The Lancet Digest, June 7-13 2008
If you do nothing else with The Lancet this week, read the long Editorial which comments on the arresting report recently published by Save the Children, in which the appalling issue of sexual exploitation of children by UN peacekeepers was highlighted. And what irony, as at the same time the UN celebrates its 60th birthday having been set up to ensure that the atrocities of World War II would never be repeated. But it is important to stress that the sexual exploitation report highlights how the sordid behaviour of a minority are tarnishing the phenomenal work of thousands of UN peacekeepers putting their own lives at risk to feed and shelter populations oppressed by conflict.
Elsewhere in the journal:
An important research Article in the cardiology field. The TAPAS study highlights how thrombus aspiration (sucking out a coronary vessel blood clot using a catheter) could obviate the need for predilation balloon angioplasty, which is the conventional approach of percutaneous coronary intervention for acute heart attack.
Another research Article highlights how high concentrations of the hormone aldosterone and its association with high blood pressure may not be as common as previously thought.
Encouraging news about the global burden of blinding trachoma, which is common in sub-Saharan African countries. Authors of a Seminar estimate that trachoma could be on track for elimination by 2020, thanks to the implementation of WHOs SAFE strategy: Surgery, antibiotics, Face cleanliness, and Environmental factors.
Also look out for an interesting clinical Review about moderate hypothermia to help prevent tissue damage after traumatic events such as heart attack, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. Author Kees Polderman comments that moderate hypothermia is underused in clinical practice, and he discusses the paper in this week’s Lancet podcast.
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