In today’s blog Ana Zelić reflects on the decision made by US federal court to suspend embryonic stem cell research altogether. Also don’t forget to read this week’s TLS challenge by Tessa Fraser.

Stem-cell research is a very promising area in science because of the theoretical limitless effectiveness in finding a cure for almost every disease. Intriuging, to think that you could make a cell behave in a certain way, and instead of trying to fix your cells, you just put in new ones.

Simple as that? There is a catch. How do we obtain these stem-cells?

There are a few ways to do it, and this is the root of our problem. We can use adult stem-cells, or we can use embryonic stem-cells. The latter, logically, includes destroying embryos. That´s why the US federal court has suspended research on stem-cells derived from human embryos. It is no longer permitted to do such research using federal money. Adult stem-cell research, however, can still be carried out using federal money.
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In today’s blog, Suzanne Murphy continues with her experiences from the International Summer Medical School that she attended in Manchester last month. To read the first part, click here. Also find accompanied to this blog an elective report by Arpita Lakhotia.

Day 2 Tuesday got off to an excellent start, as we were sorted into the streams we had chosen. I had chosen cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, but participants also had the choice between acute medicine, emergency medicine, anaesthesia and intensive care, general medicine, psychiatry and general practice, general surgery, urology, radiology and vascular surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, plastic surgery, ENT and orthopaedic surgery or paediatrics, paediatric surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology.

I joined my fellow cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery hopefuls, a fantastic group of people who I have no doubt will all succeed in becoming great doctors and surgeons some day, for our first lecture which was to look at the fundamentals of cardiothoracic surgery . It was here that we met Mr. Joe Thekkudan, a registrar in cardiothoracic surgery, who I’m sure everyone who was there can agree, went way above and beyond the call of duty to help us learn about cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery. He told us all about the common cardiac surgeries, the diseases and disorders that led to the patient requiring cardiac surgery and the pathology and physiology behind these disorders. It was a brilliant lecture and one of my favourites of the week. We then went to join Dr. Susanne Kumar to learn the correct way of carrying out cardio-respiratory examinations and what to look out for during the examination.
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In today’s blog Kiran Munawar, a final year medical student from Allama Iqbal Medical College, Pakistan, discusses the impact of doctor’s religion on end-of-life care decisions as was pointed out in this week’s Lancet editorial. Also, don’t forget to join our facebook discussion where you can post your own views and comments on this issue.

Source BBC

This week’s Lancet lead editorial draws attention towards the results of a recently published British study that explores the role of doctors’ religious faith and ethnicity in taking ethically controversial decisions during end-of-life care [1]. Little research has been conducted on such sensitive issues previously. Therefore, the results of this study provide a much needed insight into the maze of complex moral and legal dilemmas faced by today’s physicians.

Dr. Clive Seale, professor at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, conducted a random mail survey of more than 3,733 doctors across Britain, of whom 2,923 reported on how they took care of their terminal patients [1]. Many of these doctors belonged to palliative care and dealt with the elderly. Analysis of the collected data revealed an unexpectedly high level of association between a doctor’s religious beliefs and how they chose to go about end-of-life care. Doctors who described themselves as non-religious were more likely than others to report having given continuous deep sedation until death, having taken decisions they expected or partly intended to end life, and to have discussed these decisions with patients, judged to have the capacity to participate in discussions [1,4]. Professor Mayur Lakhani, chair of the National Council for Palliative Care, said he was concerned by the findings of the paper [3].
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Today’s editorial blog by Versha Prakash discusses the ‘Year of the Lung’ as an initiative against lung diseases. Accompanying this blog is this week’s seminar on Gestational trophoblastic disease, TLS newsletter and Lancet Digest.

Respiratory diseases rank second in terms of mortality worldwide Source BBC

Last year, the European Respiratory Society (ERS) announced 2010 as the year of the lung to increase impetus in research and to spread awareness about respiratory diseases. This coincides with an annual ERS scientific meeting that will be held in Barcelona, Spain in September (18-22) this year. The largest ever conference of its kind, will see united group of societies to accomplish a major mission. But why such a loud cry?

