Pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) are usually removed by endoscopic endonasal surgery (EES). However, surgical management of giant and irregular pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (GIPitNETs) with EES is often challenging, due to their large size and irregular shape. An alternative approach is combined endoscopic endonasal and transcranial surgery (CECS). Now, researchers compare the efficacy and outcome of both surgical techniques for treating GIPitNETs and found that CECS is safe and effective with comparable complication rates.

The method uses AI to help doctors prescribe personalised medicine.

Researchers at the School of Chinese Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), have made a breakthrough in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Their study reveals that combining the active ingredient extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine Astragalus membranaceus (huang qi) with the widely used Western drug methotrexate (MTX) can effectively reduce chronic inflammation in autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjögren’s disease. This study provides a new solution to address the drug resistance and the side effects caused by long-term medication. The research findings were published in two leading international journals, Acta Pharmacologica Sinica and Journal of Leukocyte Biology, where they were featured as cover stories.

A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development (MPIB) and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) has demonstrated in a recent pilot study that virtual forest bathing can improve emotional well-being – especially if the virtual natural environment appeals to multiple senses, such as hearing, sight and smell, at once. The results have now been published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.