Author: healthadmin

Special operations veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder experienced significant improvement in symptoms after a single dose of the psychoactive drug ibogaine. Brain scans revealed that the treatment was associated with a sustained increase in cerebral blood flow and extensive reorganization of neural networks. The study was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. Sudden blows to the head or exposure to intense blast waves can cause traumatic brain injuries. In combat zones, soldiers are exposed to blast waves that send immense pressure on their skulls, potentially stretching or severing delicate nerve fibers.…

For decades, a puzzling contradiction about tiny subatomic particles called muons fueled speculation that physicists were on the verge of discovering an entirely new force of nature. Now, an international research team led by physicists at Penn State University says the mystery appears to be solved, and the answer supports rather than overturns existing physics. The researchers published their findings in the journal naturedescribes one of the most accurate particle physics calculations ever completed. Their study shows that the long-debated discrepancy between theory and experiment is likely caused by limitations in early calculations rather than evidence of unknown physics. Decades…

Nourish, a metabolism provider focused on virtual nutrition, has raised $100 million in a Series C round. The round was led by Menlo Ventures with participation from Thrive Capital, Index Ventures, JP Morgan Growth Equity Partners, Maverick Ventures, Y Combinator and others. The funding will be used to expand Nourish’s provider workforce, accelerate investments in AI, and deepen partnerships with payers and health systems. The company is pivoting from a dietitian-only nutrition platform to a more comprehensive metabolic health clinic by hiring physicians. Nourish patients are typically paired with a registered dietitian, but lab tests, GLP-1 prescriptions, and other virtual…

Medical devices are becoming increasingly smaller, lighter and more portable. Miniaturization is now a feature of many new medtech products, from handheld diagnostic tools to wearable infusion pumps and compact surgical instruments. While miniaturization provides clear benefits for patients and clinicians, it also introduces mechanical constraints that can impact how reliably these devices operate over time. Here, Chris Johnson, Managing Director of bearing specialist SMB Bearings, explores how mechanical decisions that were once considered secondary can begin to determine the success of an entire product. In emergency medical settings, small equipment can be transported directly to the patient, reducing delays…

Most discussions about plastic pollution state that the problem is that plastic never breaks down. A new study overturns that assumption and argues that the problem is that this is always the case, at least to some degree.In this study, the researchers introduce the concept of “plastic particle footprint.” This is a mass of plastic micro- and nanoparticles that ends up entering the environment when certain items disintegrate. There is growing evidence that these plastic particles pose a risk to human and environmental health, but until now there has been no way to incorporate these concerns into standard research methods.The…

Wearables can bridge the communication gap between the body and the computer. These serve a variety of purposes, from displaying real-time narration from real speech to producing readable and measurable signals that are translated directly from the body and understood within the medical space. IDTechEx’s portfolio of wearable technology research reports and subscriptions features curated research in many wearable areas, including smart glasses, smart gum shields, brain-scanning helmets, and more. Narration and game advice using smart glasses Smart glasses that display real-time ambient audio narration for people with hearing impairments offer one of the accessibility opportunities that augmented reality (XR)…

In January, State Sen. Catelynn Dolly stood at the podium on the Senate floor in front of colleagues representing all of Iowa. She told them she planned to speak candidly about subjects both “personal and political.” Behind her, members of Congress and staff appeared to be only half listening, looking at laptops or flipping through documents. When she told them she had been diagnosed with uterine cancer, they looked surprised. Dolly, 38, was just weeks into his first term as a state senator. “From the moment I said ‘cancer,’ it was like everyone had their attention all at once,” she…

President Donald Trump bought $680,000 in stock in Eli Lilly and Co., the maker of the hit obesity drug, earlier this year as the agency he oversees embarked on an agenda that greatly benefited the company. On May 14, the federal government released an ethics disclosure revealing a list of stock and bond transactions made on behalf of President Trump between January and March of this year. These included a wide range of deals across the economy, including investments in tech giants like Microsoft and Nvidia, aerospace companies like Boeing, and big-name companies like Target and Chipotle. But in the…

Cyclana Bio, a biotechnology company pioneering a tissue-level approach to women’s health, today announced that it has received Health Research Authority (HRA) and Research Ethics Committee (REC) approval for its 500-patient clinical observational study PEMP (Endometriosis Mechanisms and Population Prediction). The first patients to take part in the study are being recruited at Peterborough City Hospital, with Rosie Hospital in Cambridge also recently starting recruitment. Professor Kevin Chalut, Dr. Leah Wenger, Dr. Cilia Solomon, and Dr. Tom Wyatt in Babraham’s lab. Image credit: Cyclana Bio The PEMP study aims to improve our understanding of the disease physiology of endometriosis, which…

Takeda Pharmaceutical plans to appeal after a federal jury found it liable in a landmark delay-damages antitrust case and ordered the Japanese drugmaker to pay $885 million in damages, an amount that could be roughly tripled under antitrust laws. After a month-long trial in U.S. District Court in Boston, a jury ruled that Takeda Pharmaceutical conspired with a competitor to delay the release of a generic version of the laxative drug Amitiza. This is the first time a federal jury has found a pharmaceutical company liable in a delay damages lawsuit. The class action lawsuit dates back to 2021 and…