Clinical Update: Asthma – Asthmatics are chronically undertreated and the longer the condition remains untreated, the more treatment resistant it subsequently becomes. Children who do not have their asthma treated are more likely to have persistent asthma into adulthood. Occupational asthma studies show that people who are not removed within two years from occupations that [...]
Dr Muhammad Arshad and Prof Michael FitzGerald look at neuroleptic malignant syndrome, a rare side-effect of certain antipsychotic medications Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a rare, life-threatening neurological disorder due to antipsychotics characterised by severe rigidity, tremor, fever, altered mental status, autonomic dysfunction and elevated serum creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) and white blood-cell count. Antipsychotics can [...]
The College of Psychiatry of Ireland issued the following press statement last week, entitled ‘Anti-depressant Medication – Clarification’, which clarified its position on antidepressants and violent acts Untreated depression can have a fatal outcome. Those experiencing moderate to severe depression frequently describe having thoughts of suicide. Suicidality (a spectrum of thinking and behaviour, from the [...]
Mr Iftikhar Ahmed classifies the four main types of fistula in ano, looks at the causes of fistulae and details the different surgical treatments that are available to best suit the different types Fistula is defined as a track lined by granulation tissue between two epithelial surfaces. In cases of fistula in ano, it is [...]
Rory Hafford examines the literature on constipation and finds a complex syndrome that can cause confusion right from definition onwards Definitions for the term ‘constipation’ differ widely. For some, it simply means infrequent stools. For others, it refers to ‘hard stools’, or having difficulty emptying the bowel fully. Zinser(1) says that constipation is not a [...]
Fewer than half of individuals who have non-specific chest pain experience relief from symptoms following standard medical care, according to a new German study. In addition, the study found that one-tenth of those with persistent chest pain undergo potentially unnecessary diagnostic testing. Doctors investigated 807 patients with non-specific chest pain who visited 74 German primary [...]
An analysis of genetic and clinical data for nearly 800 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has identified differences in genetic characteristics that are associated with age- and sex-specific patterns of increased or decreased recurrence-free survival, a new study has found. Researchers examined clinically relevant differences in the underlying biology of NSCLC based on [...]
The incidence of a certain type of gastric cancer has declined in the last 30 years for all age groups and races, except for whites aged 25 to 39 years of age, according to a new study. Researchers analysed US population-based age-specific data for noncardia gastric cancer, using data from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, [...]
Patients who have gastric cancer surgery followed by chemotherapy have an associated decreased risk of death and improved disease-free survival compared to patients who have surgery alone, according to a new French-led analysis of previous studies. Researchers assessed the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy quantitatively through a meta-analysis based on individual patient data from all relevant [...]
IgA antitissue transglutaminase antibodies (IgA-tTG) and IgA antiendomysial (EmA) antibodies have high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing coeliac disease in adult patients presenting with abdominal symptoms, research shows. The systematic review of papers looking at the utility of the most commonly performed serological tests to screen for coeliac disease in primary care populations found that [...]
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