Integrating pharmacists into general practice teams to review medication management lowered the number of emergency department presentations and resulted in potentially significant cost savings to the health system, according to research published today in the Medical Journal of Australia. Researchers from Brisbane, Melbourne, and the UK recruited patients at 14 general practices who had recently
The French Riviera will go into lockdown for the next two weekends to contain COVID-19 which has been spreading faster in the tourist hotspot than elsewhere in France, the region’s top official said on Monday. Controls at airports and at the land border the southern Alpes-Maritimes region shares with Italy would be tightened over the
The European Union’s medicines regulator said Friday it had started a “rolling review” of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by German firm CureVac, the first step towards a possible authorisation in the bloc. “Preliminary results from laboratory studies and early clinical studies in adults… suggest the vaccine triggers the production of antibodies and immune cells that
As President Joe Biden promises to vaccinate more than 100 million Americans by the end of his first 100 days in office (April 29), new research offers several critical insights for those in charge of managing such a massive national public health effort. The researchers, who hail from four major U.S. universities, including Northwestern University,
All eyes have watched to see what Amazon’s next move in the health space would be ever since its collaboration with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase was announced in 2018. The joint venture, however, has been fairly quiet since its announcement. It took more than a year for the company to announce its name –
One of the hallmarks of Glioblastoma (GBM), the most aggressive type of brain cancer, is its high invasive capacity, which leads to its expansion into normal brain tissue. GBM cells insinuate themselves in the interstitial space of the neural tissue and migrate along blood vessels to more distant locations where they then metastasise. “Stray’ cancer
When you are faced with a choice — say, whether to have ice cream or chocolate cake for dessert — sets of brain cells just above your eyes fire as you weigh your options. Animal studies have shown that each option activates a distinct set of neurons in the brain. The more enticing the offer,
Mum Claire Taylor thought little of it when she caught herself on a car door and sustained a tiny cut to the corner of her left eye. But within 36 hours, the 47-year-old’s face had swollen dramatically and she had become delirious, drifting in and out of consciousness. The only other person at home with
A group of researchers from the University of Toronto have developed a credit-card sized tool for growing cancer cells outside the human body, which they believe will enhance their understanding of breast cancer metastasis. The device, described in a paper published today in Science Advances, reproduces various environments within the human body where breast cancer
Oreos are a classic pantry staple — something we’re all stocking up on these days. But they’re not exactly a luxurious dessert. Sure, they’re tasty but they don’t really compare to a warm and gooey chocolate chip cookie straight out of the oven, right? Well, if you’re Chrissy Teigen they do. Teigen shared a recipe
Each day, humans and animals rely on habits to complete routine tasks such as eating and sleeping. As new habits are formed, this enables us to do things automatically without thinking. As the brain starts to develop a new habit, in as little as a half a second, one region of the brain, the dorsolateral
The truth is an ephemeral thing on the internet, and also when it comes to boundary-pushing artists. Even knowing that, when we started seeing headlines today about Grimes creating an Instagram and Twitter account for her unborn child, it took a minute for us to curb our initial excitement. On the surface, it seemed like
Zika virus infection can stunt neonatal brain development, a condition known as microcephaly, in which babies are born with abnormally small heads. To determine how best to prevent and treat the viral infection, scientists first need to understand how the pathogen gets inside brain cells. Employing different approaches to answer different questions, two research teams
DR ELLIE CANNON: Has diabetes put my sex drive into reverse? I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes two years ago and have seen a significant decrease in my sex drive since then. I’m 72 and don’t expect to be as active as I was in my 20s, but my wife is beginning to worry
New research has shed light on the origins of spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) and demonstrates effective new therapeutic pathways for SCA7 and the more than 40 other types of spinocerebellar ataxia. The study, which appears online Monday on the website of the journal Neuron, implicates metabolic dysregulation leading to altered calcium homeostasis in neurons
You’re flipping through the television channels when you hear the familiar beginning strains of a Sarah McLachlan song. You hastily click to the next channel, before the haunting images of homeless animals appear. Or you’re scrolling through the news one morning when a headline makes you pause—a mass shooting, perhaps, or a tsunami halfway across
Researchers have cleared a major obstacle in the development of an HIV vaccine, proving in animal models that effective, yet short-lasting antibodies can be coaxed into multiplying as a fighting force against the virus. The finding, led by a team of researchers at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI) and Boston Children’s Hospital, publishes online
As in other countries, the Australian health care system has limited capacity to rapidly move a future treatment for Alzheimer’s disease from approval into wide clinical use, which could leave thousands of older people without access to transformative care if such a breakthrough occurs, according to a new study by RAND Australia. The most pressing
A new study published today by researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and UT Health’s McGovern Medical School in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals an unprecedented close-up view of cilia linked to blindness. Cilia are short hair-like structures found on the surface of certain cells. They are particularly important in vision
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a widespread condition with complex underlying causes. A stimulant drug called methylphenidate is a common ADHD treatment that impacts the brain’s levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in systems of reward; however, methylphenidate has a potential for abuse, and its therapeutic effects are poorly understood. To explore methylphenidate’s varied interactions
