Between July 2008 and February 2009 BMT Medical Technology s.r.o. supplied medical equipment within the framework of the Maternity and Neonatal Care Equipment Project organized by the Romanian Ministry of Public Health under the auspices of the World Bank. The equipment was delivered to regional hospitals all around Romania. The delivery followed a previous supply of seventy steam sterilizers STERIVAP 636-1 ED that had been allocated by the Ministry of Public Health to local hospitals in mainly smaller towns.  
 
Name of the project:
Maternity and Neonatal Care Equipment, ICB No. 2, Health Sector Reform Project - Phase II
Organizer: Romanian Ministry of Public Health

Specifications of the order:   
59 pcs  steam sterilizer STERIVAP 446-1 ED
75 pcs hot air sterilizer STERICELL 55
59 pcs washer-disinfector INNOVA M3-NEW
59 pcs heat sealing machine MINIRO H-SEAL
107 pcs nebulizer STERINIS

www.bmt.cz/article.asp

Abbott announced the successful completion of the tender offer by its wholly owned subsidiary Amber Acquisition Inc. to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Facet Biotech. The tender offer expired at midnight, Eastern time, on Monday, April 19, 2010 and was not extended.

The depositary for the tender offer has advised Abbott that a total of 19,257,669 shares of Facet common stock were validly tendered and not withdrawn (including 914,673 shares subject to guaranteed delivery procedures). These shares represent approximately 76.3% of Facet's outstanding shares of common stock, or 70.4% on a fully diluted basis. All Facet shares that were validly tendered in the offer and not properly withdrawn have been accepted for payment.

Abbott also announced that Amber intends to exercise its option, under the terms of the previously announced merger agreement, to purchase directly from Facet a number of additional shares sufficient to give Amber ownership of more than 90% of Facet's outstanding common stock on a fully diluted basis. Exercise of this option will permit a short-form merger, which Abbott intends to effect as promptly as practicable, without the need for a meeting of Facet stockholders. As a result of the merger, the remaining Facet stockholders (other than those who properly exercise dissenters' rights) will receive the same $27 per share price, without interest and subject to any required withholding taxes, that was paid in the tender offer. After the merger, Facet will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Abbott and Facet shares will cease to be traded on the NASDAQ.

Abbott has completed its acquisition of Facet Biotech Corporation, strengthening its pharmaceutical pipeline in immunology and oncology.

The acquisition provides Abbott with a promising biologic intended to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) and compounds that complement its existing diverse oncology program. The new Abbott compounds include daclizumab – a Phase II investigational biologic intended to treat MS that is expected to move into Phase III development in the second quarter 2010 – and oncology compounds in early- to mid-stage development that are being studied to treat different types of cancer, including multiple myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

"Facet's depth of biologics experience and sophisticated antibody engineering platforms complement Abbott's current R&D programs in oncology, immunology and other therapeutic areas," said John Leonard, M.D., senior vice president, global pharmaceutical research and development, Abbott.

The final step in the acquisition process was a short-form merger of Amber Acquisition Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Abbott, with and into Facet Biotech Corporation. As a result of the merger, all outstanding shares of Facet common stock not tendered in the cash tender offer (other than those as to which holders properly exercise dissenters' rights) were converted into the right to receive $27 per share in cash, without interest and subject to any required withholding taxes.

www.abbott.cz

In the Homoloka hospital they have a machine that enables the doctors to operate on patients suffering from brain and throat tumours without a surgical intervention. The patients are free to go home only a couple of hours after the operation.

The unique apparatus, the Leksell gamma knife, which solitarily gives hopes to thousands of ill people in the Czech Republic, will be substituted, after seventeen years, by a new one.

“The number of diagnoses that could be treated in our facility will thus rise,” said Roman Liščák, head of the Stereotactic and Radiation Neurosurgery department.

