Showcasing laboratory game-changers at the largest healthcare conferences in the world

Donna Woodall

Sr. Director, Global Marketing, Laboratory Diagnostics at Siemens Healthineers

15 Mar 2017

The 2017 Arab Health Exhibition & Congress and MEDLAB 2017 in Dubai were a celebration of healthcare innovation, with 4,400 of the world's leading healthcare companies from 70 countries attending the events. We, at Siemens Healthineers, were excited to showcase our pioneering spirit and engineering expertise, as well as the many diagnostic solutions we deliver across the globe to help healthcare professionals adapt to the changing healthcare environment.

The MEDLAB exhibition featured products from laboratory, point-of-care and molecular diagnostics portfolios. We were especially honored to have our new solutions on display in a private viewing area in the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention’s exhibition space during the 2017 Arab Health Exhibition & Congress.

We were pleased to present part of our new portfolio at these two major industry events. We were happy to see that in the context of growing importance of digitalization and automation across the healthcare industry, the high interest among UAE dignitaries and heads of state was not scarce.

Photo Credits: Arab Health Facebook Page

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From over-testing to over-treatment – exploring pros and cons of screening programmes

Global

21 Feb 2017

The argument has raged for some time and shows no sign of abating any time soon: screening for diseases, yes or no? Take the case of prostate cancer screening: Richard Ablin - the author of “The Great Prostate Hoax”, and the man who claims to be the first to have identified PSA (a protein created by the walnut-sized prostate gland that can easily be measured) - maintains that PSA testing can do, and often does, more harm than good. Ablin, of the University of Arizona, has noted that a man’s PSA levels may be high but that doesn’t mean that he has cancer. On the reverse side of the coin, a low PSA level doesn’t necessary mean that a potential patient’s worries are over in this regard.Yet the fact remains that around one-in-three men aged from 40-60 has traces of prostate cancer, and the risk rises with ageing. So all men should be regularly tested, right? Well, not necessarily… Ablin and others argue that over-testing can very easily lead to over-treatment, including unnecessary invasive surgery to remove the prostate gland. The over-treatment argument has also been used in respect of breast cancer screening, although the figures tend to show that it works very well in a preventative sense and even better in detecting early breast cancer in target age groups. Yet over-treatment is clearly an issue, with many women (plus those aforementioned men with early ‘signs’ of prostate cancer) simply wanting all traces of the disease, or potential disease, removed right away, regardless of the potential cost to them personally or, indeed, fiscally to society in general. So over-treatment is clearly something that cannot be side-stepped. The counter-arguments - and they are very strong ones - is that our ‘social contract’ has obligations to ensure the highest standards possible regarding...

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European Alliance for Personalised Medicine

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Global

1 Feb 2017

Most Europeans born today will live into their eighties but behind that impressive statistic lie inequalities and ill-health. It’s time we focused on adding life to years instead of years to life. In 1990, life expectancy at birth was 74.1 years in Europe. Today, it’s 80.9. This is a remarkable achievement, by any measure. However, adding to our quantity of life is no guarantee of quality of life. Yes, the chances of surviving cancer, heart attack and stroke are higher than ever, thanks to improved healthcare. The prospects of surviving without disability are less rosy. Startling statistic Here is one of the most shocking statistics I’ve read in a long time: men and women spend 79% and 74% of their lives, respectively, in good health. Or, to put it another way, men live more than a fifth of their lives in bad health while women live more than a quarter of their lives in an unhealthy state. This explains why policymakers are shifting focus to healthy life years . The EU is trying to add two healthy life years – or ‘disability-free life expectancy’ – to our lives by 2020. After all, adding two more years to life is not worth much if they are two extra years of misery. Today in Europe, 50 million people over the age of 65 live with two or more chronic conditions, according to figures published by the EU/OECD . This comes at a profound human cost as well as an estimated economic loss of €115 billion. Another challenge that lies behind the impressive life expectancy figures is inequality. Let’s take gender first: the typical European women lives to around 83 while her male counterpart is lucky if he celebrates his 78 th birthday. Even bigger disparities emerge if we compare Europe’s best-performing health...

