Health (Page 47)

At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, China’s strict “zero-Covid” policies managed to keep Covid-19 at bay. More than two years later, the country’s ongoing controls are still weighing down its economy and stalling global supply chains. “Zero-Covid has become one of the select drivers of global recession,” Steve Morrison, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CNBC in an interview. Major trade hubs such as Shanghai and Beijing, after responding to waves of omicron-driven infections, require workers to have negative Covid tests to enter public spaces. The demanding quarantine and testing rules have thwarted truckers on roads as well, driving up the amount of time it takes for goods to get to Chinese portsContinue Reading

Before a drug or medical device is approved for use in humans, it must undergo a clinical trial. Clinical trials ultimately aim to answer two simple questions: is the drug or device safe? And does it do what it’s supposed to do? The downside to clinical trials is that they are complex, take years to complete and are extremely expensive. However, a recent development called “in silico clinical trials” (trials conducted using computer simulation) are beginning to show their potential for substantially speeding up trials and drastically reducing their costs. And drugs regulators are starting to pay attention. Indeed, evidence from an in silico clinical trial has already been used to get approval for a new type of pacemaker. AboutContinue Reading

Monkeypox continues to spread across the globe with cases jumping by 20% over the last week, according to the World Health Organization. Infections increased by nearly 7,500 to more than 35,000 cases total across 92 countries, but nearly all reported cases are in Europe and the Americas, according to WHO data. Twelve deaths have been reported so far. The overwhelming majority of patients continue to be men who have sex with men, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. The global supply of the monkeypox vaccine, called Jynneos in the U.S., remains limited and data on its effectiveness in the current outbreak is sparse, Tedros said. Jynneos is manufactured by Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic. “We remain concerned that the inequitableContinue Reading

The 'interference effect' has long since been debunked. 4 PM production/ Shutterstock In the past, getting in shape was synonymous with strapping on a pair of trainers and going for a run. But these days, people who want to get fit are more likely to be told to try lifting weights. In fact, cardio has become a somewhat maligned form of exercise in some circles, with much debate about it online. Not only are people arguing about whether you should do cardio during the same training session that you lift weights, some even argue you shouldn’t do it at all (lest you ruin those hard-earned “gains”). The answer to this question isn’t entirely straightforward – and depends on your fitnessContinue Reading

Clinical judgements and the clinical counselling at the Tavistock Centre, which since 1989 has provided the UK’s only gender identity clinic for children and young people, now seem set to be examined by the courts in clinical negligence claims brought by some former patients. The NHS trust that runs the clinic, already set to close following the February 2022 interim review by Hilary Cass, former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, is reportedly facing a mass action lawsuit, with a particular focus on the use of so-called puberty blocker drugs. The Cass review Cass’ review built on the findings of the Multi-Professional Review Group (MPRG) set up in 2021 by NHS England (which has not yetContinue Reading

It's unclear what is driving vegetarians' higher risk of hip fracture. Okrasiuk/ Shutterstock There are plenty of reasons a person might choose to go vegetarian. For example, many people are choosing plant-based diets for environmental and ethical reasons. Another major reason people choose to go vegetarian is because of the hype around its potential health benefits. Indeed, there’s some evidence that vegetarian diets are linked to lower risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. But there are also growing concerns about poor bone health and higher risk of fracture in vegetarians and vegans. Previous studies have shown vegetarians have lower bone mineral density. But little research has explored whether vegetarians are at greater risk of certain fractures – especially hipContinue Reading

A pharmacist collects medications for prescriptions at a pharmacy. Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images Medicare is poised to renegotiate the prices of some of its most expensive drugs through a historic expansion of its power, which could reduce costs for many seniors as well as federal spending on its prescription drug plan. The changes are tucked inside a massive spending-and-tax bill in Congress that includes $433 billion in investments in health-care and clean energy. House Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act on Friday in a 220 to 207 vote along party lines, ending a tortured legislative process that took more than a year. The bill empowers the Health and Human Services Secretary to negotiate prices for certain drugsContinue Reading

Up to a third of epilepsy cases are drug-resistant. Shutterstock Around 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy. While anti-seizure medications are available and effective for the majority of people with the condition, 20%-30% don’t respond to medications. Abnormalities in the brain are one of the leading causes of this drug-resistant epilepsy, which is usually identified by MRI scans before surgery is carried out to cure the patient. However, identifying these abnormal areas from MRIs is an ongoing challenge for clinicians, as these scans can look normal. We wanted to see if an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm could help find these subtle brain abnormalities (known as focal cortical dysplasia or FCD). Our results, published in the journal Brain, show the AIContinue Reading