Is the new machine going to give hope to more people? What makes it more sophisticated? – It can treat not only brain and head parts but also areas around the neck such as the neck spine. That will broaden the spectrum of patients.

Do you already know by how many? How many patients will be treated with this new type of the machine? – No, that is really impossible to say at the moment. The machine has been undergoing clinical trials since January and it will be put into full use in the last days of April. I don’t fear lack of patients. During the seventeen-year era of the older type, patients were coming not only from the whole Czech Republic but from Slovakia as well, since they don’t have it. Ten thousand people were treated which is supposed to be by far the highest extent of utilization in the world. On average 260 patients are treated with such machines abroad while here it is three times more – roughly 800. It would probably be naïve to suppose that their numbers are going to drop – the contrary is a more likely development.

How does the intervention look like? What makes treatment with Leksell gamma knife better than a classical surgery? – The machine works on the principle of gamma radiation aimed through a target point in the patient’s head. The cure can thus do without a surgical intervention which means not only a reduced risk but a shorter period spent in the hospital as well. Patients can go home a couple of hours after the operation. The patient wears a specialized helmet which contains 201 cobalt sources. These are all aimed on one spot which gets treated. Thanks to low radiation they don’t harm the surrounding tissue. Only the spot targeted by all the sources is affected. We have had patients who went back to work the third day following the intervention.

So an intervention performed with this machine could in the future substitute classic surgeries? – Gamma knife radiosurgery will substitute risky open surgeries in many cases, and it will help to cure ill people who cannot undergo an open surgery. But it is not going to eliminate surgeries altogether. In up to thirty per cent of cases, it is used in combination with another cure. Gamma rays of the new type will be able to reach places that were unreachable before. Patients with metastases in their brains will benefit in the most crucial way. We could not treat metastases in certain locations with the old type, or more interventions were necessary.

Are there any age limits for the patients to be eligible? – No. We have small children as well as elderly people among our patients.

Do patients have to cover some part of this “user-friendly” treatment? – No, it is all covered by health insurance companies. People coming to our hospital have been always sent by a specialist – a neurologist most often.

It is said that the Prague Leksell gamma knife has the most moving history. Why? – The old machine was purchased with funds raised through a nationwide collection the extent of which probably overtook even the famous collection for the renovation of the National Theatre that was damaged in a fire in 1881. There are about 270 Leksell gamma knives in operation around the world, and the Prague one was the eighth piece in Europe. We didn’t have to organize a collection for the new machine because the State had financially supported its purchase.

Seventeen years ago when the Leksell gamma knife was being put into use, Cardinal Miroslav Vlk came to bless it. Did you invite somebody this time? – Yes, this time we invited Archbishop Dominik Duka.

 www.zdn.cz

Greater specialization, less aggressive marketing, and cooperation instead of mergers and acquisitions. These are some of the features of the pharmaceutical industry in the future stated in a series of studies performed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and called “Pharmaceutics 2020: Which Way to Take?”. According to one study, the volume of the global pharmaceutical market will double to $ 1.3 billion within a ten-year period. The new model of the market with medicaments will be characterized by the following main features accompanied by comments from Lenka Mrázová, head of the Tax and Legal Services of PricewaterhouseCoopers Czech Republic:

1. The role of wholesale will decrease – more sophisticated delivery channels will become more efficient: “The delivery channels of the future will not be responsible for distributing medicaments and services only, but they will create new ways to offer products as well. Today they are considered primarily a substantial expense but they will create profits in the future. The pharmaceutical industry is inspired by other fields such as the automotive industry and its just-in-time deliveries.”

2. The benefits of cooperation among pharmaceutical companies will outweigh the need for mergers and acquisitions: “Although the existent wave of mergers and acquisitions will not cease altogether, pharmaceutical companies will realize that there are alternatives with much bigger potential added value. The recently set up joint company of Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, which focuses solely on development and sale of drugs against HIV, shows that pharmaceutical companies are starting to look for new ways of cooperation.”

