Health and Medicine

This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.

Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.

Pesticide pains brain

Mississippi’s illegal roach killer excites attention.

The brain centre targeted by traces of a widely used pesticide has been identified by US researchers. The finding could help explain symptoms seen in people exposed to the pesticide in their homes.

Several years ago, some US homes were sprayed illegally with the crop pesticide methyl parathion, known to be toxic at high doses. Evidence has since emerged linking the exposure to anxiety, sleeplessness and depression in

New Laser-Based Imaging for Early Diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Study Documents Imaging Technique’s Accuracy in Detecting the Course of Finger Joint Inflammation

Findings Indicate Need to Combine Laser Imaging with Other Diagnostic Tools

A team of specialists in laser medicine has developed an imaging technique with the potential to dramatically improve the early diagnosis and treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). According to the team’s study, which is published in the May 2002 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, this innova

Polymers are promising tools for gene therapy

New methods are being developed to cure illnesses with the aid of gene therapy. Polymer technology provides new and versatile possibilities for administering gene doses.
”Polymers are used to pack the gene to be transferred into particles of the size of a ten thousandth of a millimetre. These polymers effectively transport the transferable gene into affected cells and are then dissolved by the organs,” explains Project Coordinator, Professor Arto Urtti of the Bio-pharmacy Department of the Unive

Emergency medicine doctors top stress league

Emergency medicine doctors come top of the stress league, with around double the reported stress levels of other doctors, reveals a national survey in Emergency Medicine Journal. Nearly one in 10 reported suicidal thoughts.

All 479 emergency medicine consultants across the UK were sent a validated survey to determine levels of psychological distress and depressive symptoms. Respondents were also asked to detail the frequency and ‘stressfulness’ of work stressors.

In all, 350 respond

High risk of head injury after diagnosis of psychiatric illness

Patients with evidence of recent psychiatric illness have a high risk of sustaining head injury over the next 12 months, finds a study in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

The researchers looked at the health records of patients who had sustained a head injury in the 12 months after joining a large health organisation (HMO) in the USA covering six counties.

The presence of mental health problems was determined from prescriptions for psychiatric drugs, a confirme

Malaria – breakthrough in understanding the side effects of mefloquine

Two British scientists, Dr Ashley Croft and Dr Andrew Herxheimer, have published a paper which for the first time tries to explain the adverse effects of the controversial antimalaria drug, mefloquine (Lariam®).

Mefloquine, made by the Swiss drug company Hoffmann-La Roche, is used both to treat and prevent malaria. Since the 1980s doctors have used it to treat around 2 million people with malaria, and about 15 million travellers have used mefloquine as malaria prophylaxis.

Althoug

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