Making Sense of Medical Science (MSMS)

A medical scientist explains medical news for lay people

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Steve Clark, PhD is a retired university professor with a PhD in immunology and a past Special Fellow of the Leukemia Society of America. Clark has published dozens of papers based on his research and holds two drug patents. He taught medical and graduate students about cancer biology and genetics, and about research ethics. He also directed an NIH-funded PhD Graduate Program and chaired several executive-level faculty committees. Clark served on the University Chancellor’s Speaker’s Bureau. While retired, Clark has been blogging on the COVID pandemic, which is the subject of his next book.

Category: cancer

  • COVID: Don’t Touch My Junk

    Well, we now know that the organs of the male reproductive system, including the prostate, testicles, and penis actually can be infected by the COVID virus an, thus, have their functions compromised. This can result in erectile dysfunction, decreased testosterone, and reduced sperm levels in 60-75% of infected patients…

  • Infections Can Cause Brain Atrophy And Dementia

    Two provocative areas of research have led to the notion that infection could be a risk factor for dementia. On one hand, some studies have directly suggested that there is a possible link between some infections and an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Then, other studies found that two vaccines, the flu shot and…

  • Tattoos and Vaccines: Muddled Thinking And A Good Idea

    The way that vaccinologists have taken notice of tattoo technology is intriguing. They have taken their knowledge of skin immunology and realized that a pop culture technique probably might contribute to the field. The irony is that many people who get tattooed are vax deniers. Their cognitive dissonance is disturbing. Vax deniers proclaim loudly disinformation…

  • Parkinson’s Disease—An Unexpected Ravage of COVID?

    New research now raises a real concern that COVID patients might also be at increased risk for developing Parkinson’s disease.

  • Take Your Vaccine Skepticism To A Cemetery

    They say you won’t find an atheist in a foxhole. Well, perhaps you shouldn’t find a vaccine skeptic in a cemetery.

  • Are COVID And Cancer Connected?

    Research is now beginning to reveal a possible link between CoV-2 infection and cancer. As before, these observations are preliminary and will be further scrutinized, but they are bolstered by the discovery of a possible mechanism that could explain how the CoV-2 virus might cause cancer.

  • Another Unexpected Pandemic Consequence: Undiagnosed Cancer

    As we deal with the fourth wave of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant, we are learning that the pandemic dramatically disrupted routine health screenings for cancer and other chronic diseases.