FOCUS: THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES
Brain training does not halt mental decline
December 12th, 2018 A Scottish study shows that people who regularly do intellectual activities throughout life have higher mental abilities. This provides a 'higher cognitive point' from which to decline, but brain training in the form of puzzles, crosswords, etc does...
Cosatu angered by delays and Health Dept divisions over NHI
December 12th, 2018 The slow pace at which the government is moving on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill has drawn the ire of Cosatu, which plans to raise the issue at a meeting between the ANC and its alliance partners, Cosatu and the SA Communist Party. Cosatu...
McAlpine’s Law: Quacks rush to fill a vacuum
December 12th, 2018 Science doesn’t have all the answers but the money-making quacks are quick to fill the vacuum, writes MedicalBrief columnist Alastair McAlpine. The unique dependency of human infants on their caregivers makes the field of fussy and uncooperative...CPD-ACCREDITED HIV COURSE
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November 7th, 2018
WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Former Gauteng Health MECs told by ANC to resign from party committee
The fallout from the Life Esidimeni and other scandals has finally caught up with former Gauteng Health MECs Qedani Mahlangu and Brian Hlongwa. They... December 12th, 201856th robbery of Cape paramedics this year
Two paramedics were robbed in Seawinds, near Muizenberg, making it the 56th such attack in the Cape Town area this year, reports News24. "It was... December 12th, 2018FDA approves Roche lung cancer drug as first-line treatment
Swiss drugmaker Roche has announced that its Tecentriq immunotherapy in combination with Avastin and chemotherapy has won US Food and Drug... December 12th, 2018Call on Health MEC to set an example with 'unaffordable' new car
The Eastern Cape Health MEC has been gifted a brand-new car of just under R1m as part of the Eastern Cape Adjustment Budget. Bobby Stevensen, the... December 12th, 2018Compensation for some Life Esidimeni families still outstanding
Families of victims of the Life Esidimeni tragedy are demanding that the government settle outstanding compensation. News24 reports that the family... December 12th, 2018UCT hits back at newspaper's fake news cholera scare
The University of Cape Town (UCT) has hit back at an article published last week that, UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola said in a report in The... December 12th, 2018Biggest manufacturer of medical gloves alleged to exploit workers — investigation
The world’s largest medical glove manufacturer, with 40 factories in Malaysia, subjects its workers to forced labour, forced overtime, debt... December 12th, 2018Lung-related illnesses in the UK double in under a decade
Accident and emergency departments in the UK have seen attendances due to lung-related illnesses almost double in under a decade as increasingly... December 12th, 20182nd edition of Natmedipedia glossary of medical negligence terms
Medical malpractice insurance broker Natmed Medical Defence has released the second edition of its Glossary of Medical Negligence and Insurance... December 12th, 2018TAC's symbolic march on Concourt — to thank it for HIV ruling
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) celebrated 20 years of existence by leading a symbolic march to the Constitutional Court to thank it for what it... December 12th, 2018CARDIOVASCULAR
Exercise test predicts CVD mortality risk
Performance on a simple exercise test predicts the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other causes, reports a large study... December 12th, 2018HIV/AIDS
Resistance to second-line ARTs increasing in SA
An increasing number of HIV patients in the Western Cape and other parts of South Africa are experiencing resistance to second-line antiretroviral therapy (ART). The Star reports that this was revealed by the fifth South African National HIV...
December 12th, 2018
HOSPITAL MEDICINE
Fewer registered nurses linked to increased mortality risk in wards
Admission to a hospital ward with below average numbers of fully trained (registered) nurses to care for patients is linked to a 3% rise in the risk of death for each day the shortfall persists, suggests UK research. But plugging the gap with...
December 12th, 2018
NEUROLOGY
Drawing is best for information retention in the elderly
Researchers from the University of Waterloo found that even if n good at it, drawing, as a method to help retain new information in the elderly. The University of Waterloo found that even if people weren't good at it, drawing, as a method to help... December 12th, 2018Promising results from treating childhood epilepsy with cannabinoids
Interest has been growing in the use of cannabinoids – the active chemicals in cannabis or marijuana – for the treatment of epilepsy in children. A recent analysis of relevant published studies indicates that this strategy looks...
December 12th, 2018
ONCOLOGY
Quick and easy blood or tissue test to detect cancer
A quick and easy Australian test to detect cancer from blood or biopsy tissue has proved to be up to 90% accurate in tests involving 200 human cancer samples. The test has been developed by University of Queensland researchers Dr Abu Sina, Dr... December 12th, 2018PAEDIATRICS
Safety measures 'stifling' children's physical development
Children's physical development is being "stifled" by health and safety as teachers are too scared to let them play outside, The Daily Telegraph reports the UK’s Office for Standards in Education Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) has warned....
December 12th, 2018
PHARMACOLOGY
Variant of wasp venom to treat bacterial infections
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers, using toxin found in a South American wasp, have created peptide variants potent against bacteria but nontoxic to human cells. In a study of mice, they could completely eliminate Pseudomonas... December 12th, 2018PSYCHOLOGY
Hysterectomy may affect cognition — animal study
Research at Arizona State University found rats that underwent the surgical removal of the uterus with ovaries left intact had a memory deficit, suggesting the uterus might have functions beyond reproduction. By age 60, one in three women in... December 12th, 2018