Extreme hunger, or hyperphagia, is a big problem for people with rare brain conditions affecting the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) pathway. This pathway is like a traffic cop in the brain, helping to control how much energy the body uses. When it's not working right, people can feel hungry all the time, which can cause serious problems. Living with hyperphagia is t...
Palliative care is a vital part of healthcare. It focuses on improving the quality of life for patients with serious illnesses. However, it is often overlooked in pharmacy education. A recent initiative aimed to change this. It introduced a new elective course for third-year pharmacy students. The goal was to enhance their understanding and skills in palliative care....
In the bustling city of Beijing, there's an unseen danger lurking in the air. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, are a type of pollutant that can seriously harm people's health. These pollutants are so small that they hitch a ride on tiny particles floating in the air. Until now, measuring how much of these pollutants people take in has been tricky. Tradition...
Disability indicators are crucial for understanding the needs of people with disabilities. These indicators help shape policies and services. But how are they created? A recent effort focused on examining methods used to build these indicators from linked administrative datasets. These datasets combine information from different sources to give a fuller picture. Lin...
Weather patterns are shifting in ways that are making it tough for farmers to grow crops. This is not just about heatwaves or droughts. It is about how these changes are making it hard to predict when to plant or harvest. Farmers are facing a new set of challenges that they have never had to deal with before. This is not just a problem for farmers. It is a problem fo...
Medical students face tough tests. Two popular ways to check their knowledge are multiple choice questions (MCQs) and very short answer questions (VSAQs). These methods are used a lot in important exams. MCQs are quick and cover a lot of ground. They are also reliable. But they might not test how well students can think critically. VSAQs, on the other hand, need stud...
Chronic pain can be a real puzzle. It's not just about how much it hurts, but also where and how far it spreads. Doctors need to know this to help patients feel better. Two common tools for this are pain drawings and anatomical checklists. Both try to capture where the pain is and how big an area it covers. But do they really give the same picture? That's what a rece...