Three Top Journals
Three of the best in six weeks
The Medical Research Institute of New Zealand (MRINZ) in Wellington has achieved a remarkable ‘trifecta’ of three papers published in three of the world’s top medical journals in the space of just six weeks. All of the papers come from HRC-funded research.
The first paper, published in the prestigious Lancet journal, asked the question ‘Can asthma be prevented?’ Professor Beasley, the Director of the MRINZ, and his co-authors reviewed current evidence for the risk factors for childhood asthma and its prevention, and identified research priorities that they believe will lead to more effective primary prevention measures.
Professor Beasley said none of the primary prevention intervention strategies for childhood asthma that have undergone randomised controlled trials to date has provided sufficient evidence to lead to their widespread use in clinical or public health practice.
“To reduce the prevalence of asthma worldwide, we really think it will be necessary to think outside the box to apply alternative or novel strategies.”
He said that until further advances in knowledge are made, the greatest effect is likely to be made through public health measures with the potential to improve lung and general health, such as reducing environmental tobacco exposure, indoor and outdoor air pollution, and childhood obesity. It is also important to encourage a diet high in fruit and vegetables, improve fetal and maternal health, encourage breastfeeding, promote childhood vaccinations, and reduce social inequalities.
The other two papers – published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) – both report on HRC-funded clinical trials of patients in intensive care units (ICUs).
In the JAMA paper the authors found there are no safety concerns with using intravenous saline for intensive care patients, providing reassurance to the medical staff who administer saline to more than a million patients around the world every day. Also of major significance, the NEJM paper showed for the first time that treating fever in ICU patients with paracetamol is safe.
Risk factors for asthma: is prevention possible? – Link to Abstract
The SPLIT randomized clinical trial – Link to Abstract
Acetaminophen for fever in critically ill patients with suspected infection – Link to Abstract