By some measures – healthy life expectancy, obesity, and depression, among others – South Africa is the unhealthiest country on earth. That’s a sobering fact to consider. How has the country got here? To what extent can its unenviable position be regarded as a failure of primary healthcare? Primary healthcare can refer to the care..
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Why is it so important to fix primary healthcare so crucial to making South Africa healthier
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Most people ask Dr Google but be cautious here are the pros and cons of online diagnosis
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Pop symptoms of a headache into a search engine and it will come back with a myriad of diagnoses, varying from a sinus headache to a tumour. Dr Google has become the source of choice for self-diagnosis, a second opinion or to find out more about a diagnosed condition. While many healthcare practitioners caution very..
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Medical Technology News South Africa:- Introducing the e-patient
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Almost half the South African population has access to the internet, including 8-million Twitter users and 16-million Facebook users. This digital revolution has unlocked enormous opportunities for the creation of online communities for large-scale engagement around often complex topics like the management of health conditions. Enter the e-patient. A term describing individuals who are proactive..
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Cannabis Cultivation: South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) awards first South African license
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Afriplex and House of Hemp have been granted the first medical cannabis cultivation license in South Africa. The compahasouse of Hemp have become the first to receive a Cannabis Cultivation License from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA). This represents a milestone in what is hoped will be a lucrative and innovative field,..
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New Research/Studies Confirms Cannabis Kills Brain Cancer, NOT Your Brain
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Some might say it’s too good to be true. Does cannabis really fight brain cancer? Research of the past two decades suggests that it does. Some might think that it’s too good to be true. Does cannabis really kill brain cancer cells? Clinical trials on humans are awaiting results, but recent research gives hope. Scientists..
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A tech company, Proteus, just launched a ‘smart’ cancer pills that track you with tiny sensors stamped into your medications
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A US digital medicine company called Proteus makes ‘smart pills’ embedded with sensors that tell your doctor when you’ve taken your medication. The pills also track activity levels.
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Some researchers discover the brain cells that make pain unpleasant
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If you step on a tack, neurons in your brain will register two things: that there’s a piercing physical sensation in your foot, and that it’s not pleasant. Now, a team of scientists at Stanford University has identified a bundle of brain cells in mice responsible for the latter – that is, the negative emotions of pain.
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New portable technology takes primary healthcare to the people
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Portable medical technology makes it possible to take primary healthcare to low-income populations that frequently have a disproportionate burden of ill health.
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A change in birth options: What’s behind SA’s skyrocketing C-section rates?
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Almost one in four babies born at public hospitals come into the world via c-section but is it costing some women their lives?
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A cancer drug offers more affordable treatment for diabetic retinopathy
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Treatment for diabetic retinopathy can be expensive, especially in low and middle-income countries such as South Africa, but a recent doctoral study at Stellenbosch University (SU) found that a relatively cheap drug called bevacizumab could be effective.
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