New interface to Embase launched

Changes have been made to the top level navigation so new users will find it easier to become familiar with finding their way around Embase and current users have more space for searching and viewing results.

Embase's biomedical database has over 25 million indexed records from thousands of peer-reviewed journals.  It enables you to track and retrieve precise information on drugs and diseases from pre-clinical studies to searches on critical toxicological information.

Click here to view the new changes

Click here to access Embase from the library catalogue

Reminiscence therapy for Alzheimer’s disease wins Clinical Innovation Award 2013

A software reminiscence therapy for sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia called Rempad has won the Clinical Innovation Award 2013, sponsored by Enterprise Ireland and Cleveland Clinic.

Julia O’Rourke, a senior speech and language therapist, was presented with the award by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton at the Enterprise Ireland Med in Ireland event in Dublin last week.

Rempad is a new software tool which uses multi-media content to connect carers and residents with memories from the past to enhance the overall wellbeing of nursing home residents suffering from Alzheimer’s.

O’Rourke collaborated with the Adelaide and Meath Hospital and researchers at CLARITY in Dublin City University to develop Rempad.

There are 35 million people living with dementia worldwide, and this will triple by 2050. Rempad’s reminiscence therapy software uses historical artifacts such as photos and broadcast footage to stimulate memories from the past and help individuals or groups to communicate.

Congratulating Julia on her award, Enterprise Ireland CEO designate Julie Sinnamon said, “The potential social and economic benefits of Rempad are clear. As a speech and language therapist, Julia has co-developed this software with the end-user in mind and has shown great determination in getting the technology in to nursing homes to benefit residents with dementia."

Click here to view full article

Clinical Cases available in 'E' Format

Our Series - Clinical Cases Uncovered include Nephrology studies:

Please click on the title to acquire Online access:
Nephrology:

Clinical Cases available in 'E' Format

Haematology - Clinical Cases may be accessed Online -

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Haematology:

Daily aspirin 'risky' for healthy

Healthy people should not take aspirin to ward off heart attacks and cancer, according to the most comprehensive review of the risks and benefits.

There has been growing debate about whether all people over 50 should take a daily, low dose aspirin.

But the review, conducted by the research arm of the NHS, said it was a "fine balance" due to the dangers of bleeding in the brain and stomach.

Overall it warned against taking the drug, until there was more evidence.

Aspirin makes the blood less sticky so it reduces the odds of a blood clot forming inside the body, which could cause a heart attack or stroke.

There are even studies suggesting it can cut the risk of some cancers.

However, as the drug makes it harder for the blood to clot it can cause problems inside the body.

Amy Thompson, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Aspirin is extremely important for many heart patients, but for people free of heart disease the jury is still out as the risks are likely to outweigh the benefits.

"Further research is underway which will shed light on who else is likely to benefit the most from taking aspirin."

Click here to link to full article

WHO's 2013 global report on tuberculosis: successes, threats, and opportunities

Tuberculosis has been a global public health emergency since 1993. In 2006 the World Health Organisation launched the Stop TB strategy, which was linked to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 target of reversing the spread of tuberculosis by 2015.  

WHO's Global Tuberculosis Report 2013, published on Oct 23, provides a comprehensive assessment of the current tuberculosis pandemic, and assesses progress in implementing tuberculosis services and control measures at country, regional, and global levels. The report details some striking successes towards achieving MDG 6 and related 2015 targets for global tuberculosis control. It also identifies specific areas of concern for which urgent political and funder attention is required.

Click here to view the rest of this article in The Lancet

Click here to go to the WHO TB Publications page to view full report and summary

From the heart - 'Saturated fat is not the major issue'

The risk from saturated fat in foods such as butter, cakes and fatty meat is being overstated and demonised, according to a cardiologist.

