The daily figure: In South Africa the prevalence of HIV infection among adults is 23.3%, against only 0.03% among regular blood donor (WHO).
June 13 of that year
1773: birth of Thomas Young, physician, physicist English Egyptologist and a pioneer of physiology ophtalomogique.
1797: Death of Simon Tissot, a Swiss doctor, a great destroyer of masturbation.
1870: birth of Jules Bordet, bacteriologist Belgian Nobel Prize in medicine in 1919.
1900: beginning of the Boxer Rebellion in China.
1986: death of clarinetist Benny Goodman.
1991: Yeltsin wins first Russian elections.
Website of the Day: To laugh a little, the defense of the geostationary earth as an object, with The Earth Is Not Moving
Quote of the Day: " If I have a thousand ideas, only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied . Alfred Nobel
Erratum: Our readers are certainly very attentive. " In the newsletter today (No. 359 of 12 June), a small error or typo, it is according to Jean-Baptiste Denis was physician to King Louis XIV and Louis XVI not," writes the Dr. Philip Bouvry. A thousand apologies for this lapse in our pen.
Titles publishing
Netherlands: cardiovascular risk falling
To attract young people into science, you'd better start early
An outbreak of measles who blew a slight panic in Boston
When an American doctor to openly revolt against managed care
Music not only soothes the savage breast, but it also relieves pain
Dance also soothes the soul: dance therapy
closure of more than 200 abortion clinics in a Chinese province
stay in rest homes, better insurance against fractures?
Orthopaedic opt for a national registry of hip and knee
Communiqué Absym " treatment of breast cancer, the blackmail of Demotte "
Euthanasia: a physician and a nurse returned Assizes in France
Netherlands: cardiovascular risk falling
During the past decade, the risk of cardiovascular mortality has declined in our country. In the Netherlands, in particular there was the sharpest drop among men aged 30 to 60 years. Given the aging population, note HuisartsVandaag.nl , the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease has almost halved since 1970. This evolution is mainly due to changes in lifestyle (less smoking, more attention to food) and progress in preventive and curative care.
To attract young people into science, you'd better start early
Tai et al (University of Virginia), authors of a study published in Science (2006; 312: 1143), conclude that young people in early middle school who demonstrate a desire to become scientists are more likely to actually embrace the latest scientific careers than those who do not agree at the same age. So we must start early to try to attract young people to science, emphasize therefore logically the authors.
An epidemic of measles which blew a slight panic in Boston
A financial framework for a computer company had contracted the virus during a business trip to India and brought him back to Boston, where a small epidemic (the first in the state since 1999) erupted in the wake of this import. The state of Massachusetts was quick to distribute or to order 23,000 doses of measles vaccine at a price of approximately $ 400,000, says the Boston Globe. In addition to the hundreds of people working in the three places it occurs the person has been on preventive leave. Health experts have plunged into their files and interviewed many people in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus.
When an American doctor to openly revolt against managed care
When Tufts Health Plan, a management company of managed care in its region, dismissed the management of his patient's sleeping pill daily, limiting reimbursement to 10 capsules per month, Dr. Stephen Hoffmann, her doctor, not only wrote the order on behalf of her husband, but decided to put the matter on the public square, reports the Boston Globe . Despite the risks he faces disciplinary and legal now, he considers it his duty to report that the welfare of his patient is more important to him that the restrictions imposed by insurers. Caplaz Arthur, one of the best known medical ethicists in the U.S., calls this act of guerrilla tactics and stressed that in defending his patients, sometimes you do something very strong. " Who would not want this as a medical practitioner? , "he adds.
Music not only soothes manners, but it also relieves pain
A study by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and published in the journal Journal of Advanced Nursing shows that music has a soothing effect on chronic pain. It distracts the mind from pain and improves mood. The study was conducted on 60 volunteer participants with a mean age of 50 years and suffering from chronic pain related to musculoskeletal disorders. One group listened for six months of the music chosen by the taste of each participant for an hour a day. The majority chose the melodic music. The group whose music was regularly inserted in his daily life has benefitted not only mood but also in terms of reduced pain perception, with an improvement in their quality of life. To provide our patients with chronic pain, why not?
EB-M
The dance also soothes the soul: dance therapy
As we remember above, the calming effect of music is known for a long time. A research project of the Swedish University of Karlstad and the University College of Dance in Stockholm suggests that hyperactive boys with antisocial behavior and ADHD are noticeably calmer and played better with their peers when they attend a dance therapy. Girls with depression and self-destructive tendencies will also experience a beneficial effect with this approach.
closure of more than 200 abortion clinics in a Chinese province
According to the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, authorities in Hebei province, China closed 201 clinics that performed abortions selective fetal sex feminine. Abortion is illegal in China beyond 14 weeks of pregnancy, but its practice is very wide because of the limitation advocated and imposed a one child per family, which leads to an obvious imbalance between boys and girls.
stay in rest homes, better insurance against fractures?
Women residing in nursing homes are less likely to suffer bone fractures and have a higher average age when a fracture occurs, concludes a Swiss study conducted by Chevalley et al (University Hospital of Geneva) and presented to World Congress on Osteoporosis in Toronto. To The authors, two factors could explain this finding: the greater degree of prescription of calcium and vitamin, and to a lesser extent, drugs against osteoporosis, and better preventive approach vis-à-vis factors risk of falls.
