BioMedWire Stocks Archives - Page 17 of 74

TuesdayNov 12, 2024 10:00 am

Data Captured by Period-Tracking Apps isn’t Protected by HIPAA

Last week, Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States. Soon after, a post on X warning that personal data shared on pregnancy and menstrual cycle tracking applications could be used against individuals who sought abortions in the country went viral. The post, which had more than 10 million views, advised that users immediately stop using the applications and delete them. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, similar warnings were shared online. These warnings also raise questions on whether private health data from period-tracking applications is covered under the Health Insurance Portability…

FridayNov 08, 2024 10:00 am

New Graphene Chip Could Revolutionize Brain Cancer Treatment

Researchers have developed a chip that may revolutionize how brain cancer is treated. This revolutionary device is made of graphene, a material made of pure carbon that’s over a hundred times stronger than steel. Graphene is extracted from graphite and was invented two decades ago by Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim. Novoselov and Geim, both Manchester University researchers, won the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics for their work. The flexible chip is the size of a postage stamp and has been dubbed the brain-computer interface device. It was designed to identify cancer cells based on their electrical emissions, which differ…

ThursdayNov 07, 2024 10:00 am

European Commission Imposes Hefty Fine on Firm for Blocking Rival MS Drug Developer

Last week, the European Commission announced that it had imposed a half-a-billion dollar fine on Teva, a multinational pharmaceutical firm based in Israel. The company, which specializes in generic drugs, is said to have artificially extended patent protection for its multiple sclerosis drug known as Copaxone. The drug has glatiramer acetate as its active ingredient. In a statement, the commission argued that the company’s actions may have hindered considerable savings by nations across Europe given that other versions of the medication may be cheaper than Copaxone. In total, Teva is expected to pay a 462.6 million euro fine. This is…

TuesdayNov 05, 2024 10:00 am

Changes Coming to Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D Next Year

Medicare is focused on helping older individuals, particularly those aged 65 and above, to access health care services at affordable costs. Keeping up to date with the insurance plan’s elements makes it easier to familiarize oneself with the changes happening annually and gauge whether they still align with one’s needs. Below, we examine some of the changes coming to both Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage in 2025. New payment option for Medicare Part D As from January 2025, seniors using this health insurance plan will be afforded the option to sign up for a drug payment plan. Instead of…

FridayNov 01, 2024 10:00 am

Study Explores How Antimicrobials Impact the Risk of Developing Parkinson’s Disease

A new study has investigated how exposure to antimicrobials influences the risk of Parkinson's disease development. Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that affects an individual’s movement, causing stiffness, tremors as well as issues with coordination and balance. The condition’s symptoms worsen as it progresses. In advanced stages, patients may find it hard to talk and walk. Parkinson’s has no cure and affects more than 8.5 million individuals globally. Projections expect that by 2040, more than 12 million individuals will be living with the disorder. Genetic and environmental factors are said to contribute to the condition’s etiology, with researchers theorizing…

ThursdayOct 31, 2024 10:00 am

New Toolkit Launched to Boost Marburg Screening Readiness in the US

Thus far, Rwanda has confirmed the presence of 64 cases of Marburg virus disease, a type of viral hemorrhagic fever. This virus is transmitted to humans from fruit bats and spreads from one individual to another through human-to-human transmission. According to the WHO, common symptoms of the virus include muscle aches and pains, abdominal pain and cramping, severe watery diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, and a non-itchy rash. The disease has a case fatality ratio of up to 88%, with an average fatality rate of about 50%. Experts note that early symptomatic treatment and supportive care with rehydration improves survival. While…

MondayOct 28, 2024 10:30 pm

Brain Organoids Uncover Autism Biology, Possible Treatments

Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute have uncovered new information about autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD is a developmental and neurological disorder that affects how an individual interacts with others, behaves, learns and communicates. The disorder’s causes are only partly known, with scientists linking a number of genetic variants to it. For their study, the researchers used stem cells generated from patients with a severe and rare form of the developmental disorder. They focused on MEF2C haploinsufficiency syndrome (MHS), which develops following a genetic variation in the MEF2 gene. They grew the stem cells into mini-brain organoids, which allowed the…

FridayOct 25, 2024 10:00 am

Tech Giants Unveil AI Tools to Support e-Commerce, Healthcare and Video Production

In the last fortnight, leading technology companies have unveiled a number of artificial intelligence tools which could have a huge impact on the e-commerce, healthcare and video production fields. Adobe released its Firefly Video production tool. The model allows corporate users to reduce the costs associated with video production and also streamline the entire process. With the AI tools from Adobe, users can provide text prompts in any of at least 100 supported languages and have custom videos generated. Experts clarify that the efficiency-boosting attributes of these video creation tools shouldn’t be seen as a replacement for humans. Instead, the…

ThursdayOct 24, 2024 10:00 am

Change Healthcare Cyberattack Toll Could Reach Almost $3 Billion This Year

Andrew Witty, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group, gave his testimony on the ransomware attack on Change Healthcare to the Senate Finance Committee in June. The attack occurred in February of this year, with the initial point of entry for the ransomware being a server whose multifactor authentication hadn’t been enabled. This is despite the fact that multifactor authentication is a standard practice for servers exposed to the public internet. After gaining access to the server, the ransomware then acquired access to the Microsoft Active Directory Server. This ransomware attack was a wake-up call to others in the healthcare industry, prompting…

FridayOct 18, 2024 10:00 am

Toxic Protein Could Be Behind the Development of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

New research has found that a toxic protein may affect the skeletal muscle tissues, spinal cord, and brain, aiding the development and progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS in short, is an illness that affects an individual’s nervous system, causing nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain to degenerate. As it progresses, this motor neuron illness leads to muscle weakness and atrophy. The research was carried out by a team of scientists from Penn State College of Medicine. It was based on prior studies which implicated mutations of the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) protein in…