Praxis
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Cannabis use has increased considerably during the last 15 years. One of the major problems dealing with cannabis use is driving under the influence of drugs. With the exception of ethyl alcohol, the majority of the epidemiological studies have shown that cannabis is the most frequently detected substance in people suspected of driving under the influence of drugs. ⋯ In forensic practice, cannabis impairment of driving performance must be related to cannabinoids blood concentrations. To facilitate the interpretation of cannabinoids blood levels, several models were set up recently. These models must be further improved in order to fit in with all circumstances of cannabis use.
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Anaemia is one of the most common risk factors in the area of obstetrics and perinatal medicine. During pregnancy and in the puerperium it is associated with an increased incidence of both maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality, the extent of which is dependent upon the severity of anaemia and the resulting complications. In order to correctly diagnose the type and degree of anaemia, a prerequisite for selection of the proper therapy, one must first of all correctly differentiate between the relative, i.e., the physiological anaemia of pregnancy due to the normal plasma volume increase during pregnancy, and "real anaemias" with various different pathophysiological causes. ⋯ These should include a palette of additional, promising new parameters such as hypochromic red cells and transferrin receptors which allow more accurate detection of iron deficiency and differential diagnosis of iron deficiency anaemia. After correct diagnosis, major emphasis should be put on safe and effective treatment of anaemia which again depends on severity of anaemia, time for restoration and patients characteristics. Today effective alternatives to oral iron only or blood transfusion such as parenteral iron sucrose complex and in selected cases also recombinant erythropoietin have been investigated and show promising results concerning effective treatment of anaemia during pregnancy and postpartum.