The official MedZine Blog

The common practise of giving patients with an acute intracerebral haemorrhage a platelet transfusion is not effective and might even be dangerous. That is the conclusion of a paper by an international group of researchers that was published in The Lancet. They specifically studied patients that were on antiplatelet drugs prior to having the bleeding. Continue reading

Mindfulness training is an effective way to prevent depression relapses. That is the conclusion of a meta-analysis that was carried out by Dutch, British, Canadian and Swiss researchers. According to them, mindfulness training can be a good addition to or replacement for antidepressants Continue reading

Traumatically injured patients with hemorrhage benefit from a quick blood transfusion. Each delay of ten minutes in the administration raises the risk of death. That is written by researchers of the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center in The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. Continue reading

Heroin-dependent patients who are also struggling with cocaine dependence can be successfully treated for this second addiction using sustained-release dexamfetamine. That is written by Dutch investigators in The Lancet. In an accompanying comment, Swiss psychiatrists call these results a milestone. Continue reading

Traumatic childhood events leave an epigenetic trail in the DNA. Primarily, the methylation of the KITLG gene is relevant for stress response programming in the brain. That is written by researchers of Utrecht University and the Max Planck Institute in Nature Communications. Continue reading

The prevalence of resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics in children with urinary tract infections is high, especially in countries outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), according to a recent article in the British Medical Journal. In an editorial, an Australian professor of General Practise Research warns about the drastic consequences of this finding for clinical management. Continue reading

The development of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after a radical cystectomy is associated with inferior long-term survival of bladder cancer, according to an article in BJU International. This association could mean that VTE is a marker of more aggressive disease. Continue reading

Recently, a discussion has flared up in the medical community on microbirthing, the practice in which maternal vaginal fluid is transferred on to an infant born by caesarean section. A recent report in Nature Medicine hesitantly concluded that this might be effective in restoring the microbiota of infants, but a group of British doctors warn for the potential dangers in BMJ. Continue reading

In Scientific Reports, scientists of the University Medical Centre Utrecht, The Netherlands, and the university hospital of Southampton, United Kingdom, describe a genetic expression profile of the endometrium with which they can predict the success of an IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatment. Ultimately, this may lead to the development of a clinical test. Continue reading

Sleeping longer could reverse the effect of sleep restriction on glucose homeostasis. That is written by American researchers in Diabetes Care. According to the authors, to restore insulin sensitivity and lower the risk of diabetes type 2, it is sufficient to recover from four short nights by sleeping for ten hours twice. Continue reading