Medical Bulletin 25/August/2023

Here are the top medical news of the day:

More severe cases of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome in women, shows study

Women with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) tend to have more symptoms and co-occurring conditions than men, according to initial results from the world’s largest study of the disease. The study reveals that women who have ME/CFS – a long-term neurological condition where an excessive increase in symptoms can be triggered by normal levels of exertion – for more than 10 years are more likely to experience increasingly severe symptoms as they age.

To aid their efforts, the study team from the University of Edinburgh is calling on more people with ME/CFS, aged 16 and over and based in the UK to take part in the study. Experts analyzed anonymous survey questionnaires from more than 17,000 people with ME/CFS. They included information on how long the respondent has had ME/CFS symptoms, when they were diagnosed, and whether they had any co-occurring conditions.

Reference: NIHR Open Research, DOI 10.3310/nihropenres.13421.4, Typing myalgic encephalomyelitis by infection at onset: A DecodeME study

Novel compact device for clinicians could spot infected wounds faster

Infection can stall the healing of wound or its spread into the body if it isn’t treated quickly, putting a patient’s health in grave danger. An international team of scientists and clinicians thinks they have the solution: a device run from a smartphone or tablet app that allows advanced imaging of a wound to identify infection. The scientists developed a device called the Swift Ray 1 which can be attached to a smartphone and connected to the Swift Skin and Wound software. This can take medical-grade photographs, infrared thermography images, and bacterial fluorescence images.

To test their device, they recruited 66 wounded patients. Their wounds showed no sign of infection spreading further, did not contain foreign bodies, and had not previously been treated with antibiotics or growth factors. The images were reviewed by a researcher who wasn’t present for the wound care process. Four patterns were identified.

Reference: Frontiers in Medicine, DOI 10.3389/fmed.2023.1165281, Is my Wound Infected? A Study on the Use of Hyperspectral Imaging to Assess a Wound's Infectious Status

Memory loss-associated brain lesions in multiple sclerosis linked to common brain circuit

Between 30 to 50 percent of people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) will experience memory problems but the cause is uncertain. Brain lesions are the hallmark imaging sign used to diagnose MS and are often associated with memory dysfunction. However, increased MS brain lesions are not specific to memory problems and are also associated with fatigue, walking difficulty and other common MS symptoms. Previous studies that attempted to align the anatomy of lesions associated with memory problems in MS led to conflicting results.

Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital conducted a study to figure out which MS lesion locations are associated with memory issues. The team analyzed imaging and cognitive data from 431 people with MS enrolled in the Comprehensive Longitudinal Investigation of MS at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, or CLIMB study.

Reference: Journal of Neurology, DOI 10.1007/s00415-023-11907-8, Multiple sclerosis lesions that impair memory map to a connected memory circuit