A team of scientists have developed a beating ‘mini-heart’ formed in a small petri dish. A team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has induced stem cells to emulate the development of the human heart. The study was headed by Dr Alessandra Moretti, Professor of Regenerative Medicine in Cardiovascular Disease, at the Technical […]
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Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) announced on 15th April that its new oral antibiotic to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTI) in female adults and adolescents met the main goals in late-stage trials. The drug, Gepotidacin, in phase III trials, met its primary goals of being on a par or better than Nitrofurantoin, the current […]
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Earthquakes and attacks on healthcare facilities in northwest Syria have left 2.3 million women and girls without access to medical care, particularly sexual and reproductive healthcare, leading to the deaths of children and mothers, a report has found (Taylor L, 2023). Houssam al-Nahhas, researcher for the report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), said, […]
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The antiviral medication Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) may reduce the chance of developing long COVID, researchers report. In a large study of veterans’ medical records, Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir lowered a person’s chance of hospitalisation or dying from all causes in the six months following a COVID-19 infection. And the drug reduced the risk of developing 10 of 13 […]
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One in eight Britons have paid for private health services in the last year, amid frustration with delays in getting NHS treatment and a growing willingness to buy care using salary or savings. New research by YouGov found that another 27% of people had considered going private, for themselves or a loved one, but […]
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People stuck sitting in tight airplane seats for an entire long-haul flight are at risk of dangerous DVTs. But somehow immobile, hibernating bears are not. Now scientists know why. Recently, Thienel et al (Science, 2023) report an analysis of the thrombo-inflammatory machinery in hibernating brown bears (Ursus arctos), which rarely suffer from DVT despite […]
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Babies have more than 200 previously unknown viral families within their gut. This large number came as a surprise to researchers from the University of Copenhagen (Shah SA et al, 2023), who recently studied the nappies of 647 Danish babies and made the first mapping of its kind. The researchers found and mapped a […]
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Ghana has become the first country to approve a new malaria vaccine described as a “world changer” by scientists who developed it at the University of Oxford. The World Health Organization says a child dies every minute from malaria in Africa, where it is estimated that nine out of 10 malaria deaths occur. It […]
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A new COVID-19 variant dubbed Arcturus, which is driving a surge of fresh cases in India, has some unique symptoms in children, experts have pointed out. The XBB.1.16 strain, a sub-variant of Omicron, has been found in 22 countries, including Singapore, Australia, the UK and the US. It is believed to be responsible for […]
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General practitioners in the UK are experiencing the highest stress and lowest job satisfaction when compared with colleagues in nine other high income countries, a study (below) has shown. The report by the Health Foundation analysed data from the Commonwealth Fund’s survey of 9526 GPs in 10 high income countries, including 1010 in the UK. […]
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