The official MedZine Blog

Interpretation of medical news

Fluorescence improves search for colorectal polyps

Fluorescence improves search for colorectal polyps

Because colorectal polyps can transform into cancer, they are generally removed upon identification during colonoscopy. However, small and flat polyps are often missed during this procedure. Scientists at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) have therefore developed a molecular technique which visualises these polyps by making them fluorescent, they write in Nature Medicine. Continue reading

Inhaling deeply diminishes radiation damage to heart of breast cancer patients

Inhaling deeply diminishes radiation damage to heart of breast cancer patients

Patients undergoing radiation therapy for left-sided breast cancer have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease. However, Mirjam Mast, researcher at the Bronovo hospital in The Hague, Netherlands, has found a simple solution: holding your breath during irradiation. This reduces heart damage, she writes in her dissertation. Continue reading

Bariatric surgery relieves diabetics of medication use

Bariatric surgery relieves diabetics of medication use

In a group of diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) patients who underwent bariatric surgery, up to forty percent experienced disease remission, whereas the patients with only lifestyle interventions remained dependent on medication. Those are the results of a cohort study with 52 DM2 patients from the US, published in JAMA Surgery. Continue reading

Aviation safety training reduces deaths at intensive care unit

Aviation safety training reduces deaths at intensive care unit

The crew resource management (CRM) training not only improves safety in aviation but is also useful for intensive care unit (ICU) personnel, researchers of the Dutch Radboud University Medical Centre discovered. Their prospective cohort study of three years was published in Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica and describes the effects CRM on the ICU complication rate. Continue reading

Cystic fibrosis gene therapy has little effect

Cystic fibrosis gene therapy has little effect

Since the discovery of the mutated CFTR gene in cystic fibrosis patients, scientists have been working on the development of gene therapy for this patient group. Recently, a gene therapy phase II clinical trial with 116 participants in the UK resulted in the halt of disease progression, although there was little effect. The article was published in The Lancet. Continue reading

Antibody halts effect of dabigatran

Antibody halts effect of dabigatran

The monoclonal antibody idarucizumab is able to counteract the effect of the non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant dabigatran in the majority of patients. That is the conclusion of a recent publication in The New England Journal of Medicine. These results imply that the irreversibility of effect of dabigatran is now no longer an issue. Continue reading

Spinal cord learns on its own

Spinal cord learns on its own

The spinal cord engages in its own learning of motor tasks independent of the brain, according to an imaging study publishing PLOS Biology. The results of the study, conducted by principal investigator Julien Doyon and colleagues of the University of Montreal, Canada, may offer new opportunities for rehabilitation after spinal cord injury. Continue reading

ISTH 2015: Long noncoding RNAs as new therapeutic targets

ISTH 2015: Long noncoding RNAs as new therapeutic targets

From June 20th to 25th the 25th biannual meeting of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) will take place in Toronto. The organisers expect more than 8,000 participants from all over the world who will attend the presentations on various haemorrhagic disorders and thrombosis issues. Continue reading

Health insurance covers experimental melanoma treatment

Health insurance covers experimental melanoma treatment

In cooperation with researchers from the US, Israel and Europe, the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Antoni van Leeuwenhoek) has developed a new immune therapy for metastasised melanoma. During the next four years, the therapy will be available in research context and covered by health insurance. Continue reading

EULAR Congress 2015: preview of the highlights

EULAR Congress 2015: preview of the highlights

June 10th to 13th, 2015, the annual conference of the European League Against Rheumatism will take place in Rome. Because of this year’s collaboration with the Paediatric Rheumatology European Society (PReS), part of the programme will focus on rheumatic diseases in children. With an expected 14,000 participants from 120 countries, the EULAR congress 2015 promises to become a major international event. Continue reading

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