[Comment] Offline: The legacy and lessons of May '68
Doctors have only cared for the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it. Imagine you are a distinguished Professor of Medicine, the Rector of one of your country's most garlanded universities. Your students are angry. They have seen fellow students at a nearby university rebel against atrociously poor conditions —overcrowding, incompetent curriculum reforms, and feelings of utter alienation. Tensions are palpable. The air is chilled by the threat of violence. What would you do? Let us not judge. (Source: LANCET)
Source: LANCET - April 19, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Richard Horton Tags: Comment Source Type: research
[Comment] Social lobbying: a call to arms for public health
The term lobbying derives from the public lobbies of the UK Houses of Parliament in London, where concerned citizens have gathered since at least the 16th century to speak with elected officials on the sidelines of legislative debates. In today's parlance, lobbying has evolved to represent a more pernicious and systematic approach to influencing lawmakers, occurring much deeper within the corridors of power. (Source: LANCET)
Source: LANCET - April 19, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Alessandro Demaio, Robert Marshall Tags: Comment Source Type: research
[Editorial] UK COPD treatment: failing to progress
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of mortality in the world today. More than a million British people lived with diagnosed COPD in the UK in 2014 –15, or just under 2% of the population. COPD admissions to emergency services in the UK are on the rise, but, access to treatments shown to reduce patients' time spent in hospital is still woefully inadequate. (Source: LANCET)
Source: LANCET - April 19, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: The Lancet Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
[Editorial] Sexual harassment and abuse —the sinister underbelly
This week, The Lancet, publishes a Special Report on allegations of sexual harassment and abuse at UNAIDS. The report suggests that UNAIDS has at best marginalised and at worst buried allegations of sexual harassment. Its responses have been unduly weak and unacceptable, and the announcements of remediation are too little too late. Furthermore, internal loyalty to the existing leadership seems to trump integrity in the organisation, and has contributed to a culture devoid of transparency and accountability. (Source: LANCET)
Source: LANCET - April 19, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: The Lancet Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
[Editorial] Orban not delivering health for Hungary
Viktor Orban's re-election to a third consecutive term in Hungary offers a preview for western countries of what the health consequences could be for governments that value populism and economic strength over the health of their people. The controversial populist was swept back into power by a wave of support, with a manifesto that included a crackdown on liberal non-governmental organisations. Orban said before the election that his opponents will face “moral, political, and legal revenge”, in the aftermath. (Source: LANCET)
Source: LANCET - April 19, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: The Lancet Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
[Articles] Spending on health and HIV/AIDS: domestic health spending and development assistance in 188 countries, 1995 –2015
From 1995 to 2015, total health spending increased worldwide, with the fastest per capita growth in middle-income countries. While these national disparities are relatively well known, low-income countries spent less per person on health and HIV/AIDS than did high-income and middle-income countries. Furthermore, declines in development assistance for health continue, including for HIV/AIDS. Additional cuts to development assistance could hasten this decline, and risk slowing progress towards global and national goals. (Source: LANCET)
Source: LANCET - April 17, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Global Burden of Disease Health Financing Collaborator Network Tags: Articles Source Type: research
[Articles] Trends in future health financing and coverage: future health spending and universal health coverage in 188 countries, 2016 –40
We chart future scenarios for health spending and its relationship with UHC. Ensuring that all countries have sustainable pooled health resources is crucial to the achievement of UHC. (Source: LANCET)
Source: LANCET - April 17, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Global Burden of Disease Health Financing Collaborator Network Tags: Articles Source Type: research
[Series] Intervention strategies to improve nutrition and health behaviours before conception
The nutritional status of both women and men before conception has profound implications for the growth, development, and long-term health of their offspring. Evidence of the effectiveness of preconception interventions for improving outcomes for mothers and babies is scarce. However, given the large potential health return, and relatively low costs and risk of harm, research into potential interventions is warranted. We identified three promising strategies for intervention that are likely to be scalable and have positive effects on a range of health outcomes: supplementation and fortification; cash transfers and incentiv...
Source: LANCET - April 16, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Mary Barker, Stephan U Dombrowski, Tim Colbourn, Caroline H D Fall, Natasha M Kriznik, Wendy T Lawrence, Shane A Norris, Gloria Ngaiza, Dilisha Patel, Jolene Skordis-Worrall, Falko F Sniehotta, R égine Steegers-Theunissen, Christina Vogel, Kathryn Woods- Tags: Series Source Type: research
[Series] Origins of lifetime health around the time of conception: causes and consequences
Parental environmental factors, including diet, body composition, metabolism, and stress, affect the health and chronic disease risk of people throughout their lives, as captured in the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease concept. Research across the epidemiological, clinical, and basic science fields has identified the period around conception as being crucial for the processes mediating parental influences on the health of the next generation. During this time, from the maturation of gametes through to early embryonic development, parental lifestyle can adversely influence long-term risks of offspring cardiovascu...
