United Health Services Hospitals is a health system serving South Central New York and based in Vestal, New York. Its virtual healthcare program began in July 2019 with the launch of the UHS Virtual Walk-In. The Virtual Walk-In was a direct to patient offering for minor acute complaints. Zipnosis was chosen as the technology platform because of its ability to […]

Engineered particles of purified sand could be the next anti-obesity therapy as new research from the University of South Australia shows that porous silica can prevent fats and carbohydrates from being adsorbed in the body. The engineered silica particles are made from purified sand and are optimally designed with a high surface area that enables them to soak up large […]

Simple computer-based neurocognitive training—using positive words and pictures designed to boost self-worth—prolongs the antidepressant effects of ketamine in people with treatment-resistant depression, University of Pittsburgh researchers report today in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Results of a double-blind, randomized clinical trial conducted in Pittsburgh suggest that low-cost, automated behavioral interventions during the window of heightened brain plasticity after a single […]

Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) have emerged as state‐level interventions intended to curb opioid abuse and over‐prescription. While some states have voluntary PDMPs, others have enacted mandatory or “must-access” programs in which authorized individuals must consult the PDMP before prescribing certain controlled substances. An analysis published in Contemporary Economic Policy reveals that must‐access PDMP implementation does not uniformly reduce prescription […]

Tobacco consumption, especially cigarette smoking, is the leading cause of preventable disease mortality in the United States. Research shows that women tend to have a harder time quitting cigarette consumption than men. A recent study suggests that nicotine’s estrogen-inhibiting activity may be the cause. Swedish scientists observed that a dose of nicotine equal to that found in one cigarette lowered […]

Australia is facing a cost-of-living crisis. Rising costs of rent, fuel, food and power have increased financial stress for many households. While financial pressures are now being felt by a broader section of society, for many Australians, such pressures are constant. The health costs of such socioeconomic disadvantage are startling. A 2021 report found the most disadvantaged 20% of Australians […]

COVID infections in England had been falling since July. But the proportion of people testing positive started to rise again in the first few days of September. At its July peak the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that roughly 3.1 million people in England (1 in 17 people) tested positive, but by the first week in September this had […]

The estate of a renowned surgeon is appealing a multimillion-dollar award levied against it and the hospital system he worked for, according to the New York Post and other news outlets. In November 2014, New York Giants running back Michael Cox sustained severe lower-body injuries, including a broken leg and a damaged left ankle, after he was tackled in a […]

Biomonitoring for polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) has long traditions and was continued with the global monitoring plan (GMP) under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. The aim of the GMP is to apply one framework for sampling and analysis of so-called core matrices to detect temporal and spatial changes of POP concentrations. Due to […]

Therapeutically targeting ion channels in nociceptor neurons may be a promising strategy to manage osteoarthritis pain, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in Cell Reports. Paul DeCaen, Ph.D., associate professor of Pharmacology, was senior author of the study. Nociceptor neurons transmit pain signals to the brain using electrical currents generated by voltage-gated sodium channels; when overactive, those channels are […]