On 2 April, World Autism Awareness Day takes place with the aim of raising awareness and better informing the general public on the realities of this development disorder. Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder that appears during childhood and continues into adulthood. It presents as an altered ability to establish social interactions and communicate, and […]
According to WHO, tuberculosis is one of the 10 main causes of death in the world. In 2015, 10.4 million people were suffering from this illness and 1.8 million died. Furthermore, tuberculosis is the main cause of death in people who are HIV positive. According to WHO, a third of the world population has latent […]
Friday, March 17 will mark the 17th edition of World Sleep Day, an opportunity to raise general public awareness of the health impact of sleep. Sleep is essential to brain maturation and development. It also plays a fundamental role in metabolic functions, notably by regulating the production of several hormones. Sleep quality is likely to […]
Wednesday 8 March 2017 is devoted to International Women’s Day. In 2014, Inserm established a think-tank on “Gender and Health Research” within the Inserm Ethics Committee. Led by Catherine Vidal and Jennifer Merchant, members of the Inserm Ethics Committee, its objectives are to raise awareness about the impact of gender on health research, and to […]
World Cancer Day, which will take place on 4 February next, will be an opportunity to make the general public aware about prevention, detection and treatment of this disease. Researchers from Inserm Unit 1121, “Biomaterials and Bioengineering” (Inserm/University of Strasbourg), have improved the artificial larynx that they developed 5 years ago, and have optimised their […]
A stroke, or cerebrovascular accident (CVA), occurs when the blood circulation to the brain is interrupted by the formation of a blood clot that blocks an artery in the brain, known as a cerebral infarction, or by the rupture of an artery in the brain, a situation known as a cerebral or meningeal haemorrhage.[1] As […]
Initiated by the France Alzheimer association, the 23rd edition of World Alzheimer’s Day will take place next Wednesday, 21 September. This year, the association wished to highlight the consequences of the disease for close caregivers who are in employment, but also for businesses, namely stress, absenteeism, loss of income, isolation and even workplace conflict. Many […]
Suicide causes more than 800,000 deaths every year according to estimates by the World Health Organisation, i.e. one death every 40 seconds. It affects all age categories, and spares no region of the world. To find out more about suicide mortality data for France, you may contact Grégoire Rey, director of CépiDc-Inserm (Epidemiological Center on […]
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, most often caused by a virus, in which case it is referred to as viral hepatitis. Toxic substances, such as alcohol or certain drugs, may also be responsible for cases of toxic hepatitis. Of the six known types of hepatitis virus (A, B, C, D, E and […]
Initiated by the United Nations, World Environment Day is celebrated on 5 June every year in order to encourage awareness of the world environment, and stimulate individual actions. At Inserm, there is active ongoing research to identify the impacts of our environment on health, especially the effects of atmospheric pollution, endocrine disruptors and their consequences […]
Asthma, a chronic inflammatory disease, usually results from the combination of a genetic predisposition and environmental factors such as allergens (moulds, house dust mites and pollen), tobacco smoke or air pollution. During an episode, the lining of the bronchi swells, causing their diameter to become narrower, and leading to breathing difficulties, accompanied by wheezing. The […]