3. The character of the cooperation of pharmaceutical companies with other parties will change: “Pharmaceutical companies will be creating networks of independent cooperating entities that will share one support infrastructure though. A cooperative network may, in addition to an independent medicaments producer, include universities, hospitals, policlinics, technology suppliers, analytical companies or healthy lifestyle services providers operating in many countries.”   

4. Research and development will be much more efficient: the “virtual patient” will save costs: “The model of a virtual patient could be created through interconnection of already existing technologies. Scientists around the globe are developing models of the heart and other organs, and of cellular, muscular and skeletal systems. These models can be used for the simulation of physiological impacts of specific medicaments on humans. Already now there is a company that has, thanks to virtual technology, cut the time needed to perform clinical trials down by some 40% and reduced the number of patients involved by two thirds.”    

5. Massive sale campaigns will disappear and more emphasis will be placed on specialized medicaments and medical procedures: “The existing large sales departments of pharmaceutical companies will be substituted by much smaller, more flexible and efficient teams. Their managers will negotiate orders on the basis of tenders with medical results and benefits for patients being the criteria. Emphasis will no longer be placed on the quantity of medicaments sold, but on the added value provided. Most pharmaceutical companies will offer integrated packages of medicaments and services, and the value of some services will even exceed that of medicaments.”  

6. The role of patients and health care payers will increase: “With the rising costs of health care, its payers – governments and private insurance companies alike – will become the final authority deciding on how much the cure shall cost, what reimbursements given and what medicament prescribed. The value of products and the subsequent price have been for years decided upon by pharmaceutical companies. These have been so far dedicating only minimum efforts to find out what the right market price of there products is.      

7. Patients will be checked more as to whether they adhere to the prescribed medical procedure: “Up to one fifth of patients in the U.S. do not respect the prescribed procedure of application of medicaments, or they take products intended for someone else. No fewer than sixty per cent of the ill are unable to say what medicaments they are taking. Using the most state-of-the-art technologies, pharmaceutical companies will have to develop personalized monitoring techniques that will make application of medicaments easier for patients and secure efficient use of funds provided by health care payers.”   

8. The emphasis will shift from cure onto prevention: “The current funding of prevention in the OECD countries makes only three per cent of the whole of the means spent on health care. The World Health Organization however states that 80% of heart attacks and ictuses, and 40% of tumorous diseases could be prevented through prevention. The approach of the pharmaceutical industry towards medical management will be dramatically re-evaluated thanks to the financial efficiency of prevention. Health care programs, monitoring of one’s state of health, vaccination, and other services with added value will become prominent.”                         

9. International cooperation of regulators will strengthen: “Several national and regional regulators have already started exchanging data on safety and efficiency of medicaments. By 2020 there could be only one global regulating system, run by national or federal agencies, securing that new medical procedures will meet patients’ needs. The new system will reduce expenses flowing into legal and regulatory consulting services.”

10. The pharmaceutical industry will find developing economies ever more attractive: “By 2020, seven big developing economies – Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia and Turkey – could be responsible for one fifth of all the takings of the pharmaceutical industry in the world. Besides, the civilization diseases that are typical for the developed world will have by then spread into developing economies as well.” 

www.tribune.cz

The participants of the 3rd Prague Day of Robotic Surgery scheduled for 29 April 2010 in the Na Homolce Hospital will primarily deal with progressive trends in robotic surgery. “They will assess the current state of robotic surgery in the Czech Republic and worldwide, and they will present its present-day possibilities and indications in the individual branches, including future perspectives,” said MuDr. Michal Toběrný, head of the General Surgery Department and deputy director of the whole hospital.       

The event is organised by the Society for Robotic Surgery (SRCH) in cooperation with the Centre for Robotic Surgery in the Na Homolce hospital and the Czech Society of Cardiovascular Surgery to commemorate five years of robotic surgery in the Czech Republic and twenty years of existence of the Department of Vascular Surgery in the Na Homolce hospital. The morning part of the programme will focus on vascular and cardiac surgery while the afternoon one will assess applications and results of robotic surgery in other branches such as general surgery, urology, gynaecology and ENT.

