Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift
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Wien Med Wochenschr · Jan 1998
Assessment of satisfaction with the communication process during consultation of cancer patients with potentially curable disease, cancer patients on palliative care, and HIV-positive patients.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the attitudes of cancer patients towards the medical interview and to determine their psychosocial satisfaction subsequent to the dialogue. The answers given by patients with curable cancer were compared to those given by cancer patients whose treatment intent was palliative and to the replies of patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a nonmalignant but also incurable state. The subject population comprised a total of 139 patients. ⋯ Cancer patients considered themselves better informed compared to patients with HIV-infection. This is in significant contrast with the actual, measurable knowledge about their disease in the latter group. It is indeed surprising that only a small minority of incurable cancer patients realized that the goal of the medical care they received was relief of symptoms, the principle objective of palliation.
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Wien Med Wochenschr · Jan 1998
Comparative Study Clinical Trial[Acupuncture and ganglionic local opioid analgesia in trigeminal neuralgia].
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is defined as a chronic, severe, electrifying and burning pain in one side of the face. The attacks are initiated by tactile irritations in a so-called trigger area of the trigeminal nerve and are perceived within the borders of this nerve's innervation. TN is a chronic condition which initially goes into spontaneous remission but these become fewer as the condition progresses. ⋯ These results show that the combined use of acupuncture and carbamazepine with/without GLOA achieves an additional therapeutic effect in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. The addition of acupuncture seems to have a superior effect to the addition of GLOA. These results support the use of acupuncture as an additional form of therapy for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.
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Wien Med Wochenschr · Jan 1998
[Intention to kill--the deciding criterion between allowed and prohibited assisted euthanasia].
The difference between the allowed and forbidden euthanasia is--on account of the dominant opinion--the criterion of acting and forbearance. It is not punishable to let a terminally ill patient die, but it is punishable to kill a patient on purpose. ⋯ Then the euthanasia is a punishable act if the actor or the person, who forbears, practices euthanasia with the intention to kill the patient. The euthanasia is not punishable, however, if the euthanasia overwhelms the blockade of dying or softens the pains.
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We mostly deal here with socio-medical aspects of vaccinations. Various initiatives are summed up that are intended to optimize the system of immunization by vaccines and to establish certain innovative, and also internationally remarkable approaches. In spite of the undoubted successes of vaccinations in Austria, there still are some major deficits that should be eliminated. ⋯ It must not be denied, however, that the system of medical care too has not always responded in an optimal way. As a consequence, public health research has been done on background-morbidity which is absolutely essential for scientific discussion. The name of the study, SERMO, is an abbreviation of the term "self-reported-morbidity"; another source for this name is the latin expression "sermo, sermonis".