According to WHO, 300 million people suffer from asthma and respiratory diseases are the second most prevalent category of illnesses after cardiovascular diseases both in terms of cost as well as incidence. WHO has also predicted that by 2020 around 11.9 million deaths will be caused by lung diseases including pneumonia, tuberculosis and, lung cancer [1]. Moreover, treating asthma in children and elderly people is difficult, and requires more trials. A Lancet editorial this week points out that “although asthma is one of the most enigmatic chronic diseases, evidence for new treatments in vulnerable populations in scarce” [2]. With practically no new drugs or vaccines developed for asthma in a decade, the condition is bound to rise.
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In today’s blog, our new student editor Mohsan Malik from King’s College London, reflects on the psychology of 33 miners who got trapped in a small mine in Chile nearly a month ago. Accompanying this blog is an article by Carlos Fioravanti on a new drug that has been developed in Brazil to fight infectious diseases.

Shrines dedicated to 33 miners trapped in San Jose, Chile Source BBC

On 5th August 2010, a small mine near San Jose, Chile, collapsed, entrapping 33 miners. It was 17 days later that the rescuers heard echoes and the 33 miners were discovered to be alive. Since then drilling has began to rescue the miners from the collapsed mine.

Interestingly, lessons learnt from space medicine are being used to help the trapped miners as NASA scientists arrive at the site. With their help, today’s media reports that, miners received their first hot meal. Previously, they have been surviving on glucose and high protein milk.
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Today’s blog is the first part of a series of blogs that will be presented by Suzanne Murphy, a student at Trinity College Dublin on her experiences from the International summer medical school in Manchester (August 23rd-27th) that she attended recently. Keep an eye out for next part soon!

Also, don’t forget to read this week’s TLS challenge by Muniesh Shanmugam.

Courtsey Dr Karen Au

When I saw the ad for the Future Excellence International Medical School on the TLS website, I knew straight away it was something I wanted to do, particularly when I saw that there would be a cardiology and cardiothoracic Surgery group. In the last few years I had been increasingly thinking of moving to the UK to study medicine as a postgraduate and after some work experience with a cardiothoracic team over the summer, I was convinced of the path I wanted to take. The summer school aims to allow medical students (or those of us who intend to be medical students!) the chance to gain an insight into some of the most competitive surgical and medical specialities, while offering the chance to learn some basic clinical and surgical skills, learn about developing a portfolio and give opportunities for interaction with a wide range of consultants and registrars.
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Today we have an elective report by Keir Philip, medical student at University of Sheffield where he describes his experiences from his medical elective in Colombia. Click here to read it.

In today’s blog, TLS student editor Joanna Hunter questions the logic behind medical school selection criteria. Don’t forget to read this week’s Lancet digest, an easy way to connect with our parent journal.

Source: BBC

In today’s blog student editor Versha Prakash writes about the unmet needs of people in the ‘double disaster’  struck Niger. Accompanying this blog is an article by Elliot Davis on harm reduction schemes in Malaysia.

One in five, or 17% of children are malnourished in Niger (Source: BBC)

A prolonged drought had hit Niger in 2005 leading to a widespread famine. The devastation caused widespread starvation, malnutrition in children and a huge loss of livestock. Located in western Africa, Niger is among the world’s poorest nations and is currently facing another hunger crisis or ‘as yet undeclared’ famine this year.

It’s already lean season in Niger but the grain banks are still empty. Now, the conditions are so extreme that people are left with very little or no food at all. According to this week’s Lancet world report, “[i]n villages scattered throughout the provinces of Zinder, Maradi, Diffa, and Tahoua, people have been reduced to eating leaves and lizards as their granaries run empty.” The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) says that one in five children is malnourished and 7.3 million people are in desperate need of food. These figures far exceed those normally used to declare a state of national emergency.
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In today’s blog Jane Bigham reflects on her experiences from Liberia. Accompanying this blog is this week’s TLS challenge by Chun Yat Chu.

Many Liberians suffer from trauma, depression, and other mental health issues following more than a decade of civil conflict. With only one psychiatrist in the entire country, and just a handful of nurses with mental health training, treating those who suffer from mental illnesses has been almost impossible. Jane Bigham is assistant program coordinator for the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program and recently traveled to the West African country. Below, she reflects on her journey and what a new Carter Center mental health initiative will mean for the people of Liberia. Bigham will receive her master’s in global health from Emory University in December 2010.

I recently traveled to Monrovia, Liberia, to work on The Carter Center’s Liberia Mental Health Initiative—our first international project to improve access to mental health care. The initiative will assist the Liberia Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to implement the national mental health plan, a set of priorities and goals established by the Liberian government to improve access to mental health services in the country. Among other activities, The Carter Center will help create training systems for mental health professionals, such as nurses; develop support systems for family caregivers; and work to reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses.

Photo credit: The Carter Center/M. Benckert
Jane Bigham and the team depart the Carter Center offices on U.N. Drive in Monrovia.
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