Health & Medicine
Understanding equine assisted interventions: The role of emotional learning
For those suffering from mental health or behavioural issues, there are a range of non-medical, non-talk based therapeutic options available. Perhaps one of the most interesting of these is equine-assisted interventions, which involve the interaction of humans and horses. The mechanisms underpinning how this works are little known and are the research focus of Professor Ann Hemingway and colleagues at […]
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Cannabis: Offering hope of a breakthrough in chronic pain treatment
For thousands of years, cannabis has been used to treat pain. Now, with medicinal cannabis legal in some places, the drug might prove to be a viable alternative to opioid pain killers. Dr Alex Bekker and colleagues at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, USA, is investigating how cannabis could be used to ease the pain associated with opioid addiction […]
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Family-based interventions can help to prevent cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death worldwide, but the number of deaths are disproportionately higher in low- and middle-income countries. Lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol have well-understood links to CVD. Fortunately, risks from these factors can be modified through lifestyle interventions. However, lifestyle interventions at the individual level often fail to produce desirable […]
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Euthanasia: A neuropsychiatric researcher raises concerns
Euthanasia in humans remains illegal in most parts of the world. In a few countries like Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands, however, euthanasia is available to people suffering from terminal conditions. F. Hanna Campbell, a researcher in neuropsychiatric AI therapeutics at the Center for Neuronal Regrowth, The Hague, Netherlands, has raised a number of concerns on current euthanasia practices. Campbell […]
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Helping families nurture children: A paediatric tube feed with food-derived ingredients
The nutritional requirements of a tube-fed child are usually met using a ready-made commercial enteral tube feed. However, increasing numbers of families are making their own blended diet to administer via the tube as this may benefit both physical and psychosocial health. To support parents and dietitians, Nestlé Health Science has developed a paediatric tube feed to include food-derived ingredients. […]
Diabetes treatment: Could carbonates be an alternative?
Diabetes affects millions of adults worldwide and is still a disease without a cure. While injections of insulin can help manage symptoms, there are currently no therapies to treat the underlying cause of diabetes. However, Dr Kenji Sorimachi has found that perhaps the answer lies in the form of carbonate complexes that show an ability to metabolise carbohydrates into glucose […]
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When grow healthy rhymes with grow happy
Happiness is acknowledged as a new goal of global policies. Parents play an important role in a child’s happiness, but what skills are needed to build a happy childhood and a solid foundation for happiness in later life? A complex approach, integrating parenting, social relationships, play, nutrition, physical activity and sleep is required. And ultimately, a happy child has more […]
Meltdown Moments: When the emotions of perinatal mums are out of control
Entry into motherhood can be a testing period in any woman’s life. Sleepless nights and the responsibility for a tiny person are all the more difficult for women living with psychiatric conditions. Associate Professor Anne Sved Williams, an academic psychiatrist at the University of Adelaide, is researching the treatment of mothers affected by mental ill-health and their infants. She has […]
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Off-the-shelf immunotherapy could lead to more accessible cancer treatment
Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that harnesses the immune system to destroy cancerous cells. Dr Li Zhang and colleagues at Toronto General Hospital Research Institute and the University of Toronto, are pioneering a new type of “off-the-shelf” treatment using a type of immune cell—a double negative T (DNT) cell. Dr Zhang‘s work shows that DNT cells are a […]
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How treatment epidemiology can shape future healthcare research
Dr Aisling Caffrey is an Associate Professor of Health Outcomes at the College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island. For over a decade, Dr Caffrey has been studying the treatment of diseases in real-world clinical practice, an area Dr Caffrey has termed ‘treatment epidemiology’. Dr Caffrey’s expertise is in comparative effectiveness and safety research, where she studies the benefits and harms of healthcare interventions, […]
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