Patients visiting emergency departments because of alcohol abuse are more likely to make return visits and to die in the following decades

Barcelona, Spain: People who come to emergency departments with alcohol-related diseases or conditions are more likely to make return visits and to die in the following 20 years, than people who come to emergency departments for other reasons, according to new research. For many, this means they may die in their 40s or 50s. Professor […]

Ultrasound scans by doctors in emergency departments to diagnose deep vein thrombosis halve patients’ stay and may help to reduce over-crowding

Barcelona, Spain: If doctors in hospital emergency departments are trained to carry out ultrasound on patients with suspected deep vein thrombosis (DVT), they can nearly halve the time the patients spend in these departments. Dr Ossi Hannula, an emergency medicine specialist at the Wellbeing Services County of Central Finland, Jyväskylä, Finland, who presented the findings […]

Women less likely to be given CPR than men in public places

– But in private spaces older people less likely to be given CPR –  Barcelona, Spain: Bystanders are less likely to give cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to women than men, particularly if the emergency takes place in a public area, according to research presented at the European Emergency Medicine Congress [1]. The study also shows that […]

Prescribing just a few opioid tablets to patients discharged from emergency departments can ease pain but prevent misuse

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 […]

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 […]