Measuring Body Fat Percentage with Amazon's Halo app + Regeneron's Antibody Treatment Cuts Risk of COVID-19 Deaths

In this episode, Ayesha discusses the results of a recent study that show Amazon’s Halo app can accurately estimate body fat percentage, with results comparable to traditional DXA testing. The app has built-in AI algorithms that analyze images taken from a user’s smartphone, which are used to build a 3D model of the body and generate an estimate of body fat percentage within seconds. The app is easy to use and offers users the convenience of assessing their body fat composition from the comfort of their homes, instead of having to go to a clinic and wait for several days or weeks for results.

The team also talked about Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 that has been shown to reduce the risk of deaths by 20 percent among hospitalized COVID-19 patients in recent results from the UK RECOVERY trial. The treatment consists of two monoclonal antibodies that target the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. The team discussed how it is still important to research effective treatments for COVID-19 despite having vaccines due to concerns of more transmissible circulating variants, and the potential for new ones, as well as continuing high case numbers in some countries. Moreover, continuing to develop new technologies and treatments will be beneficial in tackling other current and future infectious diseases.