MEDICAL ENGLISH ARTICLES

  As the  COVID-19 pandemic  comes to a close, more Americans are seeking medical care -- only to find roadblocks to long-awaited elective surgeries or unexpected traumatic injuries: a critical  national shortage  of blood. In June, the blood supply dropped to "red" level, indicating dangerously low supply at blood centers nation-wide, according to the  AABB Interorganizational Task Force on Domestic Disasters and Acts of Terrorism. Donated blood products have always been in high demand in the United States. But now, doctors say, the crisis has reached a new, critical turning point, forcing some to triage medical care, reserving blood products only for the sickest patients. According to the Red Cross, the supplier of 40% of the nation's blood supply, nearly 7,000 units of platelets and 36,000 units of red blood cells are needed daily. On average, an American needs blood products every two seconds. Patients with certain diseases, such as sickle cell disease ...

  The number of children experiencing myopia, or nearsightedness, is increasing steeply in Korea, where the majority of the population already experience vision problems. Doctors say that it seems to be related to the rise of online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a survey at Kim's Eye Hospital, 74.9 percent of the young patients below the age of 15, who visited the clinic during the one-year period between April 2020 and March 2021, were myopia patients. That figure is up 6.6 percentage points from the figure for the same period a year ago. April 2020 was when schools across the country started offering online classes due to the pandemic. Doctors say that it can be assumed that the increase in young myopia patients is related to the rise of online classes, involving more frequent use of digital display devices. "After the implementation of online classes, the number of children visiting the clinic due to myopia increased. Though we would not jump to the con...

  Antimicrobial resistance is a major public health concern that threatens the ability to deal with common infections. Optimizing the use of antimicrobial, or antibiotic, medicines plays a critical role in effectively treating infections and limiting antibiotic resistance. This optimization is known as  antimicrobial stewardship Trusted Source . One aspect involves restricting the prescription of antimicrobial medicines before tests confirm that there is a bacterial infection, especially during hospital admission. A recent study published in  The Lancet Microbe Trusted Source  investigated the use of antimicrobials among COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the United Kingdom. Bacterial coinfections are common in people with severe viral respiratory infections, such as  influenza Trusted Source , and are often associated with increased rates of morbidity and mortality. As a result, doctors frequently prescribe antimicrobial therapy in these instances of coinfection...

  Nurses wearing masks to hide their identities participate in a press conference organized by the Korea Health and Medical Workers' Union, May 12. The event was held to reveal publicly the struggles of nurses who are frequently forced to take on the duties of doctors, thus conducting illegal medical procedures against their will. Yonhap A physician assistant (PA) nurse with 12 years of experience working at a general hospital, who wished to remain anonymous, said he once made an incision in a patient's abdomen to cover for the surgeon who showed up late. He has also performed some surgical procedures requiring the skills of a licensed doctor, such as an abdominal drainage tube insertion and a bowel resection. But these procedures cannot be found in any medical records as they are officially illegal medical practices according to the Medical Law, which prohibits medical personnel from performing procedures beyond the scope of their licenses. The PA's testimony was shared at...