Respiratory diseases
From burden to therapy. By Andrea Rossi MD, Director of the Respiratory Division at Bergamo General Hospital Bergamo, Italy, and Chair of the Scientific Committee of the European Respiratory Society
Therapy
EU regulation aims to improve research on medicines for children
The use of unlicensed and off-label medicines for children is widespread, yet over 50% of all pharmaceutical products have no scientific data for young people. With its Regulation on Medicinal Products for Paediatric Use the EU aims to promote the development of more medicines specifically for children.
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.
Teamwork and the future of intensive care medicine
The recent 26th International Symposium of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine - the largest annual meeting of its kind - attracted around 5,000 participants, who travelled to Brussels from over 80 countries.
The 1st International High Tech in Medicine congress
Prevention is better than cure - use the technology! A report from the 1st International High Tech in Medicine congress.
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.
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.
MDS assures greater care
Germany - PG 11 - a new product group added to the medical technical aids register* relates to decubitus aids.
Text messaging beats missed appointments
UK - Patients who miss medical appointments cost the country's National Health Service (NHS) around £575 million annually.
Your invitation to Neuro-week
The Working Party for Clinical Neuroscience, set up two years ago, ...
The silver anniversary of the ISICEM
The 25th International Symposium of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, to be held at the Congress Centre in Brussels, will see us celebrate our Silver Anniversary, when we will reflect on 25 years of meetings that have encouraged the presentation, discussion, and debate of intensive care medicine, and when we also look forward to what the next 25 years may bring.
Funds for adults with hospitalised children
Germany - The Federal Associations of Health Insurance Funds and the German Hospitals Association are now following Germany's Regulation 1 on the co-admission of child/adolescent patients and accompanying adults.
Asylum seekers and healthcare
UK - Over 100,000 asylum seekers have been relocated throughout London and England's southeast, to spread the cost of their medical care.
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.
PET and recurrent cancer
More sensitive dissemination tests are needed for patients with locoregionally recurrent (LRR) breast cancer, according to a paper by Dutch researchers published online by the European Journal of Cancer (Volume 40, Issue 10 , 7/2004).
Quality assurance first
Germany's Federal Committee of Physicians and Statutory Health Insurance Funds set up three model projects, based in Bremen, Wiesbaden and Weser-Ems, to trial the third edition of the European guidelines on healthcare within the German system and to develop the necessary organisational structures to make these work.
Relieving breathlessness in COPD
Breathlessness, the most common symptom in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), greatly reduces their ability to participate in day-to-day activities.
Successfully treating CHD in infancy
Germany - 0.7% of newborn babies need surgery for congenital heart defects (CHD) - i.e. around 5,000-6,000 children in every 700,000 born.
CHF: A major healthcare burden
Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a major healthcare problem with 1-2% of the population affected in Western countries. Because it increases with age, the prevalence of CHF is escalating with our aged populations.
CE approved
The Biotronik Home Monitoring Service, which gained CE approval in May, has now monitored over 1,500 patients worldwide. Studies indicate that 88% of patients claim an increased sense of security due to the service.
High-cal intake: Hope for bowel cancer?
France - Less than 50% of those affected by bowel cancer survive beyond five years after diagnosis. However, new research* surprisingly suggests that a high calorie diet may increase chances of survival for longer.
Safer canes and crutches
The biomechanical features of the human ankle inspired the design of a new safety tip called Fedrofuss.
HIV
Medication regimes based on cocktails of antiretroviral drugs can reduce the AIDS virus to almost undetectable levels.
Taxus
France - Four studies of three TAXUS paclitaxel-eluting stents have demonstrated their safety and efficacy, according to the maker, Boston Scientific Corporation of Natick, Maryland, USA.
