Apple’s new mental health feature helps identify depression

Jun 6 2023

A new Apple update will be giving iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch users access to new tools which help to assess and address depression and other mental health conditions.

The new features were announced were announced as part of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2023 Monday.

The platforms will encourage healthy behaviours whilst also creating more awareness about one’s emotions.

The Health app in IOS 17 and iPadOS 17 and the Mindfulness app in watchOS10 will allow users to identify emotions ranging from “very pleasant” to “very unpleasant.”

Users can select associations they interpret as having the biggest impact on their feelings whilst also having access to assessments performed in clinics through the Health app.

Through the app, the tech giant hopes to inspire more users to take a proactive approach to their health.

#MaltaDaily

Malta with highest percentage increase in building permits in EU

Jun 6 2023

According to Eurostat, Malta has had the highest percentage increase in building permits in 2022 over the previous year.

Compared with 2021, building permits went up in only 9 EU countries last year, with Malta registering the highest increase at 29%.

The island was followed by Spain (+28%), Croatia (+21%), Slovenia (+17%), Bulgaria (+12%), Italy (+8%), Hungary (+7%), Portugal (+3%) and France (+2%).

Building permits went down by almost 5% in the EU, following a 15% increase in 2021. In the remaining EU members not mentioned above, the decreases in the number of building permits spanned around -28% and -1% (Luxembourg and Romania respectively).

The number of building permits were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic after having went up by almost 6% on average per year between 2015 and 2019.

#MaltaDaily

Bill to include environment as fundamental right presented by PN

Jun 6 2023

The Nationalist Party presented a bill on Monday to include the environment as one of the fundamental rights of the individual in Malta.

Addressing a press conference, PN MPs Darren Carabott, Janice Chetcuti and Stanley Zammit spoke about how this is the ‘strongest legislation in favour of the environment ever proposed in our country.’

‘All individuals in Malta have the right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment’ the bill, and by extension the PN, suggests.

The party is thus proposing to introduce public scrutiny of environmental decisions as well as enhancing public participation in such matters.

The PN included legal amendments to the draft law, expanding the definition of the word environment to include air, water, land, ecosystems and all elements forming part of it. Social conditions, cultural attributes and aesthetic coherence will also be included.

The bill means that there will no longer be a need to show personal interest to open a constitutional case on the environment and will thus allow for more robust public scrutiny by NGOs and citizens.

The PN is calling on the government to vote unanimously in favour of the amendment, which requires at least a two-thirds majority to be approved and enacted.

#MaltaDaily

Worst heart attacks more likely to happen on Mondays

Jun 6 2023

Be careful of those Monday blues. According to new research, the severest type of heart attack is most likely to occur on a Monday.

The research took a look at 10,528 patients who had been admitted to hospitals in Ireland with specific heart attacks called ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (try saying that five times fast) between 2013 and 2018.

The study has not been peer-reviewed yet, but a STEMI heart attack is the most serious kind and kepis when a major coronary artery is completely blocked.

Symptoms include chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, stomach pain, heart palpitations, anxiety, sweating and feeling dizzy.

It was found that Monday, as well as slightly less but significant on Sundays, are set to be days wherein the heart attacks are more noted.

It is currently assumed that a link between heart attacks and the body’s sleep or wake cycle (the disruption of it), could be playing a factor.

Previous research also suggests that cardiac arrests are more likely to occur on Mondays. Requiring more research, the trend could be cause for worry for both workers and medical experts.

#MaltaDaily