medicine

Manufacturers in the UK expect the government to give them the green light to move their facilities from normal operations to making medical supplies. Dyson is in one group, another group is led by Airbus. Both groups have announced that they have only to be given the go-ahead by the UK government by next week. In separate news, the UK's ALSO joined the EU effort to ramp up ventilator production worldwide.

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A popular, but pricey, spice called saffron may be able to improve sleep quality in adults who often experience unrestful nights, according to a new study. The research comes from the same team that previously linked saffron with an antidepressant effect, at least in people who have up to moderate depression and who are also taking a prescription antidepressant medication.

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Biotech company Moderna has announced the release of its mRNA-1273 vaccine against the novel coronavirus behind the outbreak in China and multiple other countries. This vaccine is released for human use, according to Moderna, which says that it has shipped some vials of the product to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a part of the NIH.

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Antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs' are a growing concern, spurring efforts to develop new types of treatments that can eradicate these bacteria. Here to help is a machine-learning algorithm developed by researchers with MIT; it identified a new compound that can destroy several varieties of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, among them being certain bacteria that are now resistant to all available antibiotics.

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As the number of cases of coronavirus COVID-19 grows worldwide, the US CDC has detailed the primary ways in which the SARS-like illness could be spread, and which routes it is most concerned with. The first person-to-person infection in the US was confirmed at the end of January 2020, and since then the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have held several briefings to outline exactly what people should - and shouldn't - be worried about.

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As coronavirus continues to spread, the World Health Organization has officially given it a name: COVID-19. Previously referred to as the "2019 novel coronavirus," this new name should not only help scientists and media organizations refer to this specific outbreak, but it also lays down a model for future coronavirus outbreaks that may occur.

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Researchers have created a machine-learning algorithm called SELSER that analyzes EEG data to determine whether a patient is likely to respond well to the popular antidepressant called sertraline, according to the National Institute of Health. The algorithm works by looking for a particular neural signature involving complex brain activity patterns linked to positive outcomes from taking this medication.

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The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (itself part of the National Institutes of Health) announced some disappointing news today, confirming that it has ended testing of an experimental vaccine regimen that was created to prevent HIV after finding that the regimen was ineffective. With these trials ended, the NIAID will look to other potential HIV preventatives that are currently emerging.

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When it comes to buying medications prescribed by a doctor in the United States, many Americans rely on insurance to cover the cost. Drugs can get quite expensive in the USA, and healthcare insurance coverage of the cost is often vital for low-income and middle-class citizens. As an NPR poll showed this week, when a doctor prescribes medication and that medication isn't covered by a patient's health insurance, nearly half of those patients "simply don't fill the prescription."

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This January of 2020 an auction is set to take place with a set of artworks from several artists, one of whom is Damien Hirst. Of interest in this auction is a relatively old Damien Hirst artwork by the name of "Bodies", originally sold in the year 1989. The artwork is one of the first 4 medicine cabinets that'd eventually make a suite of 12, and it was purchased for a sum of £600
- converting that amount in 1989 to dollars hits around USD$1k.

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A group of researchers led by Esme Fuller-Thomson of the University of Toronto showed some good news on anxiety and GAD. GAD is generalized anxiety disorder, the subject of Fuller-Thomson's mental health study that worked with a sample of more than 2,000 people. Each of these study subjects had a history of GAD.

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The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved of an Ebola vaccine for the first time in history. This announcement was made just weeks after a similar approval by the World Health Organization. The vaccine goes by the name of Ervebo, and it's already been "assessed in approximately 15,000 individuals in Africa, Europe and North America." This vaccine's approval process, though rigorous, was done in relatively short order thanks to the efforts of the FDA and associated medical and scientific groups due to the urgent need for this vaccine as outbreaks continue to occur.

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