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-A A +A By Merilee Dannemann Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 1:03 pm Workers’ compensation insurers are starting to pay for meditation classes for injured workers. That’s a milestone worth noting, because work comp is a pretty conservative system and the last place you’d expect to find anything outside the box of conventional medicine. In most cases, a claims adjuster has to review and approve anything unorthodox before it’s authorized for payment. When work comp payers are paying for alternative therapies, something important is happening in the healthcare system. There are no statistics, and the numbers are probably small, but alternative therapies are beginning to be accepted, according to presenters at a recent meeting of the New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Association. “Mind-body is the future of medicine,” said Dr. David Lyman, a 20-year occupational medicine physician. “The acute care models no longer meet our needs.” For workers who don’t recover with conventional treatment, he employs an interdisciplinary approach that includes mental techniques such as biofeedback. David Lang, a massage and neuromuscular therapist and a former member of the New Mexico Massage Therapy Licensing Board, said New Mexico is a leading state in the development of integrative medicine.

医学

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here to advertise in this news brief. Mobile version Past Issues Subscribe Unsubscribe Advertise About ACSM Join ACSM Meetings Continuing Education Get Certified Access Public Information Advertisement • Tragedy, Commitment and Hope in Boston: In-Person Sports Medicine Perspectives on the Bombing at the Boston Marathon • Live Webcast of ACSM/NIH & Health in Buildings Roundtable One-Day Conference • Annual Meeting — Register Today for Additional Savings • Policy Corner: April 30 Deadline to Comment on Surgeon General’s Proposed Call to Action on Walking • Chronic Concussive Brain Injury Study Wins 1st ACSM-AMSSM Clinical Research Grant • Items Needed for ACSM Annual Meeting Silent Auction • Sports Medicine & Exercise Science Headlines AdvertisementPRODUCT SHOWCASE Actiheart - Ambulatory Energy Expenditure Monitor The Actiheart is the gold standard for ambulatory measurement of energy expenditure, having been validated against DLW. Combining activity and heart rate measurement in one discreet unit, it is possible to measure AEE in daily living for up to 21 days. The Actiheart can also record HRV data. Tragedy, Commitment, and Hope in Boston: In-Person Sports Medicine Perspectives on the Bombing in the Boston Marathon Viewpoints presented in SMB commentaries reflect opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of ACSM. Lyle Micheli, M.D., FACSM, is Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School and director of the Division of Sports Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. A 36-year member of ACSM, he has published more than 300 scientific journal articles and reviews, primarily related to sports injuries in children. Dr. Micheli is a past president of the American College of Sports Medicine, currently is Secretary General for the International Federation of Sports Medicine, and co-chaired the group that recently published the International Olympic Committee consensus on the health and fitness of young people through physical activity and sport. He has served as Finish Line Medical Director for the Boston Marathon, since the 1970s and was on-site this year, leading the marathon medical care team when the bombings occurred. The events of April 15, 2013, our 113th Boston Marathon, are now known worldwide. Our staff at the Boston Children’s Hospital has served as Marathon medical volunteers for many years. I have been at the finish line since 1975, serving as medical team leader. Pierre d'Hemecourt, our primary care director, is the co-director of the entire medical coverage and supervises the medical tent. Sixteen members of our program, most of them ACSM members, volunteered this year, either on the finish line with me or in the medical tent. We were about 15 yards from the site of the first bomb. The second bomb went off about 10 seconds later about a block west of us. In those seconds, medical coverage of a mass participation event became medical coverage of a mass casualty event. Amazingly, no finish line personnel or runners were injured, protected by the fence barriers. The injured were families, spectators and well-wishers. Police officers, security personnel and medical volunteers rushed the fencing and framing between us and the injured and tore them down. We initially had no supplies or equipment. I entered the running store with others. We used running shirts for dressings. We fashioned tourniquets out of jackets and clothes hangers. Adrienne Wald, Ed.D., MBA, BS.N., CHES, is director of the Undergraduate Nursing Program and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the University of Massachusetts Boston. Dr. Wald has been a nurse and educator for over 35 years. She oversees the undergraduate nursing program and teaches preparation for professional practice and health behavior. Dr. Wald’s passion is public health, primary prevention, health promotion and wellness. Her research is on health-promoting behavior in college students. She is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine, the American College Health Association, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, the American Medical Athletic Association and the American Public Health Association. Dr. Wald is a past participant in several Boston Marathons and was on-site at the event last week when the tragic bombing occurred. She had been present, along with a group of students who were working with her at various points along the course, to assist with medical care for the runners. SMB asked, and Dr. Wald kindly agreed, to share the experience and her impressions concerning the impact of the tragic events that occurred on Monday at the Boston Marathon. She and her students are still processing. April 19, 2013. As the week is ending in Boston, the city is temporarily shut down as a massive manhunt is under way. All of us in this city we love are still processing the horrific and tragic events of Monday’s 117th Boston Marathon. Patriot’s Day started early for me. Having organized a team of thirty undergraduate nursing students and exercise science students in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences to be part of the Boston Athletic Association’s (BAA) giant group of medical volunteers, I headed out to meet all of my students and my colleague, Katie Kafel, MSN, RN, whom I recruited to help me lead the team. The students had eagerly responded months earlier. The 30 spots I had secured from BAA filled in an hour, with a waiting list. The students on the team ranged from sophomores to seniors, and a few were licensed RNs in the RN-BSN program. Qualified, but forced out of running the 117th Boston by a recent ski injury, I thought volunteering would be a great learning experience for students and a chance to test some basic clinical skills, and I could pay it forward by helping for a change. Ten years earlier, after running the 100th Boston Marathon, I ended up in the medical tent after crossing the finish line, suffering from hypothermia. Share this article: Advertisement Free ACSM-Approved Video Course Passionate about exercise and nutrition? Then learn the essentials of nutrition coaching with this free 5-day video course. Taught by renowned nutrition researcher, Dr. John Berardi. Click here for the free course. Live Webcast of ACSM/NIH & Health in Buildings Roundtable One-Day Conference ACSM and the National Institutes of Health's Division of Environmental Protection have partnered with the Health in Buildings Roundtable to present a one-day conference TODAY. The conference, Making the Human Health Connection: Healthy Buildings, Healthy People, and Healthy Communities, will be streamed LIVE on the web at no cost. You may access the live feed here: http://videocast.nih.gov/. An archived version of the webcast will also be available to view post-conference. Check @ACSMNews on Twitter for additional updates. Share this article: Annual Meeting – Register Today for Additional Savings April 24 is the final day to get the best savings on the 60th ACSM Annual Meeting and 4th World Congress on Exercise is Medicine®. Don't miss your chance to connect with thousands of experts at the most comprehensive sports medicine and exercise science conference in the world. ACSM’s 60th Annual Meeting and 4th World Congress on Exercise is Medicine May 28-June 1, 2013 in nearby Indianapolis promises to be a world-class meeting that showcases the top programming and events in the fields of sports medicine, exercise science, education, basic/applied science, physical activity, and public health. Check out programming highlights of this year’s meeting here. Don't miss featured speaker Howard Koh, M.D., M.P.H., assistant secretary for health of HHS, who was just added to the program. Also, registration is open for the Indianapolis Cultural Trail Walk/Bike Tour, which will be held on Tuesday, May 28. Enjoy a guided tour on foot or bike (bring your own, or free rentals provided) of this world-class urban bike and pedestrian path. Register today at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ACSMCTT. Learn more about the Annual Meeting on ACSM's Facebook page or tweet using #ACSMAnnualMtg. Share this article: FEATURED COMPANIES Department of Health and Kinesiology Completely online Master's Degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in coaching behavior. 