Universal Medicine

Trisha Banerjee The risk of mortality from COVID-19 is higher in Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME) people, which is confirmed by the Public Health England review. Indian, Pakistani, Chinese, Caribbean and other communities of Asian and Black ethnicity have a 10% - 50% higher risk of death compared to those who are white British. It was found that people from Bangladeshi ethnicity are twice as likely to die from COVID-19 compared to white British people. Moreover, in healthcare, a majority of the doctors that have tragically died from COVID-19 have been from BAME backgrounds. 33% of ICU patients are from BAME backgrounds, whereas BAME people only make up 14% of the population of England and Wales. There have been many explanations proposed to explain the disproportionate effect on BAME people.  From a scientific perspective, genetic factors predispose people of BAME backgrounds to COVID-19. Data from the National Diabetes Audit shows that there is a higher prevalence of Type...

Gemisha Cheemungtoo 20th May 2020 marked the enactment of the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019 in England, or often referred to as 'Max and Keira's Law'. The name transpired from the campaign a family ran in favour of the opt out system, after their young boy, Max received a life-saving heart transplant from Keira, a girl who tragically lost her life in a road traffic accident.    In this new law, the organ donation system has been changed to consider that most adults have agreed to donate their organs unless the person opted out before their death, and this is done with the family's consent. The law excludes the following groups from the register:  Under 18s, who cannot be considered as adults  People who lack the mental capacity to make this decision People who are living in England involuntarily, or for less than 12 months    This new system has been approved to increase the supply of donors for the patients awaiting a transplant, which at the ti...

Andra Stefan  As of today, the novel coronavirus has infected 7,495,164 people and killed 421,976 according to WHO. [1] Moreover, as a result of the lockdown measures taken globally to contain the spread of the virus, our day-to-day lives have changed dramatically and the world economy has been disrupted. Given that Artificial Intelligence (AI) research in medicine has grown exponentially in the recent years, it is unsurprising that AI has stepped in to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] AI technologies can address almost every aspect of the disease from prevention and diagnosis to prognosis and treatment. In this article, I present some of the most promising AI-powered projects that aim to tackle this global health crisis. Prevention The AI-based early warning system developed by the Canadian firm BlueDot was among the first in the world to accurately predict the risk of spread of the coronavirus. BlueDot’s clients, ranging from governments to hospitals and airlines, were all warned ...

Mariam Ali Liver disease is the third leading cause of premature death. In the UK alone, over 40 people die from liver diseases every day. For many patients, a liver transplant is usually the last resort to improve their quality of life, with over 2633 on the waiting list. The liver regenerative process is vital for the successful treatment and recovery of a patient, after a transplant procedure. Therefore, a better understanding of liver regeneration could impact an array of the treatments used today. In mammals, the liver has the capacity to regenerate its own tissue through an organized sequence of events. The liver undergoes regeneration after events such as resection, trauma, transplant or hepatic surgery.  Liver regeneration restores liver mass and involves the proliferation of hepatocytes. The process requires elements such as growth factors, matrix remodelling, cytokines and growth inhibition feedback loops. The organ manages to restore hepatic mass whilst controlling gluco...

Christopher Morgan A big problem in the UK is that because racism presents itself in different ways to which we are used to hearing about, a lot of people are naive enough to think it’s rare enough as to be insignificant. A black person may go about their daily life without being verbally or physically abused for the colour of the skin but it is dangerously ignorant to not recognize that being white in the UK carries much greater privilege than being black. Even I myself as a mixed-race man, enjoy greater privilege than my black brothers and sisters. Only by understanding and acknowledging the privilege that comes with whiteness and the ways in which racism manifests itself in the UK can we make a fair, equal society. The thoughts and actions of every person are shaped by the people and the environment they grow up and live in (friends, family members, media, teachers) and inevitably this environmental influence results in a widespread discrimination against black people on a societa...

