breast cancer before it becomes a problem.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2023
Yet another bad week for abortion rights in America
Judges on the U.S. 5th Circuit appeared worryingly comfortable challenging the expertise of FDA scientists.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2023
Xylazine spreads faster than U.S. officials can act
The U.S. needs better ways of tracking illicit xylazine, a sedative that’s especially dangerous when mixed with fentanyl.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2023
Bats, cheetahs and hippos unlock mysteries of the human genome
The decade-long Zoonomia project shows that animals have a lot to teach us about our health, disease, and potentially new ideas for medicines.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on