BioMedWire Stocks Archives - Page 7 of 68

ThursdayMar 06, 2025 10:00 am

Why it is Important to Ensure the Stability of Medicare Advantage

About 34 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans and these older people as well as people with disabilities depend on these plans to get access to quality healthcare at an affordable cost. MA plans offer additional coverage, such as dental care, preventive screenings, transportation assistance and other such care that is critical for maintaining the health of these seniors. Recently, the CMS approved a 4.33 percent increase in the payment for MA plans with effect from 2026. This increase means approximately $21 billion will be added to the funds available to support MA plans, something that will go…

TuesdayMar 04, 2025 10:00 am

Scientists Say Brain Stimulations Hold Potential in Treating Anxiety in Parkinson’s Sufferers

Researchers studying brain waves have suggested that a new discovery they have made could hold the key to treating anxiety in people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. For a long time, DBS (deep brain stimulation) has been leveraged in the management of the physical symptoms linked to Parkinson’s, such as tremor, slowness and body stiffness. This new research suggests that DBS can take advantage of a specific brain wave and help treat anxiety in those with Parkinson’s disease. Doctor Lucia Ricciardi, who co-led the study and works at University of London, explained that anxiety is a serious unmet medical need among…

FridayFeb 28, 2025 10:00 am

Layoffs, Upheaval at CDC Trigger Fears on Handling Disease Outbreaks

America is facing threats of infectious diseases on multiple fronts; cases of measles are escalating in Texas and the surrounding states, bird flu is spreading across the country, and cases of polio and Ebola abroad pose an added risk to Americans due to international travel. Amid all these threats of infectious diseases, the U.S. CDC is experiencing mass layoffs and a great deal of uncertainty triggered by Trump’s efforts to downsize federal health agencies and reduce government spending. The firings have put a strain on personnel numbers within the CDC and it is getting harder to respond appropriately to any…

ThursdayFeb 27, 2025 10:00 am

Kids with Autism are Less Prone to Severe Injuries Compared to Those with ADHD

New research that appeared in JAMA Network Open discovered that kids with autism have a reduced likelihood of suffering injuries when compared to kids diagnosed with ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). This study provides insights that could help in working out how to manage injuries in these different groups of children. Researchers from Clalit Health Services, Ben-Gurion University, and Loewenstein Rehabilitation Medical Center obtained data on 325,412 kids born from 2005 to 2009 within Israel. They then analyzed this data with a special focus on the rates of injury for kids with autism alone, those with ADHD only, as well as those…

FridayFeb 21, 2025 10:00 am

Europe is Facing a Growing Shortfall of General Practitioners

Data shows that Europe is facing a growing deficit of doctors across all specialties, and the declining number of general practitioners stands out strongly. Current GPs aren’t evenly distributed and the fact that they are aging and leaving active service makes the problem worse. Traditionally, GPs have served as the first point of contact when someone is facing a health challenge. These professionals handle most patients and refer those who need additional care to specialists. This primary healthcare role has earned them the tag ‘family doctor.’ However, countries across Europe are faced with a double whammy; their general populations are…

ThursdayFeb 20, 2025 10:00 am

Scientists Discover ‘Roadmap’ Followed by Aggressive Cancers to Spread

A new study whose findings were published in the Nature Communications journal has shown how tumor cells are changed by the environment around them. Because of these alterations, cancer cells alter their shape, thereby escaping from the tumor and spreading to other parts of the organ or body. The findings of this study have been almost 10 years in the making and they open the door for the development of interventions that could treat cancer prior to its spread. To understand why this study is pivotal, one must understand the structure of a tumor. Tumors are contained within a structure…

FridayFeb 14, 2025 10:00 am

Analysis Uncovers Key Insights About Insurers’ Medical Advantage Prior Authorization Decisions

Nearly all people who enroll for Medical Advantage plans are expected to secure prior authorization when they need certain services, such as skilled nursing facility care, in-patient stays at hospitals and services that cost a lot, such as chemotherapy. A recent analysis revealed critical insights about MA prior authorizations in 2023. We share some of them in the discussion below. 50 million applications were made for prior authorizations The data submitted to CMS shows that insurance firms providing MA coverage made 50 million determinations with regard to prior authorization requests. This number conforms to a pattern of steady growth that…

ThursdayFeb 13, 2025 10:00 am

Ongoing Trial Seeks to Avert Alzheimer’s Decades Before it Strikes

An ongoing clinical trial aims to test a drug that is hoped to avert Alzheimer’s disease decades before it is expected to manifest in an individual. This study is being conducted by a team at the School of Medicine at Washington University. The drug in question, remternetug, was formulated by Eli Lilly and is intended to clear plaque from the brains of young people that have been found to have a genetic predisposition to developing Alzheimer’s disease. The study subjects are young people, some of them 18 years old, expected to develop the disease early (from their 30s onwards). In…

TuesdayFeb 11, 2025 10:00 am

Biomaterial Modification Could Yield Better Cancer Therapies, Study Finds

Altering the physical attributes of tiny biomaterials to enable them to interact more seamlessly with the tissues of the body could result in more effective and safer treatments for cancer. This is according to a team of researchers at Virginia Tech. DaeYong Lee, the head of the team that conducted this research, revealed that making modest changes to biomaterials and nanoparticles used in therapy could one day result in better clinical outcomes for patients. The review focused on an area that has been understudied; the physical attributes, such as particle shape, size and stiffness. These properties play a role in…

FridayFeb 07, 2025 10:00 am

Donald Trump’s Shock at Autism Figures Triggers Discussions on Possible Causes

Writing on Truth Social, President Trump expressed shock at the fact that the current prevalence rate of autism in the U.S. stood at one in thirty-four kids. This is in contrast to the 1 in 1000 kids two decades ago, according to the figures he cited. Why is the prevalence escalating so fast? While it has been suggested that the surge in ASD cases may be due to increased awareness about the condition and improved diagnostics, others point to additional factors that could be causing the uptick in autism cases. Some research posits that increasing chemical contaminants in water and…