Dtsch Arztebl Int
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Clinical environmental medicine deals with environmental effects on human health in individual patients. Patients seek medical advice for problems of many different kinds that may be due to environmental exposures; such exposures must be considered carefully along with other potential causes. An environmental medical assessment should include thorough medical history-taking and physical examination, the formulation of a differential diagnosis, and (whenever indicated) human biomonitoring, site inspections, and ambient monitoring. ⋯ Despite the relative rarity of verifiable environmentally related health disturbances, these must be clearly identified and delimited to avoid further harmful exposures. Environmental medical counseling should include risk assessment and behavior recommendations for all patients who attribute their medical problems to their environment. Physicians performing specific environmental-medical diagnostic procedures must be aware of their limitations in order to avoid performing tests whose results have no therapeutic consequences and are thus of no help to either the physician or the patient.
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In children, acute pain occurs predominantly during infectious illnesses or after surgery. Chronic pain, especially headache and abdominal pain, is becoming increasingly common among children and adolescents. ⋯ Pain not only causes children momentary suffering but also threatens to impair their normal development. Therefore, every effort should be made to prevent pain and to treat it effectively once it arises.
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Retinal venous and arterial occlusions are common causes of visual loss. Depending on the location and extent, symptoms may vary from very discrete impairments to complete loss of sight. ⋯ While local diagnostic and therapeutic measures are performed by ophthalmologists, there is an important role for interdisciplinary cooperation in the investigation and systemic treatment of these events.
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The children of mentally ill parents have a higher risk of developing mental illnesses themselves over the course of their lives. This known risk must be taken into account in the practical provision of health care. ⋯ Preventive measures for children of mentally ill parents urgently need improvement. In this article, positively evaluated programs of preventive measures are discussed. Essential prerequisites for success include appropriate, specialized treatment of the parental illness, psychoeducative measures, and special support (e.g. self-help groups) as indicated by the family's particular needs.
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Screening colonoscopy is an effective means for early detection of colorectal carcinoma. Any exhaustive evaluation of the method must take further factors into account: epidemiology of colorectal adenomas and carcinomas in the target population, acceptance by the patients, structure, process, and outcome quality, and health economics. ⋯ The complication rate of outpatient colonoscopy is on the order of tenths of a percent, while the process quality is high. The rate of detection of colorectal adenoma and carcinoma is high and the projected benefits for public health are considerable, but the rate of participation is too low.