Laughter is the best remedy
It has long been suggested that laughter could be the best medicine – and now a group of researchers in the United Kingdom is applying that theory to help patients cope with long-term conditions.
Studies
NCBC to launch its International Delegate Program
The “State of Oncology 2013” report by the International Prevention Research Institute [IPRI] warns that the global number of new cancer cases will have doubled between 2008 and 2030.
Esaote showcases new Prevention Suite at EuroEcho 2013
Prevention Suite’s four combined imaging technologies enables practical pre-clinical assessment of cardiovascular disease risk .
Hospital mortality figures should be calculated differently
The mortality figures as they are currently calculated for Dutch hospitals are not a good measure for the quality of the health care they provide.
Enhancement in minimally-invasive treatment of heart rhythm disorders
The Catharina Hospital (Eindhoven, the Netherlands) and Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) today announced the results of a clinical study involving the treatment of 136 patients with complex heart rhythm disorders such as atrial fibrillation (AF).
Schizophrenia gene discovered
Working independently from different perspectives, geneticists from Finland and biochemists from Würzburg have researched the molecular mechanisms of schizophrenia and cognitive impairment.
Patient Logistics Drive Hospital Construction
Until recently, hospitals were built the way they had been built through the centuries. Today, hospital design is shifting towards patient logistics, opening up totally new perspectives.
Article • Paediatrics
In-line filters significantly lower severe complications
The use of in-line filters for infusion therapy significantly lowers the rate of severe complications in children aged between 0-18 years being treated in intensive care units, according to a new study from the Paediatrics Clinic at Hannover Medical School (MHH). The study also confirmed that the number of cases of systemic inflammatory response syndrome, SIRS, dropped substantially through the…
A gem of transplantation medicine celebrates its 30th year
The Collaborative Transplant Study has evaluated data on approximately 500,000 transplantations worldwide, providing a scientific basis for organ allocation and transplant treatment.
The UK pharma industry
In the lead up to further talks on medicine pricing, Stephen Whitehead, Chief Executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has accused the UK government of being too focused on encouraging breakthrough drugs at the expense of significant gains for patients from incremental innovation in medicines. ‘The government wants to target resources at big breakthroughs, but…
The 129th Congress of the German Society of Surgery
Meeting with EH editor Brigitte Dinkloh, Congress Secretary Professor Alexis Ulrich MD (left), Assistant Medical Director at the Clinic for General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery at the University of Heidelberg, outlined the scientific programme, discussed some impressive advances in surgical procedures, and explained why the gathering bears the slogan Surgery in Partnership.
Breathing space
If the hopes of inventors are to be believed, in around 20 years’ time there will be ‘real artificial lungs -- for now the endpoint of a history that began 84 years ago with the invention of the iron lung. Until then, non-invasive and invasive mechanical respiration will continue to dominate the hospital, complemented by extracorporeal procedures for blood oxygenation and decarbonisation,…
Oral vaccination against pancreatic tumours
The world’s first gene cancer therapy study of an innovative oral vaccine is underway at the Surgical Clinic of Heidelberg University Hospital.
Feuding cardiologists
A €35,000 DRG reimbursement for TAVI has put Germany in the lead for this procedure – and prompted sharp competition and disputes between cardiologists and cardio-surgeons, Holger Zorn reports.
Art improves stroke survivors' quality of life
Stroke survivors who like art have a significantly higher quality of life than those who do not, according to new research. Patients who appreciated music, painting and theatre recovered better from their stroke than patients who did not.
New studies show which anti-HIV drug combinations work better than others
Using a mathematical formula that carefully measures the degree to which HIV infection of immune system cells is stalled by antiretroviral therapy, AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins have calculated precisely how well dozens of such anti-HIV drugs work, alone or in any of 857 likely combinations, in suppressing the virus.
Better therapeutic results urgently required in chronic wound management
Every year in Germany, four million wounds leave a legacy of 30 000 amputations and six billion Euros in treatment costs. These shocking figures drew wound experts to the Pflege Kongress 2012 (2012 Care Congress) held in Berlin.
Live liver donation safer than previously thought
People who donate a portion of their livers for transplant to a relative or friend whose liver is failing can generally expect to live long, healthy lives and recover safely from the donation surgery, Johns Hopkins researchers have found.
Presumed consent not answer to solving organ shortage in U.S.
Changing the organ donation process in this country from opt-in — by, say, checking a box on a driver’s license application— to opt-out, which presumes someone’s willingness to donate after death unless they explicitly object while alive, would not be likely to increase the donation rate in the United States, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.
Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology
Step by step, the Helsinki Declaration is being implemented: Great Britain and the Netherlands have made it law. In Germany, it is voluntary. Report: Susanne Werner
ERC Advanced Grant for Professor Detlef Schuppan
The European Research Council (ERC) has earmarked about €2.5 mio. to fund the research being conducted by gastroenterologist and biochemist Professor Dr. Dr. Detlef Schuppan at Mainz University Medical Center. Professor Schuppan is a specialist in liver diseases ranging from fibrosis to cirrhosis (the terminal stage of fibrosis) to hepatic cancer.
Radiation treatment decisions in patients with prostate cancer and suspected lymph node metastasis based on USPIO-MRI
Prostate cancer is the most frequent cancer in men with about 49,000 newly diagnosed cancers in Germany and 6,000 in the Netherlands, annually.
Cardiology 'must be evidence-based' says ACC
Ian Mason reports from Chicago
Treatment of Bladder Cancer: Radiotherapy versus Surgery
According to a study published by Cancer Research UK scientists the survival rates of bladder cancer patients treated with radiotherapy are the same as those of patients undergoing radical cystectomy. The researchers investigated the medical records of 169 patients with invasive bladder cancer that were treated in Leeds between 1996 and 2000.