health

Third Kidney Xenotransplant: A Hopeful Yet Monitored Step

Towana Looney, a 53-year-old American, became the third living person to receive an experimental genetically modified pig kidney transplant. The procedure, performed in late November at NYU Langone Hospital in New York, marks an important step in xenotransplantation aimed at addressing the chronic shortage of human organ donors. Ms. Looney, who ...

Victor Ambros: From Skepticism to the Nobel Prize

“All of my remaining realisable assets are to be disbursed as follows: the capital, converted to safe securities by my executors, is to constitute a fund, the interest on which is to be distributed annually as prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” These were Alfred Nobel's final ...

Announcement - Exclusive Interview with Victor Ambros, the 2024 Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine

When, in 1993, Ambros identified a particular molecule, lin-4, he could not have imagined that he was laying the foundation for a scientific revolution. These microRNAs, invisible to the naked eye, are now considered the architects of biology, orchestrating essential processes within our cells. But what do these small, yet powerful, molecules ...

AIDS: In the Footsteps of a Major Scientific Scandal (2/2)

At the end of the 20th century, AIDS, previously unknown, spread rapidly, plunging the world into an unprecedented public health crisis. Researchers worked diligently to uncover the causes of this mysterious disease. In May 1983, Luc Montagnier and his team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris published an article in Science announcing that they had ...

AIDS: In the Footsteps of a Major Scientific Scandal (1/2)

In the early 1980s, a previously unknown disease emerged, signaling an unprecedented upheaval in the history of global public health. It all began on June 5, 1981, with the publication in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of an article titled Pneumocystis Pneumonia—Los ...

Nomonde Ngema Highlights HIV Stigma on Charlize Theron’s Instagram

The announcement made on Thursday, November 28, is a noteworthy step in raising awareness about HIV stigma, with activist Nomonde Ngema set to take over Charlize Theron’s Instagram to highlight the challenges faced by people living with HIV, particularly in South Africa. This collaboration highlights the ongoing challenges faced by people living ...

Health Minister Launches a Program for Emergency Healthcare Coverage

Minister of Public Health Firas Abyad launched a new program to cover emergency primary healthcare services that do not require hospitalization. The new program will begin tomorrow, Tuesday, November 19 and will remain in place after the war on Lebanon ends. This program is aimed at Lebanese citizens receiving treatment at the Ministry of Public ...

Diabetes, a disease with a bitter taste

Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by abnormally elevated blood glucose levels. Often asymptomatic in its early stages, it primarily affects the vascular system. Inadequately managed chronic hyperglycemia leads to progressive damage to blood vessel walls, resulting in microangiopathy (pathological changes in small blood ...

UK Faces Avian Flu Outbreak as H5N5 Strain Spreads

In northern England, Yorkshire is now facing an avian flu outbreak following the detection of the H5N5 strain in poultry, marking the first cases recorded in farming since the beginning of the autumn season, the UK government announced on Tuesday. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) confirmed that all poultry at the farm ...

Climate Change: “The Wasted Time Has Been Paid in Lives”

The 2024 Lancet Countdown report on health and climate change reveals that global warming poses an increasingly significant threat to public health. Compiled annually by researchers from various universities and UN agencies, the study highlights the multiple dangers facing the global population. “Data in this year’s report show that people all ...

Polio: The Aborted Eradication of a Preventable Disease

Poliomyelitis, or polio, is a viral disease caused by the poliovirus, which invades the nervous system and spreads primarily through contaminated water or food. Highly contagious, it affects mainly unvaccinated children under five, with symptoms ranging from mild fevers to irreversible paralysis and death. Despite extensive global efforts, polio ...

Malaria: Egypt Eradicates the Pharaohs' Disease

In Egypt, malaria has long been a public health scourge. It intensified in the 20th century to become a major health issue, particularly in the rural areas of the Nile Delta, where environmental conditions favored the spread of the disease. However, a significant event occurred recently. On October 20, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced ...