World hepatitis day, 28 July 2016, is one of four official World Health Organization (WHO) World Days. It’s an opportunity to intensify national and international efforts against this disease.

Are you at risk? 

Viral hepatitis is a group of infectious viral diseases of which there are several types: A, B, C, D and E. This disease affects 400 million people worldwide, causing acute and chronic liver disease. Given the scale of the epidemic, anyone could be at risk.

Hepatitis kills approximately 1.4 million people per year, especially hepatitis B and hepatitis C. 

Although viral hepatitis can be detected by a blood test, most people are unaware that they are infected with hepatitis B or C. 

WHO estimates that only 1 in 5 infected people have acute symptoms. Even in this case, blood tests are often not performed since these acute symptoms are often mild or similar to flu-like symptoms. If left untreated, hepatitis B and C may become chronic and result in death, cirrhosis or liver cancer.

Although five strains of viral hepatitis exist (types A to E), types B and C contribute most to the burden of disease in the WHO European Region and thus efforts primarily target these two latter strains.

Hepatitis A and E are caused by ingesting contaminated food or water, whereas hepatitis B, C and D usually occur after contact with contaminated blood or body fluids (saliva). Hepatitis B is mainly transmitted through sexual intercourse, from mother to child, and through contaminated blood. Hepatitis C is primarily spread by blood and less often through sexual contact.

Become active! 

The Ministry of Health is inviting everyone to come learn about hepatitis, to be screened to learn their personal status, and to take the prescribed treatments in case of infection so as to reduce the number of cases and deaths due to hepatitis.

Furthermore, in order to raise public awareness of the risk posed by hepatitis, as well as to increase access to screening and treatment services, targeted activities will be organised in Luxembourg City on this World Day.

The Ministry of Health, in collaboration with HIV Berodung of the Luxembourg Red Cross, the Luxembourg Institute of Health and the Centre Hospitalier du Luxembourg, is extending an invitation for a day of screening and information, organised on 28 July, to highlight the importance of prevention and early detection.

An information stand, distributing condoms and flyers, will be set up on the railway station plaza from 13:00 to 16:00. In addition, experts on the subject matter will be present to answer all hepatitis-related questions. The DIMPS (Mobile Intervention Facility to Promote Sexual Health) will also be on site and will offer rapid, free and anonymous screening tests.

A Hepatitis Quiz will also be held and participants will be offered “health” gadgets.

Get screened!

Screening is the only way to detect infections early, in order to ensure suitable medical and psychological-social care and reduce morbidities and death that may follow.

HIV Berodung of the Luxembourg Red Cross (specialised ward for hepatitis, STI and HIV prevention, as well as for individual counselling and psychological-medical-social monitoring of the persons concerned) offers rapid, free and anonymous screening tests throughout the year on their premises, at CIGAL and in the DIMPS (Mobile Intervention Facility to Promote Sexual Health). The sites and timetables can be consulted on the website www.dimps.lu. 

A nursing consultation for STIs (sexually transmitted infections) at the Centre Hospitalier du Luxembourg also offers hepatitis and HIV screening tests, via a blood test, all year round, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For more information please visit the website or call 4411 8348 or 4411 2730.

Fight the Silent Epidemic

A safe and effective vaccine against infection caused by the hepatitis B virus has been available for over 20 years. Most countries in the European Region routinely immunise newborns and children: this initiative has made remarkable progress that will enable future generations to be free of hepatitis B. At present, there is no hepatitis C vaccine. As a result, current efforts are focused on improving prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Get treated!

At the global scale, most people who need treatment do not receive it because they are unaware of their condition or they have difficultly accessing health care services - less than 1% have access to treatment. Although hepatitis spontaneously resolves in most cases, an appropriate treatment must be taken for hepatitis B and hepatitis C otherwise major life-threatening complications from chronic disease may occur: cirrhosis and liver cancer. Currently, more than 90% of persons with hepatitis C can be cured within 3 to 6 months. 

European Region 

There is a silent epidemic of viral hepatitis types B and C in the WHO European Region, where it is estimated that 13.3 million people are living with chronic hepatitis B and 15 million people with hepatitis C.

Because of the high burden of disease, more attention needs to be paid to viral hepatitis in Europe. Hepatitis B and C each affect up to 2% of the population in the WHO European Region, and together kill over 120,000 people every year. We need to take urgent action, working closely with our partners, to address this neglected and silent epidemic.

Worldwide, approximately 500 million people are affected by chronic conditions caused by hepatitis B and C. Together, they are the most common causes of cirrhosis and liver cancer.

First global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis

Member States are invited to support the first global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis, launched at the World Health Assembly in May 2016. It will cover the period 2016-2021.

This new strategy sets the following milestones: a 30% reduction in the number of new cases of hepatitis B and hepatitis C and a 10% reduction in mortality by 2020.

The proposed strategies include expanding hepatitis B immunisation programs; focusing on preventing mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B; improving the safety of injections, transfusions and surgical procedures; organising “harm reduction” services for people who inject drugs; and improving access to hepatitis B and hepatitis C diagnosis and treatment.

Research in Luxembourg

In Luxembourg, an estimated 3,000 people are infected with the Hepatitis C virus for which there is no vaccine. In response to this scourge, researchers at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), in partnership with the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL), are carrying out research and epidemiological studies to better understand and curb the disease.

Although treatments exist to eradicate the Hepatitis C virus, they are not effective in 10 to 15% of cases. It is imperative to study and understand these failures, which can be explained by the emergence of drug resistance.

This is what Dr Carole Devaux’s team at the Infectious Diseases Research Unit and the Clinical and Epidemiological Investigation Centre (CIEC) at the LIH are trying to do through two studies.

The first study is being carried out among drug users in order to learn more about their consumption habits and the associated risk factors, to assess the efficacy of new treatments and to improve preventive measures. This study is currently being carried out at Abrigado, the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL) and Jugend-an-Drogenhëllef.

The goal of the second study, currently being carried out in two prisons in Luxembourg, is to annually follow-up patients in custody and to provide descriptive data (re-infection rates, risk factors, etc.) that can be used to better understand, treat or prevent this epidemic. This study also makes it possible to put participants in touch with opioid substitution therapy programmes to help them stop their consumption.

A register listing cases of failures and resistance to new hepatitis C treatments was created by the LIH in order to help establish a European monitoring programme. This register will collect data from 18 sites in 13 different European countries and Israel. 

 

Released by the Ministry of Health, LIH, HIV Berodung and the CHL. 

28/07/2017

As part of the 50th anniversary of the Kannerklinik, the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg is inviting you to an Open House Day. The programme for this day, which will take place on Sunday 14 May 2017 from 10:00 to 17:00, includes activities for the whole family.

This will be a fun and original way to discover the Mother-Child Centre, plus a great opportunity to show the progress that has been made over the last 50 years.

An “à la carte” programme will be offered to visitors, including:

• A growing family: getting ready for a new baby/babies 
• Thematic workshop “I’m going to be a Big Sister, I’m going to be a Big Brother”
• The “Petzi Klinik” to take the drama out of health management in the paediatric emergency ward through workshops for both the young and old
• Interactive workshops on prevention: extreme prematurity, how to avoid accidents at home, cardiovascular prevention in children, problems at school, prevention of allergies, etc.

This Open House Day will be an opportunity to discover the Mother-Child Centre in a “different way”, to better appreciate its diversity and its complexity, as well as to meet and interact with hospital professionals outside the usual healthcare framework. It will also be the perfect time to reduce anxieties related to stays in hospital.

A photo exhibit shows how the hospital has changed over the years. The Open House Day will also be the occasion to be the first to discover the exhibit of the work of artist Pascale Seil through a drawing competition at the KannerKlinik for the benefit of the “Grand Duke and Grand Duchess Foundation”.

Fun activities are planned for the children all throughout the day. A culinary training session is organised for the benefit of the “La Chaîne de l’Espoir” and “Pimpampel Asbl” Associations.

