The increased risk of breast cancer associated with the use of estrogen plus progestin declined markedly soon after discontinuation of combined hormone therapy — and was unrelated to changes in frequency of mammography, American researchers have found. According to background information supplied by the researchers, the use of menopausal hormone therapy decreased substantially after the [...]
Given the widespread presence of the swine flu virus across many countries, containment is probably not feasible, and efforts need to focus increasingly on mitigation, according to a leading public health expert. Interestingly, almost all cases reported so far have been in developed countries with robust surveillance systems, writes Richard Coker, Professor of Public Health [...]
A web-based reporting system may help clinicians track surgical complications and detect patterns of adverse events, identifying opportunities to improve the quality of care, according to a new US report. The report followed a study in which doctors designed a web-based system to track adverse and near-miss events and also established an automated method to [...]
Dr Mary O’Meara and Dr Brenda Corcoran describe the changes to the primary childhood immunisation schedule. Significant changes to the primary childhood immunisation programme were implemented in 2008 following recommendations from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC). This is an independent advisory committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland which is responsible for [...]
Children adopted from countries such as Russia, China and Guatemala may not be protected against polio, measles or other diseases despite records indicating they have been immunized, according to a new report. The report followed a study by US doctors who obtained data from 465 children who visited the International Adoption Clinic at Rainbow Babies [...]
Erica Mills reports from a recent conference that explored the divide between fact and fiction in the public’s perception of stem cell research and therapies. Stem cell research is undoubtedly one of the most contentious and widely discussed subjects in medicine today. Bursting into the public perception in 1998 with the creation of the first [...]
Dr John Garvey and Prof Walter T McNicholas on obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, which is thought to affect at least 60,000 adults in Ireland and is thought to play a major role in causing road traffic accidents. Driving is a complex process involving a high level of concentration and co-ordination of perceptual, motor and decision-making [...]
t is not consistent to stop screening women after the age of 50 years because the risk of cervical cancer – even after several negative smear results – is similar to that at younger ages, a new study has concluded. Ever since the first organised cervical screening programmes started in Europe more than 40 years [...]
Individuals who take aspirin or other anti-clotting medications appear more likely to have tiny, asymptomatic areas of bleeding in the brain, according to a new Dutch study. Cerebral microbleeds – small deposits of the iron-storing protein hemosiderin in the brain – may be a sign of cerebral small-vessel disease, according to background information supplied by [...]
Abnormalities in the fibres connecting different brain areas may contribute to muscle disorders such as writer’s cramp, according to a new study by French doctors. In the study, French doctors compared 26 right-handed patients with writer’s cramp to 26 right-handed control participants who were the same sex and age but did not have writer’s cramp. [...]
Loading ...