14 month cohort program taught by GSU full-time faculty with coaching experience. Advertisement Lafayette Manual Muscle Testing System Hand-held device objectively quantifies muscle strength, and provides reliable, accurate readings. Measures peak force, time to peak, and force over time. Rechargeable battery. sales@lafayetteinstrument.com www.lafayetteevaluation.com/mmt Policy Corner: April 30 Deadline to Comment on Surgeon General's Proposed Call to Action on Walking Through the end of April, advocates of physical activity for health have an opportunity to help form national policy of singular significance. Those who were in Baltimore for the 2010 ACSM Annual Meeting and the first World Congress on Exercise is Medicine remember how the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin, galvanized a packed hall with her remarks and then led attendees and community members on the first of her many community walks for health. The walking movement has continued to gain momentum, as reflected in initiatives such as the Every Body Walk! collaborative, in which ACSM is a founding partner. At a seminal conference last December, Dr. Benjamin announced her intent to develop a Surgeon General’s Call to Action to promote walking as a national health priority. An important part of that process – which takes about 18 months in all – is collecting comments from stakeholders and the general public. Joan Dorn, Ph.D., an ACSM member with a central role in developing the call to action, provides the following announcement of the comment period: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Department of Health and Human Services has announced the opening of a docket to obtain information from the public on walking as an effective way to be sufficiently active for health. The information obtained will be used to frame an anticipated Surgeon General’s call to action on this issue. The notice can be found at www.regulations.gov. The 30-day public comment period began April 1 and ends Tuesday, April 30th. The notice requests information on ways to increase walking and community walkability on the following topics: Barriers to walking for youth; adults; seniors; persons with developmental, injury, and chronic disease-related disabilities; racial and ethnic minorities, and low-income individuals. Evidence-based strategies for overcoming those barriers and their reach and impact to increase physical activity at the population level and among the above mentioned subpopulations. Please consider providing input to the docket and sharing this announcement with stakeholders who may also be interested. To provide input go to www.regulations.gov. In the search box type the Docket No. CDC-2013-0003 Share this article: AdvertisementPRODUCT SHOWCASE Velotron Electronic Bicycle Ergometer High performance bicycle ergometer with 2300W Wingate test. Repeatability, +/- 0.25%. Absolute accuracy, +/- 1.5%. Permanent calibration with quick self check. Functions as a conventional ergometer from 5W to 2000W, and as a precision road bike simulator with adjustable bike dimensions, bike components, and adjustable shifting. Full suite of performance recording and interactive computer graphics and video software. Below $10,000. MORE Chronic Concussive Brain Injury Study Wins 1st ACSM-AMSSM Clinical Research Grant William Meehan, MD, is the first recipient of the ACSM Foundation-AMSSM Foundation Clinical Research Grant for his research titled "A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Transcranial Light Emitting Diode Therapy for the Treatment of Chronic Concussive Brain Injury." The latest in a series of collaborative projects between the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and the American College of Sports Medicine, the joint Clinical Research Grant Committee selects a single proposal to receive a $20,000 award. The partnership calls for an initial three-year commitment for the annual joint clinical research grant awards. Dr. Meehan is an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and serves as the director of the Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, director of the Sports Concussion Clinic, director of research for the Brain Injury Center at Boston Children’s Hospital, and associate director of the Harvard Integrated Program to Protect and Improve the Health of NFL Players. The primary purpose of the AMSSMF-ACSMF Clinical Research Grant Award is to foster original scientific investigations with a strong clinical focus among physician members of AMSSM and ACSM. A secondary intent of the grant program is to foster the development of the principal investigator’s research education by requiring that a portion of the funds to be applied to meet this goal. The review committee sought research proposals that investigate research questions within the broad discipline of sports medicine. The criteria required proposals to be led by physicians who are members of both AMSSM and ACSM. Share this article: PRODUCT SHOWCASES Precise metabolic gas exchange measurements • Metabolic analysis defines exact level of fitness and functional capacity • Discreet true breath-by-breath data or data averaging in multiple ways • Unique, low cost, disposable or reusable flow sensor • Leading gas technology with the premiere Mortara® ECG • Integrated Mortara® ECG • Indirect calorimetry • Serial or analog device control Our Master of Science in Exercise Physiology degree is geared to be an active, participatory program in which you’ll spend as much time in the lab as in the library -- and learn about all the professional applications of exercise physiology. Graduate in one year with our intensive 32-credit program. MORE Voluntary Auto and Home Insurance As an ACSM member, you could save on Liberty Mutual Auto and Home Insurance. We offer personalized coverage, Multi-Policy Discounts, 24-Hour Claims Assistance and much more. Click or call 1- 800 835 0894 for a quote or more information. Items Needed for ACSM Annual Meeting Silent Auction It’s not too late to donate to the ACSM Silent Auction in support of ACSM's Foundation Research Grant Program. The ACSM Foundation maintains several endowments, most of which make cash awards each year in various research areas of sports medicine and exercise science. In total, nearly $169,000 in grant awards is made to ACSM members every year to support research with over 2.2 million awarded since 1989. Many of these grant recipients are young investigators making initial contributions to furthering the health sciences. To donate, please fill out the Silent Auction form electronically and email sholdaway@acsm.org. You can also fax it back to 317-634-7817, Attn: Stacey Holdaway. All forms must be received by Wednesday, May 1 in order for your product to be listed in the Silent Auction flyer. All donated products/services must be received in the ACSM office by Wednesday, May 8. If you have any questions regarding the Silent Auction, please contact Stacey Holdaway. SPORTS MEDICINE & EXERCISE MEDICINE HEADLINES Headlines include recent stories in the media on sports medicine and exercise science topics and do not reflect ACSM statements, views or endorsements. Headlines are meant to inform members on what the public is reading and hearing about the field. Pro Athletes Turn To Yoga: Joe Johnson, Torrey Smith Tout Practice's Benefits It's 105 degrees in a yoga studio in New York, and Joe Johnson is in one of 26 possible set stretching poses. Johnson, a six-time NBA All-Star, is doing bikram yoga four hours prior to the Brooklyn Nets' tip-off. Despite logging tens of thousands of minutes in the NBA, the 31-year-old claims the yoga sessions leave him rejuvenated and refreshed. "It's pretty strenuous as far as a workout," he told The Huffington Post. "It loosens me up, actually. If we have to be at the gym at 5:30, I'll go about 3 and I get out at 4:30. I go straight to the arena. I'll already be loose and ready to go. It's very relaxing. I've never meditated before, or anything of that nature, but when I started doing bikram, it just kind of goes with [it]. I found myself meditating and really relaxing and clearing my thoughts." Share this article: READ MORE Earn your masters degree online. What if you could earn your MS in Human Movement when you’re off work and online? You can, through ATSU Arizona School of Health Sciences’ online distance-learning program. Just click the blue button for details. MORE Double Up: Diet, Exercise Together are Key to Success Folks who want to get in better shape and eat healthier are often encouraged to make one change at a time, but a new study finds that people are the most successful when they tackle their diet and exercise habits simultaneously. "It comes down to making them both priorities and thinking about both throughout the day," says lead researcher Abby King, professor at the Stanford (University) Prevention Research Center. Rosscraft Innovations: Theory, Technique, Technology Rosscraft supplies high quality anthropometric instruments and publications for human biologists and health professionals to assess status and monitor change for subjects, clients and patients. MORE Advertise here! To find out how to feature your company in the ACSM Sports Medicine Bulletin and other advertising opportunities, contact James DeBois at 469-420-2618. Sports Medicine Bulletin Sports Medicine Bulletin is a membership benefit of the American College of Sports Medicine. There is no commercial involvement in the development of content or in the editorial decision-making process for this weekly e-newsletter. The appearance of advertising in Sports Medicine Bulletin does not constitute ACSM endorsement of any product, service or company or of any claims made in such advertising. ACSM does not control where the advertisements appear or any coincidental alignment with content topic. James DeBois, Director of Advertising Sales, 469.420.2618 Download media kit Colby Horton, Vice President of Publishing, 469.420.2601Contribute News This edition of the Sports Medicine Bulletin was sent to ##Email##. To unsubscribe, click here. Did someone forward this edition to you? Subscribe here — it's free!

