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Archive for the ‘health’ category: Page 120

Jun 28, 2022

Weirdly, It Appears the Flu Vaccine May Protect Against Alzheimer’s

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience

In a surprise finding, researchers have found that getting at least one flu shot makes it 40 percent less likely for people over the age of 65 to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, up to four years later.

While it’s still far too early to determine if there are any direct causal links between the common vaccine and neurological health outcomes like Alzheimer’s — in other words, we don’t know if it’s the flu vaccine itself or something else responsible for the results — the research is certainly an eyebrow-raising new development that could, potentially, point in the direction of easily accessible treatments.

In a peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, researchers at UTHealth Houston compared the incidence rate of the disease in patients with and without at least one flu vaccination in a nationwide sample of US adults aged 65 and up, which included 935,887 vaccinated and 935,887 non-vaccinated individuals.

Jun 28, 2022

Senator Joe Lieberman — Leading Bipartisan Moonshots For Health, National Security And Government

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, business, cybercrime/malcode, energy, government, health, law, policy

Leading bipartisan moonshots for health, national security & functional government — senator joe lieberman, bipartisan commission on biodefense, no labels, and the centre for responsible leadership.


Senator Joe Lieberman, is senior counsel at the law firm of Kasowitz Benson Torres (https://www.kasowitz.com/people/joseph-i-lieberman) where he currently advises clients on a wide range of issues, including homeland and national security, defense, health, energy, environmental policy, intellectual property matters, as well as international expansion initiatives and business plans.

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Jun 25, 2022

A Common Medication Improves Survival for Heart Failure Patients

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

Patients with worsening heart failure who received colchicine, a common gout medication, had a survival rate of 97.9% compared with a 93.5% survival rate for patients who did not take colchicine.

Colchicine, a common gout medication, dramatically increased the survival rates of patients with worsening heart failure who were hospitalized, according to a recent University of Virginia (UVA) Health study. In individuals with an accumulation of cholesterol in their arteries, the researchers think colchicine might also lower the risk for heart attack and stroke.

More than 1,000 patients who were hospitalized at the University of Virginia Medical Center between March 2011 and February 2020 due to worsening heart failure had their records examined. Patients who took colchicine for a gout flare had a survival rate of 97.9%, as opposed to patients who did not receive colchicine, who had a survival rate of 93.5%.

Jun 24, 2022

Health Systems Want Government Help Fighting Off the Hackers

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cybercrime/malcode, government, health

As cyberattacks on medical networks continue to affect healthcare institutions across the country, organizations who are directly at risk of these attacks are seeking government assistance.

From January through June, the Office of Civil Rights tallied 256 hacks and information breaches, up from 149 for the same period a year ago. It’s a continuing trend from last year: Cybersecurity outfit Sophos reports that in 2021, attacks on health systems were up 66 percent over 2020.

Now some health systems are asking the federal government to step in and provide more security for what they consider critical national infrastructure.

Jun 24, 2022

The Rise of Supersoldiers — How AI Changes Everything

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, chemistry, genetics, health, military, robotics/AI

Artificial Intelligence is touching almost every aspect of our lives. It’s reasonable to expect AI influence will only increase in the future. One of many fields heavily influenced by AI is the military. Particularly in the development of Supersoldiers. The notion of super-soldiers enhanced with biotechnology and cybernetics was once only possible in the realm of science fiction. But it may not be too long before these concepts become a reality.

A new worldwide arms race is pitting countries against each other to be the first to successfully create real genetically modified super soldiers by using tools such as CRISPR. Understandably many of these human enhancement technologies raise health and safety questions and it is more likely these enhancements will first gain traction in countries that do not place as much weight on ethical concerns.

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Jun 22, 2022

Pain medicine recall: These pain pills have undeclared steroids, so check your bottles

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food, health

Latin Foods Market issued a recall for an Artri King joint supplement, as it contains undeclared diclofenac and dexamethasone.


The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a health warning in mid-April concerning Artri King-branded products. The company makes a pain reliever available as a supplement for joint pain and arthritis. However, FDA testing discovered that Artri King products contain hidden drug ingredients, including diclofenac and dexamethasone.

Walmart already recalled Artri King products in late May, and now Latin Foods Market is following suit with a new recall of its own.

Continue reading “Pain medicine recall: These pain pills have undeclared steroids, so check your bottles” »

Jun 21, 2022

Open-source program IDs synthetic, naturally occurring gene sequences

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

It’s a given that certain bacteria and viruses can cause illness and disease, but the real culprits are the sequences of concern that lie within the genomes of these microbes.

Calling them out is about to get easier.

Years of work by Rice University computer scientists and their colleagues have led to an improved platform for DNA screening and pathogenic sequence characterization, whether naturally occurring or synthetic, before they have the chance to impact public health.

Jun 21, 2022

Prof Dr Christine Stabell Benn — Researching Non-Specific Vaccine Effects For Human Health Benefit

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

Researching Non-Specific Vaccine Effects For Human Health Benefit — Prof. Dr. Christine Stabell Benn, MD, PhD, DMSc, University Of Southern Denmark


Prof. Dr. Christine Stabell Benn, MD, PhD, DMSc, (https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/persons/cbenn), is a physician, a professor of global health at the University of Southern Denmark, and a vaccine researcher with almost thirty years of experience in the field, where the focus of her research is “non-specific vaccine effects”, defined as all those other effects, both positive and negative, that vaccines have on our immune systems and overall health, beyond their very specific ability to protect against a specific infectious disease.

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Jun 19, 2022

Stress accelerates aging of immune system, new research shows

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

Stress – whether it’s job strain, emotional wrangles or health worries – is something we all experience. However, a new study from USC shows stress accelerates aging of the immune system, potentially increasing a person’s risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and illness from infections such as COVID-19 [1].

Longevity. Technology: The new research, which has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help explain disparities in age-related health, including the unequal toll of the pandemic, and identify possible points for intervention.

“As the world’s population of older adults increases, understanding disparities in age-related health is essential. Age-related changes in the immune system play a critical role in declining health,” said lead study author Eric Klopack, a postdoctoral scholar in the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. “This study helps clarify mechanisms involved in accelerated immune aging [2].”

Jun 18, 2022

NASA publishes the results of its intense killer asteroid dress rehearsal

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks, health

Monitoring PHAs is a huge responsibility that requires a worldwide effort, including tracking, alerts, and disaster preparedness. Last year, over 100 participants from 18 countries (including NASA scientists and the NEOWISE mission) conducted an international exercise that simulated an encounter with an asteroid that made a close flyby to Earth. As NASA revealed in a recently-released study, the exercise was a complete success. The lessons learned could help avert real impacts in the near future or significantly limit the devastation one could cause.

The study, which appeared in the May 31 issue of The Planetary Science Journal (titled “Apophis Planetary Defense Campaign”), was conducted by the Planetary Defense Exercise Working Group and led by Vishnu Reddy — an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPI). The working group is made up of more than 100 participants from 18 countries and includes facilities like NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), the ESA NEO Coordination Centre, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), and many universities and research institutes worldwide.

As Reddy and his colleagues describe in the paper, the planetary defense exercise was the culmination of work that began in 2017, which was designed to test the operational readiness of our global planetary defense capabilities. The exercise was carried out with the support of NASA’s PDCO, the Minor Planet Center (MPC) — the internationally-recognized authority for monitoring the position and motion of small celestial bodies — and the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN). The exercise was named the Apophis Campaign since it coincided with the close approach of the NEO (99942) Apophis, which flew past Earth from December 2020 to March 2021.