Search

Background and Aims: The metaverse has enormous potential in health care, continuously developing and offering innovative solutions by combining artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR), Internet of Medical Devices, and quantum computing technologies. In addition to using virtual platforms to help and boost medical education, familiarity with this platform is necessary to strengthen medical skills and communication with patients in medical sciences in the future., Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search using keywords and their MeSH synonyms, including "metaverse," "medical education," and "health care," across PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. After screening the results, relevant articles were selected to inform the writing of this manuscript., Results: The metaverse is shaping the future of medical sciences, offering new opportunities for health education, advocacy training, and patient outcome improvement. The combination of real and virtual worlds may advance international relations, facilitate data sharing, increase medical care speed, and reduce infectious diseases. The metaverse, despite its benefits, has some limitations. Only 37% of 15-24-year-olds have internet access, and AR/VR glasses are expensive and may cause eye discomfort. It is also a potential risk for medical students, who may need help understanding the limitations of simulations and develop unrealistic expectations. Considering the metaverse as a supplement to clinical practice, not a replacement for supervised training, is crucial. Ethical concerns, data security, privacy, and lack of instructions for education are also issues. However, providing information about the metaverse can increase health care workers' attribution to use it for patient examinations, students' education, and tests., Conclusion: This paper explores the impact of the metaverse on medical science education and underscores the need to integrate the metaverse into all areas of medical sciences as a supplement to existing evidence., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2024 The Author(s). Health Science Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objectives: The objective of this meta-analysis was to investigate the association between plasma bilirubin levels and the incidence of metabolic syndrome and diabetes mellitus across all populations., Methods: Several databases were searched, including PubMed (Medline), Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase (Elsevier), to identify relevant cohort studies. All cohort studies that reported the risk ratio along with a 95% confidence interval were included. The association between bilirubin levels and metabolic syndrome or diabetes was reported as a pooled RR with a 95% CI in the forest plot. All analyses were conducted using STATA version 17, with a significance level of 0.05., Results: Out of the 10 studies included in the analysis, four investigated the effect of hyperbilirubinemia on the incidence of type 2 diabetes. When these four studies were combined, the pooled RR was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.73, 0.83; I 2 : 88.61%; P heterogeneity  <  0.001), indicating a significant association between hyperbilirubinemia and decreased risk of type 2 diabetes. Five of the 10 studies evaluated the effect of hyperbilirubinemia on the incidence of metabolic syndrome, and the pooled RR was 0.70 (95% CI: 0.67, 0.73; I 2 : 78.13%; P heterogeneity  <  0.001), indicating a significant association between hyperbilirubinemia and decreased risk of metabolic syndrome., Conclusion: The findings suggest that elevated levels of bilirubin may have a significant protective effect against the development of diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: This meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the impact of tocilizumab on clinical outcomes associated with COVID-19., Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted across Scopus, PubMed (Medline), Cochrane Library, EMBASE (Elsevier), ClinicalTrials.gov, and Web of Sciences to identify pertinent studies published until May 2022. The primary search terms included "tocilizumab" and "COVID-19". Following the formulation of the search strategy, all identified studies were screened, and the data extraction process was initiated. Subsequently, the Cochrane risk of bias checklist was employed to evaluate the risk of bias. The effects of tocilizumab were assessed utilizing the pooled risk ratio (RR) and the fixed effect model in STATA (version 17)., Results: In this meta-analysis, we analyzed 17 clinical trial studies to assess the impact of tocilizumab on mortality in patients with COVID-19. The pooled risk ratio (RR) for mortality was 0.93 (RR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.86, 1.00; I 2 : 72.39%; P value: 0.001). The findings indicated that tocilizumab use was associated with a 4% increase in ICU hospitalization (RR: 1.04; 95% CI: 0.90, 1.20; I 2 : 0.00%; P value: 0.65). Additionally, tocilizumab administration was linked to a 2% reduction in the requirement for a ventilator (RR: 0.98; 95% CI: 0.90, 1.08; I 2 : 26.87%; P value: 0.16)., Conclusion: The administration of tocilizumab during the COVID-19 pandemic, prescribed to patients with the virus, exerted a noteworthy impact on reducing outcomes associated with COVID-19., (© 2023. The Author(s).)