Dr Aseem Malhotra, a cardiology registrar at Croydon University Hospital, London, says the "mantra that saturated fat must be removed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease has dominated dietary advice and guidelines for almost four decades". It is time to "bust the myth of the role of saturated fat in heart disease". Writing in an opinion piece in the British Medical Journal, he says there is too much focus on fat with other factors such as sugar often overlooked. 

But the British Heart Foundation said there was conflicting evidence.

It added reducing cholesterol through drugs or other means does lower heart risk. Studies on the link between diet and disease have led to dietary advice and guidelines on how much saturated fat, particularly cholesterol, it is healthy to eat.

Adopting a Mediterranean diet - olive oil, nuts, oily fish, plenty of fruit and vegetables and a moderate amount of red wine - after a heart attack is almost three times as powerful in reducing mortality as taking a statin, writes Dr Malhotra.

However, Prof Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, says studies on the link between diet and disease frequently produce conflicting results.  Unlike drug trials, it is difficult to carry out a controlled, randomised study, he says.  Click here to view on BBC/Health

Click on the title 'Saturated fat is not the major issue' to view the full text of this article in BMJ

Most Recent Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine

 Nobel Laureates: 2010-2011-2012-2013

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2013

James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Südhof

"for their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells"

 

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012

Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka

"for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent"

 

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011

Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann

"for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity"

Ralph M. Steinman  "for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity"

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2010

Robert G. Edwards

"for the development of in vitro fertilization"


                                    

Exercise 'boosts academic performance' of teenagers

Intensive exercise improves the academic performance of teenagers, according to new research.

The study, of about 5,000 children, found links between exercise and exam success in English, maths and science.

It found an increase in performance for every extra 17 minutes boys exercised, and 12 minutes for girls.

The study by the universities of Strathclyde and Dundee found physical activity particularly benefited girls' performance at science.

The authors said this could be a chance finding or reflect gender differences in the impact of physical activity on the brain.

Children who carried out regular exercise, not only did better academically at 11 but also at 13 and in their exams at 16, the study suggested.

The authors of the study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, said further research backing the findings could have implications for public health and education policy.

The study was funded by a grant from the BUPA Foundation to the University of Strathclyde.

Click here to view the full article

Clinical Medicine - 250 Case-Studies available in 'E' Format

One of our popular case-study titles
250 Cases in Clinical Medicine by R R Baliga is now accessible online

Please click on the title above

 

Meds in their sheds !

 Anaesthetists by day, inventors by night  .......

David Williams and John Dingley are consultant anaesthetists at Morriston Hospital in Swansea. Their moment of genius came in their garages while tinkering with glue-guns and car-body filler.  Having worked in remote settings, Dr Williams was aware of how crucial equipment that does not require a constant power source could be. In Zambia he had noticed entire operating theatres remaining unused because of a lack of replacement light bulbs or a reliable mains power supply.

So the doctors set themselves the challenge of inventing essential kit for the doctor's bag on a budget.And after a week spent attacking conventional medical equipment with power tools, they had the first prototype of a device which has the potential to save lives.

The ShakerScope is a light source which can be quickly adapted to look in people's eyes, ears and throats. But unlike regular devices it does not need batteries.

Dr Patrick Finlay, of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers said: "This type of invention is very important. With these scopes you would normally need three different instruments for each examination, each one requiring batteries. For low income countries this is a joke. "

Click here to view full article

"Tissue engineering: Grow your own smart organs"

Robert Langer, professor in biomedical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, thinks one day we could grow tissues and organs from our cells, which contain sensors that can alert you when illness is about to strike.

The idea behind tissue engineering is that you take plastics, add cells to it, and if you use the right kind of plastics and the right structure and add the right media to the mix, then you have the ability to make skin, bone, or any tissue or organ in the body.

There’s been significant progress in this field, says Robert Langer.  We can already make skin for patients with burns or skin ulcers, and others like corneas and liver are in trials. Langer hopes we will be able to do this for all tissues.

