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One more city in Philippines declares pertussis outbreak
MANILA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The government of Iloilo, a city in central Philippines, on Monday declared an outbreak of pertussis after it confirmed seven out of 15 reported cases, the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said. Iloilo is the third city to declare an outbreak of pertussis, or whopping cough, after Quezon and Pasig, two cities in the capital region, announced last week that they hav.....»»
Scorching Heat
Pedestrians brave the scorching heat in downtown Davao City, as the heat index hit 43 degrees Celsius at 1 p.m. Monday, 25 March 2024, according to the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. The agency advised the public to observe extreme caution as high temperatures could lead to heat exhaustion or heat stroke. MindaNews photo.....»»
Braving the Heat
BRAVING THE HEAT. Workers install a platform in front of the San Pedro Cathedral in Davao City on Monday, 25 March 2024. The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office reported that the city's heat index reached 43 degrees Celsius at 1 p.m. the same day. The platform is in preparation for Easter Sunday's "Salubong" mass. MindaNews photo.....»»
Life in plastic ain’t fantastic for women
In a plastic pollution crisis, women are disproportionately at risk, making it as much a social justice issue as it is an environmental one......»»
One more city in Philippines declares pertussis outbreak
MANILA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The government of Iloilo, a city in central Philippines, on Monday declared an outbreak of pertussis after it confirmed seven out of 15 reported cases, the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said. Iloilo is the third city to declare an outbreak of pertussis, or whopping cough, after Quezon and Pasig, two cities in the capital region, announced last week that they hav.....»»
Supporting health care providers through Lawson Health Research Institute
Improving health outcomes for people at risk of substance-related harms and overdose March 25, 2024 | London, Ontario | Health Canada Canada is facing an unrelenting and tragic toxic illegal drug and overdose crisis. No community has been left untouched. The impacts are seen and felt among our friends, family and neighbours. That's why the Government of Canada is leveraging all the tools a.....»»
Government cuts borrowings to P203 billion in January
The Marcos administration slashed its borrowings by 45 percent to P203 billion at the onset of the new year in the absence of new global bond offerings.......»»
DOH reminds Filipinos: Drive safe this Holy Week
The DOH noted that the risk of road accidents increases with more people traveling. .....»»
Rise of the cancer-causing bugs: Researchers say dental PLAQUE could be behind mystery rise of aggressive colo
A recent surge in aggressive colon and stomach cancers has been linked to the presence of specific bacteria, according to new studies. The bacteria Fusobacterium.....»»
Shares gain anew on rate cut hopes
The stock market advanced for a second consecutive session yesterday, buoyed by indications that the vs Federal Reserve will make interest rate cuts later this year......»»
TikTok facing ban in America; penalized $384 million in Europe
The US House of Reps has passed a bill to ban TikTok unless it cuts ties to Communist China. Chinese parent ByteDance must sell TikTok to another nationality in six months or be shut down......»»
Duterte: Marcos Jr. an addict? It’s just antibiotics, aspirin
Former president Rodrigo Duterte has retracted his previous declaration that President Marcos is a drug addict......»»
US Lawmakers Should Protect Vaccination Mandates, Sex Ed in Schools
Cervical cancer should be almost nonexistent, as it's one of the most treatable and preventable cancers. However, women in the United States are still dying at alarming rates.In 2009, the US Congress established January as Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. This month serves as a public health campaign to educate people who have a cervix about how to take care of it. This includes noticing signs of cervical cancer.....»»
