Barcelona, Spain: Half of patients discharged from the emergency department need only five tablets or fewer of morphine 5 mg or an equivalent opioid pain killer, according to new research presented at the European Emergency Medicine Congress. [1] The recent crisis in opioid abuse has been partly attributed to over-prescription, particularly for chronic pain, and […]
2023
ChatGPT performs as well as doctors for suggesting the most likely diagnoses in the emergency medicine department
Barcelona, Spain: The artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT performed as well as a trained doctor in suggesting likely diagnoses for patients being assessed in emergency medicine departments, in a pilot study to be presented at the European Emergency Medicine Congress [1]. Researchers say a lot more work is needed, but their findings suggest the technology could […]
Study of bacteria in day care settings reveals links with children’s lung health
Milan, Italy: Particular combinations of bacteria found in dust at day care facilities have been linked to wheezing in young children in a study presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Milan, Italy [1]. Wheezing in young children is often an early sign of asthma. Children may spend many hours in day care […]
Exposure to air pollution while in the womb is linked to adverse changes in cell processes in new-born babies
Milan, Italy: Exposure to air pollution while in the womb is linked to alterations in proteins that can be detected after a baby is born, and which affect cell processes such as autophagy, the “self-eating” of damaged cells that occurs in response to stress. Dr Olga Gorlanova, a research physician at the University Children’s Hospital, […]
Transplanting patients’ own lung cells offers hope of ‘cure’ for COPD
Milan, Italy: For the first time, researchers have shown it is possible to repair damaged lung tissue in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using the patients’ own lung cells. The European Respiratory Society International Congress in Milan, Italy [1], heard that 17 patients who took part in a phase I clinical trial were […]
Young people who vape more likely to report chronic stress
Milan, Italy: Young people who have used e-cigarettes are more than twice as likely to report experiencing chronic stress, according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Milan, Italy [1]. The study was presented by Dr Teresa To, a senior scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada. […]
Genetic evidence shows that smoking can cause us to age faster
Milan, Italy: A study of nearly 500,000 people has shown that smoking shortens the end fragments of chromosomes in the white blood cells of our immune systems. The length of these end fragments, called telomeres, is an indicator of how quickly we age and our cells’ ability to repair and regenerate. In her presentation to […]
City living raises the risk of respiratory infections in babies and young children
Research also shows day care, damp homes and traffic pollution are risk factors. Milan, Italy: Young children growing up in towns and cities suffer from more respiratory infections than those who grow up in the countryside, according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Milan, Italy [1]. A second study, presented […]
Treatment for dangerous snoring prevents deaths from heart disease
A small patient trial also suggests CPAP may be more effective than a weight-loss drug in tackling clogged arteries. Milan, Italy: People suffering with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) can reduce their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease if they use a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine at night, according to research presented at the […]
Healthy guts containing diverse and mature bacteria are linked to less allergy-related wheezing and asthma in early childhood
Milan, Italy: Babies and young children with more mature communities of bacteria present in their gut are less likely to develop allergy-related wheezing or asthma, according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Milan, Italy [1]. These communities of bacteria, known as microbiota, develop in the human body during the early […]