医学

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Study Finds New Risk for Snoring Pregnant Women AAAJune 12, 2009 | by Marla PaulCHICAGO --- If you are pregnant and your mate complains your frequent snoring is rattling the bedroom windows, you may have bigger problems than an annoyed, sleep-deprived partner. A new study from researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has found that women who reported frequent snoring during their pregnancy were more likely to develop gestational diabetes -- a condition than can cause health problems for the mother and baby. The study also found pregnancy increases the likelihood that a woman will snore. This is the first study to report a link between snoring and gestational diabetes. For the study, 189 healthy women completed a sleep survey at the time of enrollment (six to 20 weeks gestation) and in the third trimester. Pregnant women who were frequent snorers had a 14.3 percent chance of developing gestational diabetes, while women who did not snore had a 3.3 percent chance. Even when researchers controlled for other factors that could contribute to gestational diabetes such as body mass index, age and race and ethnicity, frequent snoring was still associated with the disease. Principal investigator Francesca Facco, M.D., a fellow at the Feinberg School, presented her findings at the SLEEP 2009 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies June 11. "Sleep disturbances during pregnancy may negatively affect your cardiovascular system or metabolism," said Facco, who in August will become an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Feinberg School and a maternal and fetal medicine physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "Snoring may be a sign of poor air flow and diminished oxygenation during sleep, which can cause a cascade of events in your body," Facco said. "This may activate your sympathetic nervous system, so your blood pressure rises at night. This can also provoke inflammatory and metabolic changes, increasing the risk of diabetes or poor sugar tolerance." The study also showed more women became frequent snorers as their pregnancies progressed. Early in pregnancy, 11 percent of women in the study reported frequent snoring; by the third trimester, the number rose to 16.5 percent. Frequent snoring was defined as snoring three or more nights a week. Facco said snoring during pregnancy may be triggered by weight gain and edema (a buildup of fluid), which can increase airway resistance. Exactly how the snoring is linked to gestational diabetes is not yet known. About 4 percent of pregnant women develop gestational diabetes, a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes develop high blood sugar levels during pregnancy. Babies born to mothers with gestational diabetes are at increased risk of problems such as being large for gestational age, which may lead to delivery complications. These babies may also have low blood sugar levels and are at increased risk of becoming obese or developing impaired sugar tolerance or metabolic syndrome later in life. While gestational diabetes usually resolves after pregnancy, women who develop it are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes later in life. Facco said further studies are needed to understand the association between snoring and gestational diabetes and to develop interventions to treat sleep disorders during pregnancy. "If snoring is bothering a woman who is pregnant, she should seek a consultation with a sleep specialist," Facco said. In related study also to be presented at the SLEEP 2009 meeting, Facco found sleep disturbances such as restless legs syndrome and insomnia increase significantly during pregnancy. Facco's Feinberg co-authors include William Grobman, M.D., an associate professor of obstetrics & gynecology, Brandon Lu, M.D. instructor in neurology; Phyllis Zee, M.D., a professor of neurology; Kim Ho, a medical student; Jamie Kramer, M.D., a former Feinberg student.

医学

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The 2008 Pipeline Report Ron Feemster � Previous1234567Next � Both apixaban (from BMS and Pfizer) and Xarelto (rivaroxaban, from Bayer and J&J), are in Phase III trials for treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism, which is often a consequence of DVT. BMS is testing apixaban head-to-head against enoxaparin/warfarin, the current standard of care for DVT in the United States. Xarelto has been approved in Canada and Europe for prevention of post-surgical venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing elective hip or knee-replacement surgery, and it is currently in registration in the United States for a similar indication. But the potentially big payoff for both drugs turns on the results of the Phase III acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and stroke-prevention trials. "The problem with these cardiovascular indications like ACS and stroke is that it all comes down to the outcome studies," Ryan says. "Before that you are just looking at markers and it's hard to say." Alzheimer's disease Getting new drugs into the brain Since June, when Encore/Myriad's Flurizan failed to achieve its efficacy endpoints in Phase III, experts have been divided on the future of Alzheimer's drugs in the pipeline. A key question: Will the beta-amyloid pathway turn out to be the right target? But Jeffrey Cummings, MD, director of the Alzheimer's Disease Center at UCLA, sees the issue as challenging technical problems rather than a problem with the approach. "What we learned from the Flurizan trials was that the drug did not enter the brain adequately to effect a response," says Cummings. Cummings said that recent research suggests that lipid-soluble drugs are more likely than water-soluble chemicals to enter the brain, and that the three current Phase III Alzheimer's candidates are more likely to be found in concentrations large enough to actually attack the beta-amyloid plaque that, it is widely believed, causes the dementia suffered by Alzheimer's patients. "In the development program, they have actually been measured in the spinal fluid to make sure that they are entering the brain," Cummings said. Indeed, Cummings remains cautiously optimistic about Elan/Wyeth's monoclonal antibody bapineuzumab and Lilly's gamma-secretase inhibitor semagacestat. For him, the real question is about the point of intervention. Amyloid has been detected in the brains of people five to ten years before the onset of symptoms. Some of these have been followed long enough to confirm the hypothesis that they are the ones who will get Alzheimer's. "We have amyloid scans that show the presence of amyloid in the brain of people who are normal, or at most mildly impaired," Cummings says. "One possibility is that treating patients as we choose them now—by the presence of the dementia syndrome—may already be too late for the optimal intervention with drugs that are aimed at amyloid." "The drug that is currently in the lead to become the next treatment of Alzheimer's disease is called Dimebon," Cummings says. Dimebon (dimebolin) originated in Russia in the 1980s as an oral antihistamine. Medivation, which began development for neurodegenerative disorders, licensed the drug to Pfizer in September. Dimebon appears to affect the beta-amyloid pathway, although the precise mechanism of action is not known. The drug did well in a US-run Phase II trial with cognitively impaired patients in Russia. "It appears to be a neuro-protective agent that could work much later in the disease when people are symptomatic," Cummings says. CTS 21166 is a beta-secretase inhibitor that aims to block the beta-amyloid pathway at a new point of attack. In early Phase II, it is one of the most promising drugs further up the pipeline, Cummings says. � Previous1234567Next � Articles by Ron Feemster Emerging Pharma Leaders 2010 Emerging Leaders 2009: The Faces of Innovation 2009 PharmExec Top 50 Vaccines for All Forecast 2009: Up in the Air

医学

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Caregiver Mentor Spotlight PH Email Mentors are patients and caregivers from all over the world, standing by to help patients, caregivers and parents through one-on-one, email-based support. Jim Wilson is one of those mentors, and he shares a little about himself now. How long has your family been living with PH? Our involvement with PH started when my wife Debbie was diagnosed in late 1997. Like many who have received this diagnosis, we didn’t know anything about PH. Debbie had taken Fen-Phen diet pills in 1995 but discontinued them when she started feeling run down. She was misdiagnosed for several years until a cardiologist gave us the definitive diagnosis of primary pulmonary hypertension in November 1997. We both remember the physician telling us, “I can’t treat what you have, but what I can tell you is survivability is less than 18 months.” We were referred to a pulmonology group in December 1997. They ran some additional tests and told us to come back after the holidays. We went back with high hopes that they would have answers. This pulmonology group told us that they didn’t know enough about PH to treat her and referred us to a hospital that did lung transplants. The transplant team started my wife on a program designed for PH to see if she could qualify for a transplant. The transplant physician had done a fellowship with Dr. David Badesch, and he told us that Debbie might be able to take this relatively new drug called Flolan® that was considered a bridge to transplant. Flolan® stabilized Debbie and she’s still around today. In the meantime, we started learning everything we could about PH. We have now been fighting this battle for 14 years, and Debbie has recently transitioned to Veletri®. My 26-year career as a hospital administrator in the Air Force helped us immensely in navigating the maze of hospitals, insurance issues and physician-speak that can overwhelm anyone diagnosed with a chronic, incurable disease. The other great resource that has helped us is PHA. Our first PHA International PH Conference was in 1998 in Grapevine, Texas. This past Conference in Orlando was our seventh. We always learn something new and come away with a renewed sense of hope that a cure is within reach. At the first Conference we attended, I went to the scientific sessions and the sessions for male caregivers to help me understand this disease and my role as a caregiver. I got involved in fundraising by organizing several golf tournaments in the Dallas area and eventually drafted the first guidelines for PHA fundraising events. I served a term on PHA’s Board of Trustees and am currently a member of PHA’s Investment Committee. As my wife and I grew with this disease, our focus changed from the types of Conference sessions we attended to the sessions we led or co-chaired. I was fortunate to co-chair the male caregiver session at the 2006 Houston Conference and the experience only furthered my desire to help others cope with the difficulties of living with this disease. I’ve also had the pleasure of being on panels that discussed traveling with PH, talking with your physician and fundraising. What advice do you have for other caregivers? Communicate. Never forget, there are good days and bad days. Be flexible in how you treat each new day. You have to be sensitive to how the patient approaches the disease. Are they going to be upset and angry, or are they going to say, “I’m going to do what I want to do”? My wife stays as active as her health will let her. As her caregiver, I know when she has done too much and I will encourage her to slow down. Take care of yourself. You both have the disease. There’s stress 24 hours a day in this caregiver role, so you have to have time to de-stress — and not just when you’re sleeping. It’s important to have “me time.” It makes it much more enjoyable if the patient insists on it, too, and they see the value in it for you. I have to fight this disease. Mentoring is another way I can say, “I am fighting this thing.” I became a mentor because I want to help people who are going through what I’ve gone through. I want people to start living with a sense of hope, not a sense of dread. My goal is to help caregivers who may be feeling forlorn and overwhelmed to develop a sense of hope. Read Jim's Patient Mentor Profile (Sign in required) Disclaimer: PH Email Mentors are available to provide hope and support to PH patients and caregivers. They are not intended to provide medical advice on individual matters, which should be obtained directly from a physician.

