Posts in category: Uncategorized

With the rise of TikTok, many people have wondered about its potential impacts on society, in particular surrounding mental health. According to a first-of-its-kind study from University of Minnesota Twin Cities computer science researchers, the social media platform and its unique algorithm can serve as both a haven and a hindrance for users struggling with their mental state.

More is not always better when it comes to hospital care. The same interventions that could save one patient’s life could lead to no benefit, higher hospital bills and even injury for another.

Obesity and its associated cardiometabolic issues are a major health concern in the U.S. and internationally. According to a study published in 2017, 12% of the world’s adult population was affected by obesity in 2016, double the percentage from 30 years earlier.

The World Health Organization on Tuesday warned the COVID pandemic was still volatile, saying there could be further trouble before the virus settles into a predictable pattern.

A team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers has discovered a protein that appears to be pivotal for traumatic heterotopic ossification (HO), a condition in which bone forms in muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues after traumatic injury or surgery. The findings, published in Science Advances, could yield new ways to prevent this common complication, the researchers say.

Amid headlines about artificial intelligence’s implications for everything from education to the future of work itself, Abhinav Jha, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering and of radiology at the School of Medicine, both at Washington University in St. Louis, and his collaborators developed and evaluated two methods to quantitatively determine the realism of synthetic, or computer-generated medical images. The findings were published in the journal Physics in Medicine & Biology.

People who have an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation that is treated with a procedure called catheter ablation may have a reduced risk of dementia compared to those who are treated with medication alone. The preliminary study released April 18, 2023, will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 75th Annual Meeting being held in person in Boston and live online from April 22-27, 2023.

A new USC Schaeffer Center white paper finds the value to society of Medicare coverage for new classes of weight loss drugs would equal nearly $1 trillion over ten years.

By NATION  REPORTER

LOCAL Pharmaceutical manufacturing fear they may have to close shop with government’s decision to award a US$120 million tender to an Egyptian company for the supply and delivery of all essential medicines and other medical supplies, the Association of Citizens Owned Pharmaceutical Companies (ACOPC) has complained.

Gallan Sichilima, the president of the Association of Citizens Owned Pharmaceutical Companies says the procurement of all essential medicines and other medical supplies from Egypt was likely to cause economic turmoil on the local pharmaceutical industry with a resultant consequence of closure for many companies.

Mr Sichilima has challenged the Zambia Medicines, Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA) to be transparent and disclose the sum total of the tender that is seeking to single-source Unified Procurement Authority of Egypt for the supply and delivery of essential medicines and other medical supplies.

He said it was confusing and ironical that while President Hakainde Hichilema had been preaching of supporting and promoting local pharmaceutical manufacturers, some government official were frustrating the growth of the local industry by pulling in the opposite direction of that of the head of State.

He said ZAMMSA should clearly state whether the procurement of medicines from Egypt was a one-off purchase or was to become the norm, fearing that local pharmaceutical companies were at the risk of shutting down as a result.

“If government has decided to single source a foreign company to supply and deliver all essential medicines and other medial supplies, then we should stop talking about the local pharmaceutical manufacturing companies. They are killing the local manufacturers and we should stop talking about job creation in this country.”

“It is confusing that President Hichilema is talking about promoting and growing the local pharmaceutical manufacturing companies yet we haver government officials who are frustrating the growth of the sector the head of State is promoting. The decision by ZAMMSA to proceed to procure medicines from Egypt is going to have long-term economic ramifications. It will certainly cause economic turmoil not only in the pharmaceutical industry but will have a general negative effect on the growth of the economy,” Mr Sichilima said.

He noted that the 8TH National Development Plan (8NDP) was clear about the desire and ambition to grow the pharmaceutical industry in Zambia as the country’s budget on health had increased exponentially.

Mr Sichilima recalled that Zambia recently hosted the Zambia/European Union pharmaceutical manufacturing initiative launch at which emphasis was on the promotion of the growth of the pharmaceutical industry.

He said government should have considered looking at what medicines were being manufactured local before deciding to engage the Egyptian company for the bulk supply and delivery of the drugs.

“What is it that has precipitated the single-sourcing of an Egyptian company to bulk supply of the medicines. There are medicines and other medical supplies that are local manufactured and government should have considered our local companies. The shortage of medicines has been caused by the mismanagement of the supply chain built over the years and respected across the world. We can only blame it on incompetence of those in government,” Mr Sichilima said.       

A recent study conducted at the University of Turku in Finland shows that different people have similar brain activity when perceiving social situations. Researchers discovered an extensive neural network in the human brain that effectively processes various social information.