News and Articles
Gentle giant’s skeleton removed from museum
Charles Byrne, a celebrity known as "The Irish Giant" in late 18th-century London, was a part of "freakshows" due to his large statue. Aware of the public view of his appearance, Byrne wished to be [...]
Emailing Your Doctor May Carry a Fee
Since the pandemic and the subsequent limitation to in-person interactions, electronic health communications, and telemedicine have exponentially increased in the past few years. Due to the increasing number of correspondences between physicians and patients through [...]
New Lawsuit Challenges State Bans on Abortion Pills
GenBioPro, a company that produces abortion drugs, recently filed a lawsuit arguing that the federal Food and Drug Administration's approval of the pill takes precedence over state laws' abortion bans. Along with GenBioPro's lawsuit, many [...]
When Students Change Gender Identity and Parents Don’t Know
New York Times recently published an article regarding the recent tension educators is facing -- should they tell parents when students are socially transitioning at school? Currently, many schools in the United States allow students [...]
F.D.A. Outlines a Plan for Annual Covid Boosters
After a scientific meeting on Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration is proposing to simplify the administration of COVID vaccine shots. Instead of the original vaccines, FDA proposes to offer bivalent doses for primary and [...]
What One Doctor Learns When He Becomes a Patient
In 'Finally,' British neurosurgeon and writer Henry Marsh gets a lesson in empathy. Dr. Henry Marsh, a neurosurgeon diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer at age 71, writes in his book of his experience as a [...]
Global Push to Treat H.I.V. Leaves Children Behind
Sub-Saharan Africa has made steady progress in delivering lifesaving medication to adults, but young patients are harder to reach and 100,000 are dying of AIDS each year. In the past two decades, efforts have been [...]
Cyborg cells could be tools for health and environment
Biomedical engineers have created semi-living 'cyborg cells.' Retaining the capabilities of living cells, but unable to replicate, the cyborg cells could have a wide range of applications, from producing therapeutic drugs to cleaning up pollution. [...]
Scientists Identify How a Biological Pathway Leads Stem Cells to Die or Regenerate
A new study led by Cedars-Sinai and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has determined that altering a cellular process can lead stem cells—cells from which other cells in the body develop—to die or regenerate. The [...]
‘People aren’t taking this seriously’: experts say US Covid surge is big risk
In the fourth year of the pandemic, Covid-19 is once again spreading across America and being driven by the recent holidays, fewer precautions and the continuing evolution of Omicron subvariants of the virus. New sub-variants [...]
The gift that doesn’t keep on giving: non-existence
The philosophy of anti-natalism refuses to die. In the latest issue of Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Finnish bioethicist Matti Häyry renews the argument for reproductive abstinence. The headline over the article gives the game away: [...]
Ethical ancient DNA research must involve descendant communities, say researchers
The analysis of ancient DNA allows scientists to trace human evolution and make important discoveries about modern populations. The data revealed by ancient DNA sampling can be valuable, but the human remains that carry this [...]
How much should people worry about Covid’s newly-dominant XBB.1.5 variant? Our medical analyst explains
A new Covid-19 variant, XBB.1.5, is spreading rapidly throughout the United States. In December 2022, the proportion of new Covid-19 infections due to this Omicron offshoot have increased from 4% to 18%, according to a January [...]
Womb with a view: EctoLife baby farm eliminates pregnancy and labor
The EctoLife Artificial Womb Facility envisages a controversial new way to be pregnant, with the baby growing in an idealized, but completely inhuman environment: transparent "growth pods" arranged by their hundreds in human baby [...]
Why the U.S. Nursing Shortage Keeps Getting Worse
Nurses in both the U.S. and U.K. flexed their bargaining muscle over the last few weeks amid increasing pressure on the countries’ respective health care system due to COVID-19. About 7,000 nurses from two [...]
The reproducibility issues that haunt health-care AI
Health-care systems are rolling out artificial-intelligence tools for diagnosis and monitoring. But how reliable are the models? Each day, around 350 people in the United States die from lung cancer. Many of those deaths could [...]
Would You Zap Yourself With Electricity to Get Into Shape?
WALL STREET JOURNAL--The result is a more efficient way to build muscle mass and strength, say proponents, who claim that one 20-minute session of whole-body zapping achieves the same benefits as two and half hours of [...]
Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 – 4 January 2023
WHO--Globally, more than 3 million new cases and 10 000 deaths have been reported in the week of 26 December 2022 to 1 January 2023. This represents a reduction in weekly cases and deaths of [...]
EU, Beijing heading for collision over China’s COVID crisis
The European Union and China on Tuesday moved closer to a political standoff over the COVID-19 crisis, with Beijing vehemently rejecting travel restrictions some EU nations have started to impose that could be expanded in coming days. [...]
Former Colorado funeral home owner sentenced to 20 yrs for selling body parts
Jan 3 (Reuters) - A former Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday for defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting 560 corpses and selling body parts [...]
Russian attacks have struck Ukrainian health-care facilities and providers 715 times
Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyand first lady Olena Zelenska are calling on the international community to pledge new funds to help the country survive the winter, with the top priorities being restoring access to care and [...]
New long COVID rehab programme gives treatment hope to millions of sufferers
Millions of people across Europe are living with long COVID, a condition that has the lingering effects of a COVID-19 infection and is having a major impact on people’s lives. As it is caused by [...]
China races to bolster health system as COVID surge sparks global concern
Cities across China scrambled to install hospital beds and build fever screening clinics on Tuesday as authorities reported five more deaths and international concern grew about Beijing's surprise decision to let the virus run free. China [...]
From ALS treatment to a historic transplant: The biggest medical breakthroughs of 2022
When COVID-19 arrived in the United States, it was all hands on deck. The country’s brightest scientific minds dropped whatever they were doing to join the effort against SARS-CoV-2, developing novel vaccines and treatments [...]
A combination vaccine for flu and COVID-19 is in the works. Here’s what to know.
As the holiday season draws near, more Americans may be sporting two Band-Aids after receiving both their flu shot and the new COVID-19 bivalent booster. Vaccine developers are looking to relieve people from the unpleasantness of getting two shots by creating one [...]