The official MedZine Blog

The influenza virus is an important cause of respiratory infections in young children in Kenya, compared to the same group in the United States or Europe. This is shown by PhD research by Gideon Emukule, who works at the Primary Care Department of the Radboudumc. With data from Emukule Kenya may improve their strategies against influenza, including in the field of vaccination. The review was published in PLOS ONE. Continue reading

The genetic profile of tumor organoids made of metastases of colorectal cancer corresponds with the tumor tissue. That is the conclusion of a research group led by Emile Voest, professor of medical oncology and director of the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI). The results of the study were published in PNAS on October 12, 2015. This is an important step towards predicting the potential effect of a cancer treatment on an individual level. Continue reading

The way in which the heart ages is sex dependent. This difference is the biggest in the left ventricle – clinically relevant because its mass is a predictor of cardiovascular events. That is written in Radiology by American researchers of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Continue reading

The results from a Dutch cohort study with 13,715 gastro-intestinal (GI) cancer patients show that the use of aspirin after diagnosis increases the five-year survival rate from 42 to 75 percent. Martine Frouws, research physician at the Leiden University Medical Centre, presented her findings at the European Cancer Congress (ECC) in Vienna on the 28th of September 2015. Continue reading

In theory, the prescription of medication compensating the deregulation of molecular pathways should lead to better treatment of cancer. However, in a multicentre phase II study in France, this approach did not render longer periods of progression-free survival. The results, published in The Lancet, raise concerns about the implementation of personalised medicine in cancer. Continue reading

Monitoring blood glucose levels will be easy as never before easier for diabetics. The company DexCom has developed the first glucose monitoring device that can be linked to your smartphone, replacing the separate data receivers. The G5 Mobile Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) received the CE mark on the 14th of September and will become available in Europe in the coming weeks. Continue reading

German scientists have found a sustainable solution for water contamination with pharmaceuticals. Because effluent treatment is not sufficient for the clearance of medications from waste water, the researchers developed a technique increasing the biodegradability of pharmaceuticals. The principle is explained in Environmental Science & Technology. Continue reading

Eko Core is a new device which can be attached to stethoscopes to record the heart beat and visualise it in wave form. With the accompanying app the data files are automatically transferred to the cloud and saved into the patient’s electronic health record. The application was recently approved by the FDA and is available in the US. Continue reading

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