Tag - health

 
 

HEALTH

U.K. Members of Parliament will vote on assisted dying for the first time in nine years.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 29, 2024
U.K. Parliament to hold first vote on assisted dying in nine years
Under the legislation put forward, assisted dying would be restricted to adults with a terminal illness who are expected to die within six months.
Brain adaptations during pregnancy may enhance efficiency rather than cause loss of function, similar to transformations seen during adolescence and menopause.
COMMENTARY
Nov 29, 2024
We’re finally starting to understand the pregnant brain
Brain adaptations during pregnancy may enhance efficiency rather than cause loss of function, similar to transformations seen during adolescence and menopause.
The health ministry's free "catch-up vaccination" program for the human papillomavirus will be extended to March 2025 for the initial dose of the vaccine.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 28, 2024
Deadline for ‘catch-up’ HPV vaccination program extended until March
The revised timeline allows eligible women to receive their first dose by the end of March 2025 and complete the remaining two within the following year.
A woman carries firewood she bought at a marketplace in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Oct. 2. Telehealth — the use of technology to provide and access health care services remotely — has been growing around the world but is relatively new in Zimbabwe.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 27, 2024
In Zimbabwe, Starlink’s fast internet gives telehealth a boost
The satellite unit of Elon Musk's SpaceX received the green light in May to operate its internet services in Zimbabwe.
Vegetable intake by Japanese adults has sunk to the lowest level on record, a government survey shows.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 26, 2024
Average vegetable intake among adults in Japan sinks to record low
By age group, the average vegetable intake was lowest among respondents in their 20s. The older the respondents, the more vegetables they consumed.
A pig that is pregnant with piglets suited for cross-species transplants
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 25, 2024
Startup transplants pig kidney into monkey for first time in Japan
It is hoped that the operation will provide insights into the future use of animal kidneys in humans.
Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Nov 25, 2024
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat
The modern sauna experience is more than just taking a seat in some steam — whisking, aufguss shows and spectacle all play a part.
A resident of Kibichuo in Okayama Prefecture takes a blood test in the town on Monday.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2024
PFAS blood tests start in Okayama Prefecture town
About 800 residents are expected to take a blood test under the program, which runs through Dec. 8.
A Japanese research team has developed a method to curb cancer growth by restraining certain T cells and stimulating weakened immune activity.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 22, 2024
Japan team finds new way to curb cancers using immune system
The researchers developed in tests using mice a method to stimulate weakened immune activity by restraining the cells restraining the immune response.
Scientists worry that if H5N1 spreads through commercial pig farms, it could evolve into a form capable of causing a human pandemic.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2024
Bird flu in pigs is one step closer to endangering humans
Flu viruses have historically been transmitted from pigs to people and from people to pigs — either on farms or at agricultural fairs.
A screenshot of a health ministry website that allows people to easily calculate the amount of time it takes for their body to break down the alcohol they have consumed
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 18, 2024
Japan ministry launches website to estimate alcohol breakdown time
The “Alcohol Watch” website allows people to enter the type and amount of drinks they consumed to calculate how long it will take for the alcohol to break down.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer known for his anti-science stances, lacks public health experience and has a history of promoting harmful conspiracy theories, such as anti-vaccine activism.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2024
RFK Jr.’s junk science will put every American at risk
His promotion of bizarre conspiracy theories could turn the government into an “accelerant for misinformation.”
While baldness can often be the butt of jokes in Japan, it can also be a powerfully freeing act of self-acceptance for those struggling with hair loss.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 16, 2024
Thinning up top? Hair loss in Japan is not the end.
Among Asian countries, Japan has the highest rate of alopecia at around 26%, as well as 7.8% of women experiencing some form of hair thinning.
Lecanemab was developed by drugmakers Eisai of Japan and Biogen of the United States.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 15, 2024
European agency switches to recommending new Alzheimer's drug
The committee judged that the efficacy of lecanemab outweighs the risk for some patients.
Shannon Turner, who is often in and out of the hospital due to waterfall effects related to the interplay between long COVID, psoriatic arthritis, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome and autoimmune diseases, sits up on a hospital bed in Philadelphia, in May 2023.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 15, 2024
Many long COVID patients adjust to slim recovery odds as world moves on
Recent scientific studies suggest the longer someone is sick, the lower their chances of making a full recovery.
A Type 2 diabetes patient gives himself an insulin shot. In 2022, there were around 828 million people aged 18 years and older with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes worldwide, a new study found.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 15, 2024
More than 800 million adults have diabetes globally, study suggests
The study in The Lancet found the global prevalence of diabetes has doubled since 1990 to 14% from around 7%.
The anterior cruciate ligament can be damaged when people play sports such as soccer and basketball, and does not heal on its own, requiring reconstructive surgery.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 7, 2024
Clinical trial to use cow tendons for ligament reconstruction
The number of patients who undergo anterior cruciate ligament surgery in Japan is about 19,000 annually, including many professional soccer players and sumo wrestlers.
The National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo's Chuo Ward. A study by researchers at the hospital aims to determine whether restoring a healthy intestinal environment can enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapy drugs used in cancer treatment.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 6, 2024
Japan explores intestinal flora transplants for cancer treatment
A study aims to determine whether restoring a healthy intestinal environment can make drugs used in the treatment of esophageal and stomach cancers more effective.
A McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburger. The fast-food chain has pulled the Quarter Pounder from about one-fifth of its U.S. restaurants.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 25, 2024
Fast-food chains hold the onions after McDonald's E. coli outbreak
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said late on Wednesday that fresh onions were the likely source of the E. coli outbreak.
Displaced Palestinians ordered by the Israeli military to evacuate their neighborhoods in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
WORLD / Society
Oct 22, 2024
War has knocked Gaza back to the 1950s, UNDP says
The war has devastated the Palestinian economy and left nearly all of Gaza's population in poverty, with health and education knocked back 70 years.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji