Briefly Speaking

got a pet? it’s good for mental health 

According to a study published in BMC Psychiatry, your pet may be good for health. The researchers suggest that pets provide benefits to those with mental health conditions. According to the researchers, there is increasing recognition of the therapeutic function pets can play in relation to mental health. However, there has been no systematic review of the evidence related to the comprehensive role of companion animals and how pets might contribute to the work associated with managing a long-term mental health condition. The researchers aimed at exploring the extent, nature and quality of the evidence implicating the role and utility of pet ownership for people living with a mental health condition. For the study, the study team systematically reviewed 17 international research papers, to identify the positive, negative and neutral impacts of pet ownership. It showed the intensiveness of connectivity people with companion animals reported and the multi-faceted ways in which pets helped them.

UV lamp to help prevent the flu

Researchers have developed an ultraviolet (UV) lamp that kills the influenza virus but isn’t harmful to human skin or eyes, according to a new study in Scientific Reports. They hope the technology can be commercialised and marketed to prevent the spread of seasonal flu in public places, such as schools, hospitals, and airports. “We’ve known for a century that UV light is extremely efficient at killing microbes, bacteria, and viruses,” says study leader David Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. For that reason, UV devices are often used for sterilisation — for medical equipment in hospitals, for example, or drinking water for backcountry campers.

liver cancer: 40% better detection

Combining ultrasound imaging with a blood test for high alpha fetoprotein (AFP) levels improves detection of early-stage liver cancer by as much as 40 percent, researchers at UT Southwestern’s Simmons Cancer Center found. Earlier detection is important to improving survival of patients with liver cancer, a disease that is on the rise and the fastest increasing solid-tumor cancer in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). “If the cancer is found early, then we can perform curative therapies, allowing patients to live many years,” said hepatologist Dr G Amit Singal, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Clinical Sciences with UT Southwestern Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Sadly, it is mostly discovered at later stages, when curative treatment is not possible.”