Syria: polio outbreak could spread to Europe

Two infectious disease experts detail inCorrespondence to The Lancet how a new outbreak of polio (due to infection with wild-type polio virus 1, WPV1) in Syria, recently confirmed by WHO, will endanger neighbouring regions. The authors warn that in regions of Europe where vaccination coverage is low, herd immunity may be insufficient to prevent sustained transmission if the polio virus is reintroduced into the community. Also concerning Syria, a Viewpoint and podcast discuss the difficulties confronting women in accessing reproductive health services.

Metformin and cardiovascular disease

Metformin lowers blood glucose and reduces cardiovascular risk in patients with type 2 diabetes, but whether it can improve cardiovascular health in individuals without diabetes has been unclear. Results of the CAMERA trial published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology suggest that metformin may not provide added benefit in patients with cardiovascular disease already taking statins, as measured by changes in carotid intima-media thickness after 18 months. Also discussed in aComment.

Parkinson's disease psychosis

Up to 10 million people worldwide have Parkinson's disease, and over half will experience psychosis at some time. A phase 3 randomised trial in The Lancet assesses the safety and efficacy of Pimavanserin, a new non-dopaminergic drug for the treatment of psychotic symptoms. 199 patients with Parkinson's disease psychosis were randomly allocated to receive 40mg of pimavanserin or matching placebo for 6 weeks. After 43 days, patients taking pimavanserin showed improvement in SADS-PD score compared with those given placebo. Also discussed in a Comment and podcast.

The Lancet

1 of 3

Article
Hepatitis C: the LONESTAR study assesses the efficacy and safety of a fixed-dose, single-pill combination of sofosbuvir and ledipasvir with...
Article
Cervical cancer: assessing the efficacy of HPV versus cytological screening for protection against invasive cervical cancer.
Editorial
Adolescent health: social determinants of health for adolescents will have far-reaching effects on their health as adults.

The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology

1 of 3

Article
CAMERA: metformin might not provide cardiovascular benefit in patients without diabetes taking statins, as measured by changes in cIMT after...
Article
DPP-4 inhibitor: a new once-weekly compound shows promise as monotherapy for type 2 diabetes.
Review
Subclinical parathyroid disease: an update on prevalence, natural history, and complications.

The Lancet Global Health

1 of 3

Article
Stroke risk factors: a case-control study in Tanzania suggests that HIV infection could be an important risk factor for stroke in sub-Saharan...
Comment
COPD in China: is the new GOLD classification applicable in China?
Comment
Food safety in India: is it time to update the WHO Global Strategy?

The Lancet Infectious Diseases

1 of 3

Article
HIV prevalence in China: Lei Zhang and colleagues investigate HIV prevalence trends in the country and incidence in most-at-risk populations.
Article
SPRING-2 study: 96 week results of dolutegravir vs raltegravir in antiretroviral-naive adults with HIV-1.
Review
Neurocognitive disorders: manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment recommendations in patients with HIV.

The Lancet Neurology

1 of 3

Review
Intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis: identifying those at high risk of stroke recurrence, novel imaging characteristics, and outcome-improving...
Article
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: assessing efficacy and safety of dexpramipexole in patients with familial or sporadic disease
Rapid Review
Multiple sclerosis: emerging injectable therapies for relapsing-remitting disease.

The Lancet Oncology

1 of 3

Article
Counting-up the cost of cancer in the European Union: researchers compare 27 EU countries on how much cancer costs in terms of health care,...
Comment
Asian Oncology Summit: resource-stratified guidelines for the management of cancers in Asia.
Breaking news
Lung cancer: world conference
Cancer prevention: meeting report
GVHD prophylaxis: atorvastatin
Leukaemia: ponatinib efficacy...

The Lancet Respiratory Medicine

1 of 3

Article
RPL554: investigating a dual PDE3 and PDE4 inhibitor in patients with asthma, COPD and in healthy volunteers: findings from four exploratory...
Article
IPF?: diagnosis of chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis in patients diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Comment
Call for papers: high-quality research submissions in respiratory medicine or critical care are invited.

The Lancet Cardiology

1 of 3

Article
Remote ischaemic preconditioning: a study reports the long term effects of remote ischaemic preconditioning on patients undergoing coronary...