A better sleep in the operating theatre
Xenon anaesthesia not only preserves the heart and circulation but also prevents post-operative delirium. The high cost of the gas is made up for by a shorter length of sta. Report: Holger Zorn
geriatrics
Civilisation Diseases breaking economic growth
More than 63% of all deaths in the world are caused by so- called non-communicable diseases. In the WHO-region of Europe it’s even higher – 86%. The direct and indirect economic costs are huge – to the point of posing a real threat to growth in crisis-hit economies. Therapy alone is not enough, World Bank strategist Dr. Armin Fidler told the European Health Forum Gastein. Effective…
RIBA-II, the next generation care-giving robot
A new robot using high-precision tactile sensors and flexible motor control technology has taken Japan one step closer to its goal of providing high-quality care for its growing elderly population.
Lack of dignity for older patients
The Dignity in Practice study followed a number of national reports showing that the NHS does not always treat older people with care, dignity and respect and that the lack of dignified care provided in acute NHS Trusts is a major source of complaint.
Concerted efforts to combat prosthetic joint infections
Bacteria are highly flexible when it comes to choosing a vehicle to enter a human body. During orthopaedic surgery, they may well settle on a prosthetic joint and cause immediate or delayed infections.
Several methods for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease developed by European scientists
PredictAD is an EU-funded research project that develops objective and efficient methods for enabling earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Diagnosis requires a holistic view of the patient combining information from several sources, such as, clinical tests, imaging and blood samples.
Devices for Dignity
The lives of people who find communication difficult are to be dramatically improved following a report published by Devices for Dignity (D4D), into Voice Output Communications Aids (VOCAs). The free to access report, whose development was led by Barnsley Hospital and NHS Sheffield as part of a D4D consortium, is designed to improve the development of new technologies and stimulate further…
Contrast-induced nephropathy
Contrast induced nephropathy (CIN) is widely recognised as a potentially serious complication of contrast media use -- a risk that increases with a patient’s age and decreased renal function. Mark Nicholls reports
Transcatheter aortic valve implants bear risks
Every year thousands of patients with less than one year to live are denied a heart valve replacement because they are too frail to undergo surgery. These patients tend to be over 75 years of age and suffering from multiple health problems, such as respiratory conditions that preclude general anaesthesia, end-stage failure of liver or kidneys, or a history of coronary surgery. Two years ago they…
Brittle bones and heart disease go hand in hand
Norwegian studies indicate that people with osteoporosis have a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and vice versa. Now researchers believe they have found a biological system that may influence both disease processes.
Lactate in the brain reveals aging process
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have shown that they may be able to monitor the aging process in the brain, by using MRI technique to measure the brain lactic acid levels. Their findings suggest that the lactate levels increase in advance of other aging symptoms, and therefore could be used as an indicator of aging and age-related diseases of the CNS.
GE and Intel to Form New Healthcare Joint Venture
GE and Intel Corporation have announced the entry into a definitive agreement to form a 50/50 joint venture to create a new healthcare company focused on telehealth and independent living. The new company will be formed by combining assets of GE Healthcare’s Home Health division and Intel’s Digital Health Group, and will be owned equally by GE and Intel.
Blood test to predict rheumatoid arthritis
Researchers from University Hospital in Umea, Sweden, have identified several cytokines, cytokine-related factors, and chemokines that increase significantly prior to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease onset. These findings confirm those of earlier studies which suggest that the risk of developing RA can be predicted and disease progression may be prevented. Complete findings of this study are…
Neuroimaging Technique Identifies Patients at Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease in Healthy Brains
How the brain changes with age is not well-characterized and even less is known about the factors influencing the rate of brain aging. Brain imaging can offer a window into risk assessment into for diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. A recent study demonstrated that genetic risk is expressed in the brains of even those who are healthy, but carry some risk for AD.
The role of nutrition in the elderly
At the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) congress in Vienna, experts highlighted the important relationship between nutrition and functionality in the elderly. They discussed the importance of an effective and flexible screening tool for the measurement of nutritional status, the impact of nutritional status on fall and fracture risk, and the role physical exercise…
Nutrition and functionality: key partners in ageing
Every second geriatric patient acutely hospitalised in Europe suffers malnutrition and, worse, this often goes unnoticed. These shocking facts were aired this July in Paris, during a satellite symposium held by the Nestlé Nutrition Institute at the 19th IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics.
Elderly care: the future
robuLAB10, a service robot designed to assist the elderly in their own homes, went on show this spring at Robobusiness 2009, in Boston, Mass. Produced by the French firm Robosoft and SRI International in the USA, the robot integrates SRI's Karto navigation software that enables it to navigate, follow, and assist a person from room-to-room.
The 11th EAPC Congress
Faced with death, what are the wishes of terminally ill patients? Does a request for euthanasia disappear with good palliative care? How invasive should medicine be at this final stage of life? Is comprehensive palliative care financially affordable? Can studies on those who are dying be ethically justified? Difficult questions, but all posed during the 11th European Association of Palliative…
EFORT 2009
One of the key topics at the EFORT Congress, held recently in Vienna, was on opportunities offered by computer-aided surgery (CAS) to achieve better results for many orthopaedic interventions. Within the next decade CAS will lead to the routine use of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for knee prosthetics, hip replacement and osteotomy.
Spanish healthcare
In July 2007, Bernat Soria Escoms, one of the world's leading experts in stem cell research, became Spain's new Health Minister, when his predecessor Elena Salgado was moved to Public Administration.
Changing approaches to wound management
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…
Personnel deficits
Healthcare in Germany will suffer if doctors and nurses cannot delegate certain tasks to others. So warned Udo Janssen MD MBA, speaking at the recent Gesundheitsnetzwerker (health network) congress held in Berlin. Blaming the inflexibility of new labour models that make them difficult to implement, Dr Janssen believes they need to be reviewed.
Aging society
Care of elderly and geriatric patients in EU countries
The system lacks a coherent structure to deal with its rapidly aging population.
"Hospitals are expected to improve their performance continually"
A series of expert presentations organised by European Hospital in cooperation with the ECR addressed the latest issues affecting hospital management, information technology and fincance and attracted more than 400 attendees. Click here to read the summary of the five Management speeches.
Pain control
The availability of a new opioid-based treatment option, has led pain specialists to believe they may at last be able to solve the age-old problem of how to provide effective chronic pain relief without causing opioid-induced constipation (OIC).