A Focus
Scan may predict dementia risk a decade before symptoms emerge
November 14th, 2018 A five-minute ulstrasoound scan of blood vessels in the neck could predict a person's risk of developing dementia a full decade before symptoms emerge, found a study of more than 3,000 people over 15-years, presented at the American Heart...
Link between appendix removal and development of Parkinson's
November 7th, 2018 Removing the appendix early in life reduces the risk of developing Parkinson's disease by 19% to 25%, according to the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind. The findings also solidify the role of the gut and immune system in the genesis...
BMI strongly associated with all-cause mortality
November 7th, 2018 Body Mass Index (BMI), a measure of body fat, is linked to risk of death from every major cause except transport accidents, according to an analysis of 3.6m people in The Lancet. Overall, both low and high BMI were associated with an increased risk...
Not to be sniffed at: Dogs diagnose malaria to better-than WHO standards
November 7th, 2018 In recent tests trained sniffer dogs successfully diagnosed malaria infections simply by sniffing samples from socks worn briefly by children from a malaria endemic area of West Africa, according to a study presented at the American Society of...
NICD rebuts research claiming an outbreak of MDR-TB in SA
October 31st, 2018 The SA National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) says it “does not support” the findings of a research study reporting an outbreak of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), which has raised concerns locally and internationally....
Instead of gaining an edge, many competitors lose the plot
October 31st, 2018 Hoping to gain a competitive edge has made weekend warriors and elite athletes, both, vulnerable to pseudoscience and dodgy marketing, writes Digital Clubbing Power Bracelet-shunning columnist Alistair McAlpine in MedicalBrief. He assesses the...
Nursing failures fuel claims against private hospitals — Stellenbosch study
October 24th, 2018 The failure of nurses at private hospitals to follow guidelines, as well as poor monitoring of patients, lies behind rocketing liability claims, according to a Stellenbosch University study. The study also found that the costs of these claims are...
Summit: A fixit plan by December and a pledge on private healthcare
October 24th, 2018 President Cyril Ramaphosa that there would be a plan by December to tackle SA's public health crisis, speaking at a two-day health summit to 600 stakeholder delegates. Deputy President David Mabuza said the proposed National Health Insurance...
Surge in the number of C-sections around the world
October 17th, 2018 Globally, the number of babies born through caesarean section (C-section) almost doubled between 2000 and 2015 – from 12% to 21% of all births – according to a series of three papers launched at the International Federation of Gynecology and...
3D mammograms detect more invasive breast cancers
October 17th, 2018 After screening 15,000 women over a period of five years, a major clinical study in Sweden has shown that 3D mammography, or breast tomosynthesis, detects over 30% more cancers compared to traditional mammography – with a majority of the detected...
'Discrimination' appeal puts CMS spotlight on obesity surcharge
October 17th, 2018 A Council for Medical Schemes appeal accusing Spectramed of discrimination has spotlighted the 50% surcharge that that surgeons and anaesthetists can levy when operating on an obese patient, writes Moneyweb. The patient says the policy is not...
Supreme Court judgment important for covering doctors
October 10th, 2018 The ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal ordering a Durban gynaecologist Dr and Life Healthcare Group to pay R20m for medical negligence, contains a number of 'salutary lessons' for covering doctors. The crux issue is at what moment the 'duty of...
It’s now your right to smoke marijuana — but don’t bluff yourself that it cures anything
October 10th, 2018 It's not for the state to decide what individuals put into their bodies in their own homes, writes Digital Clubbing columnist Alastair McAlpine. But no one should be under any illusion that the evidence for medical benefit from marijuana is both...
World-first SA liver transplant results support a review of ethics policies
October 10th, 2018 The successful, world-first liver transplant between an HIV-positive woman and her HIV-negative infant, undertaken in South Africa has delivered results, reported in the academic journal AIDS, that support a review of transplant ethics policies and...
The domino effect: Are you part of the resistance?
October 3rd, 2018 “Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is not just a health issue, it’s a societal issue – it involves all of us,” said Ian Wakefield, BD Africa country manager, opening the annual BD Healthcare Summit held in Johannesburg last week with the theme...