Immune rejection and integration are big challenges, though.  But one day smart tissues and organs may be possible, he says.  For instance, you could put nanowires into hearts that could sense signals like oxygen levels. Some day these could even send signals to computers or monitoring devices

Click here to view full article and link to video

Smartphones to help deliver care for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients

The HRB Clinical Research Facility (CRFG) at NUI Galway is supporting research utilizing smartphones for the care of patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Professor Laurence Egan, gastroenterologist at University Hospital Galway and Head of the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics at NUI Galway is the Principle Investigator for this research study.

 Prof. Laurence Egan (left) and IBD research nurse Aine Keogh

The research aims to assess a new smartphone application or ‘app’ in the care of patients with IBD (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis) to see if patient care can be improved by using this smartphone application. Patients record their IBD symptoms daily on the ‘app’.  This information is then sent securely to the clinical research team at HRB Clinical Research Facility, Galway. 

Previous studies have demonstrated that using static telephones to follow up IBD patients improves patient satisfaction with their care. However, the use of smartphones to help deliver more personalised health care has not been tested in a scientific setting. This study will test the technology and explore if patients using a smartphone software application to record their daily symptoms will help prevent flare ups of their condition through close monitoring by clinicians and therefore reduce hospitalizations and improve their health and well being.

Click here to view full article

Lancet study examining the effect of maternal exposure to air pollution on birth weight

A recent study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, examines the effect of maternal exposure to low concentrations of ambient air pollution on birth weight, as ambient air pollution has previously been associated with restricted fetal growth.

The study, pooled from 14 population-based mother-child cohort studies in 12 European countries, found that exposure to ambient air pollutants and traffic density during pregnancy led to an 18% increased risk in low birth weight, after accounting for other factors like maternal smoking, age, weight and education.

Commenting on the study, Dr Patrick O’Brien, spokesperson for The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “This research, using data from several large population based studies, is very helpful in providing further evidence on the potential health impacts of air pollution. More research in this area could further our knowledge on the impact of air pollution on women and their babies.”
Read full article here

To read the Lancet study, Ambient air pollution and low birthweight: a European cohort study, please click here.

Clinical Examination - 'E' Book available

Our Clinical Examination online titles include:

History and Clinical Examination at a Glance - Jonathan Gleadle

Please click on the title above

Online tutorials to our databases are easily accessible from the Health Sciences Portal

Click on the tutorials for Cinahl below or go to the Library's Health Sciences Portal and select Databases, where tutorials are linked to the individual database you select

Clinical Examination title now available in 'E' format

The 13th edition of Macleod's Clinical Examination may be accessed online







This edition includes many OSCE revision panels, as well as 28 unique clinical examination videos

WHO calls for the phase out of mercury fever thermometers and blood pressure measuring devices by 2020

WHO and Health Care without Harm have joined forces to launch a new initiative to get mercury removed from all medical measuring devices by 2020.

The initiative Mercury-Free Healthcare by 2020, calls for the phase out of mercury fever thermometers and blood pressure devices containing mercury. This will be done by ending the manufacture, import and export of these devices and by supporting the deployment of accurate, affordable, and safer non-mercury alternatives.

Mercury and its various compounds are of global public health concern and have a range of serious health impacts including brain and neurological damage especially among the young. Others include kidney damage and damage to the digestive system.

Click Mercury and Heath to view Fact Sheet on Mercury

click here to view the full article 

Trip Rapid Reviews - systematic reviews in five minutes

"Exciting news - a systematic review in five minutes, who wouldn’t want that? Well, earlier this week we released the rather wonderful Trip Rapid Review system, a system to perform a semi-automated review and synthesis of the literature in five minutes. Not quite a systematic review, but getting there. In many ways it’s a very interesting proof of concept! It’s free to use and is available via a button next to the search box. A few links to help explain and illustrate the service:"

See more at: http://blog.tripdatabase.com/2013/10/trip-rapid-reviews-systematic-reviews.html#sthash.jf66RW4m.dpuf