 

Practical Information:

Date › Sunday 14 May 2017 › from 10:00 to 17:00

Entrance › Access via the Entry Hall of the New Maternity Building – 2, rue Federspiel

Events › Fun activities are planned for children all day long. A culinary training session will be organised.

Programme › The detailed programme for this Open House Day can be found here.

 

The KannerKlinik in a few figures:

In 2016, nearly 14,000 young patients were monitored, in outpatient and inpatient, in various wards at the KannerKlinik and more than 35,000 children and adolescents were received at the paediatric medical-surgical emergency polyclinic. The KannerKlinik has 74 hospital beds spread out over four units, and when hospitalised in the Paediatric Unit, one parent can stay with each child 24 hours a day. 

 

We’re counting on you to announce this event through your press office. Many thanks in advance!

 

Press contacts:

Nadine Kohner
Communications Officer
Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg
Tel.: (+352) 44 11 84 92
E-mail: kohner.nadine@chl.lu

09/05/2017

The CHL is placing a specific focus on quality and safety of care and has been organising “Hospital Safety Week” since 2015 with these goals in mind. This 2nd edition took place between 21 and 25 November 2016 and was officially inaugurated in the presence of Mrs Lydia Mutsch, Minister of Health.

This goal of this week is to educate healthcare professionals, patients and the general public about safety in healthcare:

• A “room of errors” is set up to promote the safety culture and continuous improvement in healthcare by the medical-caregiver staff. A room of errors is a simulation of a reconstructed patient’s room and treatment room in which errors have been hidden. These errors are in connection with the themes of drug safety, correct patient identification, hygiene and blood product standards and proper use of biomedical equipment. 

This simulation experiment makes it possible to raise awareness of safety in healthcare practices as well as the declaration of adverse effects in an interactive and fun manner. 

To further reinforce the interactive approach of this week, employees can take an Intranet quiz to test and check their knowledge regarding various aspects of hospital safety.

• The CHL’s Safety Week is also open to patients and the general public. Several information booths and interactive workshops organised by the CHL’s partners (Help, Hëllef Doheem, Steinfort Intercommunal Hospital and the DeWidong Centre) are set up in the entrance hall at the CHL Centre site. The objective is to inform and raise awareness of the global and safe management of patients when they are discharged from hospital. The topics covered include preventing falls, rehabilitation and hand hygiene.

Monique Birkel, CHL’s Healthcare Director, says with regard to this initiative: “This is an innovative approach to teaching hospital safety.”

She continues: “Risk management is a major issue in the running of a hospital. Our institutional policy is to promote the development of a true safety culture for patients and personnel.”

“Our profession requires that our practices are questioned on a regular basis. Quality and safety are ongoing challenges that mobilise the skills, expertise and professional responsibility of everyone. Our employees are actively involved in this optimisation process. Hospital safety week is also a great moment for dialogue and to discuss this key subject .”

21/11/2016

Monday 14 November 2016, from 10:00 to 16:00, at the CHL Centre/CHL Maternity Hospital/CHL KannerKlinik ENTRANCE HALL sites

 

In honour of World Diabetes Day, organised on Monday 14 November 2016 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and in collaboration with the Luxembourg Diabetes Association (ALD), the CHL is working together to screen and inform the public. 

Various information stands and thematic workshops will be proposed by the multidisciplinary team at the Diabetes Clinic (adult-child), in collaboration with the Diabetic Foot Clinic, the Sports Clinic, the Hypertension Clinic, the Menopause Clinic in order to:

• provide information about the risks and warning signs of diabetes in adults, children and pregnant women
• publicise the missions of the multidisciplinary team at the CHL's Diabetes Clinic
• provide advice regarding balanced diets
• provide information about the prevention and management of diabetic foot
• allow dialogue between  the various stakeholders and the public for advice and guidance purposes
• publicise the CHL's involvement in health promotion with regard to the management of diabetic adult/child patients. 

Stands will be set up in the entrance halls of the CHL Centre, CHL KannerKlinik and CHL Maternity Hospital sites from 10:00 and 15:00. 

 

Free screening:

Throughout the day, free screening tests will be carried out in the entry hall of the CHL Centre site.

 

Proposed thematic workshops:

• Cardiology: blood pressure measurements 
• Dietary: BMI calculations and dietary education 
• Diabetology: calculation of the risk of developing diabetes and screening 
• Diabetes Clinic: management of diabetes in 2016, risk prevention, demonstration of new equipment, etc.

 

Diabetes:

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when no or not enough insulin is produced. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels by lowering its concentration in the blood. Untreated diabetes causes hyperglycaemia (elevated blood sugar), which results in damage to several organ systems over time, including blood vessels and nerves.

 

lt is important to distinguish between:

• Type 1 diabetes: Insulin-dependent or juvenile diabetes

This type of diabetes is characterised by an absence of insulin production following the destruction of specific cells. The causes are still unknown and based on what is known today, the disease cannot be prevented. 

Due to this insulin deficiency, the following symptoms progressively appear: excessive urination (polyuria), sensation of thirst (polydipsia), weight loss and fatigue. Daily insulin administration is therefore vital.

 

• Type 2 diabetes: Non-insulin-dependent or late-onset diabetes

This type of diabetes is characterised by the body’s poor ability to use insulin. The disease is  caused by environmental factors such as an unbalanced and overly rich diet or lack of physical activity. 

The symptoms are similar to type 1 diabetes  but are less pronounced and as a result may go undetected.  Categorised as adult diabetes, it has also been found in some adolescents in recent years. Initially, this type of diabetes is treated with a change in lifestyle, oral anti-diabetic drugs and possibly insulin.

 

• Gestational diabetes: Diabetes appearing during pregnancy

Pregnancy diabetes, also called gestational diabetes, is an abnormal elevated blood sugar level that typically occurs late in the second or third trimester of pregnancy. Gestational diabetes is diagnosed by a test. In most women, pregnancy diabetes disappears after childbirth. However, more than 20% of women develop type 2 diabetes in the years that follow.

 

According to WHO (World Health Organization), 347 million people have diabetes worldwide. 3, 400,000 have died from the consequences of diabetes: stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, amputation, blindness, etc. This disease affects men, women, as well as children and adolescents. In Luxembourg, at least 4.1% of the population is already diabetic (4.65% in Europe, 6% in the United States and 2.8% worldwide). Today, diabetes is a real public health problem as well as a significant social cost. In 2030, diabetes will be the seventh leading cause of death in the world.

 

 

 

09/11/2016

With a donation of over €77,000, the André and Henriette Losch Foundation has once again shown tremendous generosity to the CHL's KannerKlinik and to the cause of child patients.

During a recent visit by the Foundation's representatives to the KannerKlinik, the CHL’s Board of Directors were proud to show and explain a series of equipment and materials acquired through this exceptional donation:

• an outdoor “playground” to improve the quality of inpatient stays for children hospitalised in child psychiatry.
• a “play MRI” that can be used as a fun way to prepare children for the real exam. This simulator can decrease the use of general anaesthesia in children under the age of 10 by up to 90%.
• a “Giraffe Shuttle” trolley used to transport newborns from the delivery room to the neonatal intensive care ward at the KannerKlinik while ensuring continuity of care.
• a “pulse CO-oximetry” machine for the paediatric emergency ward, used to quickly and effectively measure HbCO saturation.

The hospital warmly thanked the Foundation for its commitment to the cause of paediatrics and once again emphasised that all donations are invested with the goal of improving the quality of care and comfort of child patients on a daily basis.

Mr Jean Hoss, Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, said the Foundation will continue to support the Kannerklinik to improve the well-being of child patients.

Photos of this event can be downloaded in HD here.

 

20/10/2016

On Tuesday 30 June 2015, the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg inaugurated its new G.-D. Charlotte Maternity Hospital at an official ceremony in the presence of their Royal Highnesses the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, Mr Mars di Bartolomeo, President of the Chamber of Deputies, Mrs Lydia Mutsch, Minister of Health, Mrs Lydie Polfer, Mayor of the City of Luxembourg, and many guests.

