news

Coercive measures are used in psychiatric treatment to avert acute danger to a person's life and health. However, such measures can be associated with considerable risks for patients and treatment teams. It is known from studies in adult psychiatric inpatient wards that environmental factors such as staffing, availability of retreat options, privacy and access to natural light can influence the use of coercive measures.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease in which the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is thought to play a role that has not yet been fully clarified. In particular, it was previously unclear why almost all people are infected with EBV in the course of their lives, but the virus only triggers MS in a small number of people.

A US research team with significant involvement from MedUni Vienna has analysed the molecular structures of human T cells, providing an unprecedentedly detailed description of how the immune system works. The results, which have now been published in the top journal "Nature", could help to overcome the limitations of current immunotherapies and find new approaches for the future treatment of a variety of diseases such as autoimmune diseases or cancer.

At least 75 per cent of type 2 diabetes cases could be avoided by adopting a healthy lifestyle. A plant-based diet has been shown to play a key role in this. With limitations - as demonstrated in a study led by Tilman Kühn from MedUni Vienna's Center for Public Health: A more plant-based diet only develops its protective effects if not only the consumption of animal-based foods, but also industrially processed and highly sugary foods is reduced.

People with chronic pain are often dependent on drugs from the class of opioids with sometimes considerable side effects. Accordingly, in recent years the search for safer alternatives has been the focus in drug discovery. As part of an international study led by MedUni Vienna, an opioid-like molecule has now been developed which, as shown in animal models, can effectively alleviate pain but with fewer undesirable side effects.

Distorted reality, altered sensory perceptions and thought processes as well as concentration disorders over a longer period of time can be signs of an increased risk of psychosis.

As an extremely aggressive form of skin cancer, cutaneous melanoma is still associated with a high mortality rate. Enormous progress has recently been made in the fight against deadly metastasis, but existing therapeutic measures are still not effective in many cases. Now a research team led by Wolfgang Weninger and Shweta Tikoo from MedUni Vienna's Department of Dermatology has discovered a new option that targets the metastatic capacity of melanoma cells.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is marketed by some suppliers as a painkiller, e.g. for osteoarthritis of the knee. Animal experiments have shown that the substance, which is extracted from the hemp plant, has an anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effect in arthritis. As pain researchers at MedUni Vienna were now able to show for the first time in humans, CBD is not effective as pain medication, even in high doses.

Approximately half of patients with advanced liver disease have varicose veins in the oesophagus and stomach, and a more than a fifth of them experience bleeding from these varices into the digestive tract. This is a life-threatening complication that contributes significantly to the still high mortality rate in cirrhosis.

An impressive medical mission recently took place in Ethiopia, where a group of surgeons, including Viktoria König, a specialist in plastic and reconstructive surgery at MedUni Vienna's Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, treated people with serious injuries sustained during the protracted civil war in the northern region of Tigray.

Despite its diagnostic superiority, computed tomography (CT) has not yet established itself as a primary method for the most frequent indications that require an imaging examination of the chest in emergency medicine. Chest X-rays (CXR) are still the most frequently used method mainly due to low costs and a very low radiation dose.

European Region. Against this background, international experts, including Georg Stary and Katja Knapp from MedUni Vienna, compiled a comprehensive overview of the situation and the challenges facing public health. The series of articles was recently published in the renowned journal "The Lancet Regional Health - Europe".

A study led by the Medical University of Vienna shows a sustained survival benefit of the so called antiangiogenic therapy at recurrence of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children and adolescents. The therapy starves the cancer by interfering mainly with the cancer microenvironment.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already widely used in medical diagnostics. An Austrian-Australian research team led by dermatologist Harald Kittler from MedUni Vienna investigated the extent to which diagnosis and therapy of pigmented skin lesions benefit from it in a realistic clinical scenario. In a study published by The Lancet Digital Health, the team compared the accuracy in diagnosis and therapy recommendation of two different algorithms in smartphone applications with that of doctors.

An underlying liver disease can be found in 85% of patients with a new diagnosis of liver cancer. Due to the increasing incidence of fatty liver disease, the number of liver cancer diagnoses could increase by up to 50% by 2040. Affected people with advanced liver disease should be included in early detection programs.

A research team at the Comprehensive Cancer Center of MedUni Vienna and Vienna General Hospital has published a study investigating the influence of chronic diseases on the occurrence of surgical or medical complications in oncological bowel surgery and how these affect long-term survival. It was found that although the number and severity of concomitant diseases influences the occurrence of medical or surgical complications, this does not have a negative impact on long-term survival in sicker individuals.

The Department of Neurosurgery at MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna has recently begun using a new laser-based imaging technique that enables much faster tissue diagnosis during tumor surgery. With "Stimulated Raman Histology", a digital tissue section can be created directly in the operating room, which can be accessed and diagnosed after just a few minutes.

Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is mainly caused by asbestos exposure and characterized by poor prognosis and limited therapeutic options. A recent research study led by Karin Schelch and Michael Grusch from MedUni Vienna identified the oncoprotein YB-1 as an attractive therapeutic target in PM and demonstrates that indirect targeting of YB-1 is a promising approach to enhance sensitivity to chemoand radiotherapy.

A research team from MedUni Vienna and the FWF-sponsored Special Research Area SFB F83 Immunometabolism has now demonstrated for the first time the central role of macrophages in the renewal of intestinal cells, which sheds light on the complex interplay between immune cells and tissue regeneration.

A joint research group from the Medical University of Vienna and King's College London has presented a "proteome atlas" of atherosclerotic plaques that reveals important gender differences in the development and prognosis of atherosclerosis. The study identified four key proteins that are more predictive of future cardiovascular mortality than conventional methods.