2010 Overview in Medical System (IV)

• Updated Pneumococcical Vaccine Guidelines
• National Lung Screening Trial  Halted
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) introduces first draft
• Oil Spill In the Gulf 
• First Synthetic Cell 
• New Superbug :NDM-1 
• Genetic Link to ADHD

Updated Pneumococcical Vaccine Guidelines

        The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September updated guidelines for use of the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in adults. Changes include the recommendation that all persons aged 19 to 64 years with chronic or immunosuppressive medical conditions, including asthma, should receive the vaccine.

National Lung Screening Trial  Halted

The huge randomized National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) in the United States was stopped in November after 8-year results showed that screening heavy smokers with low-dose helical computed tomography (CT) significantly reduced deaths from lung cancer, compared with screening with chest x-rays.

   This was the first time clear evidence of a significant reduction in lung cancer mortality with a screening test in a randomized controlled clinical trial has been seen, said Christine Berg, MD, NLST project officer for the Lung Screening Study at the National Cancer Institute, which funded the trial. This finding will "have implications for the screening and management of lung cancer for many years to come," Dr. Berg predicted.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) introduces first draft

The long-awaited draft of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) was released by the American Psychiatric Association in February. After a 2-month period of public review and commentary, which garnered "unprecedented" response, standardized field trials began in October. Experts heading up the development of the DSM-5 say the manual is important not only to psychiatry but all medical specialties. One of the primary goals of developing the new manual is to make it more useful in all clinical practice, including primary care, they say.

 Oil Spill In the Gulf

Workers involved in clean-up of the Gulf oil spill may be at risk of being exposed to the volatile organic compounds present in crude oil. Burning oil may result in particulate matter that can be deposited in the lungs, which poses a greater risk to people with underlying health conditions, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or heart disease. Psychosocial effects were also important consequences of the Gulf oil spill, according to experts from the Institute of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 First Synthetic Cell

Scientists at the Venter Institute reported the creation of the first "synthetic cell" — Mycoplasma capricolum cells that received and are controlled by a laboratory-assembled genome of Mycoplasma mycoides.

New Superbug :NDM-1

NDM, a gene that makes bacteria impervious to many antibiotics, is spreading worldwide. The gene evolved in India but is widespread in Pakistan and Bangladesh as well. It's been isolated all across the United Kingdom, prompting a national alert. It's also popped up in the United States, Canada, Sweden, Australia, and the Netherlands. A Swedish patient of Indian origin who got a urinary tract infection while visiting New Delhi was found to be infected with NDM-carrying bacteria. Reseachers dubbed the new bug NDM-1.

Nobel Prize Awarded to In Vitro Fertilization Developer

Robert Edwards, PhD, was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology, for his work in developing  in vitro fertilization (IVF). About 4 million people were born over the past 32 years using IVF.

Genetic Link to ADHD

New research provides the first direct evidence that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is genetic. In a study published online September 30 in The Lancet, investigators from the University of Cardiff, United Kingdom, say their findings suggest ADHD should be classified as a neurodevelopmental and not a behavioral disorder.