All Sauce from Weekly Sauce:

A heart condition, myocarditis, has been found in a number of U.S. college athletes who have had COVID-19, a new study finds. Myocarditis has also been linked in some young people to the COVID vaccine. But the odds are far greater that this inflammation of the heart muscle will occur in those who get COVID…  read on >  read on >

Repetitive head hits are common in football, and they’re also linked to debilitating brain injuries. But rendering a definitive diagnosis typically means waiting for autopsy results after the player has died. Now, a new study suggests that brain scans can reliably spot troubling signs of sports-inflicted neurological damage while a person is still alive. The…  read on >  read on >

Hopes for an easing of the pandemic were dealt a major setback over the Thanksgiving weekend, with news that a variant first spotted in southern Africa carries a multiplicity of mutations that might make it resistant to approved vaccines. At an emergency meeting convened Friday by the World Health Organization, the agency dubbed the variant,…  read on >  read on >

Worried about climate change? You can do something about it every time you lift your fork, a new study suggests. Folks can reduce their personal carbon footprint by eating less red meat, nibbling fewer sweets and cutting back on tea, coffee and booze, according to the findings. “We all want to do our bit to…  read on >  read on >

As concerns about the new Omicron variant grow, vaccine makers say they’re already working on ways to protect people against the potential new threat. Pfizer said it and its partner BioNTech could develop and produce a “tailor-made vaccine” in about 100 days if a “vaccine-escape” variant emerges, NBC News reported. Meanwhile, Moderna said it was…  read on >  read on >

Merck’s experimental COVID-19 antiviral pill appears effective, but may pose risks for pregnant women, including birth defects and toxicity to developing fetuses, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. On Friday morning Merck announced updated results from its molnupiravir study that showed a smaller benefit than first thought: Among more than 1,400 adults in…  read on >  read on >

Extreme heat brings a jump in emergency room visits by adults of all ages, a new study shows. While it’s well known that extreme heat puts adults aged 65 and older at increased risk of hospitalization and death, it’s been less clear how it affects young and middle-aged adults. To find out, the researchers analyzed…  read on >  read on >

A weekly dose of deep red light in the morning may protect fading eyesight as people age, U.K. researchers say. “Using a simple LED device once a week recharges the energy system that has declined in the retina cells, rather like recharging a battery,” according to Glen Jeffery, lead author of a small, new study.…  read on >  read on >

A defect in the blood-brain barrier may play a role in Parkinson’s disease, a groundbreaking research study suggests. The blood-brain barrier acts as a filter to keep out toxins while still allowing the passage of nutrients to nourish the brain. This study found that in some people with Parkinson’s, the blood-brain barrier doesn’t work right.…  read on >  read on >