Cebu Pink Paddlers make waves in US dragon boat scene
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The breast cancer survivors-turned dragon boat racers from the Cebu Pink Paddlers continue to make their presence felt in the United States after bagging a gold medal in the 2023 Nevada International Dragon Boat Festival in Henderson, Nevada, United States on Saturday, October 14, 2023. The Cebu Pink Paddlers ruled the 200-meter breast cancers survivor race category and earned the bronze medal in the 200m women’s championship division. It came less than a week after they also claimed a gold and a silver medal in the Santa Fe Dam Dragon Boat Festival 2023 in Irwindale, California. This time, the Cebu Pink Paddlers topped the 200m breast cancer survivor category with a time of one minute and 2.51 seconds to earn the first place. Warriors on Water came in second with a time of 1:02.63, followed by Dragon Divas of Minnesota at 1:02.85. The fourth and fifth placers were the Pink Phoenix (1:03.56) and the Pink Paddlers (1:06.98) in the 200m breast cancer survivor category. Meanwhile, the Cebu Pink Paddlers finished third in the 200m women’s championship division with a time of 57.44 seconds. They were behind silver medalist Tilikum Dragons who clocked in 56.97 seconds, while Catch 22-Tsunami topped the race in 55.97 seconds for the gold medal. One of Cebu Pink Paddlers’ goals of competing in the United States is to inspire more women, especially breast cancer survivors, that there is so much to life after battling the dreaded disease. They showcase this by competing not just in an average dragon boat race, but in an elite level. RELATED STORIES Cebu Pink Paddlers Dragon Boat team to compete in US next month Cebu Pink Paddlers bag silver in Malaysia competition Cebu Pink Paddlers hold photo exhibit to raise breast cancer awareness.....»»
FDA Grants First Marketing Authorization for DNA Test to Assess Predisposition for Multiple Cancer Types
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently authorized the marketing of a new in vitro diagnostic test called the Invitae Common Hereditary Cancers.....»»
Narcolepsy, cancer tipped as Medicine Prize opens Nobel week
Narcolepsy, cancer, or mRNA vaccine research could win the Nobel Medicine Prize on Monday when a week of announcements kicks off, but experts see no clear frontrunner for the Peace Prize. The awards, first handed out in 1901, were created by Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel in his 1895 will to celebrate those who have "conferred the greatest benefit on mankind." The Medicine Prize is first out and will be announced in Stockholm on Monday around 11:30 a.m. (0930 GMT), followed by the awards for physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday, and literature on Thursday. The Peace Prize, the most highly-anticipated Nobel and the only one announced in Oslo, will follow on Friday, before the Economics Prize rounds things off on October 9. The Medicine Prize has over the years crowned groundbreaking discoveries like the X-ray, penicillin, insulin, and DNA -- as well as now-disgraced awards for lobotomy and the insecticide DDT. Several Nobel watchers have suggested this year's prize could go to research into narcolepsy and the discovery of orexin, a neuropeptide that helps regulate sleep. It could also go to Hungarian-born Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman of the United States for research that led directly to the first mRNA vaccines to fight COVID-19, made by Pfizer and Moderna. Their discovery has already won a slew of major medicine prizes, but the Nobel committee nowadays often waits decades to bestow its laurels to ensure the research stands the test of time. "Maybe the Academy thinks it needs to look into it more, but someday they should win," predicted Annika Ostman, science reporter at Swedish public radio SR. Gene engineering and IceCube telescope But Ostman said her guess for this year was on Kevan Shokat, an American biologist who figured out how to block the KRAS cancer gene behind a third of cancers, including challenging-to-treat lung, colon, and pancreatic tumors. T-cell therapy for cancer treatment and work on the human microbiome could also be contenders, said David Pendlebury, head of the Clarivate Analytics group which identifies Nobel-worthy research. "There are more people deserving of a Nobel Prize than there are Nobels to go around," he told AFP. Lars Brostrom, Ostman's colleague at SR, singled out two American biologists, Stanislas Leibler, and Michael Elowitz, for their work on synthetic gene circuits which established the field of synthetic biology. It enables scientists to redesign organisms by engineering them to have new abilities. But Brostrom noted the field could be seen as controversial, raising "ethical questions about where to draw the line in creating life". For the Physics Prize, twisted graphene or the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica were seen as possible winners, as well as the development of high-density data storage in the field of spintronics. Peace Prize to Iranian women? For Wednesday's Chemistry Prize, Pendlebury suggested next-generation DNA sequencing could get the nod, or research into how to target and deliver drugs to genes. Brostrom said he would love to see it go to US-based chemist Omar Yaghi for his work into porous materials known as MOFs, which can absorb poisonous gases or harvest water from