The participants will have the opportunity to watch a live vascular surgery executed by the robotic system da Vinci. It will be operated by doc. MUDr. Petr Štádler, Ph.D, head of the Vascular Surgery Department in the Na Homolce hospital.

“The ascent of robotics is a crucial breakthrough for laparoscopic vascular surgery that involves a fairly difficult manipulation with tools and especially a lengthy sewing up of the vascular connection (anastomosis) during which the blood vessel, e.g. an artery, needs to be stapled together. The longer this period lasts the more serious the health risks become for the patient. A robot can perform an anastomosis much faster and thus burden the performance of the patient’s organism much less,” doctor Štádler described the advantages of robotics.   

www.homolka.cz

Robotic surgery may be characterised as surgery using a computer-controlled robotic system. Its advantage is that it does not require a direct contact of the surgeon with the patient, it substantially enhances the precision of the performance and, apart from other things, it eliminates shivering of hands. Thanks to a minimum intervention into the patient’s organism (making a tiny puncture instead of the classic incision of a scalpel) it also reduces his/her surgical trauma.

In 2005 the Na Homolce hospital being the first in the country introduced surgeries executed with the help of a robot. It now has two robotic da Vinci systems. Its surgeons have performed many robotic interventions that are unique nationwide as well as worldwide: e.g. a surgery on an aneurysm on the pelvis artery and the abdominal aorta in vascular surgery; a surgery on a tumour of the large intestine in general surgery; a bypass surgery or a surgery on the interatrial septal defect in cardiac surgery. 

Five other hospitals in the Czech Republic are equipped with surgical robots at the moment. They are in Prague (Central Military Hospital), Brno (St. Anne’s University Hospital), Ústí nad Labem (Masaryk Hospital), Nový Jičín and in Mostiště near Velké Meziříčí (St. Zdislava Hospital).

Meningococcus, HIV causing the AIDS, hepatitis or swine flue. All these serious diseases are treated by the staff of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Bulovka in Prague . The hospital is awaiting a radical reconstruction and Prague 8 will thus have the safest clinic in the Czech Republic.

Meningococcus, HIV causing the AIDS, hepatitis or swine flue. All these serious diseases are treated by the staff of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Bulovka in Prague. The hospital is awaiting a radical reconstruction and Prague 8 will thus have the safest clinic in the Czech Republic.

“In our country it will be an absolutely unique facility. We had been trying to create it for a long time and finally we have succeeded,” said Hana Roháčová, head of the Infectious Department.

Viruses Must Be Contained

Securing safety is one of the most important issues of the reconstruction. The department is full of viruses and it is necessary not to let them out. “The measures preventing leaks are currently really insufficient,” said Hana Roháčová.

“The facility will serve for cases such as parturitions by women with open tuberculosis or surgeries done on patients suffering from HIV,” said Vlastimil Sršeň from the Ministry of Health’s Public Relations Department.

The safety will be enhanced by a separate sewage water treatment plant as well as new air-conditioning. “Special air filters will secure safety,” said Hofmann. The system of safety has been tested by labs dealing with the same dangerous infections as Bulovka’s doctors do.   

The renovation will cost CZK 45 million and promises many other changes. “Besides other things, a unique operation room will come into being,” said Hofmann. Its walls and floors will be covered with a special surface that can be easily washed and disinfected. Funds for the reconstruction of the department have been allocated from the Czech Government’s budget.

“The whole project has been approved and prepared, and the building permission has been granted. The works will probably start in September and finish in spring 2011,” says Kateřina Toběrná, head of the whole hospital. According to Hana Roháčová, head of the Infectious Department, the works will not limit the clinic’s performance – at most they will slightly reduce patients’ comfort.     

