News & Updates

A shorter treatment course with acupoint catgut embedding (ACE) therapy appears to more effectively improve gallbladder emptying, suggests a recent study. Thus, ACE as an adjunct to tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) therapy may serve as a time-saving treatment for gallstones.

Amid movement restrictions due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, home gardening activities appear to help improve mental resilience among people, especially in the domains of emotional regulation, confidence, and positive thinking, according to a recent Singapore study.

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.