The architecture of the new Maternity Hospital, combining a place of care with a living space, is an open and vibrant universe bathed in light. Designed for and around patients, the new hospital combines comfort and state-of-the-art medical technology to welcome patients in a safe and intimate setting. It was formally opened in August 2015.

During the opening ceremony, official speeches specifically thanked everyone who helped to design and build this new building, including the representatives of the “Hermann & Valentiny and Partners” and “Jim Clemes” architectural firms, the various craftsmen, the “Drees & Sommer” project management office as well as all of CHL’s employees. Thanks to their cross-disciplinary and complementary collaboration, the construction was carried out on schedule and within the allocated budget.

”In 2001, to improve safety, comfort and quality of care, it was decided to start thinking about a new building for the current Maternity Hospital, which had been in operation for 75 years. Today, it is with great pleasure and pride that we find ourselves at the very heart of the new spaces in our new G.-D. Charlotte Maternity Hospital for this official inauguration. I’m convinced that the CHL is now perfectly equipped to meet the expectations of patients by providing the human and technical means to fully carry out its mission of care with excellence and close proximity,” said Paul Mousel, President of the CHL’s Administrative Commission.

Dr Romain Nati, the CHL’s Chariman, emphasised the goal of this new Maternity Hospital: “The goal of the new Maternity Hospital is to be a true centre of excellence with skilled healthcare professionals providing their services to everyone, without exception, in a modern, efficient and constantly evolving structure. The Maternity Hospital has been designed to be a living space where patients, couples, families, visitors, professionals and partners can meet, exchange and share rich and varied experiences.”

After cutting the official ribbon, the inauguration continued with a visit to the new Maternity Hospital where the Grand-Ducal couple and other guests could become acquainted with the new premises, as well as with the care pathways and concepts of management proposed within the new Maternity Hospital. 
 

The CHL’s new Maternity Hospital: VISION OF A MOTHER-CHILD CENTRE

The CHL's new Maternity Hospital, physically and functionally connected to the KannerKlinik, will officially open in August 2015. It is the result of more than 75 years of expertise, teamwork and progress.

The approach of a Mother-Child Centre is to take the best possible care of the women, children and families that we welcome by providing efficient and high quality health care.

The goal is to best meet the personal needs and expectations of each person over their life paths, whether it involves family planning, pregnancy support, birth, parenthood or a major health problem affecting women.

The new building is directly connected to the KannerKlinik and the CHL’s other buildings. The optimisation of patient flows results in more efficient patient management as well as optimised logistics management. By connecting the KannerKlinik and the new Maternity buildings, the delivery rooms are located close to the neonatal ward and paediatric intensive care ward.

It is easier to provide comprehensive and quality care when the mothers and babies are closer together in the neonatal ward and paediatric intensive care ward.

The various activities of the CHL’s Breast Unit are grouped at the New Maternity Hospital in close proximity to the gynaecology and oncology wards so as to provide the best possible care to patients with breast cancer. This goal of this unit, certified ISO 9001 since 2014, is to continually improve the quality of the activities. Specifically, the management concepts proposed for the new Maternity Hospital focus on:

• Support for women, children and families in their clinical journey
• Support for parents by preparing them for their new roles
• Breast diseases
• Wanting to become pregnant and the desire to use a MAR technique
• Preventive public health measures for women and children.

One of our priorities is to prevent medication errors. This goal is reached through innovation and automation. The hospital units in the new Maternity Hospital are equipped with “secure” cabinets to store and dispense medications. These tools guarantee that medications are dispensed in a decentralised manner to specific individuals by safeguarding and tracking medications, in terms of access, and during the storage and collection stages.

