Category Archives: Medical research

AI has better ‘bedside manner’ than some doctors, study finds

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ChatGPT rated higher in quality and empathy of written advice, raising possibility of medical assistance role

ChatGPT appears to have a better ‘bedside manner’ than some doctors – at least when their written advice is rated for quality and empathy, a study has shown.

The findings highlight the potential for AI assistants to play a role in medicine, according to the authors of the work, who suggest such agents could help draft doctors’ communications with patients. “The opportunities for improving healthcare with AI are massive,” said Dr John Ayers, of the University of California San Diego.

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Dogs with dementia also have sleep problems, finds study

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Humans with condition can have disturbed sleep, and similar symptoms in dogs indicate cognitive decline is under way

From loud snores to twitching paws, dogs often appear to have a penchant for a good snooze. But researchers have said elderly canines with dementia appear to spend less time slumbering than those with healthy brains – mirroring patterns seen in humans.

It has long been known that people with dementia can experience sleep problems, including finding it harder to get to sleep. Researchers have also found changes in the brainwaves of people with dementia during sleep – including decreased slow brain waves that occur during non-rapid eye movement deep sleep. These are important in memory consolidation and appear to be linked to the activity of the brain’s system for clearing away waste.

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Use of antibiotics in farming ‘endangering human immune system’

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Study suggests antimicrobial used to promote livestock growth breeds bacteria more resistant to our natural defences

The blanket use of antibiotics in farming has led to the emergence of bacteria that are more resistant to the human immune system, scientists have warned.

The research suggests that the antimicrobial colistin, which was used for decades as a growth promoter on pig and chicken farms in China, resulted in the emergence of E coli strains that are more likely to evade our immune system’s first line of defence.

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Newly released Chinese Covid data points to infected animals in Wuhan

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Previously unseen genomic samples suggest animals at Huanan market were potential source

Newly released data from early in the Covid-19 pandemic has offered a crucial insight into the outbreak’s origins, suggesting that Covid-infected animals were present at a market in Wuhan and could have been a “potential source of human infections”.

A pre-print report on Monday by a team of international researchers fleshed out analysis of previously unseen genomic samples collected by Chinese scientists at the Huanan market in Wuhan in the early days of the pandemic.

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Fate of 1,000 trafficked lab monkeys at center of US investigation in limbo

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Long-tailed macaques at risk of being killed, or laundered or re-trafficked if returned to Cambodia, animal welfare groups say

More than a thousand Cambodian monkeys at the center of a US government investigation into wildlife trafficking are at risk of being killed or returned to their country of origin, laundered and re-trafficked, animal welfare groups say.

The monkeys’ plight first came to light last year when the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) asked the animal rights organization Peta about finding a sanctuary for 360 monkeys. Born Free USA, and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) later joined the discussions and the number of monkeys increased to over 1,000 as talks progressed.

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Caffeine may reduce body fat and risk of type 2 diabetes, study suggests

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Findings could lead to use of calorie-free caffeinated drinks to cut obesity and type 2 diabetes – but more research needed

Having high levels of caffeine in your blood may lower the amount of body fat you carry and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, research suggests.

The findings could lead to calorie-free caffeinated drinks being used to reduce obesity and type 2 diabetes, though further research is required, the researchers wrote in the BMJ Medicine journal.

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AI could help NHS surgeons perform 300 more transplants every year, say UK surgeons

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Researchers have secured £1m to refine method of scoring potential organs by comparing images

Artificial intelligence could help NHS surgeons perform 300 more transplant operations every year, according to British researchers who have designed a new tool to boost the quality of donor organs.

Currently, medical staff must rely on their own assessments of whether an organ may be suitable for transplanting into a patient. It means some organs are picked that ultimately do not prove successful, while others that might be useful can be disregarded.

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Scientist convicted of editing babies’ genes has Hong Kong visa revoked over ‘false statement’

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Local media report inquiry launched over application by Chinese scientist He Jiankui, whose work sparked ethics storm

Hong Kong has reportedly revoked a visa for the controversial gene therapy scientist He Jiankui less than a day after it was revealed he’d been granted one, despite having a criminal record in China for illegal medical practices.

Hong Kong immigration officials said his visa was rescinded and a criminal investigation launched into allegations He had lied on his application form, the South China Morning Post reported.

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‘Crazy interesting’ findings by Australian researchers may reveal key to Covid immunity

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University of Sydney scientists have found a receptor protein which ‘acts a bit like molecular velcro, in that it sticks to the spike of the virus’

Australian researchers have found a protein in the lungs that sticks to the Covid-19 virus like velcro and immobilises it, which may explain why some people never become sick with the virus while others suffer serious illness.

The research was led by Greg Neely, a professor of functional genomics with the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre in collaboration with Dr Lipin Loo, a postdoctoral researcher and Matthew Waller, a PhD student. Their findings were published in the journal PLOS Biology on Friday.

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Scientist who edited babies’ genes says he acted ‘too quickly’

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Exclusive: He Jiankui stops short of apologising for procedure that shocked the world of science in 2018

The scientist at the heart of the scandal involving the world’s first gene-edited babies has said he moved “too quickly” by pressing ahead with the procedure.

He Jiankui sent shock waves across the world of science when he announced in 2018 that he had edited the genes of twin girls, Lulu and Nana, before birth. He was subsequently sacked by his university in Shenzhen, received a three-year prison sentence, and was broadly condemned for having gone ahead with the risky, ethically contentious and medically unjustified procedure with inadequate consent from the families involved.