 A New Pavilion to Be Built

The renovation of this part of the clinic will be followed by extensive works in the west wing that will cost roughly CZK 200 million. The project will include, among other things, building of a pavilion for the third grade of biological risk. This centre of highly dangerous infections will admit patients with infections such as anthrax, SARS, bleeding fevers and other infectious diseases.

“After the completion of works, the infectious clinic will be equipped like the best such departments in Western Europe,” Vlastimil Sršeň from the Ministry of Health’s Public Relations Department added.

The LINET company, a leading world producer of medical equipment has succeeded in securing a unique order in Latin America. During this spring it will supply 2,500 adjustable beds to the most populous country on the continent – Brazil.

The LINET company, a leading world producer of medical equipment has succeeded in securing a unique order in Latin America. During this spring it will supply 2,500 adjustable beds to the most populous country on the continent – Brazil. By size, it is the second biggest contract in the twenty-year history of the Czech company. The biggest sale ever took place in 2006 when LINET delivered 4,500 beds to Venezuela.   

 The victory was brought about by three main factors. “Quality and technological sophistication of our beds in the first place, the ability to produce and deliver large quantities of beds within a very short time and, last but not least, a well-functioning service and logistic base,” Zbyněk Frolík, LINET’s director, specified. The huge tender had been organized by the Brazilian government through the INSS (Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social – National Institute of Social Insurance) which runs a network of state medical facilities. The new equipment is intended for hospitals in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Paraíba a Maranhão. State investments did not flow into the purchase of new beds only, but also into acquisitions of operating tables, monitors, ventilators, X-ray machines and other state-of-the-art equipment. The Brazilians chose the Eleganza Smart new generation of beds from LINET’s portfolio and ordered 1,363 pieces. They bought also 1,071 Sprint stretchers and 127 Eleganza XC intensive beds. LINET has, thanks to this contract, acquired a leading position among companies supplying medical beds in Brazil. “Business relations with Brazil have been functional since 1918. Brands like Škoda, ČKD or Jawa had excellent reputation on the Brazilian market already between the wars. I am glad that LINET joins the tradition of big Czech brands popular on the Brazilian market,” Zbyněk Frolík added. 

 “Brazil with 200 million inhabitants is experiencing economic growth that has been hampered by the world crisis substantially less than other markets,” says Zbyněk Frolík, LINET’s director, about the most dynamic South American country. Ambitions of foreign companies in this promising field are hindered by the typical Brazilian mistrust towards foreigners though, and that is why local firms dominate the market with medical beds. “Brazil is one of the most difficult commercial territories to import into because the market is much protected,” Petr Kozák, LINET’s salesman for Brazil, confirmed. Only few supranational companies have succeeded here and LINET is one of them. It was possible thanks not only to the high competitiveness of quality products but also to reliable local business partners and references which have proved to be crucial factors for a success in Brazil. The current contract with the INSS is not important because of its size only but also because the respected name of the administrator of state medical facilities will help LINET in other tenders, and not only in Brazil but other countries on the continent too.

 The unique functions of the beds make life easier for patients in 93 countries around the world. The company has 8 subsidiaries and 40 business partners around the globe. The European Union countries are the biggest customers and large deliveries are regularly headed for the Middle East, Asia and America. LINET is one of the four biggest companies specialized in medical beds in the world, and the firm is exceptional by the number of innovations and its high dynamics of growth. The factory in Želevčice near Slaný every year produces not only tens of thousands of beds but also a wide range of mattresses, bedside tables and other medical furniture. The consolidated profit of the LINET group exceeded CZK 2.07 billion in the commercial year 2008/09.   

 4JAN Public Relations, Lea Hrabětová

www.linet.cz

The State Institute for Drug Control (SÚKL) would like to inform about an increase in notifications from medical professionals of adverse effects of medicaments during March 2010.

