More than two-thirds of visits to private drug retail outlets in Indonesia resulted in antibiotics being dispensed without a prescription, according to new research in BMJ Global Health. The study was conducted by a team from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), the Kirby Institute at UNSW…
This His How Omega-3s Help With Migraines
Millions of people take supplements each morning. From the more general, like multi-vitamins, to the particular, such as Omega-3s, each of these help serve a vital purpose in various aspects of people’s health. After researchers hailed Omega-3s as miracle fats, many people added them to their wellness routines and supplement…
How AI can help save lives in high-risk pregnancies
Pregnancy is a very special time for the expectant parents. While most women experience uncomplicated pregnancies, some pregnancies are high-risk, where close monitoring of the fetus is critical to avoid complications or even death. Unfortunately, current fetal monitoring solutions have proven to be insufficient to accurately detect fetal distress and…
Virtual children help prevent withdrawal syndrome in real children
When children wean off from heavy medication, they often experience withdrawal symptoms. The severity of these symptoms is often difficult to predict. Pharmacologist Bas Goulooze developed a computer model to determine the best weaning strategy for each child. His research has now been published in the Journal of the American…
Hacks to Help Avoid Eating Take-Out You Need to Try ASAP
In an era of smartphones it’s hard to stay healthy by eating home-cooked meals. Why? Well, the take-out and delivery apps are likely to blame. The other way to look at it would be our addiction to fast foods. To some degree, we have all adopted sedentary lifestyles. It is…
Heartbeat can help detect signs of consciousness in patients after a coma
A new study conducted jointly by the University of Liege (Belgium) and the Ecole normale superieure—PSL (France) shows that heart brain interactions, measured using electroencephalography (EEG), provide a novel diagnostic avenue for patients with disorders of consciousness. This study is published in the Journal of Neuroscience. Catherine Tallon-Baudry (ENS, CNRS)…
Women seeking help for unmet needs often overdue for cervical cancer screenings
More than half of cervical cancer cases in the United States occur in women who have not had timely Pap smears and/or HPV tests—screenings that allow for detection of precancerous or cancerous cells on the cervix. Encouraging low-income women in particular to participate in such screenings likely would improve cancer…
Antifungal and antidepressant drugs may help protect against COVID-19
New research published in the British Journal of Pharmacology indicates that two currently available medications—an antifungal drug and an antidepressant—can effectively inhibit the virus that causes COVID-19 in laboratory cells. Investigators found that the antifungal itraconazole and the antidepressant fluoxetine each blocked the production of infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus in cell…
Novel biomarker for glucocorticoids could help tailor treatments
Researchers have uncovered pathways involved in the body’s response to glucocorticoid treatments and identified a novel biomarker that could be used to monitor how these drugs work in patients, according to a clinical study published today in eLife. A more reliable indicator of an individual’s response to glucocorticoid drugs could…
Electricity could help speed wound healing, new study shows
Electric stimulation may be able to help blood vessels carry white blood cells and oxygen to wounds, speeding healing, a new study suggests. The study, published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Lab on a Chip, found that steady electrical stimulation generates increased permeability across blood vessels, providing new…
Depressed and out of work? Therapy may help you find a job
If depression is making it more difficult for some unemployed people to land a job, one type of therapy may help, research suggests. In a new study, 41% of unemployed or underemployed people undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) found a new job or went from part- to full-time work by…