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Blobs of human brain planted in rats offer new treatment hope

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Scientists suggest patient’s own cells could be grown in the lab and used to repair stroke or trauma injuries

Blobs of human brain tissue have been transplanted into the brains of rats in work that could pave the way for new treatments for devastating brain injuries.

The groundbreaking study showed that the “human brain organoids” – sesame seed-sized balls of neurons – were able to integrate into the rat brain, linking up with their blood supplies and communicating with the rat neurons.

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China claims Covid wave is ‘coming to an end’ as tourism and factory activity rebound

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Government figures, which cannot be verified, showed big rises in travel and hospitality activity during lunar new year compared to the same time last year

China’s wave of Covid is “coming to an end”, health officials have claimed, saying there had been no sign of a new surge from the lunar new year holiday period, despite a big increase in travel compared to last year.

Government figures released on Tuesday showed big rises in tourism and hospitality activity compared to the same time last year. Factory activity has also rebounded for the first time in four months, an early sign of economic return after the country reported its slowest growth in about half a century during strict Covid controls.

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Three or more concussions add up to long-term cognitive problems, study suggests

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Multiple concussions in a lifetime were shown to affect the ability to plan and pay attention, though research also underlined health benefits of playing sport

Experiencing multiple concussions may be linked to worse brain function in later life, suggests a study of nearly 16,000 people.

Among 15,764 people aged 50 to 90, those who reported three or more concussions had worse complex planning and attention scores on a range of cognitive tests.

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Plant toxin hailed as ‘new weapon’ in antibiotic war against bacteria

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Scientists say albicidin has allowed them to take a giant step forward to creating a powerful new range of antibacterial drugs

Scientists have discovered a plant toxin whose unique method of dispatching bacteria could be used to create a powerful new range of antibiotics. The prospect of developing new antibacterial drugs this way has been hailed by doctors, who have been warning for many years that the steady rise of multidrug-resistant pathogens such as E coli now presents a dangerous threat to healthcare across the planet.

The new antibiotic – albicidin – attacks bacteria in a completely different way to existing drugs, a group of British, German and Polish scientists have revealed in a paper recently published in the journal Nature Catalysis. This suggests a new route could be exploited to tackle bacterial disease, they say.

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Will Covid reinfections pose increased health risks? Experts aren’t sure

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A study found that repeat infections increases the possibility of hospitalization or death, but some experts refute those findings

A recent study states that Covid-19 reinfections could pose additional risks to people’s long-term health – as compared to only getting Covid once – however some infectious disease experts in the US disagree that there is evidence showing repeat infections are more dangerous.

The issue of the impact of repeated infections is becoming a crucial one in the United States as the Covid-19 pandemic is now tailing off amid a widespread relaxation of any social distancing or restrictions, which has seen many people catch the virus two or more times.

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MPs urge asbestos company to pay £10m to fund cancer research

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All-party group including peers backs campaign by victims’ group, saying Cape ‘knowingly put people in danger’

MPs and peers have written to one of the biggest manufacturers of asbestos, calling on it to make a £10m donation towards mesothelioma research “for knowingly putting people in danger”.

In a letter to Altrad, parent company of Cape, the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on occupational safety and health says that documents released after a long-running court battle show that Cape historically “provided misleading reassurance about the dangers of asbestos”.

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England’s PCR Covid testing network drops one of three labs as demand falls

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Rosalind Franklin laboratory in Leamington Spa no longer to be part of laboratory network processing Covid tests

England’s PCR testing network for Covid is to be scaled back due to a fall in demand, public health officials have said.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that the Rosalind Franklin laboratory in Leamington Spa – which at its peak was processing about 75,000 Covid PCR tests a day – will cease to operate as part of the processing network.

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Researchers warn of potentially fatal condition for open-water swimmers

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Swimming-induced pulmonary oedema involves the accumulation of fluid in the lungs of swimmers without it having been inhaled

A potentially life-threatening condition that can affect fit and healthy open-water swimmers causing them to “drown from the inside” may involve a buildup of fluid in the heart muscle, researchers have suggested.

Swimming-induced pulmonary oedema – SIPE – is a form of immersion pulmonary oedema and involves the accumulation of fluid in the lungs of swimmers without it having been inhaled. The condition is thought to be a result of increased pressure on the body’s blood vessels as a result of exertion, immersion and cold.

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John Howard overrode George Pell’s objections to allow research using surplus IVF embryos

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Cabinet papers 2002: PM lifted ban despite opposition of conservatives and religious leaders, including then Archbishop Pell

John Howard’s decision to allow stem cell research using surplus IVF embryos might surprise people “who saw Howard as only a rightwing person”, the former senator and cabinet minister Amanda Vanstone has said.

Despite opposition from conservative and religious groups, and despite seeking advice from the then Catholic archbishop of Sydney, George Pell, the former Liberal prime minister lifted the national ban in 2002.

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China rushes to boost intensive care beds, doctors and stocks of medicine as Covid surges

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State media reports on increased efforts to boost health infrastructure, staffing and supplies

Chinese authorities are rushing to boost the number of intensive care beds and health workers and increase medication supplies as Covid-19 surges through the country.

Since the abrupt dismantling of the stringent zero-Covid regime, cases have skyrocketed in China. A full picture of the impact is difficult to gauge. Authorities have conceded it is “impossible” for the testing system to keep track, and the narrow parameters for attributing deaths to the virus mean the official count – fewer than 10 this week – is at odds with widespread anecdotal reports of fatalities and high traffic at funeral homes.

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