Trisha Banerjee Recent developments in technology have enabled scientists and researchers around the world to overcome geographical boundaries in order to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology is playing a remarkable role in healthcare to deal with the threat that COVID-19 imposes upon humanity. Evolving technology such as Artificial Intelligence, 3D Printing, Contact-tracing and Robotics are playing a key part in the prevention of the spread of this infectious virus. Artificial Intelligence (AI) uses machine learning to mimic human intelligence. AI is being employed to diagnose COVID-19 rapidly using CT scans. AI systems that are currently being used in Iran take a mere 20 seconds to diagnose a patient using their CT scan results, whereas it would take a human 15 minutes for this diagnosis. In addition, Google’s DeepMind technology has used AI systems to analyse the structure of proteins associated with COVID-19. Understanding the 3D shape of the viral proteins can provide a...

Neriah Clarke What is social prescribing? Social prescribing (SP) is a growing movement and aims to ensure that those who visit the GP with social issues receive appropriate support. Recent estimates show that up to a ⅓ of GP time is spent on managing social problems [1]. Although GPs may be able to help resolve such problems, a large portion of their already limited time is being expended. To add, due to the complexity of some social problems an appointment may not be adequate. Hence, the NHS long-term plan states that by 2023/24 [3], personalised care which includes SP should be mandatory and in effect. How would this work in practice? SP professionals mainly work in primary care and assume a role similar to that of occupational therapists but place greater emphasis on social referral. The key aim of social prescribing is to empower people. Some GP practices are already involved and are using the national model, Fig.1 with an example of its use in Fig.2 - Aside from money worries, ho...

Akhil Hanmantgad Organ transplants save lives. [1] Currently in the UK, 4076 people are waiting for a kidney transplant and 436 people are waiting for a liver transplant, making them the most common organ transplant procedures. Unfortunately, this also means that the current waiting time for these organs is extensive. [2] Those that need kidney transplants, in particular, are put on a waiting list for roughly 2-3 years. Out of all those needing a kidney transplant, approximately ⅓ of these patients will die before receiving the transplant. But through the use of 3D printing technology in medicine, would it be possible to significantly reduce waiting times and deaths? [3] 3D printing was first developed in the 1980s by Charles W. Hull. It was mainly used for ‘rapid prototyping’ in engineering and manufacturing. The 3D printer uses material such as metal, plastic, or wood instead of ink to build 3D objects based on computer-generated models. Since then, 3D printers have been made more...

Introducing our core team at Universal Medicine! Prashan Balendran: I’m a medical student from the University of Birmingham with a keen interest in writing. I am a writer, editor, and recruitment representative for the blog. Having previously been a writer and editor for a political blog, I’m excited to offer my experience to the team and get back into writing some interesting pieces for you all to read! I joined Universal Medicine to discuss topics within medicine that we wouldn’t usually have the opportunity to explore in-depth within the course, as well as broadening both my own and your knowledge of the areas of medicine we are not familiar with. Somya Sharma:  I’m a medical student at the University of Birmingham, and one of the writers and graphics representatives for the blog. I got involved with Universal Medicine to explore exciting and emerging topics within the field of medicine. Now, I look forward to building up a platform where such knowledge can be shared with my pe...

Introducing our team of amazing writers! Current Writers: Andra Stefan:  I am a medical student at the University of Aberdeen, having previously graduated with a degree in Natural Sciences from University College London. Although I have only recently discovered my passion for writing, over the years I have had the opportunity to carry out scientific research in different fields from computational chemistry to molecular pharmacology. I have joined Universal Medicine as a writer to further explore research, particularly in the medical field, and to make it more accessible to the public! Karina Dembla:  I’m a biomedical science graduate from the University of Birmingham and a writer for the blog. I joined Universal Medicine to demystify any misconceptions our readers have of medicine/research, to explore the exciting new developments, and to ensure readers of other disciplines are informed about these scientific advancements. I hope you enjoy our posts and thank you for being on ...