news 2023

Good news for anyone who wants to quit smoking in the new year: In a recently published study, Innsbruck scientists show that ten-minute brisk walking sessions reduce the cravings of temporarily abstinent smokers and improve their overall well-being. The study is the first to compare the effect of indoor and outdoor activity on smoking cessation.

Many patients with prostate cancer develop androgen-independent tumor growth, which is referred to as castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). In these patients, activation of the androgen receptor (AR) in the tumors no longer requires androgen stimulation, and therapy with androgen inhibitors becomes ineffective.

Coercive measures are used in psychiatric treatment to avert acute danger to a person's life and health. However, such measures can be associated with considerable risks for patients and treatment teams. It is known from studies in adult psychiatric inpatient wards that environmental factors such as staffing, availability of retreat options, privacy and access to natural light can influence the use of coercive measures.

New research reveals surprising diversity of gut bacteria responsive to inulin A groundbreaking study led by David Berry and Alessandra Riva from the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CeMESS) at the University of Vienna has significantly advanced our understanding of prebiotics in nutrition and gut health.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease in which the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is thought to play a role that has not yet been fully clarified. In particular, it was previously unclear why almost all people are infected with EBV in the course of their lives, but the virus only triggers MS in a small number of people.

A US research team with significant involvement from MedUni Vienna has analysed the molecular structures of human T cells, providing an unprecedentedly detailed description of how the immune system works. The results, which have now been published in the top journal "Nature", could help to overcome the limitations of current immunotherapies and find new approaches for the future treatment of a variety of diseases such as autoimmune diseases or cancer.

Sneezing on the bus, coughing on the streetcar, catching a cold at work - a record number of sick notes and wastewater analyses show an unprecedented viral load throughout Austria. The winter, and with it the new COVID-19 wave, has hit Austria hard. The virus, which has been keeping us on our toes since the beginning of 2020, is once again sweeping through the country, even if its progress is to be slowed down with the help of vaccinations and precautionary measures.

At least 75 per cent of type 2 diabetes cases could be avoided by adopting a healthy lifestyle. A plant-based diet has been shown to play a key role in this. With limitations - as demonstrated in a study led by Tilman Kühn from MedUni Vienna's Center for Public Health: A more plant-based diet only develops its protective effects if not only the consumption of animal-based foods, but also industrially processed and highly sugary foods is reduced.

People with chronic pain are often dependent on drugs from the class of opioids with sometimes considerable side effects. Accordingly, in recent years the search for safer alternatives has been the focus in drug discovery. As part of an international study led by MedUni Vienna, an opioid-like molecule has now been developed which, as shown in animal models, can effectively alleviate pain but with fewer undesirable side effects.

Flavonoids & Co: Microorganisms in the human gut utilise so-called beta-elimination to break down plant natural products and thus make them available to humans. Fruit and vegetables contain a variety of plant natural products such as flavonoids, which give fruits their colour and are said to have health-promoting properties.

Distorted reality, altered sensory perceptions and thought processes as well as concentration disorders over a longer period of time can be signs of an increased risk of psychosis.

As an extremely aggressive form of skin cancer, cutaneous melanoma is still associated with a high mortality rate. Enormous progress has recently been made in the fight against deadly metastasis, but existing therapeutic measures are still not effective in many cases. Now a research team led by Wolfgang Weninger and Shweta Tikoo from MedUni Vienna's Department of Dermatology has discovered a new option that targets the metastatic capacity of melanoma cells.

The use of nanotechnology offers numerous new possibilities in the development of medicines and the targeted release of active ingredients. One interesting innovation is the use of iron oxide nanoparticles with a special coating. This allows active ingredients to be delivered safely and directly to the affected cells.

High consumption of highly processed animal products and soft drinks containing sweeteners and sugar increases the risk of multimorbidity In a groundbreaking multinational study involving 266,666 participants from seven European countries, nutrition scientists from the University of Vienna, in collaboration with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), have found that a high consumption of highly processed foods, also known as ultra-processed foods (UPFs), is associated with a higher risk of multimorbidity from cancer and cardiometabolic diseases.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is marketed by some suppliers as a painkiller, e.g. for osteoarthritis of the knee. Animal experiments have shown that the substance, which is extracted from the hemp plant, has an anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effect in arthritis. As pain researchers at MedUni Vienna were now able to show for the first time in humans, CBD is not effective as pain medication, even in high doses.

Approximately half of patients with advanced liver disease have varicose veins in the oesophagus and stomach, and a more than a fifth of them experience bleeding from these varices into the digestive tract. This is a life-threatening complication that contributes significantly to the still high mortality rate in cirrhosis.

By Philipp Jarke Using EEG and ECG data, researchers at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria and Graz University of Technology were able to prove that video conferences and online education formats lead to greater fatigue than face-to-face alternatives. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the increase in virtual interactions has created a new challenge: fatigue caused by video calls, also known as Zoom fatigue or videoconference fatigue.

An impressive medical mission recently took place in Ethiopia, where a group of surgeons, including Viktoria König, a specialist in plastic and reconstructive surgery at MedUni Vienna's Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, treated people with serious injuries sustained during the protracted civil war in the northern region of Tigray.

Depending on identification with vaccination status, both groups have a polarized perception of the past - dynamics vary by country An international team of scientists from Germany, Austria and the USA show in the renowned scientific journal Nature how social polarization distorts the memory of the corona pandemic and thus makes it more difficult to prepare for future crises.

Despite its diagnostic superiority, computed tomography (CT) has not yet established itself as a primary method for the most frequent indications that require an imaging examination of the chest in emergency medicine. Chest X-rays (CXR) are still the most frequently used method mainly due to low costs and a very low radiation dose.