 

The new Maternity Hospital in a few figures:

• Net surface area (with parking) 14,812 m2
• Gross surface area (with parking) 16,529 m2
• 36 rooms with a single bed (69%) and 8 rooms with two beds
• 6 delivery rooms
• 77 parking spaces: most direct access to the site 
• Direct connection to the KannerKlinik on two levels
• Total cost: 54.5 million, within budget

  
Open House Day on 05 July 2015:

For one day, the general public is invited to pass through the doors of the new Maternity Hospital and meet the doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. This Sunday, 5 July, from 10:00 to 17:30, both young and old can take part in the activities offered and go behind the scenes of the new Maternity Hospital. 
The full programme is available here.

30/06/2015

Luxembourg/Chicago, 08 May 2014. Neuroscientists from the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg and theUniversity of Luxembourg as well as Rush University Medical Center in Chicago (USA) have successfully, for the first time ever, identified part of the nerve pathways responsible for the visual disorders frequently observed in patients with Parkinson's disease. Their innovative approach "Blind to blindsight” was published in the current issue of the specialised journal “Brain”.

 

“Blindsight” is a strange phenomenon, observed in blind people whose visual cortex regions in the brain have been damaged. Given that some neural pathways still function well, people who are cortically blind are still able to react to certain visual information, even though this information cannot be transmitted to the upper brain centres devoted to vision.

To explain this phenomenon, it is assumed that a small amount of visual information is nevertheless unknowingly transmitted through other specific visual pathways. Thanks to blindsight, blind people can subconsciously locate a light source, unconsciously turn their eyes in the right direction and guess emotional facial expressions, such as danger or anger. All humans have this system which allows us, almost as a reflex, to react quickly and unconsciously to visual stimulations.

Researchers grouped around Dr Nico Diederich have now discovered that many of the visual disorders observed in patients with Parkinson's disease work in the opposite direction: these patients have normal vision, however they have slower eye movements and difficulty tracking objects that move. Furthermore, these patients have decreased contrast sensitivity as well as a reduced ability to analyse emotional expressions on the face of someone right in front of them. In short, these patients are “blind to blindsight”.

Using this new explanatory model, researchers have gained knowledge about the cerebral regions responsible for these visual disorders. Some have many Lewy bodies, cellular inclusions that are typical of the disease. They have shown for the first time ever that these disorders are due to disturbances in these old pathways from an “evolution” point of view.

One third of more than 5 million Parkinson's patients worldwide suffer from visual hallucinations, in addition to the disorders that have already been mentioned above. Often, these are “passage hallucinations”, during which normal visual stimuli cause patients to experience brief furtive visions of animals or moving people. The neural pathways involved may be the same as those responsible for the visual disorders described above. Slow or inadequate reactions to moving objects are also likely to affect the driving ability of Parkinson's patients.

“We have analysed all known visual disorders and have compared them with blindsight. Based on these analyses, it has been found that the vision problems of Parkinson's patients must be due in large part to the dysfunction of these old visual pathways” explains Dr Nico J. Diederich, a neurologist at the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg and researcher at the “Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine” at the University of Luxembourg, and who co-authored this publication with Dr Glenn Stebbins and Dr Christopher Goetz (Rush University Medical Center) and Dr Christine Schiltz (University of Luxembourg). These researchers hope that their findings will inspire other colleagues to take a “new look” at the unconscious or automatic phenomena that are disturbed in Parkinson's disease in order to better understand the processes involved. 

Original publication: Nico J Diederich, Glenn Stebbins, Christine Schiltz, Christopher Goetz (2014) Are patients with Parkinson’s disease blind to blindsight? Brain ; doi: 10.1093/brain/awu/094

 

Released by the University of Luxembourg and the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg

Britta Schlüter, Head of the Communications Department
Tel.: +352 46 66 44 6563; Fax: +352 46 66 44 656; britta.schlueter@uni.lu

Nadine Kohner, Communications Department Officer
Tel.: +352 4411-8492; Fax: +352 45876; kohner.nadine@chl.lu 

08/05/2014

The World Health Organization is sounding the alarm concerning the number of diabetic patients: 347 million worldwide have diabetes, of whom 3.4 million people have died from consequences of diabetes (stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, amputation, blindness, etc.). In Luxembourg, at least 4.1% of the population is already diabetic. Diabetes is a serious public health problem as well as a global societal disaster. In 2030, diabetes will be the seventh leading cause of death in the world.  

