Medicine

Medicine

My mother tells me not to be afraid, that 'what [you] fear will come upon [you].' She is quoting from the book of Job, the Bible's most famous theodicy.

"We're not saying that AI use is good or bad, just like we wouldn't say, substance use is necessarily good or bad, or consulting with a friend about something is good or bad."

A new study published today in Science reveals a close correlation between species in the wildlife trade and animals that are known to have passed pathogens on to humans. There's a strong link, says Jerome Gippet, an ecologist at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.

Coping with the death of a loved one is individual and, like anything else, exemplified by what works for you. Grief rituals can be practiced alone or with others, created uniquely by you or replicated over centuries.

Prof Ashley Brown, a consultant at St Mary's, expressed the challenges of balancing clinical responsibilities with rehearsals, stating, 'singing is good for the heart.' He believes that 'everyone should sing more often' and suggested that singing could be prescribed on the NHS to cure various ills.

Kelly Chibale describes the drug discovery process as a fairy-tale quest, stating, 'It doesn't mean that there aren't surprises or miracles. They do happen, but you have to kiss many frogs before you meet the prince.' This metaphor illustrates the challenges and unpredictability in finding effective medicines.

The IACHR expresses its concern regarding the working conditions faced by some Cuban workers participating in medical missions, highlighting complaints of unfair compensation and excessively long working hours.

Antibiotics are essential for modern medicine, but bacteria are evolving and developing resistance, turning routine infections into life-threatening conditions. A global analysis estimates that antibiotic-resistant infections could cause over 39 million deaths by 2050.

The HIV ward, the scene of graphically ill patients when I was training, is long closed because it's no longer needed in most rich countries. When my young neighbour had a stroke, doctors cleverly retrieved the clot suffocating his artery, not just saving his life but also returning it to its full potential.

If it continues to spread past the demarcation that we usually draw using a skin marker-we say Sharpie, but it's a skin marker-we say that this is spreading. Diagnosis: possible sepsis. Varshavski was not talking to the patient or to nursing staff. He was not even in a hospital. He was speaking into a camera in a two-bedroom apartment on the fifty-sixth floor of a building in Hell's Kitchen, in a makeshift studio where he records videos and his popular podcast.

Public health consultant Dr Ross Keat said supporting people earlier to make small preventative changes would make "a big difference later on". Some 3,500 people in the north of the island within that age bracket are eligible for the checks. The checks will be carried out by two pre-existing nurses that support GP staff and would not replace GP appointments, Keat explained, adding that the cost would be minimal and absorbed by Ramsey Group Practice.

AI plays an important role-but not by fixing fragmented data on its own. The work of organizing, connecting, and interpreting healthcare information still belongs to people and the systems they build. Where AI helps is after that foundation is in place: by bringing the right information forward at the right time, reducing the effort it takes to find what matters, and supporting better decisions in the moment of care.

My dad was in the emergency room, short of breath, chest tight, upper back aching. He looked pale and confused. An ultrasound showed excess fluid between his lung and chest wall. "We'll drain it," a resident said, as if he were unclogging a sink. For the next five days, thick, red-tinged fluid filled a plastic container beside my dad's hospital bed. Doctors sent his cells for "staining," a way to identify cancer. But no one used that word.

Between March 2020 and March 2022, over 100 million telemedicine services were delivered to approximately 17 million Australians. The Australian government invested $409 million to make telehealth permanent, whilst the UK announced £600 million for digital health infrastructure in April 2025. Patient adoption is equally impressive: 60% find telemedicine more convenient than in-person appointments, 55% report higher satisfaction with teleconsultations, and 74% of millennials prefer virtual appointments for routine care. These aren't temporary shifts; they represent a fundamental transformation in healthcare delivery.