A dangerous form of the malaria parasite, called “super malaria”, is spreading across Southeast Asia and causing alarm as it poses a serious global health threat. The team at the Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit in Bangkok said there was a real danger of malaria becoming untreatable. The new form of the parasite is resistant [...]
Migraine is listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the third most prevalent illness in the world, behind only tooth decay and tension-type headaches. It affects over 38 million Americans, including approximately 28 million women, who are afflicted at a rate three times that of men. But despite its prevalence, migraine — the condition [...]
Smartphone applications have been found to be a safe and accessible treatment option for people diagnosed with depression, according to an Australian-led research that examined the efficacy of smartphone-based treatments for depression. Mental health services all over the world are struggling to meet the demand for treatment for depression as it is considered the most [...]
Just doing 30 minutes of physical activity – which can include house-cleaning or walking to work – for five days a week can prevent one in 12 global deaths, researchers confirmed. “Being highly active (750 minutes a week) is associated with an even greater reduction,” according to a study. The study, which tracked 130,000 people [...]
DNA in human embryos has been altered for the first time in the UK by a team at the Francis Crick Institute as they try to understand what happens after a sperm fertilizes an egg. Understanding that stage in the fertilization process could lead to ways of improving IVF or explain why some women miscarry. [...]
Scientists at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and French multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi have collaborated and engineered a new antibody that is effective in attacking 99% of HIV strains. It is built to attack three critical parts of the virus – making it harder for HIV to resist its effects. Our bodies struggle [...]
Curving the niche via digitalisation in healthcare Following Europe’s Industrie 4.0, Thailand comes up with its own Thailand 4.0, a value-based economic model driven by innovation, technology, and high-value trade and services. The implementation will be done in four phases and spanning 20 years. The piecemeal goal will integrate innovations such as digital and smart [...]
Just doing 30 minutes of physical activity – which can include house-cleaning or walking to work – for five days a week can prevent one in 12 global deaths, researchers confirmed. “Being highly active (750 minutes a week) is associated with an even greater reduction,” according to a study. The study, which tracked 130,000 people [...]
DNA in human embryos has been altered for the first time in the UK by a team at the Francis Crick Institute as they try to understand what happens after a sperm fertilizes an egg. Understanding that stage in the fertilization process could lead to ways of improving IVF or explain why some women miscarry. [...]
Scientists at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and French multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi have collaborated and engineered a new antibody that is effective in attacking 99% of HIV strains. It is built to attack three critical parts of the virus – making it harder for HIV to resist its effects. Our bodies struggle [...]
A study from the UK suggests that people who sleep poorly may have a higher risk of developing a chronic pain condition and may have worse physical health compared to those who have adequate sleep. A general decline in both the quantity and quality of hours slept led to a two- to three-fold increase in [...]
Employers in the US are getting ready for increased health care spending in 2018 as spending on new drugs for the treatment of diseases such as cancer, hepatitis C and multiple sclerosis is expected to rise more than 7%, consultancy firm Mercer said. Between 40 and 50 new specialty drugs are set to hit the [...]
Smartphone applications have been found to be a safe and accessible treatment option for people diagnosed with depression, according to an Australian-led research that examined the efficacy of smartphone-based treatments for depression. Mental health services all over the world are struggling to meet the demand for treatment for depression as it is considered the most [...]
An innovative device that can simplify the process of removing large or complex kidney stones has been developed by a team of staff from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE)in collaboration with the National University Hospital (NUH), the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Invivo Medical. The mechanism, called a Percutaneous-Access-to-Kidney-Assist Device (PAKAD), can reduce [...]
A new handheld medical device can identify cancer in tissue in just 10 seconds, which could make surgery to remove a tumor quicker, safer and more precise, according to scientists at the University of Texas in the US. Tests suggest that the medical “pen”, called MasSpec Pen, is accurate 96% of the time. It takes [...]
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed that 465,000 pacemakers, manufactured by global healthcare company Abbott, have cyber-security issues. There were a further 280,000 devices elsewhere that are affected, the company said. The cyber-security flaws could theoretically be used to cause the devices to pace too quickly or run down their batteries. However, [...]
Doctors may be able to detect pancreatic cancer and other diseases earlier in people with just a snap of a smartphone selfie using a mobile app developed by researchers at the University of Washington in the US. BiliScreen uses a smartphone camera, computer vision algorithms and machine learning tools to detect increased bilirubin levels in [...]
Migraine is listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the third most prevalent illness in the world, behind only tooth decay and tension-type headaches. It affects over 38 million Americans, including approximately 28 million women, who are afflicted at a rate three times that of men. But despite its prevalence, migraine — the condition [...]
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on Southeast Asian countries to work together to make medical treatment and drugs more affordable for the citizens. The countries were asked to take bold action ensuring citizens access to safe efficacious, quality and affordable medical products. The WHO also wants more emphasis to be given on leveraging [...]
Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company Novartis made history as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its tailor-made “living drug” therapy against cancer. Dubbed “CAR-T”, the treatment is the first to redesign a patient’s own immune system so it attacks cancer. The drug is tailor-made to each patient, unlike conventional therapies such as surgery or [...]
Scientists in a major international study has found that the combination of two drugs – rivaroxaban and aspirin – is more effective in preventing further heart complications in people with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) as compared to only aspirin or only rivaroxaban. Rivaroxaban, often known by the brand name Xarelto, is an anticoagulant, aspirin is an [...]
The world may have taken a step towards a polio-free future as researchers make a breakthrough in vaccine development against the disease. An international consortium of scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK was able to produce a new poliovirus vaccine by growing virus-like particles (VLPs), which are non-pathogenic mimics of the virus, [...]
A new meningitis test could speed up the diagnosis of the disease and save lives as it gives results in just under 60 minutes. The new test will be implemented in an accident & emergency (A&E) department in a hospital in northern Ireland. Meningitis – an infection of the protective membranes surrounding the brain and [...]
Middle-aged people, those between the ages 40 and 60, are being urged to start doing regular brisk walks to help them stay healthy and reduce the risk of early death. Even 10 minutes of brisk walking each day could have a major impact and lower the risk of early death by 15%, according to officials [...]
The body’s circadian rhythm, or biological clock, is directly linked to the process of aging and is also based on efficient metabolism of energy within cells. Paolo Sassone-Corsi, director of the Center for Epigenetics & Metabolism at the University of California, Irvine in the US, and colleagues have also discovered that a low-calorie diet helps [...]
Plastic films that have been specially designed and integrated with “N-halamines”, special chemical groups, within the polymer matrix of the plastic can prevent bacterial contamination in the food and biomedical industries, according to a recently published research. The plastic films work by killing bacteria in biofilms, and preventing bacteria from forming biofilms in the first [...]
A pioneering immunotherapy against type 1 diabetes that has been designed to retrain the body’s immune system and slow the advance of the disease has been shown to be safe in its first trial. Tested on 27 patients in the UK, the immunotherapy also showed signs of slowing the disease, but this needs confirming in [...]
A dangerous form of the malaria parasite, called “super malaria”, is spreading across Southeast Asia and causing alarm as it poses a serious global health threat. The team at the Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit in Bangkok said there was a real danger of malaria becoming untreatable. The new form of the parasite is resistant [...]
A global health review has revealed that not a single country, out of the almost 200 that were reviewed, were on track to meet the UN goal of eliminating new tuberculosis infections by 2030. They also found that less than 5% of countries were likely to reach the UN goal of reducing suicides, road deaths [...]
The current cholera epidemic that is sweeping the Democratic Republic of Congo in Central Africa has now claimed over 500 lives, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Outbreaks of the water-borne disease occur regularly in Congo, mainly due to poor sanitation and a lack of access to clean drinking water. But this year’s epidemic, [...]
A four-year-old girl in Italy has died of malaria, raising fears over the comeback of the mosquito-borne disease decades after it has been eliminated in the country. Sonia Zago developed a high fever after returning home from a vacation in Bibione, a seaside town on the Adriatic coast near Venice. As her condition worsened, she [...]
Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) has chosen National University of Singapore (NUS) president Tan Chorh Chuan to be the country’s first Chief Health Scientist beginning January 1 next year. He will concurrently serve as executive director of the new Office for Healthcare Transformation, MOH said in a press release. “As the founding executive director, Professor [...]
Mental health disorders and poor diets are among the greatest causes of ill health globally, while heart disease and tobacco are ranked along with violence and conflict as the world’s biggest killers in 2016, according to a large international study. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study found that while life expectancy is increasing, so [...]
Thailand has passed a new law that bans manufacturers, importers and distributors from advertising and marketing infant formula milk or powdered milk and other food products for toddlers. Department chief Dr. Wachira Pengchan said that the law is meant to ensure that baby food marketing is appropriate and that it meets international standards to prevent [...]
Around 3.6 million people all over the world were killed by two of the most common chronic lung diseases in 2015, according to a study. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), caused mainly by smoking and pollution, was responsible for 3.2 million deaths, while 400,000 people died from asthma. COPD is a group of lung conditions [...]
In the Western Pacific Region, a newborn dies every two minutes because of inappropriate clinical practices at the time of birth and during the first few days of life. However, newborn mortalitycan easily be prevented through Early Essential Newborn Care (EENC), a set of simple, cost-effective interventions that can save newborn lives and give them [...]
A Bangladeshi construction worker living in Singapore died on August 4 from diphtheria in what is believed to be the first case of the bacterial infection in the country in 25 years, according to Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH). MOH said the last local case of infection was reported in 1992 while the last imported [...]
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and the University of North Carolina in the US have developed a medicated skin patch that could be used to burn off unwanted pockets of fat like “love handles” and even treat metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity. The skin patch can turn energy-storing white fat into [...]
Among 188 countries, Singapore ranked first in terms of progress towards achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations (UN). These health targets include goals for infant mortality rates, smoking, vaccination, universal health coverage and rates of diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, among others. Researchers measured 37 health-related SDG indicators from [...]
A new drug developed by researchers at Tulane University in the US is effective in treating non-severe cases of malaria. This comes as a significant development as public health experts warn that Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for most malaria cases, is developing resistance to widely used treatments. New medications are needed to build up [...]
A new approach using antibodies could eventually help improve the “reprogramming” of ordinary adult cells into stem cells, according to scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in the US. The results suggest that scientists could eventually be able to produce stem cells with fewer mutations and overall better properties. The TSRI scientists screened a [...]
US researchers have developed a one-shot solution approach that could eventually allow for the delivery of every childhood vaccine in a single jab. The technology stores the vaccine in microscopic capsules that release the initial dose and then boosters at specific times. It has been shown to work in mouse studies. The researchers say the [...]
Although the health benefits of olives and its associated natural products, like olive oil, have long been recognized, little was previously known about what specific compounds in the fruit contribute to its medical and nutritional benefits such as weight loss and prevention of type 2 diabetes. Now, a research team from Virginia Tech in the [...]
Adults who sit for most of the day may have a higher risk of premature death than people who don’t sit a lot, regardless of exercise habits, according to a US study. Being active or moving at just one specific time of the day for exercise is simply not enough, said lead study author Keith [...]
Two international clinical trials conducted by researchers at the Sydney-based Melanoma Institute Australia showed that a combination of new treatments can stop the spread of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. The drug trials have proved successful in preventing the disease spreading in stage three patients whose tumors had been surgically removed. Until now, [...]
The alcohol industry misleads people about the risks of developing cancer from drinking, often using denial, distortion and distraction tactics that are similar to those used by the tobacco industry, according to a study led by scientists at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet. Drinks industry organizations often [...]
A test involving drawing a spiral on a piece of paper can be used to diagnose Parkinson’s disease early, and Australian researchers have trialed software based on that. The software can measure writing speed and pen pressure on the page, which are both useful for detecting the disease, which causes shaking and muscle rigidity. The [...]
Southeast Asia’s medical industry is attracting more and more attention globally over... Read More
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