医学

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Binge Drinking May Double Older People's Risk of Dying MONDAY, March 3, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Binge drinking may shorten your life, even if your drinking is considered moderate overall, new research indicates. Many studies of moderate drinking have delved into how it affects health and mortality, but most haven't looked at patterns of drinking, explained study author Charles Holahan, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. When Holahan and colleagues examined drinking styles of moderate drinkers -- for example, if they spread their alcohol consumption out more evenly over time or if they imbibed less often but in heavier amounts -- they discovered death rates were higher in binge drinkers. "Among older moderate drinkers, we found that those who binge have double the odds of dying within the next 20 years compared to those who do not binge," Holahan said. The researchers analyzed data from a larger study, focusing on 446 adults between the ages of 55 and 65 who were moderate drinkers. For male participants, that meant they downed no more than four alcoholic beverages a day and no more than 14 drinks per week. For women, it meant they drank no more than three drinks in a single day and no more than seven per week -- the definition for moderate or "low-risk" drinking, according to the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Of the total group, the scientists said 372 moderate drinkers spread their drinking out over time, while 74 showed periodic episodes of heavy drinking. The researchers also factored in socioeconomic issues such as gender and marriage status, and recent health issues including diabetes, heart problems, obesity and physical activity levels. To track deaths, they relied on death certificates. Holahan said while regular moderate drinking, such as sipping a glass of wine with dinner, may offer health perks for some people, binge drinking is always unhealthy. "Heavy episodic drinking concentrates alcohol's toxicity and is linked to mortality by damaging body organs," said Holahan, who added that it could also increase the risk of accidents. While the study found an association between binge drinking in moderate drinkers and a higher risk of death, it did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship. Holahan said because the study was observational, the authors can't be sure that other factors weren't influencing the findings. Another expert said the study helps offer a clearer look at the behaviors people use to consume alcohol. One drawback of the study, however, is that it relies mostly on self-reporting, added Dr. Scott Krakower, assistant unit chief of psychiatry at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y. "In the future, they could potentially rely on other reports from family members, for example, to help give a better assessment. However, standardizing this may be difficult," he said. The new research appeared online March 3 in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. About 25 percent of moderate drinkers report binge-drinking habits, alcohol researcher Dr. Timothy Naimi, an associate professor with Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, said in a journal news release. He said excessive alcohol use causes about 80,000 deaths in the United States every year, and that how you drink is as important as how much you drink. "Many of these deaths are among youth and young and working-age adults," Naimi said. College students are very susceptible and often do not think they can get hurt, said Krakower at Zucker Hillside. He recommended that they put a plan in place before they go out if they know they're at risk for binge drinking. Strategies could include never going out alone to drink, bringing along responsible friends who can help stop you from overdrinking, and trying not to start drinking at all. He said baby boomers are susceptible, too. "As baby boomers age onward, they are pretty vulnerable. Alcohol use can result in worsening medical complications that come with aging, and it has especially lethal consequences if combined with certain medications, such as sleeping medications," he said. Research has started to examine the effects of binge drinking on cardiac health, Krakower said, and it may coexist with other factors, such as socioeconomic stressors, mental illness, tobacco use and obesity. But he said a good health care provider can help people address all of these issues along with the alcohol abuse. If family or friends are worried about a loved one's binging habit, Krakower said they should reach out for help. He recommended attending local meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, looking into an addiction treatment program, or talking with a family physician about the best options. "If you can, maintain a nonjudgmental stance but be supportive of the process of getting them help," he said. "The human body is resilient," Krakower reassured, "But make sure to seek treatment before it is too late." To learn more about binge drinking, visit the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. SOURCES: Charles Holahan, Ph.D., professor, psychology, University of Texas at Austin; Scott Krakower, M.D., assistant unit chief, psychiatry, Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, N.Y.; May 2014 Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, online 1 in 10 Deaths Among Adults Tied to Alcohol: CDC

医学

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Wellness Center | Women's Center Home > Health Library > Vitamin D in Pregnancy Critical for Brain Development, Study Says Vitamin D in Pregnancy Critical for Brain Development, Study Says MONDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy could hinder babies' brain development, impeding their mental and motor skills, a new study suggests. Researchers in Spain measured the level of vitamin D in the blood of almost 2,000 women in their first or second trimester of pregnancy and evaluated the mental and motor abilities of their babies at about 14 months of age. The investigators found that children of vitamin D-deficient mothers scored lower than those whose mothers had adequate levels of the sunshine vitamin. "These differences in the mental and psychomotor development scores do not likely make any difference at the individual level, but might have an important impact at the population level," said study lead author Dr. Eva Morales, a medical epidemiologist in the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona. Overall, lower scores in these tests could lead to lower IQs among children, Morales added. The study was published online Sept. 17 and in the October print issue of the journal Pediatrics. Previous research has linked insufficient levels of vitamin D during pregnancy with language impairment in children at 5 and 10 years of age. Despite these connections, experts still debate how much vitamin D pregnant women should receive. The Institute of Medicine, an independent U.S. group that advises the public, recommends pregnant women get 600 international units (IU) a day of vitamin D and no more than 4,000 IU/day. However, the Endocrine Society says that 600 units does not prevent deficiency and that at least 1,500 to 2,000 units a day may be required. Bruce Hollis, director of pediatric nutritional sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, said the recommended 600 units per day is probably sufficient to promote good skeletal health in fetuses, but it "basically does nothing" to prevent other diseases. Other studies have reported that low prenatal vitamin D levels could weaken a baby's immune system and increase the risk of asthma and other respiratory conditions, and heart disease. Hollis recommends that women who are pregnant or want to become pregnant get 4,000 units a day of vitamin D. Women must take supplements or spend 10 or 15 minutes in the sun during the summer if they are fair-skinned to get this level of vitamin D, Hollis added. It would be difficult to get this many units even from foods rich in vitamin D, such as fatty fish and fortified milk. In the current study, Morales and her colleagues measured vitamin D levels in 1,820 pregnant women living in four areas of Spain. Most were in their second trimester. The researchers found that 20 percent of the women were vitamin D-deficient and another 32 percent had insufficient levels of the vitamin. Morales and her colleagues found that the babies of mothers whose prenatal vitamin D level was deficient scored on average 2.6 points lower on a mental test and 2.3 points lower on a psychomotor test at about 14 months of age than babies of women whose prenatal vitamin D level was adequate. Differences of between four and five points in these types of neuropsychological tests could reduce the number of children with above-average intelligence (IQ scores above 110 points) by over 50 percent, Morales noted. The authors took into consideration other factors that could influence babies' mental and motor development, including birth weight, maternal age, social class and mother's education level, and whether or not the mother drank alcohol or smoked during pregnancy. The study found a link between vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy and babies' brain development, but it did not prove the existence of a cause-and-effect relationship. To get a better idea of what these differences in developmental scores mean, the authors should evaluate the children when they are 7 or 8 years old and starting to learn to read and write, said Dr. Ruth Lawrence, medical director of the Breastfeeding and Human Lactation Study Center at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. Also, this study does not address the diet of the babies, Lawrence said. Although vitamin D is in both breast milk and infant formula, cholesterol and the amino acid taurine are only found in breast milk and also affect brain development after birth, she added. Lawrence advises pregnant women get a dietary consultation in their first trimester and consider vitamin D supplementation. "We have realized that vitamin D has a lot more impact than to prevent rickets," she said. Vitamin D may have additional benefits for mothers-to-be. Other research conducted by Hollis and his team found that pregnant women taking vitamin D could lower their risk of pregnancy-related diabetes and high blood pressure. Early studies suggesting that high levels of vitamin D could lead to birth defects were bogus, Hollis said. Women can receive up to 50,000 units a day before worrying about having too much vitamin D, Hollis said. Excessive vitamin D can lead to spikes in blood levels of calcium, which can, in turn, lead to kidney and nerve damage and abnormal heart rhythm. To learn more about vitamin D, visit the Office of Dietary Supplements at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. SOURCES: Eva Morales, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., postdoctoral research fellow, medical epidemiologist, Childhood Research Program, Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology, Barcelona, Spain; Bruce Hollis, Ph.D., director, pediatric nutritional sciences, and professor, pediatrics, biochemistry and molecular biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston; Ruth Lawrence, M.D., professor, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, medical director, Breastfeeding and Human Lactation Study Center, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, N.Y.; October 2012 Pediatrics UPPS and DOWNS--a Pregnancy, Post-Partum Stress and Depression Support Group--to Launch at Sentara RMH in May Sentara RMH Free Community Walking Program to Hold 2014 Kick-off Event April 3 April is National Donate Life Month Waterman Walkers Begin Wednesday Walk to School Initiative Feb 13 RMH Receives $3.1 Million Grant to Help At-Risk Families Physicians Alexandria Westlake, CNM Leonard Aamodt, MD Linford Gehman, MD Bryan Maxwell, DO J. Smith, MD Health Lust May Dampen Humans' Sense of Disgust, Study Suggests Vegetarian Chili Could the Naked Mole Rat Hold Secrets to Longevity? Apple Coffee Cake A Primer for Preschooler Safety Social Media Could Boost Condom Use, Study Suggests Understanding Eating Disorders Problems Affecting the Lower Digestive Tract Testing for Birth Defects Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) / Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Virtual Tour Planning a visit to Sentara RMH? Take a tour of our campus before you come.

