https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us provides the latest news from McGill University Health Centre E-cigarettes, commonly known as vapes, contain nicotine and various chemicals, including some used for flavorings, which make them more attractive to young people. Despite measures to protect youth, such as age restrictions and flavor bans, all types of vaping products remain easily available online. As a result, Canada has one of the highest youth vaping rates in the world. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-young-men-vape-greater-future.html Wed, 23 Oct 2024 12:12:04 EDT news648904321 For young people living with diabetes in Quebec, adolescence and young adulthood are periods marked by a significantly higher risk of interruptions in clinical care, hospitalizations and emergency room visits, reveals a study conducted by researchers at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC). These alarming findings highlight the need to improve care for youth living with diabetes during this pivotal period of their lives. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-adolescence-young-adulthood-risky-periods.html Tue, 08 Oct 2024 12:06:04 EDT news647607962 In Canada, prescribing potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs)—drugs whose harms may outweigh their benefits, which may be ineffective, or for which a safer alternative exists—remains very common among the elderly. Moreover, although overall spending on PIMs decreased between 2013 and 2021, seniors' exposure to three categories of PIMs increased during this period: gabapentinoids, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and antipsychotics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-09-elderly-potentially-inappropriate-drugs.html Tue, 10 Sep 2024 13:50:01 EDT news645192363 A new treatment could improve the lives of patients with mitochondrial diseases called POLG-related disorders, according to a unique clinical trial led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (RI-MUHC). Patients affected by these disorders experience progressive neurological decline and have a median survival of five months after onset of symptoms. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-effective-therapy-rare-devastating-neurodegenerative.html Mon, 29 Jul 2024 09:30:01 EDT news641463661 Posterior fossa group A (PFA) ependymoma are rare, treatment-resistant pediatric tumors of the central nervous system that originate in the brain and spinal cord. They have the highest recurrence rate and poorest prognosis of all childhood cancers due to the lack of effective treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-3d-genome-features-therapeutic-aggressive.html Wed, 10 Jul 2024 10:43:04 EDT news639826981 Treatments to help babies who run out of oxygen during pregnancy or at birth (neonatal encephalopathy) are limited. Therapeutic hypothermia is the only option used to prevent brain damage in such cases, but 29% of babies who receive it still develop significant neurological sequelae. The first phase of a new clinical study conducted at the Montreal Children's Hospital (MCH) shows that the administration of sildenafil, marketed under the brand name Viagra, could be a possible solution. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-viagra-oxygen-deprived-newborns-clinical.html Thu, 15 Feb 2024 13:53:05 EST news627227581 The COVID-19 pandemic marked the first time in the history of pandemics where self-testing was used as an essential component of a widespread public infection control and prevention strategy. Nearly four years into the pandemic, a study sheds light on the diagnostic accuracy and impact of the SARS-CoV-2 antigen-detection rapid diagnostic tests used for COVID-19 self-testing. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-covid-rapid-good.html Fri, 09 Feb 2024 10:37:05 EST news626697421 According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tuberculosis (TB) caused 1.3 million deaths in 2022 and is still very much present in many countries. In Canada, where foreign-born residents bear 80 percent of the burden of TB, the annual incidence rate is close to 5 cases per 100,000 persons, far from the WHO's goal to reduce it to one case per million inhabitants. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-12-focused-screening-residents-key-tb.html Wed, 13 Dec 2023 16:23:02 EST news621706974 Every winter, Canadian pediatric hospitals experience a wave of admissions linked to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), one of the leading causes of hospitalization among children. These hospitalizations represent a major burden for the health-care system, and the adoption of preventive measures could certainly alleviate this burden, shows a study carried out by researchers at the Montreal Children's Hospital and BC Children's Hospital Research Institute. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10-rsv-heavily-canadian-health-care.html Wed, 04 Oct 2023 12:27:21 EDT news615641238 A research team led by Dr. Geneviève Bernard at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (RI-MUHC) has reached an important milestone in research into leukodystrophies, which are deadly neurodegenerative diseases that affect approximately one in 4,700 children and remain incurable to this day. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-09-team-animal-4h-leukodystrophy.html Wed, 13 Sep 2023 16:16:29 EDT news613840585 About 1–3% of women who give birth in Canada experience serious complications during childbirth such as severe hemorrhage or severe preeclampsia. After surviving these complications (collectively termed "severe maternal morbidity"), many of these women may wish to conceive again in the future but would want to understand the risk associated with a new pregnancy and delivery. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-severe-maternal-complications-childbirth-recurring.html Thu, 31 Aug 2023 15:31:04 EDT news612714661 When it comes to health care, it's best to ask a professional. This oft-repeated adage also applies to scientists who might be tempted to use the ChatGPT artificial intelligence model for medical writing. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-medical-caution-warranted-chatgpt.html Mon, 14 Aug 2023 16:49:45 EDT news611250572 People with smaller airways relative to the size of their lungs—a condition called dysanapsis—could die sooner than others. In particular, they would be more at risk of dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD)—the three leading causes linked to smoking and air pollution. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-early-life-lung-impact-premature.html Thu, 20 Jul 2023 12:40:40 EDT news609075633 Together, the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM) and St. Mary's Hospital Center (SMHC) have contributed to an international clinical trial that will change the way we treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)—the most common form of lung cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-06-clinical-trial-immunotherapy-drug-efficiency.html Tue, 20 Jun 2023 10:15:04 EDT news606474901 Overcrowded housing, high rates of tobacco exposure, poor vaccination uptake and damage after severe respiratory infection in infancy: these are some of the reasons that are sometimes suggested to explain why indigenous children suffer more severe lung infections than other children in North America—with no conclusive proof. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04-genetic-mutation-chronic-lung-disease.html Mon, 24 Apr 2023 13:58:04 EDT news601563477 Just like pruning a tree helps promote proper growth, the brain uses synaptic pruning to get rid of unnecessary connections between its cells. However, when this normal process, which occurs between early childhood and adulthood, doesn't stop properly, the brain loses too many connections, including important ones. Because of this excessive pruning, some brain cells die and others cause inflammation, leading to problems with movement, thinking and learning. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-03-pruning-neurodegeneration-brain.html Thu, 23 Mar 2023 15:46:05 EDT news598805161 Affecting up to four percent of the population and mostly women, fibromyalgia is a syndrome that causes pain, fatigue and cognitive issues. Poorly understood, the condition has no cure and is difficult to diagnose. Now, thanks to the work of a team of scientists from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), McGill University, Université de Montréal and the Institute for Pain Medicine at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Israel, there is hope on the horizon. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-07-secret-fibromyalgia-microbiome.html Tue, 12 Jul 2022 14:37:04 EDT news576855422 A new study conducted at the RI-MUHC concludes that prescribing opioid analgesics at discharge after surgery does not reduce postoperative pain and increases the risk of adverse events. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-opioids-home-surgery-benefits.html Mon, 20 Jun 2022 11:57:04 EDT news574945021 Long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to an increased prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which lowers lung function and makes breathing difficult for over 2 million people in Canada, and hundreds of millions worldwide. While most studies have looked at areas with high levels of pollution, a collaborative Canadian research network led by scientists from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (RI-MUHC) decided to examine the situation in Canada. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-05-associations-air-pollution-respiratory-health.html Thu, 26 May 2022 16:16:18 EDT news572800571 Despite high hopes, a new pan-Canadian study published today in The BMJ suggests that ciclesonide—an inhaled and nasal steroid drug commonly used for asthma and rhinitis—won't be the treatment to change the course of the pandemic. The results of this first placebo controlled trial of inhaled steroids for COVID-19, led by a team of researchers at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) in Montreal, in collaboration with scientists from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, show that inhaled corticosteroids are no better than placebo at helping young healthy people with COVID-19 and respiratory symptoms feel better sooner. