Category: Health

A Montana addiction clinic’s plan to give people with substance use disorders as much as $1,966.50 in gift cards and vouchers to follow its treatment program is raising questions about the use of financial incentives with patients. The tug of war over the effective but largely unregulated tool is playing out in the northwestern Montana […]

Noam N. Levey “I don’t buy a lot of food. Just plain and simple.”  Monica Reed Monica Reed, 60, Knoxville, Tenn.  Approximate Medical Debt: $10,000  Medical Issue: Cancer  What Happened: Monica Reed considers herself luckier than most. Born in Knoxville and raised by a single mother, Reed became the first in her family to own […]

Abstract Geographic distance is a critical barrier to healthcare access, particularly for rural communities with poor transportation infrastructure who rely on non-motorized transportation. There is broad consensus on the importance of community health workers (CHWs) to reduce the effects of geographic isolation on healthcare access. Due to a lack of fine-scale spatial data and individual […]

In this exclusive interview with Horizon Magazine, Prof Rebecca Fitzgerald – Professor of Cancer Prevention at the University of Cambridge and co-chair of the SAPEA working group supporting the EU’s Scientific Advice Mechanism discusses the evidence for and benefits of better cancer screening. Q. Why was there a need to review cancer screening in Europe?A. […]

Mind-bending drugs and psychedelics are generally stigmatised and illegal in EU member states, due to concerns about their possible harmful effects. However, in other parts of the world, some psychedelic compounds are exalted for their healing properties and have been consumed in spiritual and cultural ceremonies for millennia. Now scientists in Europe and the USA […]

Drug discovery is slow, expensive and often ends in failure, so no wonder scientists are exploring new ways to medicate disease. One source of hope lies in ‘drug repurposing’, where new uses are found for established medicines. For example, the humble dexamethasone proved a lifesaver during the Covid-19 pandemic, significantly reducing mortality in critical patients […]

Salamanders are remarkable creatures. If one of these amphibians loses a finger, it grows back. Furthermore, if you chop away a piece of heart or spinal cord, it will regenerate. Perhaps most impressively, they can even regrow a leg bitten off by a hungry predator. One of the most famous salamander species is the axolotl […]

While most Europeans enjoy a holiday in the sun, high energy ultraviolet (UV) light from sunshine damages the DNA in our skin. The best-known adverse effect of excessive UV exposure is erythema (sunburn), but excessive UV is also the main culprit in some skin cancers. As UV damage builds up, the skin cells stop functioning […]

At a hotel in the Scottish city of Aberdeen about 20 years ago, urologist James N’Dow and other doctors met a group of men who had suffered prostate cancer to ask for feedback on their care before and after surgery. The clinicians were stunned by the critical, albeit constructive, responses. ‘Frankly, they felt abandoned,’ said […]

Few human injuries are as catastrophic as those to the spine. An accident, disease or act of violence affecting the spine can result in poor function – even paralysis – almost anywhere in the body.  The spinal column is enormously complex, with limited capacity for regeneration and any health implications are usually long-term and chronic. […]