医学

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Wednesday, October 22, 2014 Center for Clinical and Translational Science History & Philosophy Collaborating Institutions Organization Governance Training Programs KL2 Clinical Scholars Program CCTS Certificate Program Medical Student Program Rockefeller Early Phase Physician Scientists Mentoring Program The Rockefeller University Hospital Research Resources For Our Communities Community Partners and Scientists Health/Sci. Webcasts Collaborating Institutions Faculty Research Protocols e-Newsletter IRB Webcast Series The Rockefeller University Center for Clinical and Translational Science is supported, in part, by a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Rockefeller University and Rockefeller University Hospital Today Rockefeller University (the name adopted in 1965 in recognition of the inauguration of the graduate degree programs) occupies 15 acres of enclosed grounds on the Upper East Side of New York, immediately adjacent to Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) to the west and the Stanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University and New York-Presbyterian Hospital to the north. The Hospital Building is an eight story structure in the middle of the campus that houses the inpatient and outpatient facilities as well as the laboratories of five investigators conducting clinical studies (Breslow, Coller, Dhodapkar, Krueger, and Rice), all of which were modernized within the past several years. Additional patient-related space and a conference room are occupied in the adjacent Nurses Residence and Founder's Hall buildings, which are attached by enclosed walkways. The laboratories of all other investigators on the campus are in buildings that are attached by completely or partially enclosed walkways and they can all be reached on foot within approximately four minutes. The Rockefeller University Hospital is a free-standing, independent research hospital licensed by New York State Department of health, and fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). It differs from other hospitals in its dedication to medical research, and thus, for example it does not have an emergency room available to the public. Virtually all patients admitted to the hospital or evaluated in the Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn Outpatient Research Center are in one or more research protocols. Patients are not charged for their hospital care or their physicians' services. The Hospital's costs are supported by the University and funds from the NIH NCRR Clinical and Translational Science Award, and salary support for the physician-scientists comes from the University and affiliated institutions as well as grant support. The governing body of the Hospital is the Hospital Committee of the Board of Trustees, which also serves as an external scientific advisory committee, being composed in part of distinguished physician-scientists, including Drs. Edward Benz, President and CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Joseph Goldstein, Nobel Laureate and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Genetics at Dallas Southwestern Medical School, and David Nathan, President Emeritus of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The Hospital Committee meets three times a year and hears reports on scientific progress and Hospital operations, as well as reports from Clinical Scholars on their projects to the Hospital Committee. The Hospital Committee advises the Physician-in-Chief and the President of the University on the operations of the Hospital, physician-scientist recruitment, scientific direction, and strategic planning for the clinical research program and the Center for Clinical and Translational Science. The Hospital and its clinical programs are led by the Physician-in-Chief, Dr. Barry Coller, who also serves as the Principal Investigator of the Clinical and Translational Science Award and director of the Clinical Scholars program, the University's educational program for young physician-scientists, thus insuring that the Hospital's functions serve the scientific and educational goals of the University. Further integration of Hospital activities to support the clinical research mission is achieved by having Dr. James Krueger serve as both the Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital and the Co-Director of the Clinical and Translational Science Award. The Medical Director of the Hospital is Dr. Barbara O'Sullivan, who trained in Intensive Care medicine and has substantial experience in hospital administration. Dr. O'Sullivan also serves as our hospitalist, focusing on patient safety and setting standards for the nursing and medical staffs. Dr. O'Sullivan also leads her own clinical research studies related to individuals' perceptions of their participation in clinical research studies and assists other investigators with their studies. She is a member of the IRB, GCRC Advisory Committee (GAC), and other administrative committees, thus insuring communication between the Hospital leadership and the scientific enterprise. The Medical Staff Executive Committee (MSEC), which sets medical policy for the Hospital, differs from comparable bodies at other institutions in focusing on the research mission. It is composed of investigators, Clinical Scholars, and key Hospital staff personnel, and chaired by Dr. Jan Breslow, Head of the Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics and Metabolism. It is charged with medical staff credentialing and insuring that the Hospital functions in compliance with applicable State and JCAHO standards. Since the Hospital's mission is to support medical research, the MSEC also is charged with insuring that the Hospital functions, and rules and regulations advance the research mission. There are approximately 75 different laboratories on the campus, each led by a Head of Laboratory (HOL) who reports directly to the President. HOLs span the academic ladder from assistant to full professor, but only full Professor HOLs have tenure. There are no academic departments, allowing each laboratory freedom to switch directions in pursuit of new scientific information. Studies involving human subjects that are conducted in the Hospital inpatient or outpatient units are, however, under the jurisdiction of the Physician-in-Chief. The budget of the University is $252 million, of which $115 million is research grant support and support provided to faculty members who are part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The Rockefeller University | 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065 | 212-327-8000