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-11-inhaled-corticosteroids-alleviate-early-symptoms.html Tue, 02 Nov 2021 14:55:29 EDT news555083725 Scientists from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the Montreal Children's Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre have shown that a screening tool used to identify genetic predisposition to cancer could also help predict which childhood cancer survivors may be at risk of developing other cancers later in life. The researchers say the findings could help clinicians consider more precise surveillance strategies for cancer survivors. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology on August 12, 2021. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-08-cancer-screening-tool-childhood-survivors.html Wed, 18 Aug 2021 15:42:24 EDT news548520141 Scientists have found a correlation between a disease involving chronic pain and alterations in the gut microbiome. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-06-gut-bacteria-chronic-pain.html Thu, 20 Jun 2019 09:40:39 EDT news480242430 Treatment guidelines for managing anaphylaxis in children should be reassessed, according to a new Canadian study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-05-guidelines-anaphylaxis-children.html Fri, 31 May 2019 10:52:17 EDT news478518730 For most people, the influenza A virus (IAV), commonly known as the flu, is cleared from the body by our own immune system. In some cases, however, the immune response becomes dysregulated and if left uncontrolled, the inflammation caused by our own immune cells can lead to extensive lung tissue damage and enhanced morbidity and mortality. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-05-canadian-path-flu-treatment-lipid.html Wed, 22 May 2019 12:39:09 EDT news477747536 Elwyn was a healthy 13 month-old toddler when she started drinking water from the bathtub. Over time, she became increasingly thirsty and demanded more and more breast milk. For her parents, this seemed like typical behaviour related to a growth spurt. One day, however, they noticed that she was abnormally weak and rushed her to the emergency department. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and had already developed a life-threatening complication of the disease known as diabetic ketoacidosis. She was immediately transferred to the intensive care unit, where she was treated for several days. Now two years old, Elwyn is still recovering, but doing better. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-05-children-quebec-early-diabetes.html Tue, 14 May 2019 15:09:20 EDT news477065352 Brain tumours are the leading cause of non-accidental death in children in Canada, but little is known about when these tumours form or how they develop. Researchers have recently identified the cells that are thought to give rise to certain brain tumours in children and discovered that these cells first appear in the embryonic stage of a mammal's development—far earlier than they had expected. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-05-unanticipated-early-childhood-brain-cancer.html Wed, 01 May 2019 13:37:49 EDT news475936661 An international effort led by physician-scientists at Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine (RCIGM), in collaboration with a team at the Montreal Children's Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre (MCH-MUHC), has identified the cause of a devastating pediatric brain disorder paving the way for the first step in developing potential therapies for this rare neurodegenerative condition. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-02-international-team-scientists-rare-pediatric.html Mon, 25 Feb 2019 10:10:15 EST news470311806 A new Canadian study, led by a team at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), is shedding light on anaphylaxis due to an unknown trigger (AUT)—an unpredictable and potentially fatal allergic reaction, about which surprisingly little is known. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-12-suboptimal-inconsistent-treatment-anaphylaxis-due.html Thu, 20 Dec 2018 09:51:35 EST news464521887 How does cancer spread? While studying human brain tumour cells, a team of scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) found some answers to this crucial, yet so far unanswered question. They looked at a gene called EGFRvIII, which is present in patients with glioblastoma—a highly aggressive form of brain cancer that spreads quickly and that is difficult to treat. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-12-cancer-gene-affects-cell-to-cell-disease.html Mon, 10 Dec 2018 09:31:49 EST news463656701 A team from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) led by Dr. Donald Vinh, the RI's so-called "Dr. House" because of his research into rare diseases, has discovered a new human disease and the gene responsible for it, paving the way for the proper diagnosis of patients globally and the development of new therapies. Their findings are published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-12-medical-cold-case-muhc-dr.html Thu, 06 Dec 2018 12:44:12 EST news463322638