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Health Check: Does the Treatment for Cardiac Arrest Need to Change?

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Doctors give CPR Training

2018/08/01 GMT

Does the Treatment for Cardiac Arrest Need to Change?

BBC World Service - Health Check, Does the Treatment for Cardiac Arrest Need to Change?

Evidence that the use of adrenaline nearly doubles survivors’ risk of severe brain damage

Serious doubt about the use of adrenaline as treatment for cardiac arrest; Botched cosmetic surgery in Colombia; The psychology of ‘phubbing’ and its effects on social interaction

An injection of adrenaline, or epinephrine as it is known in the US, is often given to boost chances of survival after a cardiac arrest. However, a recent study indicates the benefits of adrenaline are small and its use nearly doubles the chances of surviving with brain damage. Claudia speaks to Gavin Perkins, professor of Critical Care at Warwick Medical School, who was one of the team running the trial conducted with ambulance crews in the UK over several years. The results have just been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Colombia now carries out over half a million cosmetic surgery procedures annually, and has become a popular destination for medical tourism due to its competitive prices and many excellent surgeons. Yet in recent years there has been a proliferation of illegal so-called ‘garage clinics’ and a growing number of cosmetic surgery-related deaths of both tourists and locals. A bill proposed in Congress to improve the safety of cosmetic procedures has just been rejected, however with the inauguration of a new president in August - whose party previously supported the bill - campaigners are not giving up hope. Theo Hessing reports for Health Check.

Phubbing is a new word that has made it into Australian dictionaries, and it describes the practise of paying more attention to your phone than to the person you are with. After experiencing this himself with some close friends, the researcher Varoth Chotpitayasunondh decided to carry out research into the psychology of phubbing and its effects on social interactions. His study was recently published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

Image: Doctors giving CPR training in Mumbai, India. Credit: Getty Images.

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