Xenotransplantation —current status and prospects and looking behind the bars: emerging health issues for people in prison
(Source: British Medical Bulletin)
Source: British Medical Bulletin - February 23, 2018 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
Death on demand? An analysis of physician-administered euthanasia in The Netherlands
AbstractBackgroundPhysician-administered euthanasia (PAE) was legalized, along with physician-assisted suicide (PAS), in The Netherlands in 2001.Sources of dataAnnual reports of the Dutch Regional Euthanasia Review Committees, the committees ’ 2015 published Code of Practice and research studiesAreas of agreementThere is a general openness about the practice of PAE/PAS in The Netherlands and an avoidance of misleading euphemisms. The 2001 law also includes arrangements for post-event review of PAE/PAS decisions.Areas of controversyRising numbers of annually reported deaths from PAE and uncertainty over actual numbers. Mo...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - February 12, 2018 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
The role of the food industry in health: lessons from tobacco?
AbstractIntroductionIn this review, we highlight poor diet as the biggest risk factor for non-communicable diseases. We examine the denial tactics used by the food industry, how they reflect the tactics previously used by the tobacco industry, and how campaigners can use this knowledge to achieve future public health successes.Sources of dataData sources are wide ranging, notably publications relating to public health, obesity and processed food, the effectiveness hierarchy and food industry denialism tactics.Areas of agreementGlobal burden of disease analyses consistently demonstrate that poor diet produces a bigger burde...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - February 9, 2018 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
Looking behind the bars: emerging health issues for people in prison
AbstractIntroductionThere are more than 10 million people imprisoned worldwide. These individuals experience a higher burden of communicable and non-communicable disease, mental health and substance misuse problems than the general population and often come from marginalized and underserved groups in the community. Prisons offer an important opportunity for tackling health problems in a way that can deliver benefits to the individual and to the community. This paper focuses specifically on emerging health issues for prisons across the world.Sources of dataThis paper uses sources of international data from published systema...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - January 31, 2018 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
Osteoarthritis of the hip and knee in former male professional soccer players
AbstractBackgroundProfessional soccer (PS) players are at great risk of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee and hip.Sources of dataFollowing the PRISMA guidelines, the key words ‘osteoarthritis’ and ‘soccer’ or ‘football’ were matched with ‘players’ or ‘former’ or ‘retired’ and with ‘hip’ or ‘knee’ on December 24, 2017 in the following databases: PubMed, Cochrane, Google scholar, Embase and Ovid. Only comparative studies reporting the prevale nce rate of OA of both hip and knee joint in former PS athletes (fPSa) and age and sex matched controls were considered.Areas of agreementIn fPSa, the prev...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - January 29, 2018 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
Utility of intracoronary imaging in the cardiac catheterization laboratory: comprehensive evaluation with intravascular ultrasound and optical coherence tomography
AbstractBackgroundIntracoronary imaging is an important tool for guiding decision making in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.Sources of dataWe have reviewed the latest available evidence in the field to highlight the various potential benefits of intravascular imaging.Areas of agreementCoronary angiography has been considered the gold standard test to appropriately diagnose and manage patients with coronary artery disease, but it has the inherent limitation of being a 2-dimensional x-ray lumenogram of a complex 3-dimensional vascular structure.Areas of controversyThere is well-established inter- and intra-observer va...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - January 19, 2018 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
Devices in heart failure; diagnosis, detection and disease modification
AbstractIntroduction/backgroundImplantable cardiac devices are widely used in chronic heart failure (CHF) therapy. This review covers current CHF treatment with electronic cardiac devices, areas of discussion and emerging technologies.Sources of dataA comprehensive search of available literature resources including Pubmed, MEDLINE and EMBASE was performed. National and international guidelines were accessed.Areas of agreementExcessive right ventricular pacing is detrimental to cardiac function. Cardiac resynchronization therapy is beneficial in specific individuals with CHF.Areas of controversyImplantable cardioverter defi...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - January 12, 2018 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
Current issues in the impacts of transport on health