医学

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About Us - Westcare We Care salvationarmy.org.au Westcare: We Care Creating Dreams Project News - Back In The Booth Training Student Placements Become a Foster Carer Become a Lead Tenant The Salvation Army Westcare provides a continuum of specialised services to babies, children, young people and their families in the northern and western region of Melbourne (as defined by the Department of Human Services). Westcare also aims to contribute to the sector through the provision of nationally-accredited training, drawing upon the extensive practice, wisdom and theoretical knowledge of our dedicated and experienced staff. The Salvation Army Westcare offers programs for babies, children and young people who are not currently able to reside with their families, and young people considered to be at the highest risk in the community. The services provided include alternative living arrangements for those no longer able to live with their families (Home Based Care and Residential Care), support through case management, education programs for those excluded from the mainstream education system and transitional housing support. We Care to Dream and Dream to Care Seeking to provide the best possible services to babies, children and young people and their families, Westcare works in close partnership with many other agencies. Formal, ongoing partnerships involving co-location of services with the Royal Children's Hospital, Department of Human Services (DHS), DASWest Alcohol and Other Drug Services, Berry Street Take Two, Anglicare, Mackillop Family Services, Office of the Child Safety Commissioner, Residential Care Learning & Development Strategy (RCLDS), RMIT University, Swinburne University, Tasmanian Salvation Army, Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) and the Australian Childhood Foundation. Westcare's General Manager and four Senior Managers who each oversee a section of the service delivery system provide leadership to staff, relievers and volunteers. Westcare's annual budget is in excess of $12 million and funding comes from the Victorian State Government Department of Education and the DHS, the Commonwealth Governement, The Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal, Hugh Williamson Foundation, other trusts, an employee contribution scheme, and targeted fundraising. Westcare is part of The Salvation Army Melbourne Central District and is supported by the resources of The Salvation Army. Access to many Westcare programs is via DHS referral only. Young people (aged between 16 to 25) may self-refer or be referred by another agency to Westcare's Transitional Supported Accommodation for Youth (TSAY) program. Please contact Westcare on (03) 9312 3544 for further details. Westcare Model and Strategic Goals Westcare has developed a holistic agency model underpinned equally by Peter Senge's ideas of learning organisations as outlined in his book,The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation,and a commitment to staff and client health and well-being summed up by the axiom: 'what we do for children, young people and their families we do for each other'. This model, is embedded in our established practice and has received significant interest both in Australia and overseas. It has been presented throughout Australia, Europe and North America. Westcare embraces Senge's (1990) philosophy by continually building a learning organisation where: 'people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspirations are set free, and where people are continuously learning how to learn together' Peter M. Senge (1990) The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation Westcare has very effectively integrated Senge's (1990) five disciplines: systems thinking, building shared vision, mental models, team learning and personal mastery into its collaborative philosophy, practice and operation. Whilst attachment theory has always underpinned Westcare's holistic model, we are currently working towards becoming a more trauma-informed organisation and ensuring that this is reflected in our day-to-day practice, policy and organisational culture. Westcare's Strategic Goals Westcare will provide services to children, youth and their families, which promote their social, emotional, physical, spiritual and developmental well-being. Westcare is equally committed to supporting staff and carers: 'what we do for children, youth and their families we do for each other'. Westcare will provide a workplace that is committed to the ongoing learning and knowledge for individuals, programs, the whole organisation and the broader community sector. Westcare will ensure that staff, carers and programs have the adequate level of resourcing to work with children, youth, their families and each other effectively. Westcare will work with communities to promote social justice and well-being for all children, youth, and families. Westcare: A QIC-accredited CSO Westcare is a QIC-accredited Community Service Organisation. Quality Improvement and Community Services Accreditation (QICSA) is one of Australia's leading quality improvement service providers for the health and community sectors. For more information about QICSA, please visit www.qicsa.org.au From the General Manager The Salvation Army Westcare operates 31 programs across 16 different sites in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne. Employing 139 staff and with the assistance of 95 volunteers (mainly Foster Carers), Westcare provides accommodation and support to over 200 clients on any given night. This year was the first time in 16 years that there was substantial change in leadership within Westcare. Our General Manager, John Avent, took a well-deserved break and embarked on a trip around Australia with his wife Cheryl.As Acting General Manager, my first year in the job has seen numerous initiatives take place within Westcare, across the sector and certainly within the Department of Human Services. We finally implemented a two-year Enterprise Bargaining Agreement after more than three years of negotiations. Our Education Program was co-located with MacKillop Family Services’ Western Educational Support Team at the Maidstone Hub, providing a joint response to the educational issues and needs that children and young people in care face. We hosted our World Premiere of the ‘Going Places - Creating Memories’ Kimberley Trip that took place in 2012. We received a further three-year commitment from the Hugh Williamson Foundation, sponsoring scholarships for both young people, volunteers and staff undertaking study or training; the establishment of a regular Homework Club supported by fully-trained tutors; and, the establishment of our youth participation framework. We worked in partnership with Triangle Consultancy and were the Australian trial agency in testing out the newly developed Outcomes Star for children and young people – ‘My Star’. We congratulated both Kym Phillips and Vincent Attard on being awarded the Highly Commended (Carer of the Year) Award at the Robin Clark Memorial Awards for their dedication towards being foster parents. Staff at our Kerrison Unit were the winners of the Residential Care Learning and Development Strategy (RCLDS) Award for excellence and innovative teamwork in the provision of Residential Care in Victoria. Personally, I am honoured to have been elected onto the Board of the Centre For Excellence in Child and Family Welfare (CFECFW) and look forward to working with the Centre on addressing issues like the inadequacy of current reimbursements for voluntary Foster Carers, as well as other topics such as Leaving Care issues to mention a couple. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of Westcare’s wonderful staff and volunteers for their commitment and contribution to the work undertaken at Westcare on a daily basis. I thank each and every one of you for the people that you are and look forward to working with you into the future to ensure Westcare maintains our commitment to providing the best standard of care and support to our clients and their families. I am humbled by the opportunity provided to me to lead such a vibrant network within The Salvation Army and look forward to the challenges that lie ahead for us as an organisation. Peter MulhollandGeneral Manager © Westcare: We Care, The Salvation Army - Australia Southern Territory

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Home > Business > Product Origins > Stethoscope Claim: The stethoscope was invented thanks to a doctor's modesty. Origins: No implement better visually identifies a physician than does the stethoscope, the acoustic medical device that enables medical personnel to listen to the internal sounds produced by the body. Stethoscopes have been used by doctors since their invention in 1816 by French physician Rene Laennec (1781-1826), who on one momentous day in his office rolled a sheaf of paper into a tube and placed one end on his patient's chest and his own ear at the other. As Dr. Laennec described the incident in his writings, he "rolled a quire of paper into a kind of cylinder and applied one end of it to the region of the heart and the other to my ear, and was not a little surprised and pleased to find that I could thereby perceive the action of the heart in a manner much more clear and distinct than I had ever been able to do by the immediate application of my ear." However, while the "when" and "who" of that creation are well known, there remains a bit of question as to the "why." According to some tellings of the moment that inspired Laennec to first conceive of using an implement to better listen to his patients' heart and lung sounds, it was the doctor's own sense of modesty that drove him to the unusual act of placing something substantial between him and his patient. The person he was treating that day was a young woman, and according to some accounts, although she did present as having a heart problem and thus he did indeed need to listen to her cardiac function, the good doctor did not feel it proper to rest his head against her bosom. (Other physicians of the day got around this matter of seeming indelicacy by placing handkerchiefs on the chests of female patients, thus at least creating a symbolic barrier between their ears and the actual flesh of those they were examining.) Yet other accounts describe Laennec's inspiration as having to do with the woman's size: He feared he would not be able to get a good aural reading of her chest function due to how well padded she was and thus cast about for something that might serve to amplify the sound. Whatever the cause of his inspiration, Laennec took what he'd learned from that examination and set about building an instrument which would assist him in better listening to heart sounds. His resulting "stethoscope" (from the Greek words stethos, meaning "chest," and skopos, meaning "observer") was a hollow wooden cylinder with a small funnel at one end. While many authorities cite Dr. Arthur Leared as the inventor in 1850 of the binaural (two-earpiece) stethoscope, that honor more properly belongs to Dr. Charles J.B. Williams, who had in 1829 sketched the very same thing. In 1850 Dr. George Camman improved the existing design by substituting rubber tubing for materials previously used to transmit amplified chest sounds to the examining physician's ears. Few today would have difficulty in recognizing Camman's improved design as a stethoscope, as it looks very much like those used by doctors of the modern era. Modern stethoscopes range from inexpensive models that can be purchased for about $10, which are useful for blood pressure readings but not that effective for listening to heart or lung sounds, up to ones that go for about $200, which are favored by cardiologists who need to be able to distinguish every sound made by their patients' hearts. Barbara "for the heart of hearing" Mikkelson Acierno, Louis J. The History of Cardiology. Pearl River, NY: Parthenon Publishing Group, 1994. ISBN 1-85070-339-6 (pp. 469-476). Dyson, James. "Save the Great British Inventor!" [London] Daily Mail. 16 October 2002 (p. 13). De l'Auscultation Médiate ou Trait du Diagnostic des Maladies des Poumon et du Coeur. Laennec RTH. Paris: Brosson & Chaudé, 1819. The Boston Globe. "Ask the Globe." 9 October 1993 (p. 20).

