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Adding milk improves the effectiveness of oral drugs

Good old reliable milk. New research found that when it's combined with particular oral drugs, milk significantly improves their absorption by the body. It’s the latest in a series of studies showing that milk is a highly effective drug-delivery vehicle. For something that many of us take for granted, milk has turned out to be incredibly valuable in the world of health and medicine. Over the years, New Atlas has reported on cows that produce human breast milk, HIV-inhibiting milk, or milk containing human insulin. But what’s become increasingly clear to scientists is that milk’s composition makes it an effective drug delivery system. A new Monash University-led study found that adding both human and cow’s milk significantly improved the effectiveness of certain oral drugs. It’s the latest in a series of studies in which the researchers have investigated milk as a vehicle for improving drug delivery. “Through our research over the years, we’ve consistently been able to demonstrate the way in which certain medicines are able to ‘piggyback’ with the milk, which our body treats like food and digests,” said Ben Boyd, a professor in the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) and the study’s corresponding author. “Through this process, the milk and drug are absorbed, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the drug.” The term ‘bioavailability’ refers to how much of a drug actually reaches the bloodstream. Oral bioavailability, the bioavailability of drugs that are swallowed or otherwise delivered into the stomach, is affected by several factors, including the pH of the stomach and small intestine and enzymes and metabolism in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Therefore, the key to maximizing bioavailability is a drug’s formulation, which affects how well it is absorbed, distributed, and utilized by the body. Many drugs are poorly water-soluble and lipophilic (fat-loving), and both pose challenges to bioavailability. As you’re probably aware, the human body, including the GI tract, is mostly water, so if a drug doesn’t dissolve well in water, its absorption into the bloodstream will be incomplete. Lipophilic drugs need fat for proper dissolution and absorption (which is why your pharmacist might tell you to take a particular medication with food).

  • 25 February, 09:00
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41% of companies worldwide plan to reduce workforces by 2030 due to AI

Artificial intelligence is coming for your job: 41% of employers intend to downsize their workforce as AI automates certain tasks, a World Economic Forum survey showed Wednesday. Out of hundreds of large companies surveyed around the world, 77% also said they were planning to reskill and upskill their existing workers between 2025-2030 to better work alongside AI, according to findings published in the WEF’s Future of Jobs Report. But, unlike the previous, 2023 edition, this year’s report did not say that most technologies, including AI, were expected to be “a net positive” for job numbers. “Advances in AI and renewable energy are reshaping the (labor) market — driving an increase in demand for many technology or specialist roles while driving a decline for others, such as graphic designers,” the WEF said in a press release ahead of its annual meeting in Davos later this month. Writing in the wide-ranging report, Saadia Zahidi, the forum’s managing director, highlighted the role of generative AI in reshaping industries and tasks across all sectors. The technology can create original text, images and other content in response to prompts from users. Related articleAI will shrink workforces within five years, say company execs Postal service clerks, executive secretaries and payroll clerks are among jobs that employers expect to experience the fastest decline in numbers in coming years, whether due to the spread of AI or other trends. “The presence of both graphic designers and legal secretaries just outside the top 10 fastest-declining job roles, a first-time prediction not seen in previous editions of the Future of Jobs Report, may illustrate GenAI’s increasing capacity to perform knowledge work,” the report said. Conversely, AI skills are increasingly in demand. Close to 70% of companies are planning to hire new workers with skills to design AI tools and enhancements, and 62% intend to recruit more people with skills to better work alongside AI, according to the latest survey, conducted last year. Striking an optimistic note, the report said the primary impact of technologies such as generative AI on jobs might lie in their potential for “augmenting” human skills through “human-machine collaboration,” rather than in outright replacement, “particularly given the continued importance of human-centered skills.” However, many workers have already been replaced by AI. In recent years, some tech firms, including file storage service Dropbox and language-learning app Duolingo, have cited AI as a reason for making layoffs.

  • 14 January, 09:05
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