Todays treatments
Dr Christiane Eickelberg, of the University of Giessen Lung Centre (UGLC), outlines the centre's research projects, aims and academic offerings
Pandemic panic sends feathers flying
AIDS, SARS and now H5NI; just a brief beginning or the end? As the virus moves towards Europe, and millions of birds are slaughtered, interest has risen in a Chinese herb, a patent-sharing controversy and drug stockpiling
Paper handkerchief technology
The Europe-wide research by Westminster University, England and T.Ü.V. Rhineland, Germany, has proved the advantages of hand wiping with paper rather than with textiles or warm air.
Clinical immunology
The fundamental role of inflammation in almost all disease processes has been increasingly recognised over several years.
Intergroup Exemestane Study (IES) results
Currently, five years of treatment with tamoxifen is considered the 'gold-standard' treatment for postmenopausal women with breast cancer. This drug blocks oestrogen, which can help fuel the growth of tumours in some cases.
Bone marrow cells given gene therapy 'shield'
Radiotherapy affects bone marrow cells, lowering production of white blood cells. New research, published in The Journal of Gene Medicine, suggests that pre-treatment with a gene therapy 'shield' could defend healthy bone marrow cells.
The all-in-one alarm and speech pager
The Personal Security Pager (PS-Pager), made by Bosch Security Systems, is an innovative mobile that houses two products: a personal alarm device and speech pager. Compact, lightweight, robust, comfortable and discreet to wear, the device is also as easy to handle as the messages are to read.
Liberal drugs policy works
Switzerland - Providing heroin addicts methadone or buprenorphine as a treatment for their addiction has led to a decline in the number of new heroin users in Zurich, according to a paper by Carlos Nordt and Rudolf Stohler from the Psychiatric University Hospital, Zurich, published in The Lancet.
Intelligent textiles
The latest textile technologies go along with fabric integrated sensors, or computers, to measure e.g. the functioning of a patient's cardiovascular system.
Article • In vitro fertilisation
Watch out for IVF identity fraud
Hospitals and fertility clinics across Europe are to be warned that safeguards must be implemented to prevent impostors gaining access to IVF treatment.
The transcatheter paediatric heart valve
Many companies are competing to develop the ideal transcatheter heart valve and catheter-based valve replacement procedures, which are revolutionizing valve replacement for larger patients.
Measuring oxygen uptake
USA - A satellite symposium will be provided at the 53rd ACSM Annual meeting in Denver, Colorado (30 May) by VIASYS Healthcare Inc. and the American College of Sports & Medicine.
Robot navigates catheter to correct atrial fibrillation
Italy - A remotely-controlled catheter device guided by magnetic fields provides a safe and practical method for delivering radio frequency ablation treatment in the hearts of patients with atrial fibrillation, according to a new study (Pub: Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 4/4/06).
Prenatal stem cell therapy
While today prenatal diagnostics provides a wide range of possibilities, prenatal therapy is still rather limited.
Donation to Swedish Brain Foundation gains research funds
Sweden - The Swedish Brain Foundation has received a donation of SEK 250 thousand (approximately e27,593) to support advanced research and development, from GE Healthcare, based in Uppsala.
Small wireless device to improve cancer treatment
USA - Engineers are developing a tiny wireless device - the size of a rice grain - to be implanted in tumours to indicate the precise radiation dose received and to locate the exact position of tumours during treatment.
Life-long learning
The case for structured training, board certification and revalidation*
Paediatrician is European of the Year
Russia - Leonid Roshal, 71, paediatrician and head of the Moscow Scientific Research Institute for Emergency Children's Surgery and Traumatology, has received the Reader's Digest European of the Year Award 2005 for his tireless and dedicated work helping children who have been injured in disasters and conflicts around the world.
SARS no longer deadly threat - But avian flu is
USA - Scientists are confident that the virus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is no longer circulating in humans, or other animals, according to Professor Kathryn Holmes, a microbiology expert at the University of Colorado, USA.
Electroporation
The function of cell membrane is to maintain the stability of a cell's interior by regulating the amounts and types of molecules entering or leaving the cell.
Sleep apnoea study may alter stroke management
Spain - New research suggests that sleep apnoea is a new risk factor for death from stroke.
Tuberculosis blood test gains EU approval
TB causes three million deaths annually, ranking it higher than any other infectious disease. And TB has resurged in Europe. In August, the British Thoracic Society, British Lung Foundation and TB Alert highlighted its increase in over the last 15 years in the UK alone.
Viagra tested on Everest
Sildenafil, an active agent used in the impotence drug Viagra, has been administered to seven young mountaineers on an Everest expedition, to test its effect on the lungs. Seven other men on the expedition are receiving a placebo.
Mobile test detects infarction in minutes
The earlier a cardiac infarction is detected the better the patient's chances of survival. However, because tests for cardiac infarction check for protein molecules that are released from heart muscle during cell necrosis, and these enter the blood very slowly, it can take three hours to gain a reliable result.