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What is St. Louis Encephalitis? St. Louis Encephalitis is a mosquito-borne viral disease that causes inflammation of the brain. How is St. Louis Encephalitis spread? Occasionally, the house mosquito, Culex pipiens, may acquire the SLE virus from infected birds. It then can be transmitted to humans through a mosquito bite. There is no person-to- person transmission nor any transmission to or through pets. Who gets St. Louis Encephalitis? While the virus can affect anyone, it has its greatest impact on the very young and the very old because their immune systems are either in a state of development or decline. SLE can occur five to 15 days after the bite of an infected mosquito. What are the symptoms of St. Louis Encephalitis? Most people who are infected with SLE have no symptoms or only mild non-specific flu-like illness. However, in some individuals, especially the elderly, SLE can cause serious illness that affects the central nervous system. Symptoms often include a rapid onset of headache, high fever, stiff neck, disorientation and tremor. Coma, convulsions and paralysis may also occur. How does someone know if they have St. Louis Encephalitis? The diagnosis of SLE or any encephalitis is made by a physician. There is a blood test that will confirm the diagnosis of SLE, but this is rarely performed since there is no specific treatment for the disease. How common is St. Louis Encephalitis? SLE is a rare disease in the United States. There have been no cases reported in New Jersey since 1975. Nationwide, an average of 193 SLE cases are reported each year. Most of these cases are reported from southern states. What is the season for St. Louis Encephalitis? SLE virus transmission to birds B and to man during epidemics B is most likely from late summer through early fall. Mosquito populations tend to reach their annual peak during this period. While it is impossible to reliably predict epidemic activity, transmission to birds seems to increase when long periods of drought are broken by subsequent heavy rains. Is there a vaccine for St. Louis Encephalitis? Can St. Louis Encephalitis be treated? Most individuals with SLE recover spontaneously without hospitalization. However, those developing more serious symptoms (disorientation, tremors, coma, or seizures) require hospitalization for supportive therapy (IV fluids and nutrition). How can I reduce my risk of being bitten by mosquitoes? Practice the following precautions: Minimize gardening and other outdoor activities between dusk and dawn. When outdoors and mosquitoes are present, wear shoes and socks, long pants, and a long-sleeved shirt. Use mosquito repellent on exposed skin when it is necessary to be outdoors. Check residential screening, including porches and patios for tears and other openings. Eliminate stagnant water in birdbaths, lily ponds, flower pots and any other receptacles in which mosquitoes might breed. What should I know about the mosquito that transmits SLE? Culex pipiens are common in urban and suburban areas breeding in bird baths, clogged gutters, storm sewers, ditches, and other pools of stagnant water. They are attracted to light and readily enter buildings. How can I find out about the mosquito control in my town? In New Jersey, county mosquito control agencies have primary responsibility for the surveillance and control of mosquitoes. In addition to completing your own elimination of breeding sources around your home, you can contact your mosquito control agency which can provide additional mosquito control information and inform you of the status of mosquito surveillance and control in your town. www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/arbor/arbdet.htm www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/arbor/slefact.htm

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Invictus: Medical Journal Raises Questions About Medical Abuse at Guantanamo Medical Journal Raises Questions About Medical Abuse at Guantanamo Originally published by Truthout A new medical journal article seriously questions the US government's rationale for use of the controversial antimalaria drug mefloquine on all detainees sent to the detention center at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base. The article cites a series of investigative reports published by Truthout, which first broke the news about the mass administration of mefloquine at Guantanamo in December 2010. Mefloquine has been connected to a number of serious side effects, including damage to the vestibular system, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, hallucinations, bizarre dreams, nausea, vomiting, sores and homicidal and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The drug was previously sold under the brand name Lariam. According to the author of the medical journal article, Army public health physician Remington Nevin, "analysis suggests the troubling possibility that the use of mefloquine at Guantánamo may have been motivated in part by knowledge of the drug's adverse effects and points to a critical need for further investigation to resolve unanswered questions regarding the drug's potentially inappropriate use." Nevin was quoted in Truthout's December 1, 2010, report as saying the high dosage of mefloquine Guantanamo detainees were forced to take upon arriving at the prison facility was akin to "pharmacologic waterboarding." Nevin's journal article, "Mass administration of the antimalarial drug mefloquine to Guantánamo detainees: a critical analysis," was published in the August issue of the peer-reviewed medical journal, Tropical Medicine and International Health (TMIH). In addition to Truthout's work, Nevin also cited a separate investigation conducted by Seton Hall School of Law's Center for Policy and Research as well as Guantanamo Medical Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 2007. Nevin is a military doctor at the Department of Preventive Medicine, Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital, Ft. Polk, Louisiana, and has published on the mefloquine issue before and testified before Congress about mefloquine's dangers earlier this year. The Department of Defense (DoD) has maintained since the use of mefloquine was uncovered that the decision to presumptively administer full treatment doses of mefloquine to all incoming detainees was intended "to prevent the possibility" of malaria "spread[ing] from an infected individual to uninfected individuals in the Guantanamo population, the guard force, the population at the Naval base or the broader Cuban population." But as Nevin pointed out in his journal article, citing a March 2011 Truthout story by this reporter and Truthout's lead investigative reporter, Jason Leopold, "not all individuals arriving at Guantanamo received treatment consistent with MDA ["mass administration of mefloquine"]. Indeed, hundreds of workers hired by Halliburton affiliate KBR, sent to build the new prison facility at Guantanamo, were not subjected to the DoD's mefloquine protocol, even though many if not most of them came from malaria-endemic countries. US service personnel were also not given presumptive doses of mefloquine at Guantanamo. Nevin also seriously questioned the rationale for presumptive treatment, noting that usually such treatment without diagnosis is reserved for refugees or immigrant groups, who, for instance, might arrive in the United States and "face barriers to accessing medical care after their arrival and that US clinicians may have limited clinical experience with malaria, thus contributing to delays in diagnosis." But Nevin explained that this rationale was inapplicable at Guantanamo "where ample and timely medical care was presumably available, provided by military healthcare providers familiar with the clinical and laboratory diagnosis and management of the disease." Indeed, other government documents show that blood tests for malaria were administered to detainees. Advised Not to Talk About "Certain Issues" In a more technical portion of the article, Nevin also examined the medical rationale for even assuming mefloquine would be a proper drug for presumptive treatment of malaria. Additionally, he noted reporting by Leopold and Kaye, which described internal discussions in February 2002 at the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board (AFEB), where questions about malaria control at Guantanamo were raised. This AFEB meeting never mentioned the use of mefloquine, which policy had begun just the month before, although other malaria control measures and drugs were discussed. Not mentioned in the TMIH article, but reported by Truthout in December 2010, the AFEB also met in May 2003 to discuss mefloquine's severe neuropsychiatric side effects, as the drug was often prescribed in prophylactic doses to US military personnel. No mention was made of the Guantanamo protocol at that meeting either. Yet, evaluation of a presumptive treatment protocol was definitely on the mind of medical personnel at Guantanamo at the same time the mefloquine SOP was instituted. We know this because another drug was presumptively given to all the detainees at the same time. This drug was Albendazole, a drug that kills intestinal parasites. According to a March 2003 Guantanamo Detainee Hospital SOP, "Medical Interventions for Helminthic Infections," stool samples were taken from all detainees upon arrival. But the samples were "not to collect clinical data on the specific detainee," but were "intended to provide epidemiological validation of the treatment protocol." It is not known if clinical data were collected to "provide epidemiological validation" of the mefloquine treatment protocol. FOIA requests for more information on the use of mefloquine at Guantanamo are ongoing and some are under appeal. The Nevin article also doesn't mention that Capt. Albert J. Shimkus, the former chief surgeon for Task Force 160 at Guantanamo, which administered health care to detainees, told Truthout in December 2010 that he and other military officers at Guantanamo were told not to discuss the mefloquine decision. Shimkus, who was also commanding officer at the Guantanamo Naval Hospital until summer 2003, was the medical official who signed the policy directive to presumptively treat all Guantanamo detainees with a high dosage of mefloquine. "There were certain issues we were advised not to talk about," Shimkus said. Shimkus has repeatedly said the mefloquine was used for clinical and public health purposes and not for any other reason. Drugs' "Function Is to Cause Capitulation" Nevin's TMIH article was published only a month after a DoD inspector general (IG) report on the use of "mind-altering" drugs on detainees was released. The IG found that drugs were not used to "facilitate interrogation," but nevertheless, some detainees were drugged for psychiatric reasons and also for "chemical restraints." The report did not reference the use of mefloquine on detainees. The IG also indicated that the drugs used by DoD, including powerful antipsychotic medications like Haldol, "could impair an individual's ability to provide accurate information." Moreover, at least one detainee, supposed "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla, was led to believe he was given a "truth drug" during interrogation. The placebo use of "truth drugs" to trick suspects into talking was discussed at some length in a 1962 CIA interrogation manual, declassified in 1997. The use of a placebo drug, while telling a prisoner he is being given a truth drug, is meant to give the prisoner a psychological rationalization for giving information or cooperating. But the CIA manual, known widely as the KUBARK manual, did not eschew the use of drugs themselves, though there was an issue around the accuracy of information so derived. However, according to the CIA manual, information was not always the primary goal of use of drugs. As the CIA described the situation (bold emphases added), "Like other coercive media, drugs may affect the content of what an interrogatee divulges. Gottschalk notes that certain drugs 'may give rise to psychotic manifestations such as hallucinations, illusions, delusions, or disorientation', so that 'the verbal material obtained cannot always be considered valid'.... For this reason drugs (and the other aids discussed in this section) should not be used persistently to facilitate the interrogative debriefing that follows capitulation. Their function is to cause capitulation, to aid in the shift from resistance to cooperation. Once this shift has been accomplished, coercive techniques should be abandoned both for moral reasons and because they are unnecessary and even counter-productive." The publication of the TMIH article also follows new revelations published at Truthout last June that, until the mid-1970s, the antimalaria drug cinchonine was illegally stockpiled by the CIA as an "incapacitating agent." Other drugs used by the DoD on detainees are the subject of an ongoing investigation by Truthout. Nevin's article concludes, "formal investigation may yet reveal the precise rationale and motivation for the use of mefloquine among Guantanamo detainees." However, no such investigations are known to be even in the planning stages. Reading: Medical Journal Raises Questions About Medical Abuse at GuantanamoPost Link to Twitter Hi ValtinI'm building up a blogroll for my new blog. Your's is the first interesting blog. I'm leftwing even if most in intel/sec business are decidedly very conservative. I closely support East Timor after decades of Indonesian atrocities.I'm adding you to my blogroll.CheersNatasha Thanks, Natasha. Please let me know the URL for your new blog. Refice's Cecilia Medical Journal Raises Questions About Medical Abu... Top US Psychologist: Isolation Research Meant to S... "The other night, they cast my child into the sea.... Newly Released Document Shows FBI Interrogation Ad...