Source: LANCET - April 16, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Tom P Fleming, Adam J Watkins, Miguel A Velazquez, John C Mathers, Andrew M Prentice, Judith Stephenson, Mary Barker, Richard Saffery, Chittaranjan S Yajnik, Judith J Eckert, Mark A Hanson, Terrence Forrester, Peter D Gluckman, Keith M Godfrey Tags: Series Source Type: research
[Series] Before the beginning: nutrition and lifestyle in the preconception period and its importance for future health
We describe the extent to which pregnancy is planned, and whether planning is linked to preconception health behaviours. Observational studies show strong links between health before pregnancy and maternal and child health outcomes, with consequences that can extend across generations, but awareness of these links is not widespread. (Source: LANCET)
Source: LANCET - April 16, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Judith Stephenson, Nicola Heslehurst, Jennifer Hall, Danielle A J M Schoenaker, Jayne Hutchinson, Janet E Cade, Lucilla Poston, Geraldine Barrett, Sarah R Crozier, Mary Barker, Kalyanaraman Kumaran, Chittaranjan S Yajnik, Janis Baird, Gita D Mishra Tags: Series Source Type: research
[Comment] The Lancet Commission on malaria eradication
20 years ago, infectious diseases dominated the global health agenda. Policy makers, researchers, implementers, and donors united in the fight against infectious diseases, creating the Millennium Development Goals, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the US President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM),1 and more. Tremendous progress was made. Malaria benefited spectacularly and there has been a 47% reduction in global deaths from the disease since 2000. (Source: LANCET)
Source: LANCET - April 16, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Ingrid Chen, Rebecca Cooney, Richard G A Feachem, Altaf Lal, Winnie Mpanju-Shumbusho Tags: Comment Source Type: research
[Articles] Risk thresholds for alcohol consumption: combined analysis of individual-participant data for 599 912 current drinkers in 83 prospective studies
In current drinkers of alcohol in high-income countries, the threshold for lowest risk of all-cause mortality was about 100 g/week. For cardiovascular disease subtypes other than myocardial infarction, there were no clear risk thresholds below which lower alcohol consumption stopped being associated with lower disease risk. These data support limits for alcohol consumption that are lower than those recommended in most current guidelines. (Source: LANCET)
Source: LANCET - April 13, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Angela M Wood, Stephen Kaptoge, Adam S Butterworth, Peter Willeit, Samantha Warnakula, Thomas Bolton, Ellie Paige, Dirk S Paul, Michael Sweeting, Stephen Burgess, Steven Bell, William Astle, David Stevens, Albert Koulman, Randi M Selmer, W M Monique Versc Tags: Articles Source Type: research
[Correspondence] Clinical disease activity in the CALM study – Authors' reply
The Correspondence from Hans Herfarth and colleagues raised clinically relevant questions about our study1 of patients with Crohn's disease, whose treatment was adjusted based on stringent criteria for clinical symptoms and biomarkers (tight control) or less stringent clinical criteria alone. (Source: LANCET)
Source: LANCET - April 13, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Jean-Fr édéric Colombel, Remo Panaccione, Joel Petersson, Anne M Robinson, Geert D'Haens Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
[Correspondence] Clinical disease activity in the CALM study
Jean-Frederic Colombel and colleagues' CALM study (Dec 23, 2017, p 2779),1 which investigated the effect of tight control management on Crohn's disease, reported significantly better outcomes with tight control than with clinical medical management. Tight control consisted of prespecified therapy escalation if a patient's Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI) was at least 150, or if they had elevated C-reactive protein or calprotectin, and resulted in significantly better mucosal healing (and clinical remission) than did therapy escalation based on clinical symptoms alone. (Source: LANCET)
Source: LANCET - April 13, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Hans Herfarth, Millie D Long, Kim L Isaacs Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
[Correspondence] Compulsory admissions in Greece: multifaceted action is required
It was with great concern that we read the Editorial in The Lancet (Jan 27, p 282)1 regarding institutional and coercive mental health treatment in Europe, in which Greece was among the countries with substantial shortfalls in mental health services and violations of patients' human rights. (Source: LANCET)
Source: LANCET - April 13, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Marina Economou, Helen Lazaratou, Dimitris Ploumpidis Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
