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Guidelines
WHO issues new advisory for global Covid response plans
With Covid-19 no longer classified as a pandemic, the WHO has issued new standing recommendations for member states, said Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus...
Updated US guidelines for colorectal cancer screenings
Asymptomatic, average-risk adults are encouraged to start screening at 50 for colorectal cancer, and to stop screening after 75, according to updated guidelines from the American College of...
Major German guidelines revision shifts asthma treatment focus
Asthma has long been associated with the use of inhalers to control symptoms, but new, updated guidelines created by the German Respiratory Society, with...
New WHO guidelines call for laws against unhealthy food marketing
New guidelines released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) are aimed at pushing governments to enforce stricter regulations on marketing unhealthy foods high in...
Aspartame to join WHO's cancer risk list, but industry calls for evidence
After 40 years of widespread global use, aspartame is to be declared as a possible carcinogen by the WHO but some experts disagree with...
US panel recommends regular anxiety tests for under-65s
As America confronts a massive mental health crisis, the US Preventive Services Task Force has recommended that everyone under 65 should be regularly screened...
Systematic review confirms concussion brain injury risk for athletes
Professional athletes who get hit on the head have much more risk of neurological disease in later life, according to the sixth international consensus...
Hormone therapies best for menopause symptoms, new review finds
Experts say hormone therapy remains the most effective treatment for vasomotor symptoms (VMS) and should be considered for healthy menopausal women within a decade...
Migraine pill might soon be an NHS option
The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has recommended that a Pfizer drug be an option on the UK's NHS for migraine...
US health chief warns of social media perils for youngsters
The United States has issued a public advisory to American parents about the risks of social media to young people, urging them to fully...
Vital for women to know their BP, say cardiologists
With data suggesting that one in three women worldwide suffers from high blood pressure (hypertension), and with cardiovascular disease being the leading cause of...
Regular mammograms from 40, US experts now say
Alarmed by an increase in breast cancer diagnoses among younger women and persistently high death rates among black women in particular, US health experts...
WHO warning about weight-loss drugs as obesity guidelines amended
The World Health Organisation (WHO), which is carrying out its first review of obesity management guidelines in more than two decades, has warned that...
Artificial sweetener warning from WHO
The International Sweeteners Association (ISA) has taken umbrage at the WHO’s warning this week about non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) being used to control weight or...
Loneliness as hazardous as smoking, obesity, US Surgeon-General warns
Loneliness presents a profound public health threat akin to smoking and obesity, US Surgeon-General Vivek Murthy warned in an advisory this week, and could...
New UK concussion guidelines make players ‘sit it out’
Under new British guidance for grassroots rugby, football and other sports clubs, anyone with suspected concussion must be immediately removed from the game and...
NHS suggests alternative to epidural for labour
Women in labour should be offered an alternative to an epidural spinal block injection, say new draft guidelines for the NHS, which recommend an option...
FDA sets new rules for dense breasts cancer warning
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has introduced new standards, making it compulsory for mammogram providers to tell women with dense breast tissue,...
Adults should screen at least once for hepatitis B – CDC recommendation
The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says all adults should be screened at least once in their lifetime for hepatitis B,...
Parents too quick to medicate children's fevers – US poll
Some parents may reach for medication too quickly when children feel warm, say researchers, cautioning that while a warm forehead is often an indication...
Stub out smoking before surgery, urges anaesthesiologist society
Giving up smoking before surgery has been recommended by experts, who say quitting even just a day or two before the procedure can be...
US childhood obesity guidelines now include drugs and surgery
The American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) has released new guidelines for treating childhood obesity that emphasise a need for early and intensive treatment which, for...
Global depression guidelines lack withdrawal advice – Danish review
Current global depression guidelines offer incomplete guidance for clinicians to identify antidepressant withdrawal, says a team of specialists after studying data from a review...
‘Mini-strokes’ need urgent assessment and follow-ups – AHA
Stroke symptoms that disappear in under an hour (known as a transient ischaemic attack – TIA – or warning stroke), need emergency assessment to help...
Mixed reaction to Canada's new two drinks a week only guideline
New alcohol guidelines recommending that Canadians limit themselves to just two drinks a week – and ideally cut alcohol altogether – have prompted intense...
First US guidelines for combination of cannabis and anaesthesia
Surgical patients scheduled for anaesthesia should be screened for cannabis use, and if necessary, the operation delayed or rescheduled, according to new guidelines from...
US 'gold standard' diabetes guidelines raises BP, lipids targets
New, more aggressive targets for blood pressure and lipids are among the changes to the annual American Diabetes Association (ADA) Standards of Care in Diabetes — 2023,...
WHO about-turn on preterm babies' contact with mothers before incubation
Skin-to-skin contact with their mothers before incubation is now being recommended for premature or small newborns who are clinically unstable, says the World Health...
Shorter, simpler DR-TB regimen in the pipeline for South Africa
If all goes according to plan, South Africa will, once again, be the world’s first in improving drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) treatment.
Spotlight reports that work...
Co-sleeping with your infant unsafe – American Academy of Paediatrics
The American Academy of Paediatrics (APP) this week warned against parents co-sleeping with their babies in its first update to its safe sleep guidelines...
CDC eases guidelines on opioid prescribing for chronic pain
A proposed update to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) controversial 2016 guidelines on opioid prescribing has abandoned its influential recommendations...
AHA guideline on elevated BP and cholesterol: 10 jumping jacks and call me in the morning
The optimal first step to address mild to moderately elevated blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol in otherwise healthy adults is a “prescription” to sit...
South African childhood asthma guidelines 2021
Asthma is the most common chronic illness of childhood. The prevalence is rising and the mortality and morbidity from asthma in South Africa are...
WHO: New guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour
The health harms associated with prolonged sitting can be offset by exceeding weekly recommended physical activity levels, says the World Health Organization (WHO) in...
American Thoracic Society: New clinical practice guidelines on COPD and hypercapnia
A subcommittee of the American Thoracic Society Assembly in Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology has released new clinical practice guidelines to help advise clinicians on...
Consensus review: Determination of brain death/death by neurologic criteria
A consensus review involving five world federations and 33 medical societies spanning 25 countries has released recommendations for the minimum clinical standards for determination of...
Milk allergy guidelines may cause over-diagnosis in babies and children
An analysis by researchers from Imperial College London and Sechenov University in Moscow has found that around 1% of children have cow's milk allergy,...
WHO issues guidance on LAM use in diagnosis of TB
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has updated its guidance for the use of lateral flow urine lipoarabinomannan assay (LAM) in the diagnosis of tuberculosis...
American College of Sports Medicine: Exercise guidelines for cancer survivors
A review of research, conducted by an international group of experts under the aegis of the American College of Sports Medicine, has...
Updated guidelines on diagnosis treatment of community-acquired pneumonia
The American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) have published updated guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of adults...