Архив рубрики: Здоровье Америка

Scientists have developed a device that can translate thoughts about speech into spoken words in real time.

Although it’s still experimental, they hope the brain-computer interface could someday help give voice to those unable to speak.

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A new study described testing the device on a 47-year-old woman with quadriplegia who couldn’t speak for 18 years after a stroke. Doctors implanted it in her brain during surgery as part of a clinical trial.

It “converts her intent to speak into fluent sentences,” said Gopala Anumanchipalli, a co-author of the study published Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Other brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs, for speech typically have a slight delay between thoughts of sentences and computerized verbalization. Such delays can disrupt the natural flow of conversation, potentially leading to miscommunication and frustration, researchers said.

This is “a pretty big advance in our field,” said Jonathan Brumberg of the ..

Scientists have developed a device that can translate thoughts about speech into spoken words in real time.

Although it’s still experimental, they hope the brain-computer interface could someday help give voice to those unable to speak.

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A new study described testing the device on a 47-year-old woman with quadriplegia who couldn’t speak for 18 years after a stroke. Doctors implanted it in her brain during surgery as part of a clinical trial.

It “converts her intent to speak into fluent sentences,” said Gopala Anumanchipalli, a co-author of the study published Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Other brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs, for speech typically have a slight delay between thoughts of sentences and computerized verbalization. Such delays can disrupt the natural flow of conversation, potentially leading to miscommunication and frustration, researchers said.

This is “a pretty big advance in our field,” said Jonathan Brumberg of the ..

With two new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease approved in recent years, there’s growing hope for people at risk of the memory-robbing condition. But tests to detect the condition still lag behind. Earlier diagnosis would mean that people could take advantage of the drugs sooner, when the medicines are most effective.

Detection is currently tricky. Brain scans like PET can pick up amyloid plaques, the clumps of protein that are the hallmark of the disease, but by the time these form, people’s brain function is already declining. The scans are also expensive and not available at all hospitals. More sensitive ways to detect amyloid and tau, another protein related to the disease, are possible by analyzing spinal fluid, but that requires a painful and potentially dangerous spinal tap. Blood tests for the two proteins have not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration—although they have received breakthrough designation from the agency, which means they are getting expe..

WASHINGTON — The top vaccine official with the Food and Drug Administration has resigned and criticized the nation’s top health official for allowing “misinformation and lies” to guide his thinking behind the safety of vaccinations.

Dr. Peter Marks sent a letter to Acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner on Friday saying that he would resign and retire by April 5 as director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

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In his letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press, Marks said he was “willing to work” to address the concerns expressed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the safety of vaccinations. But he concluded that wasn’t possible.

“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” he wrote.

Read More: What Is SNAP and What Challenges Is It Facing Under the Trump Administration?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Servi..

Texas has one of the strictest abortion restrictions in the country, banning abortion in nearly all situations with very limited exceptions. Since the near-total ban went into effect, several women in the state have shared stories and filed lawsuits, saying that they were denied critical care while experiencing pregnancy complications. On March 14, one of the lawmakers behind the state’s restrictive abortion laws introduced a bill seeking to clarify medical exceptions.

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But some abortion-rights advocates and legal experts say the bill won’t do what it claims to, and even worry that it could open the door to prosecuting pregnant people and people who help patients access abortions.

Here’s what to know.

What is current Texas law?

The only exception to Texas’ abortion ban is if a person is experiencing a “life-threatening” medical emergency “that places the female at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily f..

Before you write off punctuation as little more than a dot, a line, or some combination of both, consider: A period can end a conversation—or an entire relationship. One too many question marks can make the recipient ask themselves if they really want to keep talking to you. Forgetting an exclamation point can spark the wrong kind of excitement.

As digital communication has evolved, punctuation’s job description has gotten more demanding. When you fire off a text or Slack message, “You don’t have the context we have with spoken language,” says Anne Curzan, a professor of English, linguistics, and education at the University of Michigan. “You don’t have facial expressions, you don’t have tone, you don’t have the shared context of a physical space and gestures.” Is the person you’re talking to happy? Are they joking? Are they angry? Are they drop-dead serious? If you were face-to-face, “You’d have all of this context to be able to figure it out,” she says. “In texting, you have very lit..

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reportedly has plans to perform a large study on a “possible connection” between vaccines and autism—a topic of interest to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, despite plenty of research showing no such connection exists.

During his Senate confirmation hearings, Kennedy was asked by Republican senator and physician Bill Cassidy about his views on vaccines and autism. “Will you reassure mothers unequivocally and without qualification that the measles and the hepatitis B vaccines do not cause autism?” Cassidy asked.

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“If the data is there, I will absolutely do that,” Kennedy replied.

Of course, the data is there—in abundance. There is ample scientific evidence that vaccines do not cause autism. Yet Kennedy and those who discount this research claim that it is either flawed or insufficient to disprove a possible link. That raises the question: could more “data” change t..

Americans are worried about the chemicals in their food, and some politicians are expressing the same concerns. In January, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asserted that the food supply is “poisoning” people, while Dr. Marty Makary, the new Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said during his Senate hearing in early March that chemical additives in food are “drugging our nation’s children at scale.” He promised to “look at” chemicals as causes for inflammation and disease.

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Just 150 years ago, most food came from local farms and markets down the road from people’s homes. Today, it materializes from thousands of miles away, filled with cryptic, unpronounceable ingredients, many of them chemicals. Research points to potential consequences. “There is extensive evidence that synthetic chemicals, unintentionally and intentionally added to food, contribute to chronic disease across the lifespan,” says Dr. Leonardo Trasande..

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will eliminate 10,000 jobs as part of a major restructuring plan, it announced Thursday.

Overall, the agency, which is responsible for monitoring infectious diseases, inspecting foods and hospitals and overseeing health insurance programs for nearly half the country, says it will decrease its workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 positions. That includes 10,000 in layoffs as well as another 10,000 workers who are taking early retirements or buyout offers that were given to nearly all federal employees by the Trump administration.

Most of the cuts will come from the public health agencies: The Food and Drug Administration, responsible for setting standards for Americans’ foods and medications, will shed 3,500 workers, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks infectious disease outbreaks, will cut 2,400 positions.

Meanwhile, the National Institutes for Health, the world’s leading public health research a..

What are the biggest threats to the health security of the American people? There are some strong candidates. Avian influenza is spreading in birds, cattle, and 50 mammalian species. Measles cases are surging at home and abroad. COVID-19 is still spreading and could mutate into a more deadly strain. Farther afield, Uganda continues to respond to an Ebola outbreak and Mpox has been seen in 127 countries. But perhaps the biggest threat to America’s health could be self-inflicted. According to a report published yesterday in the New York Times, our leaders intend to end funding for international immunization programs—including the Gavi Alliance I led from 2011 to 2023—that for decades have protected Americans from health threats abroad. These cuts would represent a grave threat to the health, well-being, and livelihoods of every American.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made it clear that U.S. national interest would be the guiding mission of America..