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Each year at the beginning of the Autumn months, many people consider whether they should get vaccinated against the flu or influenza virus. In general, the seasonal influenza vaccine is not explicitly recommended for all groups of people. It concerns mainly healthy children, adolescents and adults up to the age of 60, as for them an infection with the flu generally has few complications. But the elderly, the chronically ill and pregnant women from the second trimester onwards are often at risk, as an infection can progress into something far more severe and might even prove fatal. For this reason, doctors recommend an annual flu shot for these groups of people. The vaccination is also…
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Medical science stands at the beginning of a digital revolution, that will fundamentally change its shape in the coming years and decades. Technologies that seemed merely science fiction are already a reality today. While terms like Medicine 2.0 and Big Data are still discussed among experts, some countries have already made connected, digital solutions, as well as tele- and internet medicine, part of their regular health care provision. Still, the advancement of artificial intelligence might soon overshadow all other future developments.
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Excess weight is one of the major risk factors for developing a variety of diseases, a problem which has reached epidemic proportions globally. Since 1980, the number of adults who are either overweight or obese has increased to a record breaking 1.9 billion in 2014. Since 2015, World Obesity Day, which is held annually on October 11th, aims to increase knowledge and understanding of the many challenges associated with obesity, as well as public awareness of the issue. This year, the campaign's motto is “treat obesity now and avoid the consequences later”. Based on last year's main theme, which focused on obesity in children and adolescents, this year will promote preventive measures and…
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Excessive weight is not purely a cosmetic issue, but it’s also one of the leading risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), current evidence suggests that the risk of developing certain malignant tumors increases with a higher body weight. So far, 13 different types of tumors have been identified, that are associated with excessive weight - including common types such as breast and colorectal cancer.
A recent study published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigated the incidence of tumor diseases associated with being overweight or obese. Between 2005 and 2014, the number…
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Modern medicine has become unimaginable without the use of technical means. The process of increasing technical sophistication first started as early as the 1960s. Especially in the USA, technical innovations such as electric beds or automated X-ray film developing devices, as well as laboratory diagnostics in the daily clinical routine, were deployed at early stages. In the following decades, technical progress has constantly been reflected in medicine. Nowadays, computers, digital imaging, and automatic analysis procedures, as well as robotic systems, belong in many places.
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The chronological age of a person can usually be accurately determined with the aid of a birth date. In contrast, the biological age is quite difficult to measure. There are a multitude of theories about the aging process, but the causative mechanisms, however, remain largely unknown. This is believed to be a multifactorial process that is influenced by internal and external factors, such as genetic structure, lifestyle and environmental factors. In the course of this process, complex physical changes occur, which are characterized by reorganization, as well as increasing impairment and loss of function.
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Increased blood, fat and cholesterol levels are among the main risk factors for the onset of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, besides high blood pressure drugs, statins are one of the most commonly prescribed medications worldwide. Statins inhibit the body's cholesterol synthesis and can thus help to reduce blood cholesterol levels. However, their broad usage is often controversial and widely discussed, with potential alternatives currently being researched. Presently, a focus of scientific interest is in the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), which is considerably involved in the regulation of cholesterol metabolism. The PCSK9 binds to the LDL receptor on the liver…