Link to Trip http://www.tripdatabase.com// 

Visit tutorials below:

A screencast showing it working 
How it works 
Early test results 
A worked example using SSRIs and hot flushes/flashes 

Accessing Clinical Examination Title in 'E' Format

The 'E' version of Oxford Handbook of Clinical Examination and Practical Skills -
by John Thomas
may be accessed through clicking on the title above

'The Mental Health of Young People in Ireland' report launched

On 10th October 2013 the PERL (Psychiatry Epidemiology across the Liefspan) Group launched its first research report on The Mental Health of Young People in Ireland. This report summarises findings on the rates of mental ill-health among Irish youth from their Adolescent Brain Development Study and their Challenging Times Two Study.

Click here to view Report
Click here to view PERL homepage

Popular Book Series Contains Some Texts in 'E' Format

The Book Series - Clinical Cases Uncovered includes
Paediatrics by Jonathan Round

Landmark discovery 'could hold key to Alzheimer's treatment'

The discovery of the first chemical to prevent the death of brain tissue in a neurodegenerative disease has been hailed as an exciting and historic moment in medical research.

More work is needed to develop a drug that could be taken by patients.But scientists say a resulting medicine could treat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's and other diseases.  In tests on mice, the University of Leicester showed all brain cell death from prion disease could be prevented.

The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, showed mice with prion disease developed severe memory and movement problems. They died within 12 weeks. However, those given the compound showed no sign of brain tissue wasting away.

A 'landmark' study

Commenting on the research Prof Roger Morris, from King's College London, said: "This finding, I suspect, will be judged by history as a turning point in the search for medicines to control and prevent Alzheimer's Disease."

Click here to view the study

Click here  to view the article

Hope for malaria vaccine by 2015

A UK firm is seeking regulatory approval for the world's first malaria vaccine after trial data showed that it had cut the number of cases in African children. Experts say that they are optimistic about the possibility of the world's first vaccine after the trial results.

Malaria, a mosquito-borne parasitic disease, kills hundreds of thousands of people worldwide every year. Scientists say an effective vaccine is key to attempts to eradicate it.

The vaccine known as RTS,S was found to have almost halved the number of malaria cases in young children in the trial and to have reduced by about 25% the number of malaria cases in infants.

click here for full article

World Mental Health Week

Check out some of the Library's 'e'books on Mental Health here, click on the titles below:

Promoting mental health : concepts, emerging evidence, practice. WHO

Good Practice in Adult Mental Health 

Oxford Textbook of Community Mental Health

Walking 'cuts breast cancer risk'

Post-menopausal women who walk for an hour a day can cut their chance of breast cancer significantly, a study has suggested.

The report, Recreational Physical Activity and Leisure-Time Sitting in Relation to Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Risk published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, followed 73,000 women for 17 years and found walking for at least seven hours a week lowered the risk of the disease.

The American Cancer Society team said this was the first time reduced risk was specifically linked to walking.

click here to read the full article

Popular case study texts now available in "e" format

Did you know that we now have case study texts available in e format?

Click here to access

and also see

 250 Cases in Clinical Medicine 

1/5 of Irish parents have used the internet to search for mental health information to help children in the last month

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD,  recently launched the Technology for Well-Being International Conference, which examines the role of technology in supporting young people’s mental health and well-being. New research launched at the conference revealed that over two thirds of Irish parents (70%) would look for help on the internet if their child was going through a tough time. 

Pictured is Gerry Raleigh, Elaine Geraghty, Minister Frances Fitzgerald, Professor Margaret Barry and Derek Chambers at the ReachOut.com Technology for Well-Being International Conference.

These findings are from the ‘Bridging the Digital Disconnect’ research carried out by the Health Promotion Research Centre, NUI Galway and Inspire Ireland, the organisation behind ReachOut.com. The research project is part-funded by the Australian Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre and explores parents’ views on using technology to promote young people’s mental health.
Click here for the full text of the article
To view the report click Bridging the digital disconnect

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