Colorectal cancer occurs in approximately one in every 17 people during their lifetime and is the second leading cause of cancer death in Europe. Two new blood tests could aid in the early identification of patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. The tests will make GI cancer detection simpler, cost-effective, and more acceptable to patients than current methods, the researchers say.
For many years we have heard about personalised cancer treatments, understood each cancer patient is different and that 'one size fits all' treatments are not appropriate. We have been told that early diagnosis is the key to successful treatment and that no two patients have the same genetic or biological profile.
Full automation has now become the gold standard for clinical laboratories. Without hospital microbiology labs, which according to the Centres for Disease Control deal with 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths annually in the US alone, the growing threat of community-acquired and nosocomial infections could prove insuperable.
Common European guidelines for self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) designed to improve glucose management in diabetics
Vienna, Austria 30 September - 2 October
The fact that child diabetics (type I) in Russia do not receive necessary and qualitative therapy was again highlighted during the 7th Russian conference 'The priority national project - Health - and the tasks of children's endocrinologists' held in Saint-Petersburg this June.
Martin Steinberg reports
The difference in the prevalence of diabetes in European countries is striking. Meike Lerner asked Sir Michael Hirst, Vice President of the International Diabetes Federation, why, for example, Germany has the highest number of diabetics (about 12% of the population) whilst the United Kingdom shows just 4%.
The global prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus is rapidly accelerating towards a disastrous impact in just two decades.
PSA-Kritiker PD Dr. rer. nat. Hans-Hermann Dubben und DGU-Generalsekretär Prof. Dr. Michael Stöckle suchten das Gespräch Selten wurde zwischen den Kritikern und den Befürwortern der PSA-gestützten Früherkennung des Prostatakarzinoms so hart diskutiert. Die Veröffentlichung der randomisierten Studien zum PSA-Screening aus Europa (ERSPC-Studie) und den USA (PLCO-Screeningstudie) hatte in…
Roche Applied Science and Google.org recently started a joint project to demonstrate the feasibility of developing a multidisciplinary surveillance, research and response system. This system will enhance the ability to predict and prevent emerging infectious diseases in East Africa. The East African region is known as one of the major hot beds for emergence of new infectious viral agents and new…
A new study shows that a radioactive skin patch can safely and successfully treat basal cell carcinoma, one of the most common types of skin cancers, according to researchers from India. The skin patch, which delivers the radioactive phosphorus-32, is nontoxic and could be an excellent alternative to surgery or radiotherapy in cases where carrying out these treatments is difficult.
Forensic toxicology is the post-mortem testing for lethal and/or foreign substances in body fluids and tissues, and it can be a very time-consuming process. The media has reported that Michael Jackson's death certificate was issued on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 without listing a cause of death; his brain, or part of it, was being retained for testing; and initial indications are that it may take…
According to ECD statistics for Europe, three million cases of nosocomial infections occur annually, and 50,000 are fatal. Evelina Tacconelli MD PhD (below) is Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Università Cattolica Sacro Cuore in Rome, Italy. Her scientific focus is on epidemiology, clinical and therapeutic aspects of nosocomial infections and infection control policies aimed to…
How the PCR-Test works The MRSA bacterium contains an additional 'mobile gene cassette' (SCCmec cassette) in its genetic makeup, which contains the so-called mecA gene. All beta-Lactam antibiotics such as Methicillin are therefore no longer effective. The LightCycler MRSA Advanced Test facilitates the detection of all five known SCCmec types within 85 to 100 minutes. This test principle is based…
During the race to produce vaccines against evolving influenza viruses the slowness of their manufacture has turned producers more sharply towards cell culture technology. Using the traditional process, fertilised chicken eggs must first be inoculated with live flu virus, then the resulting egg-adapted virus must be purified and inactivated to produce trivalent inactivated virus (TIV), during…
The new LW C200i Auto-chemistry Analyser combines the Stable reaction system, an economical sample and reagent system, advanced and unique optical system, and a comprehensive software system, its manufacturer Landwind Medical reports.
In recent years wound management has been primarily nurse-led, and not benefited from a multi-disciplinary approach. This must change, said Madeleine Flanagan, Principal Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire's school of Post Graduate Medicine in the faculty of health and human science, where she runs the MSc in Dermatology and an MSc in Skin Integrity; she is also Principal of the European…
This April, scientists, physicians, nurses, diabetes organisation heads, patients and representatives from Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care gathered in Basel, Switzerland, for the third European Media Workshop on Diabetes. The event was hosted by Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care, which is celebrating 40 years of innovative blood glucose monitoring.
At this year's Euroanaesthesia 2009, in Milan, the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA) presented for the third time the “Dräger Award for Intensive Care Medicine”. The 10,000 Euro prize went to the working group studying “Effects of ventilation with 100% oxygen during early hyperdynamic porcine fecal peritonitis” in the Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Ulm, Germany.
Beckman Coulter, Inc. has expanded its drugs of abuse test menu to include a DRI* Oxycodone Enzyme Immunoassay (OXYX). The assay is for the qualitative and semi-quantitative determination of oxycodone and its metabolite, oxymorphone, in human urine.
Applied Biosystems, a division of Life Technologies Corporation, has announced the expansion of its industry-leading portfolio of capillary electrophoresis sequencing systems with the introduction of two new lines of genetic analyzers.
Roche Applied Science announced the availability of a new detection kit for the Influenza A/H1N1 virus. The detection kit is offered for use in life science research. Roche currently is filing to get approval of the local health authorities worldwide for use of the kit in emergency situations.
At Euromedlab (7-11 June, Austria), Beckman Coulter will demonstrate the new UniCel DxH 800 Coulter Cellular Analysis System.
Launched by Eppendorf in 1979, the world's first handheld dispenser (repeater) - the Multipette - revolutionised laboratory work.
