News by Subject Medicine & Health

The finding indicates that early discharge is a safe practice for institutions with well-established enhanced recovery pathways.

New ECDC/WHO Tuberculosis surveillance data for Europe show that despite an overall decline in numbers of people suffering from TB, the disease remains a major public health challenge in the Region. Of the 275,000 new diagnoses and relapses, an estimated 77,000 people suffer from difficult-to-treat multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). The European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries fare better, with only 1,041 people reported to have MDR-TB.

Higher rates of lung disease in children born to moms who were undernourished during pregnancy could be explained by epigenetic changes in a number of lung-specific genes.

A new method of determining the sequence of molecules in DNA can be used to accurately detect small fragments of cancerous genetic material in blood samples from lung cancer patients, according to new research in Annals of Oncology. Results from analyses of 'liquid biopsies' show that it is possible to identify the genetic variants that are either driving the cancer or making it resistant to treatment, which could help doctors choose the best treatment for patients based on the genetic make-up of their tumours.

A scientist from James Cook University in Australia says an innovative study has revealed new evidence that eating fish can help prevent asthma.

A study of almost 500,000 women indicates that taking paracetamol or other painkillers during pregnancy is not responsible for increasing the risk of asthma in children. The research, which uses prescription data on painkillers, does support earlier findings that women taking paracetamol during pregnancy are more likely to have children who develop asthma. However, it also suggests that the painkillers are not the cause of this increase.

Tiny organisms in a child's nose could offer clues to improving the diagnosis and treatment of severe lung infections, research shows.