Cause of brain fog during chemotherapy and new language app from a professor from Ohio: MediCLE

Cleveland, Ohio — This week in Cleveland Medical News…New research from Ohio State University looks at brain fog during chemotherapy, a University of Cincinnati professor develops a voice-based app that may be useful for some transgender members, and a study exposes misconceptions about sexually transmitted diseases. Here’s a roundup of Ohio medical research news.

Causes of brain fog during chemotherapy

Brain fog during chemotherapy: It’s not all in your head, says a new study from Ohio State University. Researchers at OSU Wexner Medical Center have found that the mental fogginess experienced by breast cancer patients during chemotherapy comes from the gut, not the brain.

Researchers have found that chemotherapy reduces the diversity of gut bacteria, leading to an increase in inflammation, Gretchen reports.

The resulting inflammation is thought to contribute to brain fog because the gut microbiome communicates with the brain, influencing behavior, including cognition.

Voice training app for gender expression

For some transgender people, it’s important that their voice sounds more masculine or feminine to reflect their gender expression. Online tutorials don’t offer real-time feedback, but now there’s an app for that.

An electrical engineering professor at the University of Cincinnati has developed the app TruVox, which allows people to visualize the pitch and volume of their voice in real time. The app is free and open to the public. Unlike online tutorials, the app provides real-time feedback so users can see the adjustments to their voice as they speak.

Transgender people, speech therapists and other experts helped the researcher develop the app’s voice exercises. The app was recently presented at the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction.

Survey reveals misconceptions about sexually transmitted infections

How much do you know about sexually transmitted diseases? If you believe that sexually transmitted diseases can only be transmitted through sexual intercourse, you are among the many Americans who have misconceptions about how these diseases are spread and who should treat them.

And these misconceptions may be one of the reasons why syphilis has increased 80% in the U.S. in five years, according to the CDC. And cases of congenital syphilis have increased 180% in the U.S. between 2018 and 2022.

After surveying about 1,000 people, researchers at Ohio State University found that more than a third of Americans mistakenly believe that sexually transmitted diseases can only be transmitted through sex, when in reality there are many ways these diseases can be transmitted.

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Until next week.

– Gretchen and Julie