News & Updates

Lipid profile loses reliability as an indicator of mortality in older age, with total cholesterol (TC) levels exerting a protective effect against death, a recent study has found. On the other hand, apolipoprotein (Apo) B and A-I levels appear to be better correlates of mortality risk among elderly adults.

Researchers at the Castle Peak Hospital and Queen Mary Hospital have shown in a 10-year retrospective review study that the estimated crime rate for mentally ill patients and estimated prevalence of mental disorders among prisoners are relatively low in Hong Kong.

REL-1017 (esmethadone), a novel N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) channel blocker, has demonstrated a favourable safety and tolerability profile when given as an adjunctive treatment to patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), and may have a rapid and sustained antidepressant effect vs placebo. 

New drug applications approved by US FDA as of 16-31 December 2021 which includes New Molecular Entities (NMEs) and new biologics. It does not include Tentative Approvals. Supplemental approvals may have occurred since the original approval date.

A territory-wide retrospective cohort study by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has found that stroke is the third strongest predictor of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality, after advancing age and renal disease, while Parkinson’s disease (PD) was the second strongest predictor of death after advancing age during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic of 2003.

Cigarette smoking may increase the risk of gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM), and such risk remains significantly elevated among former smokers until 15 years post-cessation, reveals a recent study.

Old age (>65 years) is independently associated with a higher probability of death among ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) patients, a study has found.