Orthopaedic opt for a national registry for hip and knee
Will we soon in our country as a national registry for hip and knee? If it depends on the scientific societies of Orthopaedic Surgeons Belgian SORBCOT (French) and BVOT (Dutch), such a registry will become very reality quickly. When Congress Orthopaedica Belgica 2006, which took place in Ghent on 8 and 9 June, the two companies have spoken out unambiguously for a register in which all the poses of hip and knee were recorded.
Dr. Jan Victor (AZ Sint-Lucas, Bruges) explained in his statement the very real need for such a register.
Advances in surgery and the aging population have led to a significant increase in exposures of prostheses. In Belgium, around 16,700 new hip implants that were placed in 2004 (+43% since 1995), which must be add review 2200 operations (+62%). The growth is even more impressive for knee prostheses: 13,250 primary interventions in 2004 (+129% since 1995) and 900 revision operations (+200%) (figures Absym). To date, these interventions were not systematically recorded, which led to problems both clinical and scientific practices. Without a registry, we can not assess the value scale of a new procedure or a new type of prosthesis. But for the surgeon and the individual patient as this situation is problematic, for example during an intervention revision where we do not have information on primary intervention and the type of equipment used.
A national registry is also an ideal tool for quality control: any surgeon can deduce how its success rate is compared to national averages. A recent survey
BVOT was organized from among its members shows that 81% of surgeons Flemish supported the idea of a register, as recalled by Dr. Jacques Van Dooren (Heupgroep BVOT). Informal contacts with members led by Professor Philippe Gillet (SORBCOT and CHU Liège) to conclude that there is also the side French overwhelmingly in favor of the project.
The major obstacle to the creation of a registry is financial. Jan Victor states that about one million euros per year to maintain the infrastructure and personnel required. Ontact with the extensive Inami, however, are ongoing and it would be prepared to provide the necessary infrastructure. Mutuals are also broadly supportive of the project. Everything seems to indicate that the project will become reality in the medium term.
(read more detailed article in an upcoming edition of Medi-Sphere)
Jan Bosman
Communiqué Absym: "Treatment of breast cancer, the blackmail of Demotte "
" The Insurance Committee of the NIHDI looked up today on the draft agreement between the NIHDI and some specialized centers for treatment breast cancer. The treatment of this tumor with Herceptin will be reimbursed by INAMI only for patients cared for in centers that have signed this Convention. Not for patients in other centers.
Minister Demotte published in the Moniteur Belge, 9 June 2006 a Royal Decree on Herceptin.
The most important criterion for recognition as a 'center specialty is 'do at least 100 surgeries a year after an initial diagnosis of breast cancer'.
The 10 representatives attending physicians and hospitals have strongly protested against this purely quantitative criterion, and have not ratified the draft convention. They require the consideration of qualitative criteria, such as eg the recognition programs of care "oncology Type B".
Minister Demotte blackmails caregivers.
The royal decree concerning the reimbursement of Herceptin has been published in spite of the unanimous opinion of the Committee insurance. In reality, the Minister Demotte organizes the rationing of care for treating breast cancer, and wants to shift the blame on the providers.
To vote again this project at the next meeting of the Insurance Committee, a simple majority is required. Today, members of the Insurance Committee were not in sufficient numbers to achieve the required two-thirds majority. The
ABSyM is deeply concerned by the rationing of care that the Minister Demotte induces very clearly on this issue.
Dr. Marc Moens, chairman "
Euthanasia: a doctor and a nurse returned to the foundation in France
The investigating chamber of the Court of Appeal of Bordeaux has confirmed this morning the case before the Court of Assizes of the Dordogne and a doctor a nurse involved in a case of euthanasia in 2003.
Information to also check the site MediPlanet:
Cameroon
The patient's hospital
The blogosphere gets into the U.S. political system
The problem of 'self-referral' in the United States denounced
Campaign for organ donation
Cameroon
The patient's hospital
Under this title the Cameroonian newspaper Mutations addresses recent problems in Yaounde, stating that "in the space of three days the public hospitals in the city Yaounde made about them. And not at all well. "
The minutes of daily boggles the mind:" It first general hospital which had hit the headlines on the night of May 28: A power outage can to discover that this hotel advertised as "referral hospital" at its inception, simply works without a functional generator, because whoever is there crashed since we-don't-know-when and only serves as a backdrop. Consequently, a patient detained in that hospital died that night and members of his family came to sequester facility staff. "Suit, a strike by staff at public hospitals in Yaounde.
The blogosphere gets into the U.S. political system
For some, creating a blog is fun, but it is less and less so for others. And, as outlined in the Washington Post, the recent convention of the 'bloggers', held in Las Vegas this weekend, has attracted the keenest attention of Democrats. One of the darlings of the blogosphere and major player in Vegas, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of Daily Kos and described by the Post, as one of the most influential progressive bloggers in the USA is more courted particularly by opponents of Bush.
The problem of 'self-referral' in the United States denounced
The American Hospital Association request to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to be more severe vis-à-vis this particular form of dichotomy that is the 'self-referral'. A growing number of health care institutions, providing limited services, being owned by doctors, they send their patients to these hospitals in which they hold financial interests.
campaign for organ donation
The federal Department of Health today starts the second phase of a campaign to promote organ donation, including De Standaard reported. Officials of the campaign welcome the current developments, which saw the number of positive statements to increase by 50%, from 33,850 to 51,235, while the opposition has been explicit that a 1% increase from 190,578 to 192,948.
Released in Monitor (June 12, 2006)
• General Management Committee for the social status of self-employed. Appointment, (p. 29962)
• Fire and Emergency Medical Assistance for the Brussels-Capital. Appointment (p. 29967)
