It is almost a frightening scientific and technological advancement…. A medical device has been developed that dramatically reduces seizure symptoms in patients with chronic epilepsy, which until now was considered nearly impossible to cure. Although neurosurgery is required because the device is placed directly over the brain, considering the fact that patients with this condition
As I reported in the past, we at UM (University of Malaya) are responsible for sub-projects in ASEAN in the bigger RESPIRE project led by the University of Edinburgh Medical School in the UK. One of the projects is creating a smartphone application for chronic asthma patients to prevent asthma attacks by capturing data on
https://www.technologynetworks.com/genomics/news/healthy-lifestyle-can-overcome-poor-genes-by-60-386316 It’s really important, daily physical activity and exercise. That is the result of a large study that found that environmental factors may reverse the effect of genetic risks for a longer or shorter life span. “The researchers maintain that their results indicate that genetic risks for a shorter lifespan may be offset by a
The interdependence of body and mind has been increasingly understood in recent years in the West. In the East, it has long been known as “mind-body unity” in the world of religion and martial arts, but when the scalpel of western science is once again inserted into this statement, it gets far more convincing. This
This project is one of the efforts at Universiti Malaya as part of the RESPIRE project led by the University of Edinburgh Medical School in the UK. We are currently in the process of reviewing the interface and core functionality of the app, and are now entering the climax of the project, incorporating feedback from
On the 29th of the leap year, we had a stakeholder engagement meeting (so called focus group) with patients with chronic asthma, who are the intended users of a smartphone app that is currently being developed by our mixed team of the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of
Last night, as part of a seminar series titled “Blood Cancer Know-it-all Night” organized by CNJ (Cancer Net Japan), I gave a two-hour talk on “Shared Decision-Making (SDM),” a framework for reaching a consensus that is acceptable to both medical professionals and patients/families in a difficult decision-making setting in healthcare. I am in charge of
Recently, I have been touching on bioethics, or rather ethics in medical/healthcare research. Yesterday, I participated in a lunch talk, “Why the World Needs Bioethics and Why Bioethics Needs the World,” hosted by the Master of Health Research Ethics (MOHRE) at the University of Malaya (UM) Faculty of Medicine. The lecturer was Prof. Dr. Jeffrey
It appears to be a partial study, but this year just like last year, we will continue to see research on the significant influence of the gut microbiome on cognitive function and brain structure. Sure, there is a lot of genetic inheritance taking place here, but we are learning more and more how the gut
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wasabi-memory-boost-japanese-study-finds/ This is a pretty good story! It’s a report on an experiment at Tohoku University showing that Wasabi, a Japanese spice that is the pride of Japan (it’s on sushi all the time!), boosts memory in the elderly. It seems that a rare substance called 6-MSITC contained in Wasabi is responsible for this effect.