A 13-year effort to track the mental health of new doctors in their most stressful time of training shows signs that things have gotten better. But those first-year residents, also called interns, still have a sizable risk of developing depression. And many who do still don’t seek help. The jump in depression scores over the […]
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A version of this gene doubles the risk of dying from COVID-19
Researchers have identified a version of a gene that doubles a person’s risk of severe COVID-19 and doubles the risk of death from the disease for people under 60. The gene, LZTFL1, is involved in the regulation of lung cells in response to infection. When the risky version of the gene is present, cells lining […]
‘A seaside resort town’: Frankston’s revitalised mall sets an example
It would be fair to say that Station Street Mall in Frankston has never been a particularly pretty promenade. A place of unprepossessing buildings, impermeable paving and telephone exchange boxes, a bucolic idyll this mall was not. This downtown walkway was for downtown business and, if it was relaxing and lingering you were after, well, […]
G20 wants 70% of world vaccinated by mid-2022, sets up pandemic task force
ROME (Reuters) -Finance and health ministers from the world’s 20 biggest economies (G20) said on Friday they would take steps to ensure 70% of the world’s population is vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-2022 and created a task force to fight future pandemics.FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a small bottle labeled with a “Vaccine COVID-19” sticker […]
A new study sounds like good news about screen time and kids’ health. So does it mean we can all stop worrying?
A newly published study in the journal PLoS ONE suggests spending time on screens is unlikely to be directly harmful to young children. The US study attracted global attention, as screen time has been commonly blamed for disrupting the healthy habits of our youth. Headlines announced “Screens are not as dangerous as you think”, “Screens […]
Our brains have a ‘fingerprint’ too
“I think about it every day and dream about it at night. It’s been my whole life for five years now,” says Enrico Amico, a scientist and SNSF Ambizione Fellow at EPFL’s Medical Image Processing Laboratory and the EPFL Center for Neuroprosthetics. He’s talking about his research on the human brain in general, and on […]
Standing on one leg is a sign of good health, and practicing is good for you, too
Research shows that people’s ability to stand on one leg is an indicator of health and that getting better at standing on one leg can add to fitness and potentially lifespan. Being able to stand on one leg is linked to increased levels of physical activity and decreased risk of falls and is associated with […]
A ‘pacemaker’ for brain activity helped woman emerge from severe depression
After all available treatments had failed, a patient with severe depression found relief from an implanted device that delivers short pulses of electricity to specific spots in her brain. The battery-powered device, called the NeuroPace RNS System, not only stimulates the brain but also monitors electrical activity from inside the organ. And so the device […]
On the trail of a medical mystery: Scientists zero in on elevated MRSA susceptibility after liver transplants
For decades, recipients of liver transplants have been inexplicably vulnerable to MRSA infection after their lifesaving surgeries, but the molecular mechanisms underlying that risk had remained stubbornly mystifying, at least until now. In the hunt for a culprit at the core of a nagging—and sometimes deadly—susceptibility, a multidisciplinary team of physicians, surgeons and scientists in […]
Designing a wearable sensor for neonatal seizure monitoring
eizures in neonates (newborn children) is the most common sign of neurological dysfunction and requires immediate medical attention. Therefore, the continuous monitoring of neonatal seizures is critical for their optimal treatment. For his Ph.D. research, Hongyu Chen sought to solve problems in neonatal seizure detection and focused on the design of a wearable sensor system. […]