Health

PhilHealth sets new policies on the diagnosis and management of Asthma

QUEZON CITY, July 17 – To ensure that only legitimate claims for asthma cases will be paid for, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) recently released new policy statements on the diagnosis and management of asthma in adults. The policy statements, which are in compliance with the Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG), will be used as PhilHealth’s reference in ensuring quality of care for all its members. The release of the statements is also among the key strategies […]

Chance of Zika in Rio less than one in 500,000 – health minister

  RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) — The Brazilian healthy minister said on Tuesday (July 12) that the chance of being infected by the Zika virus during the August Olympic Games in Rio is less than one in 500,000, ensuring that all guarantees are in place for visitors’ safety. “Rio de Janeiro is not the centre for Zika proliferation. People have been orientated by the World Health Organisation which has supported us in the measures […]

UN: Quest to end global AIDS epidemic at risk

SWITZERLAND (AFP) — Efforts to end the global AIDS pandemic by 2030 are lagging, the UN warned Tuesday, decrying rising numbers of new HIV infections among adults in many regions, with Sub-Saharan Africa especially hard-hit. https://youtu.be/zdIWE6EPpRE

Many high-risk patients missed by diabetes screening

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — More than half of people at high risk for diabetes are missed under current US screening guidelines, including many African-Americans, Hispanics and those who are not overweight, researchers said Tuesday. The government guidelines — issued just last year — missed 55 percent of people with prediabetes or diabetes, said the study by Northwestern Medicine. The 2015 guidelines, which were authored by the United States Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF), recommend […]

Quest to end AIDS epidemic at risk: UN

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – by Nina LARSON Efforts to end the global AIDS pandemic by 2030 are lagging, the UN warned Tuesday, decrying rising numbers of new HIV infections among adults in many regions, with Russia especially hard-hit. In a new report, UNAIDS cautioned that while new HIV infections had fallen dramatically in the past two decades, especially among children, the trend among adults has stalled and even risen in a number of places over the […]

Global push to make Mediterranean diet sexy again

by Céline CORNU MILAN, Italy (AFP) — It may be on the UNESCO heritage list, but global experts warn the Mediterranean diet, prized for its health benefits, is losing so much ground to the fast food culture that the decline may be irreversible. Rich in vegetables, fruits, cereals and extra virgin olive oil, the Mediterranean diet is based on a moderate consumption of fish, dairy products, eggs, red wine, and a small amount of meat. […]

How one man spread a killer virus in hospital

PARIS, France (AFP) — A single patient infected 82 people with the deadly MERS virus in an overcrowded South Korean emergency room in 2015, according to a scientific investigation released Saturday. The study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, maps a lethal outbreak of Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea that caused 186 known infections in all, including nearly 40 fatalities. The case is the most prolific transmission of MERS virus from one […]

Climate change health impacts loom large

by Marlowe HOOD PARIS, France (AFP) — The world should brace for potentially devastating impacts on human health due to climate change, top policy makers and officials from around the globe meeting in Paris said Thursday. Some of these consequences may be avoided if humanity radically curbs its use of fossil fuels in coming decades, but many are already being felt, they said at the opening of a two-day conference run by the World Health […]

Blood test may help prevent overuse of antibiotics

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — An inexpensive blood test could one day tell doctors whether an infection is caused by a virus or a bacteria, and help prevent unwarranted prescribing of antibiotics, researchers said Wednesday. The diagnostic test, described in the peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine, is being developed by the Stanford University School of Medicine in California. “A lot of times you can’t really tell what kind of infection someone has,” said lead author […]

Hepatitis outstrips AIDS, TB as killer: report

PARIS, France (AFP) — Virus-caused hepatitis has become a leading cause of death and disability in the world, killing more people in a year than AIDS, tuberculosis or malaria, a report said Thursday. Deaths from infection, liver disease and cancer caused by viral hepatitis increased by 63 percent from 890,000 in 1990 to 1.45 million in 2013, according to a review of data collected in 183 countries. By comparison, in 2013 there were 1.3 million […]

Three-decade study confirms saturated fats are bad for health

  MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Saturated fats in butter, lard and red meat raise the risk of early death, but replacing these with fats like olive oil can offer substantial health benefits, a three-decade study confirmed on Tuesday. The research involving more than 120,000 people was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine. “There has been widespread confusion in the biomedical community and the general public in the last […]

Health expert gives tips on how to avoid diarrhea during rainy season

VIGAN CITY, Ilocos Sur (PIA) –A local health official reminds the public especially parents on how to avoid diarrhea, a common illness among children during rainy season. Dr. La Paz Peredo, provincial health officer in Ilocos Sur, said that diarrhea can cause dehydration thus, parents must be responsible enough to ensure that the food and drinks they give their children are safe and clean. “Diarrhea is caused by virus, bacteria or parasite from infected food […]