health $wellness blog

Researchers have found that machine learning models can correctly predict the probability of interstitial lung abnormalities (ILAs) from computed tomography scans, a breakthrough that could help in devising early detection and treatment strategies for lung diseases. Despite the clinical importance of ILAs, there has been a difficulty in their automated identification. This study was a development and performance test of machine learning models in predicting the probabilities of ILA based on CT images from a large dataset provided by the Boston Lung Cancer Study. The study was recently published in the journal Radiology by Akinori H. and colleagues. Interstitial lung abnormalities, often incidentally found in computed tomography scans, emerge due to their significant clinical implications, including a relation to higher susceptibility for pulmonary fibrosis and other diseases affecting the lungs. However, fully automated detection of ILAs has not yet been realized, and therefore the...

A study published in the Journal of Dentistry suggests that tooth loss is linked to an increased risk of all-cause, CVD-related, and diabetes-related mortality. A study was done to determine whether tooth loss affects all-cause and cause-specific mortality in a nationally representative sample of adults with diabetes mellitus (DM) in the United States. This prospective cohort study involved 8207 participants aged 30 years or older at baseline, all diagnosed with diabetes mellitus and enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2018. Tooth loss was stratified into 28 teeth (complete), 20–27 teeth (tooth loss), 9–19 teeth (lacking functional), 1–8 teeth (severe tooth loss) and edentulism. To estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for all-cause and specific-cause mortality in diabetes mellitus participants according to tooth loss, multivariate cox proportional hazards regression models were used. Relationships between...

The Maharashtra government has announced a new policy designed to boost environmental sustainability and enhance public health safety. This initiative is set to be implemented in the coming months, this initiative represents a significant step towards more accountable and effective management of biomedical waste across the state. Under this policy, private hospitals will be required to cover the costs of biomedical waste management following the number of beds they operate. This fee structure, which will be in place for three years, was introduced following a policy change in 2016. The policy mandates that hospitals contribute financially towards the management of their biomedical waste, a move that was met with opposition from the hospital sector. The Union Minister of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change has endorsed this policy as a measure to ensure better waste management and environmental protection. For more information, click on the link below: Maharashtra: Private Ho...

New Delhi : The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) functional under the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has approved the drug major Sanofi's protocol amendment proposal of the clinical trial titled "A Phase 3, single-arm, multicenter, multinational, open label,one-way crossover study to investigate the efficacy and safety of fitusiran prophylaxis in male participants aged ≥ 12 years with severe hemophilia A or B, with or without inhibitory antibodies to factor VIII or IX" This came after the firm presented protocol amendment number 03, version 01 dated 30.01.2023 protocol No. EFC17574. This is a multicenter, multinational, open-label, one-way cross-over, Phase 3, single-arm study for treatment of hemophilia. The purpose of this study is to measure the frequency of treated bleeding episodes with fitusiran in male adult and adolescent (≥12 years old) participants with hemophilia A or B, with or without inhibitory antibodies to factor VIII or IX who have s...

South Korea: A recent study from South Korea has demonstrated that optical coherence tomography (OCT) guidance significantly improves outcomes for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) with complex lesions compared to traditional angiography guidance. The trial, known as OCCUPI (Optical Coherence Tomography-guided versus Angiography-guided PCI for Patients with Complex Lesions), highlights a potential shift in how PCI procedures are approached. In the OCCUPI trial, patients receiving PCI for complex coronary lesions with drug-eluting stents showed a notable decrease in major adverse cardiac events when guided by optical coherence tomography compared to standard angiography. "The OCT-guided group experienced a 38% reduction in major adverse events, including cardiac death, myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, or ischemia-driven target-vessel revascularization, at one year (5% versus 7%; HR 0.62)," the researchers reported in The Lancet. Althoug...

New Delhi: Recommending for strain change/update in the approved COVID-19 vaccine, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) functional under the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has granted permission to Biological E for the COVID-19 Vaccine SARSCoV-2-RBD203-N1_XBB.1.5, for restricted use in emergency situations, subject to various regulatory provisions. The vaccine is indicated for active immunization to prevent COVID-19 disease in individuals of 5 years of age and above who have received primary vaccination series and are to be administered in a two-dose schedule (0.5 mL each) 28 days apart (Day 0 and Day 28). This came after the vaccine major Biological E presented the proposal for the grant of permission to manufacture COVID-19 vaccine with variant SARS-CoV-2-RBD203-N1_XBB.1.5 for sale and distribution in India for active immunization to prevent COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in individuals of age ≥5 years. Regarding the above proposal, the committee noted that the...

Taking the weight loss medication semaglutide did not increase the risk of depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts, or suicidal behavior in persons without known major mental health disorders, according to a new study led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine. Both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency are actively monitoring the psychiatric safety of semaglutide and similar medications after post marketing surveillance reports of depression, suicidal thoughts (ideation), and suicidal behavior in patients taking the drugs for the management of type 2 diabetes or obesity. Semaglutide has emerged as a significant advancement in the field of weight management. Initially developed as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, the drug gained widespread attention after clinical trials showed it reduced baseline body weight by approximately 10%-15%. Weekly injectable medic...