Inserm

The lung infection from which Nelson Mandela has suffered for several years lodges in an essential part of the human organism, the lungs and bronchiae. Pneumonia, pneumopathy and pulmonary abscesses are the main pulmonary infections so far identified.

In the vast majority of cases, these infections are due to viruses, microbes or bacteria that infiltrate into the lungs and, depending on the level of resistance, cause disorders of the respiratory tract.

The part of the lung that becomes infected will determine which disease affects the patient. The commonest symptoms of infection are coughing, breathlessness and respiratory failure.

Pulmonary infection may sometimes have very serious consequences. Such an infection can cause serious breathing difficulties and can also damage the broncho-pulmonary system.  The elderly are particularly vulnerable.

For more information, please contact Camille Locht, Director of the Inserm unit “Lille Infection and Immunity Centre”.

Following a foetal death in utero last weekend, the Inserm Press Department has provided figures about maternal, infant and in utero mortality.

The 2010 nationwide perinatal survey , set up notably by Inserm and the DGS, gives a description of the state of health of the children, the health care given and the characteristics of the mothers in 2010 and shows how they have developed since 2003. This report is currently the only source available for estimating mortality (in utero deaths) on a nationwide scale.

According to the figures given in this study, the mortality rate in France is 10 deaths for 1,000 births and is apparently one of the highest in the European Union.
However, mortality and its development cannot be estimated with precision, because the size of the sample used in this study is not suited to events of that frequency.

For more details on this subject :

Béatrice Blondel can provide information about the “Nationwide perinatal survey”.
Marie-Hélène Bouvier-Colle can provide figures about maternal mortality. Eric Jougla, Director of the CépiDC (Epidemiological Centre for Mortality by Medical Causes) can provide a list of death occurring before the age of one year.

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The systematic literature review was published in 2011: Same-gender parenting and child development: current known facts, co-signed by Guillaume Fond, mentions several therapeutic approaches to the question of same-gender parenting and its effect on children. Is being born into or growing up in a same-gender parent family a disadvantage?

Is the risk of psychopathology or psychological problems higher in this atypical context? (…)

Find the answers to these questions in Homoparentalité et développement de l’enfant (Same-gender parenting and child development: current knowledge), in the attachment to this article.

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According to the WHO, diabetes affects 347 million people the world over. This chronic disease occurs when the pancreas no longer produces enough insulin (type1 diabetes), or when the body is unable to correctly use the insulin it produces (type 2 diabetes). Those affected by diabetes are obliged to keep to a strict diet, or must take regular exercise.

During the World Diabetes Day organised by the International Diabetes Federation and the WHO on Wednesday 14 November, Inserm presented the data from the latest studies. (Download the press kit)