Tablet Helps Heart Failure Patients Manage their Disease Including Drug Dosages
A novel tablet is helping heart failure patients to manage their disease including drug dosages, according to research presented at EuroHeartCare 2017.(1) Heart failure is a serious condition in which the heart does not pump blood around the body as well as it should. Not enough blood gets to the body, causing fatigue. Blood backs up waiting to enter the heart, leading to fluid accumulation in the legs and abdomen and fluid in the lungs (congestion).
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Predicting Influenza Outbreaks Faster with a Digitally-Empowered Wearable Device
Through integration with a wearable thermometer, the Thermia online health educational tool developed at Boston Children's Hospital has enabled prediction of seasonal influenza outbreaks in China one month earlier than before, according to a new study in the American Journal of Public Health. Although the Boston Children's team has previously demonstrated that social media can be used to track disease, this is the first time that they've shown that outbreaks can be predicted through an integrated wearable device and online tool.
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Investing in Drug Safety Monitoring could Avoid Complications - and Save Medical Costs
Increased investment in "pharmacovigilance surveillance" - systems to proactively monitor safety problems with new medications - has the potential to avoid harmful drug effects while lowering healthcare costs, according to a study in the June issue of Medical Care. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
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Targeted, High-Energy Cancer Treatments Get a Supercomputing Boost
Radiation therapy shoots high-energy particles into the body to destroy or damage cancer cells. Over the last century, the technologies used have constantly improved and it has become a highly effective way to treat cancer. However, physicians must still walk a fine line between delivering enough radiation to kill tumors, while sparing surrounding healthy tissue.
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Compiling Big Data in a Human-Centric Way
When a group of researchers in the Undiagnosed Disease Network at Baylor College of Medicine realized they were spending days combing through databases searching for information regarding gene variants, they decided to do something about it. By creating MARRVEL (Model organism Aggregated Resources for Rare Variant ExpLoration) they are now able to help not only their own lab but also researchers everywhere search databases all at once and in a matter of minutes.
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Using a Smartphone to Screen for Male Infertility
More than 45 million couples worldwide grapple with infertility, but current standard methods for diagnosing male infertility can be expensive, labor-intensive and require testing in a clinical setting. Cultural and social stigma, and lack of access in resource-limited countries, may prevent men from seeking an evaluation. Investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) set out to develop a home-based diagnostic test that could be used to measure semen quality using a smartphone-based device.
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Virtual Support Groups Help Grieving Spouses with Depression
As the U.S. population ages, it's estimated that half of women older than 65 are widows, while one-sixth of men of the same age have lost their spouses. Support groups have proved to be a helpful resource for those dealing with grief, but for older individuals, obstacles such as geographic location and physical immobility can sometimes make it difficult to attend support groups in person.
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