Health News

Medical practitioners use octacalcium phosphate to improve bone repair

Bone repair wasn't generally successful until the late 1800s. Until then, there were few options to repair major bone damage. Most materials don't have the functionality of bone and don't support blood vessels growing through them. Repair materials such as clay were commonly used yet often failed. In 1892, medical practitioners started using gypsum–calcium sulfate–as […]

Health News

How common are post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection?

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has taken a heavy toll on human lives, with over two million casualties so far. Equally devastating has been its economic toll. Now, a new study, which was released on the medRxiv* preprint server, describes the features and frequency of long-haul symptoms in COVID-19. Study: Population-based estimates of post-acute […]

Health Problems

Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) Procedure

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a medical technique that is used primarily to investigate and treat pathologies involving the biliary tree and pancreatic ducts. Indications which could warrant need for ERCP include gallstones, tumors, defective sphincters, sclerosis of ducts and pseudocysts, which are accumulations of fluid and tissue components. ERCP has been traditionally used for […]

Health Problems

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Body Dysmorphia, also called Body Dysmorphic Disorder, is an anxiety-related psychiatric condition characterized by intrusive and persistent pre-occupation with an imagined or unnoticeable flaw in appearance. Body Dysmorphic Disorder affects one out of 50 people and could occur at any age. People with body dysmorphia tend to obsess over their appearance, often resorting to repetitive […]

Health Problems

Fluoroscopy Procedure

Fluoroscopy is a diagnostic scan used to study the movement of body structures. This article describes the medical procedure that takes place during a fluoroscopy. X-ray Barium enema showing normal colon mucosa. Image Credit: Richman Photo / Shutterstock What is fluoroscopy? Fluoroscopy shows a continuous X-ray image on a monitor, much like an X-ray movie. […]

Health Problems

Researchers compare visceral leishmaniasis diagnostic tests

Accurate and timely diagnosis of the tropic disease visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the pillars for reducing VL deaths. Currently available serological tests for diagnosing VL vary widely in their performance and may, as a whole, be inadequate for VL diagnosis, researchers report in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Visceral leischmanisis is the most severe […]

Health Problems

Computer-assisted diagnostic procedure enables earlier detection of brain tumor growth

A computer-assisted diagnostic procedure helps physicians detect the growth of low-grade brain tumors earlier and at smaller volumes than visual comparison alone, according to a study published May 28 in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Hassan Fathallah-Shaykh of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues. However, additional clinical studies are needed to determine […]