A study published in Lancet Hematology showed promising results for using eltrombopag and cyclosporin A as first-line treatment for severe aplastic anemia. The multicenter phase 2 trial treated 54 patients with severe AA and found a 6-month hematologic overall response rate of 46%, with a complete response rate of 4%. The most common adverse events…
The Brunei Ministry of Health has updated the BruHealth app with new features to improve the patient experience. This includes a queue management system for booking appointments and checking in before visiting health facilities, real-time queue number tracking, video consultations, and access to health records. The Indonesian Ministry of Health has also updated its mobile…
Neal Osborne, a City Council member in Bristol, Virginia, with Type 1 diabetes, suffered a harrowing experience in the local hospital’s emergency room due to a malfunctioning insulin pump. Osborne waited for 30 hours before being moved to the intensive care unit, highlighting issues with ER wait times in the region. Ballad Health, a 20-hospital…
A study found that neighborhoods historically redlined in the 1930s have a higher prevalence of diabetes compared to non-redlined areas. Redlining, a discriminatory practice by the Federal Housing Administration, denied credit and insurance to residents in economically disadvantaged areas. These redlined neighborhoods were more often inhabited by racial-ethnic minority groups. Residents in redlined neighborhoods are…
Novo Nordisk is acquiring Cardior Pharmaceuticals for up to $1.1 billion to add new drug candidates to its cardiometabolic pipeline. Cardior focuses on RNA targeting for heart disease and its lead candidate, CDR132L, is in Phase 2 development for heart failure. The deal, slated to close in the second quarter, does not disclose the upfront…
A new preference informed allocation system was implemented for allocating foundation programme places to medical students in the UK. This system, known as PIA, uses a ranking system generated by a computer algorithm, rather than academic performance, to assign students to their preferred deanery. The goal of PIA was to create a fairer system, reduce…
Researchers at The Australian National University have discovered a gene mutation causing psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease with red, scaly patches. The mutation, known as IKBKB, can lead to psoriatic arthritis, causing joint pain and swelling. The mutated gene affects immune cells, leading to inflammation. Around 500,000 Australians have psoriasis, with 3 in 10…
Recent advancements in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have revolutionized technology and society. Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are becoming valuable resources for information, especially in healthcare. However, ethical and safety concerns need to be addressed as AI errors, health disinformation, and privacy issues are prevalent. AI errors arise when inaccurate information is generated, posing…
UC Berkeley has created a harvesting box that can extract water from the air in places like the Mojave Desert, providing a solution to the global water crisis. The box, powered by sunlight, uses metal-organic frameworks to pull moisture from the air, producing over a gallon of drinkable water per day. Northwestern University researchers have…
The European Medicines Agency recently approved the marketing of bevacizumab-vikg for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration. The drug has shown significant efficacy in clinical trials, with a higher percentage of patients gaining visual acuity compared to other approved medications. The safety profile of the drug was reported to be consistent with previous studies,…
