Big Pharma

How epidemiology has shaped the COVID pandemic Nature’s third progress report, coming at the end of the pandemic’s first year, highlights key findings from epidemiology — from sounding the early alarm to following the impact of new variants. Measures such as mask-wearing have been used around the world to try to stop the spread of coronavirus.Credit: Chine Nouvelle/SIPA/Shutterstock Epidemiology is essential to the fight against any disease. The study of how diseases spread, and why, has loomed large in the struggle to understand, contain and respond to COVID-19. Analyses of data on infections and deaths, and projections from studies that...

New neural network enables easy screening of sleep apnoea in patients with cerebrovascular disease A new neural network developed by researchers at the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital enables an easy and accurate assessment of sleep apnoea severity in patients with cerebrovascular disease. The assessment is automated and based on a simple nocturnal pulse oximetry, making it possible to easily screen for sleep apnoea in stroke units. Up to 90% of patients experiencing a stroke have sleep apnoea, according to earlier studies conducted at Kuopio University Hospital. If left untreated, sleep apnoea can reduce the quality of...

Naltrexone use decreases the risk of hospitalization in persons with alcohol use disorder Naltrexone, used either alone or together with disulfiram or acamprosate, is associated with a decreased risk of hospitalization due to alcohol use disorder (AUD) when compared with non-use of AUD drugs, a new register-based study shows. The same associations were noticed for hospitalization due to any cause. Disulfiram use and polytherapy with two or more drugs indicated for AUD was associated with a decreased risk of hospitalization due to alcohol-related somatic causes. None of the studied medications were associated with mortality or work disability (sickness absence or...

Temperature scanners of limited value in detecting Covid-19 Making people stand in front of a scanner to have their body temperature read can result in a large number of false negatives, allowing people with Covid-19 to pass through airports and hospitals undetected. Leading experts in physiology have suggested instead that taking temperature readings of a person’s fingertip and eye would give a significantly better and more reliable reading and help identify those with fever. The study, co-led by a human physiologist and an expert in temperature regulation, Professor Mike Tipton, is published in Experimental Physiology. Professor Tipton, of the University...

New data on Probi Defendum confirms probiotics supporting the immune system In one of the largest immune studies, Probi Defendum® confirms beneficial effect in supporting the immune system in fighting viral common colds. While many people are trying to reduce their exposure towards bacteria and viruses these days, it is important to stress that many microbes are essential for good health – and some of these are probiotics with proven health effects. Recently additional clinical validation has been published on Probi Defendum, this time in one of the largest immune health studies ever performed on probiotics. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled...