Diagnostic d’une anémie hémolytique en réanimation

Hemolytic anemia is not an exceptional situation in adults. The abrupt onset of hemolysis and the severity of anemia may sometimes be life-threatening and require admission to the intensive care unit. Establishing the hemolytic mechanism of an anemia is rather easy, but finding its etiology can be quite difficult. The diagnosis of severe hemolytic anemia requires a rapid multiple-step procedure taking into account patient and family history, a careful analysis of the blood smear as well as the result of a direct antiglobulin test. While management is mainly supportive, some causes of hemolytic anemia may require “specific” and emergent therapy, based only on a rapid diagnosis procedure.     

L’huile d’argan, de la nutrition à la santé

The argan oil, extracted from argan-tree fruits, has been used in traditional medicine as a natural remedy for several centuries. Argan oil is traditionally used for skin, nail and hair care, cooking, massaging, and healing. Its chemical composition highlights the interest of many laboratories to use it in their best-selling products. The remarkable properties of the argan oil evaluated by numerous laboratories are: restoration of the skin water-lipid layer and an increase in nutrients in the skin cells, stimulation of intracellular oxygen, neutralization of free radicals, and protection of the conjunctive tissue. Recently, various studies were realized, in vitro or on human and animal models, suggesting that argan oil could play a beneficial role in cardiovascular disease prevention and its consumption could protect against atherosclerosis through a variety of biological mechanisms. It is because of its high contents of specific antioxidants and mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids, that argan oil could be useful in preventing cardiovascular diseases and cancer. It has been demonstrated that consumption of argan oil is associated with a benefic change in serum lipids and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in healthy subjects. Its consumption could also increase antioxidant compounds in the serum of healthy men. Thus, the value of argan oil is of high priority as preventive nutritional approach to prevent the cardiovascular risk. Previous experimental studies have shown the antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of polyphenols and sterols extracted from argan oil on prostate cancer cell lines. These data suggest that argan oil is of potential interest in developing new strategies for prostate cancer prevention. The current data give a unique value as natural source with high economic value to argan oil not only in Morocco but world wide.     

La multidisciplinarité, une réponse à la complexité. Exemples d’application en Suisse

A multidisciplinary approach is advocated to embrace the complexity of chronic pain. This paper gives three examples of the implementation of this approach in Switzerland. The Swiss Association for the Study of Pain promotes the collaboration between all healthcare professionals involved in pain management. The Pain network of Geneva University Hospitals promotes the collaboration between the professionals working in the institution to improve pain assessment and treatment. At the Multidisciplinary Pain center of the Geneva University Hospitals, patients are assessed jointly by different specialists.