Media Coverage

Blockchain is here to stay. Here is what we need to do to make it better.

Last month’s Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2018 heralded many announcements, including the mixed reception around Phase II trials results from Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug BAN2401. Like many treatments in AD, it addressed build up of amyloid plaques in the brain. However, many drug failures in that area, as well as Pfizer’s exodus from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s research early this year, has led to investors and scientists to reevaluate the plaque theory. Edward I. Ginns, MD, PhD, medical director, neurology, for Quest Diagnostics, said, “When we see patients at the point of clinical identification, the brain is pretty much out of resources. It’s unlikely that neurons that are dead or non-functional will be treated at that late stage.” To that end, Quest Diagnostics wanted to identify patients with cognition problems earlier. They developed CogniSense, a cognition test that is available as an app for the iPad and given in the primary care doctor’s office.

Opioid use—and abuse—among construction workers has become the industry’s silent crisis. It frequently begins with pain, typically from jobsite-related injuries, including falls, or from tasks involving repetitive motion. Excessive exposure to vibration—in addition to bending, twisting and awkward postures—inflicts particularly hard wear and tear on backs, knees, shoulders and other joints.

llinois workers in retail, health care and administrative services and waste management were most likely to fail a drug test in 2017, according to data from a national testing company. [CR-LF]Quest Diagnostics, headquartered in Secaucus, N.J., tested more than 10 million urine samples nationally for marijuana, opiates, cocaine and other drugs. About 5 percent of Illinois retail workers tested positive for drugs, followed by 4.8 percent of workers in health care and social assistance, and 4.3 percent in administrative services and waste management.