desert air, and is an "important field for the future" with enormous potential for the environment. Criticism over a lack of gender and geographical diversity has plagued the Nobels over the years. US-based men have dominated the science fields, while women account for just six percent of overall laureates -- something the various award committees insist they are addressing. Among the names making the rounds for Thursday's Literature Prize are Russian author and outspoken Putin critic Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Chinese avant-garde writer Can Xue, British author Salman Rushdie, Caribbean-American writer Jamaica Kincaid and Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse. But for the Peace Prize, experts have been scratching their heads over possible winners, as conflicts rage around the globe. Some have pointed to the Iranian women protesting since the death in custody a year ago of Mahsa Amini, arrested for violating Iran's strict dress code imposed on women. Others suggest organizations documenting war crimes in Ukraine, or the International Criminal Court, which could one day be called upon to judge them. "I think that climate change is a really good focus for the Peace Prize this year," Dan Smith, the head of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, told AFP after a year of extreme weather around the world. For the Economics Prize, research on income and wealth inequality could be honored. Recent winners of the Nobel Medicine Prize Here is a list of the winners of the Nobel Medicine Prize in the past 10 years: 2022: Swedish paleogeneticist Svante Paabo for his discoveries on the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution. 2021: US duo David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for discoveries on human receptors responsible for our ability to sense temperature and touch. 2020: Americans Harvey Alter and Charles Rice, together with Briton Michael Houghton, for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus, leading to the development of sensitive blood tests and antiviral drugs. 2019: William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza of the US and Britain's Peter Ratcliffe for establishing the basis of our understanding of how cells react and adapt to different oxygen levels. 2018: Immunologists James Allison of the US and Tasuku Honjo of Japan, for figuring out how to release the immune system's brakes to allow it to attack cancer cells more efficiently. 2017: US geneticists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael Young for their discoveries on the internal biological clock that governs the wake-sleep cycles of most living things. 2016: Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan for his work on autophagy -- a process whereby cells "eat themselves" -- which when disrupted can cause Parkinson's and diabetes. 2015: William Campbell, an Irish-US citizen, Satoshi Omura of Japan, and Tu Youyou of China for unlocking treatments for malaria and roundworm. 2014: American-born Briton John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser, and Edvard I. Moser of Norway for discovering how the brain navigates with an "inner GPS". 2013: Thomas C. Sudhof, a US citizen born in Germany, and James E. Rothman and Randy W. Schekman of the US for work on how the cell organizes its transport system. The post Narcolepsy, cancer tipped as Medicine Prize opens Nobel week appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Cervical, breast cancer awareness stressed
Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna called on all women residents of the city to be aware of the illnesses common to women as she pushed for the early detection of cervical and breast cancer. Lacuna aired the message as she was joined by Manila Health Department chief Dr. Arnold “Poks” Pangan, Vice Mayor Yul Servo, Department of Public Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire and Philippine Cancer Society Inc. program director Romeo Marcaida during the Intensified Cervical Cancer Screening for Manila City Hall employees held at the City Hall’s Freedom Triangle yesterday. In the said event, Lacuna described as “alarming” the fact that breast and cervical cancer are among the top killers in the country nowadays. She said that public hospitals have the capability to detect cancer at an early stage but lamentably, it is usually too late for many when the said illness is detected. As she also encouraged all female employees to have themselves tested, the mayor expressed concern over the increase in cases of cervical cancer, which is considered a “silent killer,” which manifests in its late stage already. The lady mayor urged all women in Manila to have themselves checked as she also called on parents to have their children aged nine to 14 vaccinated against human papillomavirus, the virus that causes most cervical cancers as well as some cancers of the anus, vulva, vagina and oropharynx or the back of throat including base of tongue and tonsils. She urged women aged 30 to 49 to have themselves screened for breast and cervical cancer where any abnormality may be detected at once. The post Cervical, breast cancer awareness stressed appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
With eye on 2024, Biden takes shot at high US drug prices
