health
If you bled when you brushed your teeth this morning, you might want to get that seen to. We may finally have found the long-elusive cause of Alzheimer’s disease: Porphyromonas gingivalis, the key bacteria in chronic gum disease. That’s bad, as gum disease affects around a third of all people. But the good news is that a drug that blocks the main toxins of P. gingivalis is entering major clinical trials this year, and research published today shows it might stop and even reverse Alzheimer’s.
As public health officials tackle opioid addiction and overdoses, another class of prescription drugs has been contributing to a growing number of deaths across the United States. Benzodiazepines, such as Valium and Xanax, are commonly prescribed for anxiety and insomnia.
Americans spend about $1,200 on prescriptions drugs a year, according to the latest figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That's more than people pay in any other developed country in the world. In the past, pharmaceutical companies have attributed high prices to innovation, arguing that new and improved drugs are naturally more expensive. But a new study published in the journal Health Affairs complicates that idea.
You spent 30 minutes browsing Instagram when you could have been exercising? Or playing board games with your family? Or learning a second language? You sad/selfish/lonely monster!) And yet, there exists little clear evidence that we are locked in an unambiguously harmful relationship with our devices--let alone addicted to them in any clinical sense.
The United States Department of Education is betting on virtual reality to help students with high-functioning autism and learning disabilities in schools across the country. This month the Office of Special Education and Programs announced its investment of $2.5 million toward a new program that will use VR to nurture social skills in students with disabilities - an extension on earlier funding for versions of the program designed for desktop and tablets in 2011.
Although researchers are just beginning their study of the connection between screens and addiction, early results have found that as little as two hours of screen time daily could negatively affect children. In fact, the study found that children who have more than two hours of screen time a day got lower scores on tests focused on thinking and language skills.
Ripley is a driving force behind the VA’s rollout of 3D modeling software from GE Healthcare, under a new partnership announced this week. The technology takes arcane radiological scans and translates them into printable files to become plastic organs, bones and tumors that physicians can use in planning patient care and treatment.
An inventor may have discovered a non-pharmaceutical cure for car sickness that could revolutionize the way people experience everything from travel to the newest virtual-reality headsets. That, in turn, could affect how the military trains, fights, and navigates.
The Center for Data Innovation spoke with Achin Bhowmik, chief technology officer of Starkey Hearing Technologies, a hearing aid company based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Bhowmik discussed how AI can improve hearing aid technology, as well how Starkey’s hearing aid uses sensors and AI to track physical and cognitive health.
Achin Bhowmik, CTO at Starkey Hearing Technologies, talks about redefining what a hearing aid is using sensors and AI, enhancing machine perception to augment the human experience.