September-October. 2025 | The HEALTH

FOREIGN NEWS

This milestone demonstrates the company’ s ongoing commitment to improving healthy life expectancy through advanced home blood pressure monitoring and preventive cardiovascular care.

The journey started over 50 years ago with the launch of OMRON’ s first BPM in 1973, a time when blood pressure readings were only taken in medical clinics. Today, technological progress allows people to measure their blood pressure easily and pre-

UNIFIED VISION: Siemens Healthineers and the National University Hospital unite to advance non-invasive diagnostics for liver disease, paving the way for healthier futures.

SIEMENS Healthineers and the National University Hospital( NUH) Singapore announced a strategic research partnership to improve diagnostic solutions for Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease( MASLD).

This condition now affects nearly 40

per cent of adults in Singapore, exceeding the global average of 30.05 per cent.

Formerly called Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease( NAFLD), MASLD has become the leading cause of chronic liver disease worldwide, driven by increasing obesity levels and sedentary lifestyles. The collaboration aims

TECH TRIUMPH: OMRON Healthcare celebrates the landmark achievement of selling over 400 million blood pressure monitors worldwide. cisely at home.

OMRON has played a crucial role in advancing blood pressure management, especially in the early detection of potentially life-threatening conditions like atrial fibrillation( AFib).

As OMRON begins a new chapter, its industry-leading devices and digital health platforms continue to transform daily monitoring into an essential tool for global health protection. With distribution in more than 130 countries, the company is dedicated to providing accurate and cost-effective home BPMs in emerging markets, aiming to reduce health disparities through early detection and intervention.

OMRON President and Chief Executive Officer Ayumu Okada stated: " Reaching 400 million units sold is more than a number; it signifies the trust millions place in OMRON Healthcare for their journey towards longer, healthier lives."

He emphasised the company ' s ongoing commitment to its ' Going for ZERO ' vision, which aims to eliminate cerebro-cardiovascular events worldwide by developing technologies that link daily life with healthcare.

OMRON Healthcare stays committed to developing innovative products and educational programmes to increase awareness of hypertension risks, benefiting both diagnosed individuals and those who are unaware of their potential risk.

for a more efficient, patient-friendly approach to liver care.

The research initiative was led by NUH Gastroenterology and Hepatology Senior Consultant Associate Professor Dan Yock Young. His expertise in liver disease research has set important international standards.

The study assessed Siemens Healthineers ' advanced ultrasound technologies, including Ultrasound- Derived Fat Fraction( UDFF) and Auto Point Shear Wave Elastography( Auto pSWE). These innovations enable noninvasive evaluations of liver fat and stiffness, providing safer alternatives to MRI scans and invasive biopsies.

Siemens Healthineers Asia-Pacific Japan President Vy Tran highlighted the potential of these technologies to revolutionise liver care, ensuring they are accessible in both tertiary hospitals and polyclinics. He emphasised the aim of achieving earlier detection and enhanced monitoring for patients.

The initiative is also part of the upcoming National University Centre for Digestive Health, scheduled to open in January 2026, which aims to enhance patient access to innovative diagnostic tools.

THE Indian Institute of Technology( IIT) Madras, ranked as India ' s top institute, in collaboration with researchers from Denmark, uncovered how genetic variants interact like ' switches ' to activate hidden cellular pathways.

This groundbreaking research, published in the prestigious‘ Nature Communications’ journal, demonstrated how these interactions could revolutionise disease research.

Led by IIT Madras ' s Department of Biotechnology PhD student Srijith Sasikumar and Prof. Himanshu Sinha, the study utilised systems-level multi-omic approaches.

The team demonstrated that genetic variants in yeast could collaborate to activate previously dormant metabolic pathways. This discovery offered an essential framework for understanding how multiple genes interact to affect and improve complex phenotypes.

Prof. Himanshu emphasised the importance of these findings, stating: " The implications of this discovery extend well beyond yeast. Many complex human diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders, result from the interplay of multiple genes rather than single mutations.

The IIT Madras study provides a mechanistic framework for systematically studying these interactions."

Srijith explained the idea, comparing it to flipping two switches at once, which activates a hidden backup circuit and causes a different system behaviour. He emphasised that genes do not work alone, but their interactions can produce new outcomes that would otherwise go unnoticed.

The practical implications of this research are extensive, with potential uses in developing biomarkers and identifying drug targets that include the combined effects of genetic variants.

This breakthrough could result in more precise disease diagnosis, prognosis, and the development of personalised treatment strategies tailored to individual genetic backgrounds.

Furthermore, the framework could influence industrial biotechnology by optimising biofuel production through metabolic pathway rewiring in microorganisms, as well as advancing agricultural research to improve crop and animal yields.

Overall, this discovery shows how insights from a simple organism like yeast can bring substantial benefits for human health, industry, and society.- The HEALTH