News • Work-life balance
Study: How to make nurses stay
Staff shortage remains an immense challenge in healthcare. To address this, new UK research points out ways to make clinical working environments more attractive for nurses.
Studies
News • Sexual health pilot project
Vending machines offer convenient STI testing
Vending machines dispensing self-test kits for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have proven to be an effective and widely accepted means of reaching individuals who rarely or never get tested.
News • Chemotherapy and cancer drugs
‘Heart-on-a-Chip’ to test cardiotoxicity of treatments
Chemotherapy can be toxic to heart cells. To help protect the hearts of cancer patients, Cedars-Sinai investigators have created a three-dimensional “heart-on-a-chip” to evaluate drug safety.
News • Persistence of K. pneumoniae and E. coli
Exploring long-time colonization with resistant enterobacteria
Once a patient’s body has been colonized by resistant bacteria, they can persist for a long time, a new study by the University and University Hospital of Basel shows.
News • Mobile health technologies
Contraception counseling: Doctors shy away from digital methods
Pregnancy prevention apps, fertility-tracking wearables and more: Digital tools have expanded the range of contraceptive methods – but are rarely discussed at the GP's office, a new study shows.
News • Elimination of senescent tumour cells
Study: Immunotherapy makes anti-cancer chemotherapy more efficient
Chemotherapy against cancer can lead to the generation of senescent tumour cells, which can help the tumour survive. A new immunotherapy approach to eliminate these cells shows promise in animal models.
News • Study shows significant adverse effects
Global warming: The health cost of urban heat
Heat islands found in many European cities have a clear impact on human mortality risk, comparable to air pollution. A new study has produced the first cost estimate of this impact.
News • From conception to childbirth
Study shows what women want (in pregnancy health apps)
A team comprising obstetricians, gynecologists, pediatricians, and biomedical engineers has found the key determinants for digital health solutions that support women from pre- to post-pregnancy.
News • Blood-based diagnosis of glioblastoma
Sparing brain cancer patients from undergoing risky surgery
A simple blood test could help diagnose patients with glioblastoma, the deadliest form of brain cancer, sparing them from undergoing invasive and highly-risky surgery, report UK researchers.
News • Machine learning in sample analysis
Lab-trained pathology AI meets real world: ‘mistakes can happen’
AI models are highly capable in analysing tissue samples – as long as conditions are lab-perfect. Add a little contamination, however, and diagnostic accuracy goes out the window, a new study shows.
News • Focus on autoreactive T lymphocytes
Guillain-Barré Syndrome: researchers find cause
The underlying mechanisms of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) have remained largely unknown until now. New research now uncovers a pivotal aspect of GBS pathophysiology.
News • Decision support system
Reducing high-risk drug combinations in the ICU
Fewer, but more relevant alerts in the ICU: Dutch researchers show how a computerized decision support system significantly reduces high-risk drug combinations in intensive care patients.
News • Mammacarcinoma research
Study pinpoints breast cancer ‘cells-of-origin’ in high-risk women
Scientists have pinpointed likely ‘cells-of-origin’, the source cells that can grow into breast cancer, in women carrying a faulty BRCA2 gene who are at high risk of developing the disease.
News • Men's health
Gynaecomastia linked to heightened risk of death
Men with gynaecomastia (non-weight-related enlarged breast tissue) may be at heightened risk of an early death before the age of 75, suggests the first study of its kind.
News • Finding therapy-relevant genetics
Leukaemia: AI provides support in diagnostics
Certain genetic features are crucial for treatment decisions for AML leukaemia. A team from Münster shows how an AI-based method can predict these features from images of bone marrow smears.
News • Training course and sound therapy
Can an app train the brain to overcome tinnitus?
Tinnitus is common, affecting up to one in four people. Now a study shows that the debilitating effects on mental health can often be reduced via training and sound therapy in a smartphone app.
News • Algorithm detects emotional state
AI face detection as support for psychotherapy
A feasibility study by Swiss researchers shows that AI systems are able to reliably predict therapeutic success in patients with borderline personality pathology by detecting emotions on their face.
News • Telemedicine study
Most patients in favor of online GP consultations
The largest-ever study of patient views on online GP consultations saw a strong backing for the new option. Important benefits named were greater convenience and flexibility, but also efficiency.
News • Coronavirus research
Increased risk of heart rhythm disruption after Covid-19
A new, large-scale study from Sweden underlines the importance of vaccination against Covid-19: The research shows that an infection raises the risk of heart rhythm disturbances.
News • From the heart to the brain
Early onset of coronary heart disease increases dementia risk
Having coronary heart disease at a younger age was associated with an increased risk of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia, a new study finds.
News • Susceptibility detection in Escherichia coli
How AI can detect antibiotic resistance in 30 minutes
A new deep-learning approach to AMR testing has been shown to detect antimicrobial susceptibility within as little as 30 minutes - significantly faster than current gold-standard approaches.
News • Study on gender concordance
Does it matter if surgeon and patient are the same or different gender? Not much, says study
New research finds little evidence that post-surgical patient mortality is lower when patient and surgeon are the same gender.
News • Emergency AED delivery
Drones can bring defibrillator to the patient before ambulance arrival
When a person has a cardiac arrest, using an automated external defibrillators (AED) can be life-saving. New research shows that AED delivery via drone is often quicker than an ambulance.
News • Opportunistic screening using chest X-rays
AI identifies non-smokers at high risk for lung cancer
Incidence of lung cancer among people who never smoked is rising. A new AI tool opens the door for opportunistic screening for this group, using existing chest X-rays in the electronic medical record.
News • Lack of photos in published studies
The unseen faces of psiorasis in science
Scientific articles about psiorasis suffer from a shortage of actual patient images, according to a new study. This makes it hard for patients to grasp the condition, the authors argue.