Students diagnosis of rare diseases

Students make diagnoses of rare diseases without goggles

02/27/2014

At the „The Frankfurt Reference Center for Rare Diseases (FRZSE) is used by medical students as diagnostic detectives, so the prospective doctors do not think in terms of ready-made patterns or goggles, allowing them to consider more options and often diagnose rare diseases better than older, more experienced ones doctor.

Students are unbiased in considering diagnoses
The 23-year-old Juliane Pfeffel is one of the students who does medical detective work at the FRZSE. At first glance, the concept of using medical students to diagnose patients with rare diseases may seem questionable: would-be doctors who have not yet completed their studies should have better diagnoses than experienced physicians? But that's exactly what makes FRZSE very good. For students like Pfeffel are unbiased when they examine the patients or evaluate the files. „You do not immediately put patients on a specialty or organ system. This is invaluable, "explains Professor Thomas O.F. Wagner, the director of the institution, to the news agency „dpa“.

Most of the patients have a long odyssey through numerous medical practices of different subjects behind them, until they come to the FRZSE. „In one man, ten nuclear spin images of the head were made, "criticized Wagner.In Frankfurt doctors and students approach the matter differently.Most are no new investigations made.Rather, the medical records are thoroughly studied and analyzed to recognize what others have overlooked so far .. Pfeffel reports to the news agency that every file „The medical student goes through every finding and every doctor's letter with the utmost care, adding textbooks and journals, using diagnostic search engines and interviewing experienced colleagues. „Our motto is: Everything is important, "said the 23-year-old.

Diagnosis of rare diseases is based on the exclusion principle
In this way one diagnosis after another is excluded. At the end, a report will be written that will be presented and discussed in the weekly team meeting. Although the correct diagnosis is often made „happy end“ Unfortunately, this does not always mean that for the patient. Only four percent of patients discover a new rare disease. Many diseases are also not treatable.

The most commonly diagnosed diagnosis is polyneuropathy, a generic term for certain peripheral nervous system disorders in which patients either suffer from pain in a particular area or the whole body. The causes are many. Often, however, only symptomatic treatment with analgesics can be done. Nevertheless, the patients are better, because „they have a diagnosis“, reports Wagner. And the odyssey from doctor to doctor finally comes to an end.

In some cases, patients will be well again. Over the past ten years, a locksmith repeatedly suffered from joint pain, fevers and severe coughing. Since the symptoms never showed up when he was at the doctor, he was considered a hypochondriac. In FRZSE the medical records of the man were thoroughly studied. It was found that his profession has been completely ignored so far. As a locksmith, the man without a mask worked with coated sheets and reacted allergic to evaporated zinc, which caused the discomfort.

About a dozen students work at the FRZSE as diagnostic detectives
For the research, telephone calls and the weekly team meeting fall at Pfeffel about 20 hours a week - so far without payment. The Robert Bosch Foundation provided the medical student in the seventh semester but recently 242,000 euros, so that their work will be remunerated by 2016 as a helper job. In addition to pepper, about a dozen other students are working on nearly 200 cases a year at the FRZSE.

Meanwhile, the concept of Frankfurt imitators has found. For example, students in Ulm and Bonn are also being used as diagnostic detectives, reports the Allianz Chronischer Rare Diseases (Axis). It was „An excellent idea "to involve medical students, says Christine Mundlos, contact for doctors at the axis, told the news agency that the students are not only unprejudiced but could also learn much for their future professional life by the work. „What better multipliers for the future can we wish for? "

On February 28, the „Day of rare diseases“ instead of
The axis participates in the „Day of rare diseases“ (Rare Disease Day), which always takes place on the last day of February. All over the world, people with rare chronic diseases, relatives, doctors and politicians come together and want to follow this year's motto „Together for better care "putting the topic in the public eye.

Another concern of the axis concerns the research of rare diseases and their drug therapy. The pharmaceutical industry has shown little interest in researching suitable drugs, given the low number of people affected. Therefore, the axis wants to enable member organizations to implement their own research projects. (Ag)