2016 has been the significant year for health scares and breakthroughs. From Zika virus to development of anti-AIDS vaccine to voting for legalized use of marijuana, there have been many interesting developments in the US healthcare sector this year.
At present, Truvada is the only name effective pill to prevent HIV infection. It has to be taken daily. Researchers are now doing clinical trials on long-acting Cabotegravir, which may turn out to be the AIDS vaccine everybody has been waiting for. People will need to take a single shot of Cabotegravir every two months for HIV prevention.
Researchers have found that diet-induced obesity alters the functioning of our brain, which suppresses our natural instinct to move around or exercise. The study found that the dopamine receptor in the brain of the mice fed on the high-fat chow fell considerably, and they adopted more sedentary habits than their peers.
In the premiere episode of "The Walking Dead" Season 7, the two popular characters Abraham and Glenn were killed brutally by Negan. Carl, thankfully, stepped down at the last moment but did give us a scare. Other characters who seem to be all set to die soon are Spencer, Carol and Eugene.
Debbie Reynolds died from "the broken heart syndrome" which weakens the heart muscles resulting in a stroke. It is caused by emotional or physical stress and women aged above 50 years are most susceptible to the ailment. It can be avoided by a stress free life.
FDA has introduced some guidelines in order to prevent our pacemakers from getting hacked. This is a new step in the direction of medical device security.
In a healthy adult male, sperms replenish itself constantly. A research at Kyoto University has found the gene is stem cells which is responsible for this replenishment. This can lead to new infertility treatments for males with low sperm count.
After a messy divorce with Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt is having a hard time over losing custody rights of his children to his ex-wife. He could visit his children for just four hours on Christmas. It is said that he is going through a rough patch in his relationship with his eldest son Maddox too.