US President Joe Biden, who is campaigning for reelection with a heavy focus on easing voters' financial woes, on Tuesday launched a bid to lower the cost of certain prescription drugs -- a move Big Pharma pledged to continue battling in court. "Millions of Americans are forced to choose between paying for medications they need to live or paying for food, rent, and other basic necessities. Those days are ending," the Democratic president pledged in a statement. Later, in a White House speech, Biden said pharmaceutical giants were "hoping the courts will do what Democrats in Congress wouldn't do: protect their exorbitant profits and keep negotiations from happening." Using new powers under last year's Inflation Reduction Act, a major legislative package of energy transition policy and social reforms, the US government has chosen 10 drugs for which Medicare, the health insurance scheme for people over 65, will be able to negotiate the price. Medicare has previously not been able to negotiate drug prices, which has resulted in US drug costs being higher than "any other major economy in the world," Biden said. The United States pays on average 2.5 times more for prescription drugs than countries such as France, according to a study by the Rand Corporation. According to the US government, senior citizens last year had to spend a total of $3.4 billion out of their own pockets to buy the 10 drugs targeted in the list, which include treatments for blood clots, diabetes, heart problems, psoriasis, and blood cancers. White House officials would not specify how much cost-cutting they were expecting to see from the negotiations, but Biden cited the government's ability to get drug prices for veterans that were "50 percent less than Medicare." Under the IRA, the federal government can continue to add more drugs each year to its negotiating list. The pharmaceutical industry has opposed Medicare price negotiations for decades, and several companies have already announced lawsuits against the action. One of the treatments on the initial list, the anticoagulant Eliquis (apixaban), is used by more than 3.7 million Medicare beneficiaries. The laboratory that manufactures it, Bristol Myers Squibb, says that Medicare beneficiaries who are prescribed this drug "are currently able to get it with relatively low out-of-pocket costs at an average of $55 per month," and claims that Biden's initiative puts that "at risk." The Johnson & Johnson group, which produces two of the drugs on the list, said that the reform would "constrain medical innovation, limit patient access and choice, and negatively impact the overall quality of care." 2024 in view With the change in prices not set to take place until January 2026, the immediate political benefit for Biden is uncertain. The 80-year-old president, whose reelection bid has struggled to find much enthusiasm, is counting on announcements like the one made Tuesday, as well as a measure to freeze the price of insulin at $35 a month for many Americans, to bolster his campaign. Biden often touts his relentless optimism, and on Tuesday again criticized talk by Republican White House candidates -- especially former president Donald Trump -- of US "decline." "Better days are coming," he promised. The post With eye on 2024, Biden takes shot at high US drug prices appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
AI could halve time reading breast cancer scans, study suggests
Artificial intelligence could help almost halve the workload of radiologists when it comes to searching routine scans for signs of breast cancer, a large Swedish study suggested on Wednesday. The interim results of the trial were hailed as promising, but the authors cautioned that more research was needed before AI can be used to screen for breast cancer on a wider scale. While increasingly convincing chatbots such as ChatGPT have driven speculation about the future potential applications of AI, one area in which the technology has already shown proficiency is in reading medical scans. With many countries suffering from a shortage of radiologists, there are hopes that AI could make the time-consuming job of analyzing routine scans quicker and more accurate. This could have a particularly large impact for breast cancer. More than 2.3 million women were diagnosed with the cancer in 2020 alone, according to the World Health Organization, and it caused 685,000 deaths. Regular screening is vital to identifying early signs of cancer. In Europe, women aged 50 to 69 are advised to get a mammogram every two years, with the resulting scan analyzed by two radiologists. The study in Sweden involved the scans of 80,000 women who had mammograms at four sites in southwest Sweden between April 2021 and July last year. 'Considerable importance' Their scans were randomly divided for analysis to either an AI-supported system or two human radiologists, who served as the control group. The AI algorithm read the scans and predicted the risk of cancer out of 10. Its predictions were then checked by a radiologist. The AI-supported system spotted 20 percent more cancers, the study said, which worked out to be an additional case for every thousand women screened. When it came to false positives -- when a mammogram is first thought to look suspicious but is later cleared -- both the AI-supported system and the two humans spotted the same rate: 1.5 percent. And the workload for radiologists was reduced by 44 percent for the AI group, because only one person was required to read the scans rather than the normal two. "The greatest potential of AI right now is that