SCOTTISH HOSPITAL NEWS


RESEARCHERS FIND KEY TO STROKE SURVIVAL


The number of trained nurses available to treat patients immediately after a stroke is the most reliable health services predictor of survival according to research from the University of Aberdeen and University of East Anglia.


Having the optimal number of trained nurses available to look after patients in an acute stroke unit was consistently found to be the best predictor of survival from stroke - after personal health factors were accounted for, such as age, stroke severity and blood pressure.


The study found that just one additional trained nurse per ten beds could reduce the chance of death after thirty days by up to twenty-eight per cent, and after one year by up to twelve per cent.


The number of consultants, type of hospital and level of support offered at discharge were some of the factors compared in the analysis to find which aspect of health service is the most valuable. Patient survival at seven days, thirty days and one year after stroke was recorded.


In the study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research’s (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme, the results showed that at each time point, the ratio of trained nurses to patients predicted whether or not the patient would survive. Also, nurse to patient


SUSTAINABLE VACCINES RESEARCH BOOSTED BY COMPUTER BREAKTHROUGH


Sustainable sources of new medicines and vaccines for a growing global population could be a step closer after the University of Aberdeen made an important breakthrough that will optimise a new and rapidly evolving biotechnology.


Biotechnology is already used to create a wide range of antibodies - the body’s natural response to disease or infection. For example, the Hepatitis B vaccine is made by combining the gene from the virus with baker’s yeast. This creates the hepatitis protein which, when injected into humans as a vaccine, stimulates the body


ratio was the only factor that could reliably predict whether the patient would have survived or not at one year post-stroke.


Professor Phyo Myint, Professor of Old Age Medicine at the University of Aberdeen, led the study with colleagues from the University of East Anglia, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, Anglia Stroke & Heart Clinical Network, and Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.


‘This is surprising,’ said Professor Myint, ‘ we didn’t expect to find this.


‘We might expect more obvious aspects of health care to have a greater impact on survival, such as, having a team to support early hospital discharge, or the proportion of acute and rehab beds on the unit. Instead, we found that, when controlling for all other variables, an increasing nurse to patient ratio has a substantial effect on reducing likelihood of death after stroke. This proved to be a very clear and consistent predictor of stroke survival.


‘Our figures show that there aren’t too many extra stroke nurses required to significantly improve survival - in fact, only one extra trained nurse per ten beds would see a reduction in mortality at 30 days by up to twenty-eight per cent and up to twelve percent at one year.’


to create antibodies against it. Similarly, a human gene can be combined with E. coli to make insulin for treatment of diabetes.


This extremely complicated process, called recombinant protein expression, is not always reliable however. Sometimes an insufficient quantity of proteins is made, or the proteins are made inaccurately.


Now mathematicians, physicists and microbiologists from the University of Aberdeen have shown for the first time that mathematical models can replicate this process to understand the reasons why it goes wrong. This allowed them to show that small changes in the cell biochemistry could improve the manufacture of the proteins. The findings have been published in Nucleic Acids Research.


DELIVERING INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS


Alliance Healthcare – the UK’s leading distributorand wholesaler of pharmaceutical, medical and healthcare products.


Our business was founded by local pharmacists, to support community pharmacy. Seventy years on, our commitment remains the same, but the healthcare environment we work in is changing quickly. That’s why, using our expertise and working in partnership with pharmacy, hospitals and dispensing doctors, we’re focused on developing and delivering integrated solutions and innovations, to improve healthcare in our communities and help your business grow.


With end-to-end involvement right across the supply chain, from factory gate to patient and every point in between, we are committed to using our extensive network and years of expertise to deliver, not only medicines, but added-value services to improve healthcare in our communities.


To find out more about the solutions we can offer, visit our website www.alliance-healthcare.co.uk or call us on 020 8391 2323.


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02/02/2016 12:31


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