Focusing on its disease prevention and health promotion mission, the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg has been involved in the creation of the Diabetes Clinic for many years. This multidisciplinary unit regroups endocrinologists, nurses specialised in diabetes management, dieticians, psychologists, as well as a coordinating nurse (expert in the field of diabetes coordinating the entire care pathway for diabetic patients).

The Diabetes Clinic works in close collaboration with cardiologists, ophthalmologists, nephrologists, digestive surgeons, sports doctors, physiotherapists (within the framework of the Obesity Clinic), vascular surgeons and orthopaedic doctors  (within the framework of the Diabetic Foot Clinic), as well as with internal and external doctors, various support and home care networks and the ALD (Luxembourg Diabetes Association).

Within this Diabetes Clinic, the comprehensive and holistic care of diabetic patients is ensured through personalised and appropriate monitoring within a highly specialised care network.

 

On 14 November 2014, as part of World Diabetes Day, the multidisciplinary team at the Diabetes Clinic is organising Fun Workshops for the Public from 13:00 to 17:00 at the CHL bringing together the various stakeholders in the Diabetes Clinic.

 

The goals of this public event are:

• To provide information and raise awareness about diabetes prevention and risk factors
• To spread awareness of the CHL's involvement in its disease prevention and health promotion mission in the treatment of diabetic patients
• To spread awareness of the missions of the various stakeholders in the Diabetes Clinic
• To involve people in the management of their own health through fun workshops

 

Here are the various fun workshops proposed from 13:00 to 17:00:

• Diabetes and knowledge
• Food and Diabetes
• Sport/Physical Activity and Diabetes
• Diabetic Foot

14/11/2014

The New England Journal of Medicine, one of the largest references for the medical community distributed in over 120 countries, has just published the results of an international study on lung cancer involving the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg and CIEC* (*Clinical and Epidemiological Investigation Centre) CRP-Santé

Research activities are an integral part of the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg’s mission and have been carried out for several years in close partnership with CRP-Santé. The two institutions are committed to several lines of strategic research, particularly in the fields of oncology, immunoallergology, cardiology and sports medicine.

With regard to clinical research, a major collaboration has been developed between the CHL and CIEC CRP-Santé. The CIEC lends support to the organisation and logistics of clinical research projects in Luxembourg and ensures that they are carried out based on international standards.

Thanks to this close partnership, the CHL and CRP-Santé have achieved a high level of excellence and are actively collaborating on signature international clinical research projects.

Within this context, the CHL and CIEC CRP-Santé participated in an international study, the results of which have just been published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), one of the largest references for the medical community distributed in over 120 countries.

The two-year study carried out under the supervision of the European Medical Association (EMA) included 343 participants (men and women aged 18 years or older) from approximately 170 research centres around the world, including the CHL in collaboration with CEIC CRP-Santé.

Its objective was to assess whether a new experimental drug, “Crizotinib”, could be used to further delay the development of a certain type of lung cancer compared with the use of the chemotherapy drugs that are currently available on the market. The points analysed in the participants included survival time, quality of life and the presence of side effects.

At the CHL, principal investigator Dr Guy Berchem and co-investigator Dr Martina Degeorgis led the study. Dr Anna Chioti, head of the CIEC, and Mrs Myriam Alexandre, Senior Clinical Research Associate (CRA) at the CIEC, supervised the project for CRP-Santé.

The publication of this article by a journal as prestigious as the NEJM underscores the top level of the study, the results of which will have an impact on some of the recommendations that the EMA will formalise in the near future. As far as the CHL is concerned, research is a key element in the continuous improvement of the quality of care. As part of this very precise study, patients selected for the CHL were able to benefit from the new “Crizotinib” drug therapy with, to date, a disappearance of brain metastases and a sharp increase in quality of life.  

14/12/2014