Mr Talha Manzoor looks at the aetiology of anal fissure and outlines some of the surgical and medical methods used to treat and manage the condition An anal fissure is a tear in the squamous epithelium of the anal canal around the opening of the anus. This condition can cause a sharp pain, especially when [...]
Dr Karina O’Connell, Dr Sarah Bergin and Prof Martin Cormican look at meticillin-resistant S. aureus and examine the pros and cons of screening, isolation and cohorting in infection control The term MRSA (meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is one of the most widely discussed healthcare topics in recent years. MRSA is frequently described as the major ‘superbug’ [...]
Rosiglitazone, which is used to treat type 2 diabetes, is associated with an increased risk of heart failure and death among older patients compared to pioglitazone, a new study has concluded. In light of such findings, the study’s researchers have advised that it is difficult to advocate continued use of rosiglitazone for most patients. As [...]
Women may have a slightly higher risk of death than men in the 30 days after a heart attack or other acute coronary syndrome (ACS), largely because of their rate of diabetes and other complicating clinical factors. Researchers evaluated the relationship between sex and 30-day mortality following ACS and analysed factors such as clinical classification [...]
Antioxidant supplements do not appear to be associated with an increased risk of mela-noma, according to a new study. That finding conflicts with the results of a previous randomised trial of antioxidants for cancer prevention, which found that daily supplementation with nutritionally appropriate doses of vitamins C and E, beta carotene, selenium and zinc appeared [...]
Girls who give birth between the ages of 15 and 19 years appear to be substantially heavier, with more abdominal fat, regardless of their childhood weight or of other risk factors for weight gain, a new study has found. In the study, American doctors followed 1,890 girls who were aged nine or 10 years at [...]
Prof Conor Ward on the life and achievements of John Langdon Down — who identified the condition that carries his name and radically improved standards of care When John Langdon Down died in 1894, his Lancet obituary recorded that he was a descendant of a Church of Ireland Bishop — Bishop Down of Derry. Ireland [...]
Gary Culliton reports on a recent conference in Prague where a new approach to treating Atopic Dermatitis was discussed Atopic Dermatitis (AD), also known as eczema, is a chronic debilitating inflammatory skin condition with no known cure. On average, patients with moderate to severe eczema experience frequent flare recurrence. The condition can negatively affect quality [...]
Dr Eoin Slattery differentiates between the two inflammatory bowel diseases — ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease — and looks at methods of diagnosis and different treatment options. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a term applied to a group of conditions characterised by chronic and/or relapsing inflammation within the gastrointestinal tract. IBD comprises two major conditions: [...]
People who are more active and exercise harder are less likely to develop cancer and die, according to new research. Researchers from the universities of Kuopio and Oulu in Finland studied 2,560 men aged between 42 and 61 from eastern Finland with no history of cancer and assessed their leisure time physical activity over a [...]
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