More Than a Quarter of Adults Don't Wear Sunglasses; Many Parents Don't Have Their Kids Wear Shades

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New Statement by the American Heart Association Stirs Controversy

Contrary to what had been "accepted" thinking by many, there is no conclusive evidence that gum disease causes heart attacks and strokes, or that treating gum disease will improve heart disease, according to a new scientific statement by the American Heart Association.

Gum disease is a major reason that adults lose their teeth. And in recent years, a growing number of studies have suggested that gum disease may pose other dangers to the body, too.

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Study Shows Combination of Biologic and Immune-Suppressing Drugs Is Best Treatment for Crohn's

Patients with moderate to severe Crohn's disease are most likely to get better if treated with a combination of biologic and immune-suppressing therapies, a clinical trial suggests.

It's a "landmark trial," says gastroenterologist David Kerman, MD, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study.

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Al-Ghamdi: The Bed Management Program to Be Applied in Some of the Kingdom's Regions

The Supervisor-General of the MOH Bed Management Program, Dr. Yasser Al-Ghamdi, has affirmed that His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, shows keen interest in the implementation and unification of this program, aspiring to ensure a national program organizing clinical beds, with a view to attaining the international standards in this domain. The program is projected to cover all Saudi health sectors, both governmental and private, in order that the Ministry would be able to ensure a bed for the patient as fast as possible.
 
The program seeks to provide an accurate inventory of clinical beds at MOH hospitals, as well as the hospitals of other governmental and private health sectors throughout the Kingdom, and identify the future demands of the Kingdom's regions over the years to come.
 

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The mother of two was not suffering from any visible symptoms when she went to consult the surgeon on the insistence of her husband that she should have a checkup.

After examining her for 15 minutes, the doctor referred her to an ENT consultant saying she was suffering from hyperthyroidism and should surgically remove her thyroid gland, the husband said.

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The Ministry of Health launched yesterday a new layer of security to help ensure the safety of newborns in its hospitals in the Kingdom.

 

“The ministry installed the Hugs and Kisses Infant Protection System to safeguard its infants and children from the threats of abduction, mismatching, swapping, or mixing up of newborns in the maternity hospitals,” Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Bawardi, clinical information systems manager at the Ministry of Health, said yesterday following the launch of the new program.

 

Al-Bawardi said the electronic system was introduced at 16 maternity hospitals that function under the umbrella of the Ministry of Health. This will be extended to 149 more maternity hospitals spread throughout the Kingdom.

 

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RIYADH – A top Saudi chamber official said that it would take at least 28 years to replace the overwhelming majority of foreign doctors with Saudis in the Kingdom’s health sector.

 

Dr. Sami Al-Abdul Karim, chairman of the National Health Committee at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said Saudization in the health sector, including doctors and paramedical staff, makes up only 22 percent at present.

 

Speaking to a local Arabic daily, he noted that the private health sector is witnessing tremendous growth.

 

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A drug commonly used to fight skin cancer could start to reverse Alzheimer's disease in a matter of hours, a laboratory study indicates.

Researchers have described the discovery as an "unprecedented finding" that holds out "the potential promise of a therapy for Alzheimer's".

However, they cautioned that their study was only in mice, and much more needed to be done to determine if bexarotene worked to combat the degenerative brain disease in humans.

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JEDDAH: The sixth meeting of the Saudi Orthodontic Society, which started on Jan. 31 and ended yesterday (Feb. 1) in Jeddah, revealed that some 70 to 80 percent of Saudi children need dental braces.

However, some orthodontists expressed their fears that braces might affect the health of the teeth and even the body.

The event welcomed a vast number of doctors and specialists, both from Saudi Arabia and abroad. For students, workshops had been provided at the event.

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JEDDAH — The Ebsar Foundation for Rehabilitation and Service of Visual Disability has reiterated the importance of a new care program for elderly people with visual disabilities. Ebsar Foundation Secretary General Mohammed Tawfiq Bellow highlighted the necessity of the program as one of the main causes of visual disability is old age.

 

“The association looks to increase the size and efficiency of programs for older people with visual disabilities in our society, as well as to take care of their and their families’ needs and problems regarding medical, psychological and social issues,” he said.

 

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