A comparison of March reports for last five years shows the following results:

SÚKL received 104 reports from medical professionals. 60 reports from that number regarded medicaments (excluding vaccines) which is twice as many as in 2009 and 3.7 times as many as in 2005. In comparison to last year, there was also an increase in number of reports regarding vaccines. The total number of reports during this period is at its five-year high.          

The increased participation of medical professionals in the reporting system can be seen as a result of the Institute’s information campaign concerning the safety of medicaments, their adverse effects and the importance of reporting in cases of suspicion.

SÚKL thanks all the medical professionals who send their reports for their contribution to increased safety of patients and to the development of knowledge about medicaments used in clinical practice.

Doctors and pharmacists who still have not joined the system of reporting of adverse effect are invited by SÚKL to cooperate in order to increase the safety of pharmacotherapy. 

The Czech Republic is one of the first EU countries where patients themselves may report their suspicion of unwanted effects. There has been an increase in the number of these reports too, with one report in January, five in February and seven in March 2010 received by SÚKL. Patients may report their suspicion of adverse effects via SÚKL’s information portal for the public www.leky.sukl.cz.

According to statistics, up to seven per cent of pre-school children suffer from a sight impediment, amblyopia (lazy eye) or strabismus (crossed eye). A study carried out in the USA revealed, for example, that eye defects are the fourth most common handicap in general and the most common handicap in childhood. Many sight impediments are discovered too late when the handicap cannot be significantly changed.
 
All Pardubice pre-school children will undergo a diagnostic test to help detect some sight impediments in time. A unique project of the Centre for Early Care, funded by the Pardubice town council, is beginning in September.

“The town council has released 390,000 CZK for this project to be used for, among other things, purchasing equipment to help with screening, for instance, for amblyopia or strabismus. I am convinced that this investment into health, especially the health of children, is a good investment. Early detection of defects gives the child hope for a correct and, above all, effective treatment and also for healthy mental and psychological development that can be negatively influenced by a hidden sight impediment,” said vice-mayor Štěpánka Fraňková.

According to statistics, up to seven per cent of pre-school children suffer from a sight impediment, amblyopia (lazy eye) or strabismus (crossed eye). A study carried out in the USA revealed, for example, that eye defects are the fourth most common handicap in general and the most common handicap in childhood. Many sight impediments are discovered too late when the handicap cannot be significantly changed.

Early detection of a sight impediment can prevent not only irreversible damage to sight but also negative effects on the child’s personality.

“’Pre-school age’ is a suitable period when possible, ideally through follow-up care, to treat or even completely remove sight impediments,” said Dagmar Fidlerová, the project coordinator.

This is why trained workers will visit Pardubice kindergartens, where the highest concentration of pre-school children is found, with the Plusoptix SO8 appliance and carry out sight screening with the approval of parents. All children undergoing the examination will receive a stamp in their vaccination record of a certain colour. A green stamp will inform a paediatrician that the child’s sight is normal. On the other hand, a red stamp and additional information will be a signal for further examination by a doctor.

The project does not omit children who do not attend kindergarten or will not be present at the time of the screening. “Under the screening project in our town, parents can make an appointment for these preschool children to receive a preventive sight examination in the Early Care Centre where more screening days are reserved for this purpose. Even younger children may be signed up for this examination by their parents if they have a family pre-disposition for amblyopia, strabismus or other sight impediment.”
 

Source: www.klinikazdravi.cz

If you intend to stop smoking or drinking, you need to summarize the “pros and cons of your addiction.” Compare the positives and negatives of your habits and realize the advantages and disadvantages of smoking and/or drinking. Look for other more useful ways of spending your free time. Do not feel guilty when you fail but admit that you need the help of an expert and search for one.

Good nutrition, regular exercise and stress management are at the core of every prevention program for illness and injury. Your health can also be influenced by negative activities that can be avoided most of the time. It is for instance important not to smoke, or at least limit smoking significantly and not to consume alcohol at all, or drink it only in a reasonable manner.
Do not expose yourself to excessive sunlight but neither should you avoid natural light (10 minutes daily between 9 – 10 am or 3 – 5 pm provides vitamin D from the sun and helps destroy bacteria).
Try to limit allergens, toxins and other pollutants in your home.

Smoking:
Many people enjoy smoking and drinking alcohol but both of these things influence your health in a negative way. The more you get into one of these habits the higher the risk of getting ill. Addiction to nicotine is at the same time a cause of the negative influence of the tar and gas contained in the tobacco smoke. "Passive smoking" – breathing in the cigarette or cigar smoke from other smokers  – entails a certain risk to your health, although not as large as smoking itself.

Health problems connected to smoking include:
•    destruction of     25 mg of vitamin C with every cigarette smoked
•    insufficient wound healing and pre-mature greying and aging of the skin
•    osteoporosis
•    heart and artery disease and vasoconstriction
•    asthma, bronchitis and emphysema
•    anxiety and depression
•    hearing reduction or even deafness

The worst of all is when pregnant and breastfeeding women smoke. It can lead to miscarriage and low birth weight of the child. Smoking during pregnancy and subsequently increases the probability of so-called Sudden Death Syndrome of infants and dramatically reduces the immunity of the baby.

Alcohol:
Alcohol is a very dangerous drug for the reason that it is a drug tolerated by a society. But just a few people realize its danger.
Following consumption, alcohol is absorbed into the blood. The liver gradually breaks it down into simpler substances and eventually the blood rids itself of the alcohol – if you do not soon drink more. The more alcohol you drink the longer it takes to be broken down by the liver.  Having one glass of wine or beer or small glass of liquor increases the level of alcohol to 15 mg in 100 ml of blood.
Breaking down this amount of alcohol in the blood takes about an hour on average if the person is relatively healthy. Women are somewhat more sensitive as to the harmful effects of alcohol because they absorb it faster and the level of alcohol in their blood reaches a higher amount. A person may start as only a “social drinker”, and then when some serious problems occur in life, end up as an alcoholic.
•    alcohol increases the risk of an accident when driving a vehicle
•    long term drinking causes deep depressions
•    alcohol disturbs the sleep mechanism
•    addictions lead to social problems, violence, malnourishment, high blood pressure, stomach inflammation, liver damage and cancer
•    drinking of alcohol during pregnancy even in small amounts can negatively influence the development (both physical and psychological) of the unborn child
•    a person who drinks regularly even small amounts of alcohol needs 16 times more of magnesium than a non-drinker

To stop?
If you intend to stop smoking or drinking, you need to summarize the “pros and cons of your addiction.” Compare the positives and negatives of your habits and realize the advantages and disadvantages of smoking and/or drinking. Look for other more useful ways of spending your free time. Do not feel guilty when you fail but admit that you need the help of an expert and search for one.
 

Source: www.klinikazdravi.cz

Tympanophony can be heard only by the patient who suffers from it and nobody else. This disorder is accompanied by enormous psychological stress on the patient. They complain of  worsened quality of relaxation, sleep and concentration, as well as suffering physical and social problems and a decline in social life. Another frequent accompanying physical symptom is hearing loss.

Those who have not experienced this condition can hardly imagine it. Tinnitus (from the Latin tinnio = tinkle, or tympanophony is an acoustic sensation appearing with no triggering impulse and is perceived as constant ringing, clicking, whistling, rumbling, buzzing or hissing in the ears.

There are many reasons for the condition as well as treatments for it. Nevertheless, the trouble only completely disappears when the real reason is truly found. And to discover the true cause, one examination is not usually sufficient.

Excessive noise is not the only cause
When we go to a concert where very loud music is played, we might not even realize the risk we are taking - the same risk we run by shooting without ear protection, listening to loud explosions caused by fireworks, etc. A loud noise damages capillaceous cells in the inner ear, specifically in the helix (cochlea). When sound waves cannot be transformed properly into nerve impulses, a defective reaction occurs and tympanophony appears.

Other reasons for the condition include a blocked ear canal, viral infection, ear injury and bleeding as well as tumor, toxic damage to the ear, problems with the cervical vertebrae and also diseases affecting the hearing apparatus directly.  Prolonged stress with increased production of adrenalin leading to an insufficient supply of blood to the inner ear can also be a triggering factor for the occurrence of tinnitus. Tinnitus, therefore, is not by any means a problem affecting only older generations.

With older people the difficulties are preceded by otosclerosis. This occurs when hearing is permanently damaged as a result of ossification of the stirrup connecting the middle and inner ear brought on by advanced age. Hearing loss in this case, however, can be remedied by an operation.


The symptoms are very diverse
Tympanophony can be heard only by the patient who suffers from it and nobody else. This disorder is accompanied by enormous psychological stress on the patient. They complain of worsened quality of relaxation, sleep and concentration, as well as suffering physical and social problems and a decline in social life. Another frequent accompanying physical symptom is hearing loss. Severe cases of tympanophony lead in 90% of cases to temporary or permanent loss of hearing. In this connection it is interesting that patients suffering from tinnitus are advised not only to avoid excessive noise but that total silence is not the best for them either because they then perceive the murmur in their ears even more intensely.

Therapeutic possibilities
Before any treatment begins it is necessary to do a detailed ORL examination. Neurological, internal, stomatological or other examinations often turn out to be necessary as well. Since tympanophony has various causes, there is also a range of therapeutic possibilities. Nevertheless, there is no sure-fire method available and the variability of treatment methods is unfortunately connected with a certain therapeutic quandary.

As a result, the patient is usually warned right at the beginning that it is not good to “fight” the tympanophony and that it is necessary to accept it as a part of the self because often the only feasible solution is that the unbearable ear murmur becomes a little bearable.

Principles of prevention:

•    Music we listen to should not be too loud; if it is, we should not stay too long at loud concerts or discos.
•    It is important to spend time in nature where we perceive pleasant natural sounds.
•    When shooting or spending time in noisy working environments, we follow safety measures.
•    We do not get close to fireworks, for instance at New Years’ celebrations
•    The most effective prevention is singing. It is very relaxing for our hearing system and its effects are overall very favourable.

A new rehabilitation method introduces training combining distraction and relaxation. It was discovered that emotional stress and psychological tension increase tinnitus. It is also known that the patient’s difficulties are more bearable if his/her attention is distracted by something else. That is why distraction training is combined with relaxation.

A well-known music treatment involves incorporating a disruptive signal of the same frequency as the ear noise into a favourite melody. When trained, the patient hears them less and less often.

Source: www.klinikazdravi.cz

There is 20% more exhibition area than in 2008 and this has now been completely filled. Due to the increase in Czech interest in this fair, we reserved 214 square meters in advance with an option for further purchase. The building and realization of everything necessary for the future fair has been underway since February 1st. This will ensure sufficient room for individual Czech exhibitors, as was not the case last year when some companies registered late.

Due to saturated local markets, export outside of Europe is very important for individual producers. One of your options is to present yourselves with our professional help at the largest worldwide fair. It is not always easy to do business abroad if one is not well acquainted with the local market and local conditions. But that is what our team, with its extensive experience in executing deals in a market significantly different than the Czech or Slovak markets, is for. 

We individually deepen contacts that we have developed through this event for our exhibitors throughout the next year and we try, in the interest of us all, to ensure business cooperation with the client.

We are looking forward to this crucial event, which is growing more important for Czech exhibitors because of the CzechMedical.com project through which we present your company and products to potential clients visiting the fair.

During the year we present the opportunity to distributors and hospitals interested in business cooperation so they can get to know your products in Arabic or English with our full communication support.