Sickest people support health services the most
Healthy and successful people are the least willing to contribute more to the public health care system.
Health policy
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Patient involvement after acute heart attacks
Minutes count when you have a heart attack. Patient involvement is a statutory right but not always possible in this situation. Elise K. Bårdsgjerde has researched participation in the different phases of the patient process from the perspective of patients, nurses and doctors.
Big differences in how emergency doctors assess patient care needs
The threshold for admitting patients to the hospital varies greatly between emergency physicians. The doctors most willing to admit patients refer almost twice as many elderly patients as the most restrictive physicians.
Dementia makes it hard to detect pain in new nursing home residents
An assessment tool can make it easier for healthcare professionals to identify pain in residents with dementia. The right treatment can improve residents’ quality of life.
Abuse of the elderly is widespread
A majority of employees in Norwegian nursing homes have committed abuse or neglect of the elderly, a comprehensive report shows.
Is it always right to save lives? A radical proposal
In neonatal medicine, there is a grey area where professionals may be uncertain whether it is in the child’s best interests to start life-saving treatment. Without it, the infant dies. But the treatment can also do great harm. One of the foremost duties of medicine is often said to be to “do no harm”. But how much of a burden on the infant is acceptable? At what point is the hope simply too small to justify action?
Twenty years of sequencing genes… for better or for worse
It’s been 20 years since the first draft sequence of the human genome was published in the journals Nature and Science. The result led then-President Bill Clinton to state that we are now learning the language in which life was written, and that “doctors will increasingly be able to cure diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, and cancer by attacking their genetic roots.”
Sequencing 30 000 genes has changed the world, but in a different way than expected.
New NTNU method for beating back the coronavirus
NTNU researchers have started testing a COVID-19 test strategy developed in house: saliva samples you take yourself, without involving health personnel. This means that researchers may be able to knock back the coronavirus epidemic faster, more easily and much more cheaply than today. The method is now being tested on NTNU students.
Hospital financial performance overemphasized, say doctors
Some patients are more profitable for Norwegian hospitals than others. Most hospital physicians believe that managers care too much about the financial operation of hospitals.
Cheaper chocolate and alcohol are a public health setback
Eliminating the sugar tax and reducing the taxes on beer and wine will have health consequences, according to Steinar Krokstad, a professor of public health at NTNU.
Trained medical staff can perform safe, effective hernia surgery
Many low and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, don’t have enough surgeons to perform vital surgeries, such as groin hernia repairs. Training non-doctor associate clinicians in this procedure provides a safe and effective solution, a new study shows.
Low socioeconomic status usually associated with more health problems
Having several chronic health problems at the same time is common – especially among people with the fewest resources.
Virus might have mutated before it appeared in mink
It’s understandable that the Danes want to be on the safe side and exterminate the mink to stop this variant of the coronavirus, says Andreas Christensen, an associate professor at NTNU.
Simple nasal spray ready to save lives
Between 250 and 270 people die each year from heroin or opioid overdoses in Norway. In the EU, thousands die. European users now have a better option available for helping each other.
Increased activity not always the best advice for neck and back pain
The Norwegian Directorate for Health and Human Affairs recommends more physical activity and less sitting time. But that isn’t the right approach to managing neck and back pain for everyone, according to research from NTNU.
More people die when hospital bed shortages force patients out
Hip fractures have higher mortality rates if patients are discharged early because the hospital needs the space and capacity.
People with atrial fibrillation live longer with exercise
More than 100 000 Norwegians have atrial fibrillation. They should be actively exercising for their health.
Mathilde spent four hours in a chamber breathing dust
Road dust can be a big problem in the winter, especially in northern climes where the use of studded tyres is allowed. Researchers are now studying how the type of stone used in asphalt affects the amount and harmfulness of dusty particulate matter that gets kicked up as studded tyres chew into the asphalt.
Norway to start broad-based testing by month’s end using NTNU test kits
Norway’s Ministry of Health and Care Services confirmed Friday that it will roll out coronavirus test kits developed by researchers from NTNU and St Olavs Hospital by the last week of April/early May. The kits will more than triple Norway’s testing capacity during the rollout.
Non-exercisers often have fatty liver disease
A new study shows that every third Norwegian has a fatty liver. You can get it even if you don’t drink alcohol. If you are out of shape, the probability is much higher.
Publishing half-truths worsens treatment for patients
“I am a doctor who reveals idiots as a hobby,” says Ben Goldacre. If so, it’s become a pretty comprehensive hobby.
Exposing bad science in medical research publishing
Some medical research data never get published because they don’t fit in with the pharmaceutical industry’s desired results. Profiled researcher and social commentator Ben Goldacre will shed some light on this very topic when he takes part in NTNU’s The Big Challenge science festival in Trondheim in June.
What makes everyone sick?
The world’s best-known doctor is coming to the Big Challenge to talk about the world’s biggest challenge, and one that thousands of scientists are trying to figure out: what makes us sick? Norway is among the challenge participants.
How genes affect tobacco and alcohol use
Data from 1.2 million people reveal how tobacco and alcohol use may be linked to your genes and to various diseases.