News from the World of Medicine
The most important medical news, in plain English.
Which medical news are TRULY the most important of the year?
Each January, the Massachusetts Medical Society (amongst others, Harvard University) selects the top medical news stories of the year.
Radiofabrik presents this news.
The presenter, Dara Koper, is a doctor.
(Please note: this is a general radio show, without any legal guarantees. Questions pertaining to individual patients cannot be commented.)
Airtime: Every third Sunday of the month, 1.30-2 pm
Contact: medizin.bei.radiofabrik@gmail.com
Fabrikant*innen vorgestellt: News from the World of Medicine
Dara Koper, 2018
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Medicine: Stroke prevention / The dangers of breast implants
The first medical topic today:
The prevention of stroke, namely, the secondary prevention of stroke, that is, the prevention of a recurrence of stroke—after a first stroke.
Several questions were better resolved last year with the help of clinical studies. However, this detailed knowledge primarily serves doctors.
…
The second medical news today:
The dangers of breast implants, breast implants can cause a rare type of cancer.
But the number of women affected is, thank God, very small.
Nevertheless, women who had a breast implant and notice a build-up of fluid in the breast with the implant, sometimes even years later, should immediately contact their doctor so that the small risk of cancer can be eliminated.
Medicine: Steroids for mild asthma / Artificially sweetened drinks are dangerous
The first medical topic today: Are as-needed inhaled steroids effective for mild asthma? Yes, two clinical studies from 2019 show that.
The second medical news today: Artificially sweetened drinks are potentially dangerous. Researchers linked them to significantly increased risk of stroke and heart disease in a very large observational study. Please keep in mind: Try to switch from sugary drinks and artificially sweetened drinks to water. However, artificially sweetened drinks should be only a time-limited intermediate in your transition from sugary drinks to water.
Medicine: A prognosis for the new virus
Today, I shall try to make a better prognosis for the new virus. How should this new prognosis look like? What should you prepare for? I think you should prepare for the worst of all realistic scenarios. Most of the information for this “worst” prognosis, I took from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. And this worst prognosis is that millions of people will die. Approximately 4.2 million worldwide.
Don’t be among these millions. Protect yourself, your family and others as much as possible over the next 2 to 4 years.
– Read the news only from the most trusted sources. And, read the news at least once every two weeks.
– Thorough hand washing with soap, several times a day.
– Never touch your face. Only after washing your hands thoroughly can you touch your face.
– Wear a mask whenever you go out.
– Social distancing, 2 meters.
– Reduce your social contacts.
– If you have a fever and/or a cough, and are not seriously ill, please isolate yourself voluntarily in your apartment for 14 days.
But it’s not all bad news.
For example, a new test is expected soon. This would allow any doctor, pharmacy or even you, in your home, to test whether you have been infected recently with the new disease, respectively, whether you already recovered from the new disease, in other words, whether you can go back to work, safe in the knowledge that you cannot get infected again for about a year and a half and will not infect anyone yourself.
Medicine: Bacterial pneumonia / Aspirin for prevention
This month, we move away from the year 2018, to the most important medical topics from the year 2019.
The first medical news today: Several guidelines for bacterial pneumonia have been updated. There was one change in vaccines. Only a specific vaccine type is recommended now. The great change, however, is: Doctors are urged not to give broad-spectrum antibiotics, before the results of blood cultures become available. This is a big change. Instead, the updated guideline now recommends careful case-by-case decision making.
The second medical news today: Daily low-dose aspirin for the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases had previously been recommended for all who are 50 years of age or older, but the recently updated guideline now backs off of daily low-dose aspirin. Daily low-dose aspirin is now recommended only for a few patients. The new guideline even is completely against, I repeat, completely against, daily low-dose aspirin for primary prevention (a) in people 70 years of age or older and (b) in people with a high risk for bleeding, such as patients with chronic kidney disease or thrombocytopenia.
The new virus from China, your questions
Your questions about the new virus from China:
Just one day after I’ve uploaded the radio broadcast „The new virus from China” into the archive, the broadcast already has been downloaded by third-party radio stations, and you did send me INTERESTING QUESTIONS.
I shall answer all of your questions. The questions that start with „Is it true that …” I’ll discuss at the end of the broadcast. I’ll start with your new questions:
Is there a hero or a heroine, a scientist who played an especially important role?
Why bats?
Why is there Ebola?
What happens on the long-term? What is the perspective?
(The “hero,” by the way, is a heroine, i.e. a woman).
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