What keeps you up at night? Examining sleep paralysis
Despite being accompanied by cultural connotations of spirits or demons, sleep paralysis is nowhere near supernatural.
Neigh or nay?: On ivermectin and treatments against COVID-19
It has been over a year since COVID-19 brought the world to a halt in March 2020. It is unsurprising, then, that people are desperate for the pandemic to be over. Some go as far as taking drugs not indicated for use against COVID-19, and sometimes in forms not meant for human consumption. An example […]
The subtlety of microplastics: an invisible threat
The ubiquity of microplastics in our environment presents a growing concern. Such is the breadth of the issue that microplastics have now reached Mount Everest, one of the most remote places on Earth. These miniscule particles can now be found even inside the stomachs of animals and consequently, humans. Though tiny plastic particles are one […]
Unwise antibiotic use drives the need to manage medication
Antibiotic use has been formed by decades of success in improving medical care through the treatment of bacterial infections and controlling the transmission of disease. While the discovery of antibacterial agents has transformed modern medicine, our reliance on them has led to the inevitable evolution of bacteria, bringing greater threats to public health. Despite their […]
Dice with death: Individual action will not stop climate change
Ever since the industrial revolution, humans have burned large amounts of fossil fuels to meet the growing energy consumption brought about by global industrialization. These industrial activities release gigatons of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, furthering the greenhouse effect that warms our planet and fuels climate change. An uninhabitable […]
Beyond ones and zeroes: Skills for the modern age
Coding involves a versatile set of skills that contribute to the development of logic and abstract thinking. It is a process of optimization that seeks to solve unique problems by converting data into a language that is understood by computers and hand-held devices, and it is this language that continues to innovate the ways information […]
Emergency physicians hold the line at the forefront of medical response
It is an understatement to say that the pandemic that continues to spread across the globe has brought about change in many forms. Industries and sectors of society have been at the forefront of instigating these changes, be it in operations, management, or even in outlooks. Among these are the operations of those in the […]
Ocean’s warmth, typhoon’s rage: Climate change and the storms of the 21st century
From October to November 2020, four typhoons made landfall in the Philippines. Already in an economic and social slump brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the country was spared no destruction by Typhoon Ulysses (Vamco) and Super Typhoon Rolly (Goni) in particular, which dealt P19 billion and P17.9 billion in damages, respectively, according to the […]
Seeing eye to eye: How blue light and remote learning affect ocular health
With the pandemic shifting public spaces online, virtual learning has monopolized the school year. Lecturers and students across the globe, who in the past met face-to-face, now engage in their classes through their devices. As citizens adjust to the current circumstances, going to school may mean extended exposure to digital screens. As education becomes more […]
No bark, all bite: Understanding the infection of rabies
“Rabies has a fatality rate of almost 100 percent…It is responsible for the death of about 200 to 300 Filipinos every year,” emphasizes Dr. Ronaldo Quintana, program manager of the National Rabies Prevention and Control Program (NRPCP) of the Department of Health (DOH) Infectious Disease Office. The disease in question causes the inflammation of the […]