AbstractIntroduction or backgroundTransport affects health in many ways. Benefits include access to education, employment, goods, services and leisure, and opportunities for incorporating physical activity into daily living. There are major inequalities: benefits generally accrue to wealthier people and harms to the more deprived, nationally and globally.Sources of dataHealth on the Move 2;Journal of Transport and HealthAreas of agreementBenefits of travel for access and physical activity. Harms include health impacts of air and noise pollution; injuries and fatalities from falls or collisions; sedentary behaviour with mot...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - January 4, 2018 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
Management of Zika virus in pregnancy: a review
AbstractIntroduction/backgroundSince 2015, an epidemic of Zika virus spread across the Americas. This coincided with an increased incidence of microcephaly reported at birth in Brazil, with subsequent evidence of a causal association.Sources of dataSystemic reviews, observational studies, public health organizations.Areas of agreementZika virus causes microcephaly and brain abnormalities in infants born to mothers infected during or shortly before pregnancy. Zika virus is a trigger for Guillain Barre Syndrome. Whilst mosquito bite is the main route of transmission, sexual transmission is another confirmed route.Areas of co...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - December 14, 2017 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
Xenotransplantation —the current status and prospects
AbstractIntroductionThere is a continuing worldwide shortage of organs from deceased human donors for transplantation into patients with end-stage organ failure. Genetically engineered pigs could resolve this problem, and could also provide tissues and cells for the treatment of conditions such as diabetes, Parkinson ’s disease and corneal blindness.Sources of dataThe current literature has been reviewed.Areas of agreementThe pathobiologic barriers are now largely defined. Research progress has advanced through the increasing availability of genetically engineered pigs and novel immunosuppressive agents. Life-supporting ...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - December 8, 2017 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
Managing diabetic kidney disease
AbstractIntroductionDiabetes mellitus (DM) is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD). This review covers the pillars of care essential for the management of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) including (1) early diagnosis, (2) improved glycaemic control, (3) treatment of hypertension, (4) identification and treatment of associated metabolic bone disease and (5) identification and effective management of dyslipidaemia and additional cardiovascular risk factors.Sources of dataWe searched PubMed for articles using search terms: diabetic nephropathy, diabetic kidney disease, diabetes and chronic kidney disease. We used c...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - December 5, 2017 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
A review of systemic anticancer therapy in disease palliation
AbstractBackgroundSystemic anticancer therapy (SACT) is a collective term to describe the growing number of differing therapies used in malignancy to achieve palliation. Improving symptoms, quality of life (QOL) and where possible quantity of life are the goals of these treatments.Sources of dataA comprehensive literature review was undertaken using Medline, Embase and the Cochrane database.Areas of agreementThe use of palliative SACT can lead to increases in symptom control, QOL and survival. The breadth of treatable cancers has increased along with the number of therapeutic options.Areas of controversyThe increasing use ...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - November 28, 2017 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
Control of healthcare- and community-associated MRSA: recent progress and persisting challenges
AbstractBackgroundHealthcare adapted meticillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has spread to hospitals around the world over 50 years. More recently, other strains of MRSA have emerged with the ability to spread in the community and infect otherwise healthy individuals. Morbidity and mortality associated with MRSA remains high and its control in both the healthcare and community setting has proven challenging.Sources of dataPubmed (Medline).Areas of agreementThe use of targeted screening and decolonization, hand hygiene and antimicrobial stewardship is supported by the most robust studies, though many studies have i...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - November 28, 2017 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
Outcome of ankle arthrodesis and ankle prosthesis: a review of the current status
AbstractIntroductionIn advanced stages of ankle osteoarthritis (OA), ankle arthrodesis (AA) or total ankle arthroplasty (TAR) may be necessary. Our purpose is to compare AA and total ankle replacement for the surgical management of end stage ankle OA.Sources of dataWe conducted a literature search of PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane, Embase and Google Scholar databases using the terms ‘ankle’ in combination with ‘OA’, ‘arthrodesis’, ‘arthroplasty’, ‘joint fusion’, ‘joint replacement’. Studies where treatment was exclusively total ankle replacement or AA were excluded. Treatment characteristics and ...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - November 23, 2017 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
The role of complement inhibition in transplantation and Freidreich ’s ataxia: clinical features, pathogenesis and management
(Source: British Medical Bulletin)
Source: British Medical Bulletin - November 16, 2017 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research
