Health

Thermo Fisher, an American firm offering scientific instruments and software services, has reportedly introduced SpeciMAX Stabilized Saliva Collection Kit. The device has been designed to collect saliva for research purposes in a safe manner.

For safer specimen collection, the Stabilized Saliva Collection Kit retains viral nucleic acids inside a harmless stabilization solution that inhibits the activity of common respiratory viruses. The package includes a spill-resistant funnel, a screw cover to preserve the specimen after collection, and a standard size tube that fits perfectly into viral RNA extraction automated processes for high throughput specimen processing.

According to a study led by scientists from the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, Oxford University, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the greatest reduction in life expectancy within the western Europe since the time of the Second World War.

According to reliable sources, scientists examined data collected from 29 countries across Europe, as well as Chile, and the United States, and found that life expectancy decreased last year on a massive scale, wiping out years of progress.

The life recorded expectancies showcased major reduction of almost 2.2 years, relative to 2019 levels, among males in the US, followed by a decline

In a joint effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea have reportedly inked a vaccine swap agreement for ensuing the sufficient supply of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses in each nation.

Under the deal, the UK will send more than 1 million BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines to the Republic of Korea for enhancing their vaccination program. The first batch is anticipated to arrive in the forthcoming weeks.

By the end of the year, South Korea will be returning the same volume of doses to the United Kingdom, as the government advances with its vaccine launch and the booster program through the winter months.

The National Health Service (NHS), UK’s publicly funded healthcare agencies, has reportedly announced that it is starting the world's largest clinical trial of a potentially life-changing blood test that could detect more than 50 different types of cancer before their symptoms appear.

According to credible sources, several hundreds of thousands of individuals would be enrolled into these clinical trials to assess the blood test’s ability to detect cancers that are not screened for routinely. The trial’s success might be a critical step in detecting the diseases early.

The Galleri test, which is presently available

Jeff Bezos, the founder and former CEO of Amazon, has reportedly made an investment in an up-and-coming anti-aging biotech company called Altos Labs, MIT Tech Review reports. Founded earlier this year, Altos Labs is focused on finding ways to reverse the aging process and develop an innovative technology to reprogram human cells.

According to the report, Jeff Bezos is among the pool of investors who have funded the biotech company’s research initiatives to find viable ways to reverse the aging process in humans. The biotech startup is supposedly also seeking to hire more scientists for its ongoing project, offering annual salaries of up to USD 1 million.

The UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) has reportedly announced that people with suppressed immune systems would be offered a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, this announcement is unrelated to the booster program that is slated to begin in Wales.

The dose would be administered to people suffering from underlying conditions, such as leukemia and HIV, or have recently undergone organ transplants, who are over the age of 12, reports suggest.

The committee stated that the section of the population that has immunosuppressing conditions may not have developed a full immune response to the virus, leav

The number of COVID-19 patients in the United States recently crossed 100,000 for the first time since January, as per the Department of Health and Human Services. This is due to the resurgence of the Coronavirus outbreak stimulated by the highly contagious Delta variant that is burdening the country’s health care system.

U.S. coronavirus hospitalizations almost doubled in the last month. During the last week, on average, over 500 people with coronavirus were admitted to hospitals each hour, as per the data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. reached its all-time high for hospitalizations on January 6

• Study finds that mental stimulation could delay the onset of dementia symptoms.

A new study has reportedly indicated that people with mentally stimulating occupations are at a lower risk of developing dementia in their later years as opposed to those who are in a non-stimulating job.

According to reports, scientists assessed more than 100,000 candidates in studies across the U.S., UK, and Europe, where they studied the links between job-based factors and mortality, disability, and chronic illness.

While cognitive stimulation is believed to postpone or avert the onset of

On Sunday, the Health Ministry of Israel announced that it will reimpose social gathering restrictions at private and public events, as well as promote social distancing in companies that serve clients and people, such as stores and shopping malls. The new restrictions are likely to begin from the middle of this week.

The limitations are intended to curb a recent return of COVID-19 infections, which have pushed the daily caseload to levels not seen in more than a half-year after the country managed to reduce the spread to just a few dozen new cases per day on average.

The Israeli government is adamant about avoiding the country's fo