Don't just go there!
Many medical organisations have warned that no one who wishes to help in the relief work in tsunami-hit regions should travel there individually, i.e. without being officially affiliated with an already involved organisation.
The Tsunami International Survey on Emotional Impact
The Netherlands - Immediately after the tsunami devastated countries around Asia, three trauma researchers at the Department Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Utrecht, The Netherlands, as well as from the Department Military Psychiatry, Central Military Hospital in Utrecht, became involved in the care for a group of wounded Dutch patients who had been in Phuket.
TSUNAMI the aftermath
At a recent conference on the care of tsunami survivors, the Thai Health Ministry reported that over 5,300 of its population had been confirmed dead, leaving tens of thousands bereaved, as well as homeless, and that 10,000 people had already been treated by touring teams of mental health workers, as well as receiving counselling from Buddhist monks trained in psychology.
Euthanasia debate rekindled
The Netherlands - Although this country became the first, in 2002, to legalise euthanasia for people aged 16 years and over, child euthanasia remains illegal.
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.
The ICU: caring for patients' relatives
An intensive care unit (ICU) is a ward staffed by medical support who have been specially trained in the high levels of care required by each pathological state.
Reducing the duration of mechanical ventilation
The requirement for mechanical ventilatory support is the most common indication for admission to an intensive care unit - and up to 50% of the time that a patient receives such treatment may be taken up by attempts to discontinue it: a process termed weaning.
Cross-border care
Status quo of cross-border access to healthcare systems within the EU-Member States.
Nurse-surgeons
Waiting lists, EU limits on working hours, doctor and nursing staff shortages, how could healthcare providers overcome all those hurdles let alone glimpse the winning post ahead?
Adverse drug reactions
Although most patients do not react badly to prescriptions, a new study has found that one in 16 hospital admissions (in two hospitals) were caused by adverse drug reactions, and these resulted in an average of 8-day inpatient stays, using 4% of the hospitals' bed capacity.
Streamlining rehabilitation
Germany - Rehabilitation clinics are taking on an increasingly important role, because the country's Social Security Code indicates that, where possible, rehabilitation is preferable to providing pensions and long-term care.
Obesity
The disturbing international comparative study on health behaviour in school children (HBSC), conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), European regional offices, have been presented by the research director for Germany, Professor Hurrelmann, Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Bielefeld, at the 3rd German Congress for Health Services Research.
Clinical quality ventilator for home use
Camena, an innovative ventilator that provides clinical-quality ventilation for patients at home, will be launched, at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) annual meeting (4-8 September 2004, Glasgow, UK), by Dräger Medical AG & Co KGaA, of Lübeck, Germany.
BP: A poor indicator for cardiac disease
Blood pressure (BP) screening, either alone or in combination with other cardiovascular risk factors such as cholesterol levels, does not determine a person's chance of having a heart attack or stroke, reports Professor Malcolm Law and colleagues at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in the Journal of Medical Screening.
Small silent VADs
Ventricular assist devices (VAD) have been used since the 1980s, primarily to provide support after cardiac surgery for several days during recovery, or more often to keep patients alive until later heart transplantation (HTx).
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.
The electronic stethoscope
A processing system said to pick up cardiac sounds and correlate these with any related abnormalities, e.g. valve defects, stenosis, fibrillation, septal defect, etc, has been developed by the US firm Biosignetics Corporation.
Cardiovascular disease
Europe - Every year, 4 million people die from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Europe as a whole (as many as 800,000 of them under 65 years old) and, in the EU Member States, over 1.5 million people die annually from CVD.
HIV
Medication regimes based on cocktails of antiretroviral drugs can reduce the AIDS virus to almost undetectable levels.
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.
Patients link with mobiles
Another new system introduced at Bad Reichenhall's city hospital, allows nurses to talk with patients and ascertain whether their calls are due to an emergency or for a non-urgent request.
US skin refrigerants for EU
Ethyl Chloride skin refrigerants made by the Gebauer Company, of Cleveland, Ohio (established over 100 years ago) have received the CE Mark of approval.
Safer canes and crutches
The biomechanical features of the human ankle inspired the design of a new safety tip called Fedrofuss.
Stimulating cell metabolism
G-ogo sport, a new innovation from Dr. Goettfert Systems, uses a pulsing magnetic field to stimulate cell metabolism.
