For the second time the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in Stockholm, Sweden, invites to the European Scientific Conference on Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology (ESCAIDE). The ECDC published now a forecast about expectations and the global hot topics of the international event in Berlin, November 19-21.
The ankle brachial index, a ratio of blood pressure measurements used to indicate the risk of peripheral artery disease and atherosclerosis, may be useful to improve the accuracy of cardiovascular risk prediction, according to a meta-analysis of previous studies.
Since decades women carefully feel their breast. Hoping that they will not find any evidence for lumps or other changes, that might signal breast cancer. However, a review of recent studies conclude that self-exams do not appear to reduce deaths. Whereas radiation therapy may lower recurrence rate of rare breast cancer.
Russia has one of the fastest-growing AIDS epidemic in the world. One reason for this development is unsafe sex of addicts. Therefore sexual behaviour should be considered as an important component in the treatment of drug-dependent people to stop HIV-transmission.
High-Density-Lipoprotein-Cholesterol is a so-called "good" cholestoral because it seems to protect the vessels from fat deposits. Hereby they can prevent atherosclerosis. The Whitehall II Study in the UK searched for the specific connection between low level of HDL and dementia risk and published now their results.
Limited public and political awareness of colorectal cancer (CRC), few formal screenings programms, delayed access to treatment - the first cross-country report on the management and funding of colorectal cancer (CRC) reveals an urgent need for action to improve the survival of patients in Europe and Australia.
Pharma company Eli Lilly has increased an existing partnership with the World Medical Association (WMA) by granting c. 646,505 euros to expand online training courses for physicians on multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), which they have been developed over the past year.
The recently launched KFH Novo from Kingfisher Healthcare (KFH) is a non-invasive medical device that utilises Bio-Electric Stimulation Therapy (BEST) to deliver extremely low levels of current to chronic wounds. This does not interfere with standard conventional therapy; the electrodes are placed some way from the wounds, beyond the normal treatment areas.
The next pandemia will come - rather sooner than later. The respiratory protection of frontline staff is a major part of healthcare facilities' preparation. To assist hospitals, ECRI Institute and the International Association of Healthcare Safety and Security present the web conference "Respiratory Protection: Preparing for Pandemic Flu" on July 17, 2008.
After the media got all excited about the teenage trend of coma drinking, people seem to get used to the sight of alcopops in childrens hand. Studies document this new trend of “letting the youth have their concept of fun” in the long run: drug abuse disorders are already causing higher death rates in young adulthood.
With its request to all EU states concerning better colorectal cancer care, europacolon was prelude to the 10th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer (WCGC) in Barcelona. Europacolon is the first European organisation dedicated to colorectal cancer. Their current report about the disease is meant to be a call to action.
Austria - An unusually high number of measles cases is currently causing concern amongst the public as well as health officials. Presumed to have originated in a private school in Salzburg, increasing numbers of cases were being reported at the end of March and beginning of April.
As the opening of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games nears, the US Olympic Committee (USOC) and the General Electric Company (a Worldwide Partner of the Olympic Games) are running two research programmes aimed at demonstrating that health monitoring and early intervention leads to injury prevention and enhanced health and sports performances for athletes.
Olympus, which recently opened the global Research and Development Centre for Life Science in Munich, will invest around euro 15m in this project.
The French Health Authorities announced in February that the smoking ban — which began in February 2007 for communal buildings and work places, and was implemented in January 2008 with effect on bars, restaurants and hotels — has produced striking results.
The recent marketing of "at home" genomic tests for disease risk may be premature, according to Dr. Kenneth Offit, MD, MPH, Chief of the Clinical Genetics Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). "Health professionals are now faced with the prospect of their patients coming to the office, a DNA profile in hand, asking for preventative management tailored to their…
One of the most painful problems of modern Russia is the high death rate, especially among able-bodied people. In 2005, the average life expectancy for men was 58.8 years.
'How do you treat the HIV-positive, diabetic, schizophrenic patient presenting with chest pain? By making the necessary information available for personalised medicine'
Competitive or complementary? By Florian Schwarz BS, Balazs Ruzsics MD PhD and U. Joseph Schoepf MD, of the Radiology and Medicine Departments, at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA.
Molecular imaging aims at the in vivo quantitative visualisation of molecules and molecular events that occur at cellular level. The potential towards clinical translation is huge, because the same modalities used in medical imaging are used in molecular imaging investigations.
When the International Agency for Research in Cancer (IARC) 2007 statistics report, showed that 429,000 new cases were reported in Europe in 2006, Director Peter Boyle recommended that colorectal cancer screening programmes be implemented throughout Europe.
The Uliazpi Foundation in Spain, which studies and cares for severely mentally retarded patients, carried out an interesting study to identify bone mineral density values in a group of its patients, compare these with the general population and investigate the possible influence on these values on certain clinical variables and therapeutic regimens.
The upper gastrointestinal (UGI) team at Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has developed a rapid access service for upper gastrointestinal cancers. The new system means that patients are referred directly from their GP to the hospital for an endoscopy.
A new test, developed at the University of Leeds, searches for a heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) which is released into the circulation following heart injury. The test seems to be more accurate in identifying patients with heart damage at an earlier course of their illness.
Dr Eduardo de la Sota reports