The official MedZine Blog

In July, a fifty-year-old Spaniard who had not visited any endemic countries was diagnosed with the chikungunya virus. Most likely, the infection occurred in his home town. This is not the first time the tropical virus has been transmitted in Europe. A publication in eLIFE shows that the distribution of the transmitting mosquito covers a great part of Europe. Continue reading

Because of the ageing of the general population and an increase in dementia patients, dementia was predicted to become a true epidemic. However, this assumption is based on data from twenty years ago. A review in The Lancet of recent epidemiologic publications concerning dementia epidemiology contradicts the conclusions previously made. Continue reading

Family members of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have an increased risk to develop the disease themselves. However, it is not clear which family members will eventually be affected. A Mexican study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology has now shown that the presence of specific antibodies in the blood is a tell-tale for the development for RA within five years. Continue reading

Patients who listen to music before, during or after surgery recover with less pain, less analgesics and less anxiety. These are the results of a large systematic review of 72 randomised controlled trials that was published in The Lancet. Continue reading

According to an American cohort study, children younger than five years carry respiratory viruses fifty percent of the time. This is not always accompanied by health complaints: symptoms were only reported in 37 percent of the study time, researchers from the University of Utah state in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Continue reading

Cold-activated brown fat cells burn fat to produce warmth, instead of storing it like white fat cells. However, according to scientists from the US and Greece, it is now possible to turn white fat cells into brown fat cells in humans. This discovery opens up new opportunities for the fight against obesity, the research groups write in Cell Metabolism. Continue reading

Since its launch, the 3D printer has become increasingly popular. Among others, the medical sector has found many applications for the device, like the production of prostheses, models for surgery practice and cartilage implants. Now pharmacy has its first FDA-approved 3D printed drug developed by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Company. Continue reading

American researchers have succeeded at imaging a mouse brain at a scale previously unachievable. They describe their imaging tool in a recent publication in Cell. Jeff Lichtman, study senior author and researcher at Harvard University: "For people who are imagers, being able to see all of these details is wonderful.” Continue reading

Although the Epic Care Everywhere system is widely used in North America, most other countries are oblivious of the international network that enables sharing of electronic patient files. The Radboud University Medical Centre (Radboudumc) has recently become one of the first European Epic members. Continue reading

Apart from leukaemia and lymphoma, T cell therapy has now proven to be effective in multiple myelomas. In a phase I/II clinical trial, sixteen of the twenty patients responded to the treatment, US scientists write in Nature Medicine. Continue reading