it could allow radiologists to be less burdened by the excessive amount of reading," said Kristina Lang, a radiologist at Sweden's Lund University and lead author of the study. But Lang said the "promising interim safety results" were "not enough on their own to confirm that AI is ready to be implemented in mammography screening," she said in a statement. It will take two more years before the trial can say whether using AI leads to a reduction in what are called interval cancers, which are detected between routine screenings, the researchers cautioned. Stephen Duffy, a professor of cancer screening at Queen Mary University of London who was not involved in the study, pointed out that the AI algorithm may have over-diagnosed certain forms of early breast cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ. Nonetheless, he praised the "high-quality study", saying that reducing the burden on radiologists' time was "an issue of considerable importance in many breast screening programmes". The post AI could halve time reading breast cancer scans, study suggests appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
When a growing chest isn’t muscle
Many men do exercises and lift weights to increase the strength and definition of their chest muscles. Enlargement in the area, however, can also be due to enlargement of the breast tissue, a condition called gynecomastia. Most men do not report any symptoms, but sometimes the enlargement can be accompanied by tenderness in the area and sensitivity when rubbing against clothing. [caption id="attachment_160533" align="aligncenter" width="619"] CONSULT your physician to get correct diagnosis.| Photograph courtesy of unsplash/alora griffith[/caption] Most breast lumps in men are usually benign enlargements. This can happen in just one or both breasts, and examination by a physician usually reveals a rubbery, movable lump can be felt just under the nipple area, measuring at least 0.5 cm up to 2.0 cm in diameter. If this lump is not felt on examination, the breast may be made up of mostly fatty tissue (also called pseudogynecomastia or lipomastia, which is due to an increase in breast fat and not breast glandular tissue). If physical examination cannot clearly identify between gynecomastia and pseudogynecomastia, then a breast ultrasound or mammography should be done. While breast cancer occurs primarily in women, it can also occur in men. Male breast cancer makes up less than one percent of all cases of breast cancer, and is usually detected in men between 60 and 70 years of age. Male breast cancers are one-sided, non-tender, firm-to-hard in texture and not movable under the skin. These are also often found off to the side and not under the nipple. There can also be some dimpling in the skin like an orange peel. Certain hormones produce the usual traits seen in males (testosterone) and females (estrogen), but males also produce a small amount of estrogen while females produce a small amount of testosterone. Gynecomastia can occur when men have estrogen levels that are high or out of balance with testosterone levels. Gynecomastia can occur due to natural hormone changes at different times in a male’s life: Infancy. More than half of newborn boys have enlarged breasts because of the estrogen they received from their mothers while developing in the womb. The gynecomastia goes away at two to three weeks after birth. Puberty. Changing hormone levels can cause breast enlargement, but this usually goes away six months to two years after the start of puberty (usually from 12-14 years old). Mid-life and beyond. Men produce less testosterone as they get older. Older men also tend to have more body fat, causing an increase in estrogen. About one in four men between the ages of 50 and 80 have breast enlargement and usually have no symptoms. Men should see a doctor if you have: Breast tissue that is growing very fast A lump bigger than two to three inches under the nipple or a very hard lump that is off to the side of the nipple Pain and tenderness Nipple discharge in one or both breasts A lump on one of your testicles There are some other medical conditions can cause gynecomastia: Obesity Lack of proper nutrition Tumors in the testicles or adrenal glands Liver disease Thyroid disease Lack of testosterone Kidney failure Certain drugs and substances can also cause gynecomastia, including: Steroids Estrogens Treatments for an enlarged prostate or prostate cancer Diuretics (spironolactone) Medications used for heartburn (metoclopramide) Anti-fungal medications Herbal treatments that contain tea tree oil and lavender Excessive alcohol intake Prohibited substances such as amphetamines and marijuana In most cases of gynecomastia, treatment is often not needed. If there is an underlying condition, gynecomastia often goes away after treatment or once any offending medications are stopped. A medication called tamoxifen or anastrazole can also be used for a short while. If the breast enlargement persists despite these, surgery to reduce the size of the breasts can be done. If you suspect you have gynecomastia, consult your physician to get the correct diagnosis and to find the right treatment. The risk for gynecomastia may also be reduced by not using drugs that include anabolic steroids, amphetamines and marijuana, and by avoiding alcohol or drinking in moderation. The post When a growing chest isn’t muscle appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»