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Global

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Global

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Global

2 Nov 2016

Childhood obesity is increasing, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In high–income countries, while prevalence may be plateauing, it remains high; and we are seeing an increase among children living in disadvantage. In January 2016, a report by the World Health Organisation’s Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity called for prevention efforts to target early life, specifically three critical periods: preconception and pregnancy, infancy and early childhood and older childhood and adolescence. An early-life focus is important because the health and social impact of excess weight and obesity in childhood persists into later stages of life, negatively affecting health, educational attainment and general life quality. Current high rates of childhood obesity are the product of a perfect early-life storm. Understanding the combination of factors that put children living in disadvantage at risk of obesity provide a clear focus for public health action. A perfect storm More children are now growing up in societies that facilitate weight gain and obesity by creating environments where a healthy choice is not the cheapest or the easiest option. Our recent review identified a range of factors likely to influence a child’s increased weight gain. These include maternal factors, prior to and during pregnancy. Diet, smoking, being overweight or obese when becoming pregnant, gaining excess weight during pregnancy and developing gestational diabetes can all increase the risk of the child being overweight. A father being overweight or obese at conception is also a risk for the child’s future weight. In the early months and years of a child’s life, many factors pose a risk to becoming overweight. These include the child not being breastfed or being breastfed for too short a time. A child’s risk of obesity is also strongly affected by the diet they learn to enjoy from the start of life, so early food...

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Global

5 Feb 2016

In the last few weeks we have seen the emergence of a new global public health threat, the Zika Virus (ZIKV). Both the World Health Organization ( WHO ) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control ( ECDC ) are monitoring the spread of the Zika, a mosquito borne arbovirus. The WHO recently declared the diseases linked to the Zika virus as a global public health emergency. Several Zika cases have been reported in Europe from people who have contracted the virus while travelling. The bigger risk however is when mosquito populations in Europe become infected and start acting as a vector for the disease. The map shows the distribution of Aedes albopictus which can become a carrier of Zika in Europe. At this stage, a lot of critical questions remain: What are the risks associated with Zika? Is there a potential link between Zika infections in pregnant women and microcephaly results in newborns? The Role of Diagnostics Developing adequate diagnostic tools becomes critical especially since Zika infections can display no symptoms or symptoms similar to other viral infections. In the short term, diagnostic tools will track the spread of the infection. Understanding how the epidemic spreads will be a critical step in controlling it. Accurate diagnostic tools will be needed to understand the relationship between Zika and microcephaly. Diagnostic tools, in the long term, will be essential in developing treatments and vaccines to combat Zika. If the link between Zika and microcephaly is confirmed, it will be equally critical to manage the potential risks during pregnancy. Detecting active Zika infections and determining the immune status of the mother with regards to Zika will be essential in reducing its impact during pregnancy. Precautionary measures are now being taken to ensure the safety of the blood donations – travellers...

Jesús Rueda Rodríguez

MedTech Europe

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Showcasing laboratory game-changers at the largest healthcare conferences in the world

Showcasing laboratory game-changers at the largest healthcare conferences in the world

Donna Woodall

From over-testing to over-treatment – exploring pros and cons of screening programmes

Denis Horgan

We’re living longer – but can we live better?

Gary Finnegan

Great expectations for 2017

Gary Finnegan

4th industrial revolution: driving sustainable development

Robert Madelin

Let’s address the perfect storm of factors leading to obesity in disadvantaged children

Why diagnostics is important in dealing with the Zika threat

Jesús Rueda Rodríguez

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Showcasing laboratory game-changers at the largest healthcare conferences in the world

Showcasing laboratory game-changers at the largest healthcare conferences in the world

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