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Category: biotech/medical – Page 411

Whooping cough cases reach highest level in a decade

“They don’t have time in between those coughs to take a breath,” said Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at University of California, Davis, Children’s Hospital. “Sometimes, if it’s so severe, the kids end up being intubated or on a ventilator so that they can get oxygen.”

Infants are the most vulnerable to whooping cough, with the highest risk of getting infected and of serious complications.

Diabetes Reversal: A New Hope for Millions Battling the Disease

Diabetes has long been regarded as a chronic condition, a lifelong sentence requiring constant management. However, recent advancements in science and personalized healthcare are challenging this narrative. The concept of “diabetes reversal” is gaining traction, providing hope to millions who believed their diagnosis was a permanent condition.

Diabetes reversal doesn’t imply a cure. Instead, it refers to achieving and maintaining normal blood sugar levels without the need for diabetes medications for a predefined period of time – generally for 3 months. For individuals with type 2 diabetes, this means significant lifestyle changes and, in some cases, medical interventions that reduce or eliminate dependency on drugs like insulin or metformin.

Recent studies have highlighted that sustained weight loss, especially in the early stages of diagnosis, can help you achieve diabetes reversal or remission in many patients. According to research published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, individuals who lost 15% or more of their body weight within a year of diagnosis had a remission rate of nearly 86%.

Patients Warned Not To Rely on AI Chatbots For Safe And Accurate Drug Information

“However, chatbot answers were largely difficult to read and answers repeatedly lacked information or showed inaccuracies, possibly threatening patient and medication safety,” they add.

The researchers also noted that a major drawback was the chatbot’s inability to understand the underlying intent of a patient question.

“Despite their potential, it is still crucial for patients to consult their healthcare professionals, as chatbots may not always generate error-free information. Caution is advised in recommending AI-powered search engines until citation engines with higher accuracy rates are available,” the researchers concluded.

A Review of Compartmentalised Inflammation and Tertiary Lymphoid Structures in the Pathophysiology of Multiple Sclerosis

📝 — Kee, et al.

This review focuses on compartmentalized inflammation in Multiple sclerosis (MS) and in particular, what we know about meningeal tertiary lymphoid structures which are organised clusters of immune cells, associated with more severe and progressive forms of MS.

Full text is available 👇

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, immune-mediated, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). The most common form of MS is a relapsing–remitting disease characterised by acute episodes of demyelination associated with the breakdown of the blood–brain barrier (BBB). In the relapsing–remitting phase there is often relative recovery (remission) from relapses characterised clinically by complete or partial resolution of neurological symptoms. In the later and progressive stages of the disease process, accrual of neurological disability occurs in a pathological process independent of acute episodes of demyelination and is accompanied by a trapped or compartmentalised inflammatory response, most notable in the connective tissue spaces of the vasculature and leptomeninges occurring behind an intact BBB.

Is Artificial Intelligence The Cure For Healthcare’s Chronic Problems?

This presents another challenge: convincing patients to allow the use of their data. Some 70% of Americans have expressed concerns about data privacy, with 56% admitting they find AI in healthcare “scary.”

It isn’t helped by the growing number of data breaches in the healthcare space, with 88 million patients having had their personal health information compromised in data breaches last year alone. Undoubtedly, if AI-powered healthcare is to maintain its trajectory, the sector will need to address these cybersecurity concerns.

AI is no longer a prospect but a reality today. It’s already being deployed in doctors’ offices and hospitals to analyze patient data, handle back-office tasks and assist surgeons. Anticipated to decrease administrative costs by up to 30%, free up hundreds of thousands of hours of physicians’ time and cut surgical waiting times—for the millions of Americans currently suffering in silence, whether due to affordability or accessibility, AI will offer a lifeline.

A Neuralink Rival Says Its Eye Implant Restored Vision in Blind People

For years, they had been losing their central vision—what allows people to see letters, faces, and details clearly. The light-receiving cells in their eyes had been deteriorating, gradually blurring their sight.

But after receiving an experimental eye implant as part of a clinical trial, some study participants can now see well enough to read from a book, play cards, and fill in a crossword puzzle despite being legally blind. Science Corporation, the California-based brain-computer interface company developing the implant, announced the preliminary results this week.

When Max Hodak, CEO of Science and former president of Neuralink, first saw a video of a blind patient reading while using the implant, he was stunned. It led his company, which he founded in 2021 after leaving Neuralink, to acquire the technology from Pixium Vision earlier this year.

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