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'Cycling' Antibiotics Might Help Combat Resistance, Study Suggests'Cycling' Antibiotics Might Help Combat Resistance, Study Suggests Last Updated: 2013-Sep-26 :: HealthDay News Home | News Archive | News CategoriesTHURSDAY, Sept. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors might be able to overcome antibiotic-resistant bacteria by swapping out the antibiotics used to treat a patient, providing a "one-two" punch that keeps the germs reeling, a new Danish study suggests.The strategy relies on a concept called "collateral sensitivity," in which bacteria that become resistant to one antibiotic also become more vulnerable to other antibiotics.The researchers argue that by swapping between antibiotics that play well off each other, doctors can stay one step ahead of bacteria and continuously avoid resistance."You cycle between drugs that have reciprocal sensitivities," explained study co-author Morten Sommer, a lead researcher with the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability at the Technical University of Denmark. "If you become resistant to drug A, you will become more sensitive to drug B. That way, you can cycle between drug A and drug B without increasing resistance in the long term," he added. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently declared antibiotic-resistant bacteria one of America's most serious health threats, estimating that more than 2 million people are sickened and at least 23,000 die every year due to antibiotic-resistant infections. Doctors are finding it increasingly hard to fight some infections because many antibiotics have become useless against bacteria that have developed resistance to the drugs.The new study was published Sept. 25 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.The concept of collateral sensitivity has been around since the 1950s, but never received much attention, Sommer said."I think basically it was discovered during the golden age of antibiotic development," he said. "There were new drugs coming onto the market all the time, and there wasn't the need that there is today for a strategy to counter resistance." To test the concept, Sommer and his research team exposed E. coli bacteria to 23 different commonly used antibiotics, allowing the germs to develop resistance. Then they tested how each of the now-resistant bacteria responded to other antibiotics.The researchers found that most antibiotics on the market can be "paired" with another antibiotic. As resistance to the first drug increases, the bacteria become more vulnerable to the other drug. In other cases, antibiotics can be used in a sequential deployment of three or four different drugs.As many as 200 already approved antibiotics could be used in this manner, with one medication playing off one or more others, Sommer said."The timing will depend on the resistance development that's occurring in the patient," he said. "A doctor will want to cycle the drug when patient improvement slows or stops." This cycling strategy could be most helpful for patients suffering from long-term infectious diseases like tuberculosis or cystic fibrosis, Sommer suggested. "We think this treatment strategy will be primarily relevant when the patient is suffering a chronic infection," he said. "In those cases, the infection continues for a long time, which allows for resistance to build."Collateral sensitivity cycling also could help increase the life span of many antibiotics, allowing them to remain useful tools for longer periods, the study authors added.The researchers said their findings need further testing in animals and then in patient clinics.This strategy likens bacteria to science fiction villains that automatically adapt to any weapon used against them, said Victoria Richards, associate professor of medical sciences at Quinnipiac University's Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, in North Haven, Conn."Any antibiotic is a weapon against a bacteria," she said. "With this approach, they could break that cycle of bacteria trying to adapt to our weapons." Richards said doctors and hospitals might want to consider implementing this sort of cycling strategy as soon as possible, as part of their overall plan to prevent resistance."It's not like these are experimental antibiotics," she said. "They are commonly used, and can be used in response to the bacteria responding to other antibiotics. It's trying to keep one step ahead of the bacteria, by looking in a different way at antibiotics that have been used for decades." More informationFor more on antibiotic resistance, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2013Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

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Home » Newsletters » External Source American Foundation for the Blind Recognizes UNC Professor with Highest Honor by UNC News Service on December 12, 2012 Published InExternal Source The American Foundation for the Blind recently announced that University of Northern Colorado Professor Kay Ferrell is one of two 2013 winners of the Migel Medals, the highest honor in the blindness field. The Migel Medals will be presented to Ferrell in April at the 2013 AFB National Leadership Conference in Chicago. Ferrell, Ph.D., is professor of Special Education at UNC and the author of “Reach Out and Teach: Helping Your Child who is Visually Impaired Learn and Grow.” She has taught all ages of individuals with visual and multiple disabilities, from infants through adults. She holds a special interest in working with young children and their families, having written extensively for parents and professionals, and has published on topics including education, personnel preparation, distance education methodologies, and image description. Ferrell has received numerous state and national awards for her work with and on behalf of children and youth who are blind and visually impaired, including the Mary Kay Bauman and Josephine L. Taylor Awards from the Association for Education & Rehabilitation of the Blind & Visually Impaired (AER), AFB’s Corinne M. Kirchner Research Award, the Ray McGeorge Award from the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado, UNC’s Winchester Distinguished Scholar Award, the Distinguished Service Award from the Council for Exceptional Children, Division on Visual Impairments, and the Alumni Award for Research in Special Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. For more information about the award, visit http://www.afb.org/section.aspx?FolderID=1&SectionID=47&DocumentID=6215.

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« Dental Health And Disparities Opportunity Lost: The Failure Of California’s Health Reform » California’s Shelved Health Care Reform March 5th, 2008 by Rick Curtis and Rick Curtis View posts from Rick Curtis Ed Neuschler View posts from Ed Neuschler Editor’s Note: This is the first post in a Health Affairs Blog roundtable on the unsuccessful health care reform effort in California. Patricia Lynch, Lucien Wulsin, and Rick Kronick are also participating in the roundtable. Follow-up comments from Curtis and Neuschler, Lynch, and Wulsin are posted. Although stymied by economic woes and governance constraints unique to California, the Golden State’s health care reform effort is particularly noteworthy because the serious attempt to address its outsize uninsurance problem may well serve as a model for other states and for the nation. The low-income uninsured (those with incomes under 250 percent of the federal poverty level, or FPL) in need of subsidies constitute a larger share of the nonelderly population in California (13.5 percent) than the national average (11.6 percent), and much larger than in Massachusetts (6.1 percent), based on 2005-2007 data from the Current Population Survey (CPS). When it undertook reform, Massachusetts was in a unique position, facing a relatively small uninsurance problem and having available substantial federal funds that could be reprogrammed. A similar coverage framework would cost much more in California than in Massachusetts. Especially in this light, the widely reported leadership from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and strong bipartisan efforts from Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and, until the end, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata were immensely important. But it is also relevant that California shares with Massachusetts a large, diverse, and committed advocacy community with a history of strong support for measures to cover the uninsured. While some of these groups steadfastly oppose anything other than a single-payer system and specifically oppose individual mandates (and thus joined all Republican legislators and other interest groups such as Blue Cross of California [WellPoint], the state Chamber of Commerce, and the tobacco industry in opposing the bill), a number of them — notably SEIU, Health Access (an umbrella coalition), AARP, and Consumers Union — supported the final bill and have indicated that they will renew efforts towards enactment of this framework in the future. The governor has already been meeting with a range of supportive groups towards this end. Governor Schwarzenegger’s “shared responsibility” approach (including meaningful employer contribution minimums and an individual mandate) provides a framework for states with more acute uninsurance problems than Massachusetts. In combination with California’s well-established role as a pioneering state that others often follow, this conception of shared responsibility provided an important impetus for other states that are pursuing reform, as well as being reflected in the Edwards, Obama, and Clinton proposals during the Democratic presidential primaries. The policy combination of individual and employer requirements, state subsidies and tax credits for pool coverage, and measures to improve insurance access would have covered an estimated 3.6 million (70 percent) of California’s 5.1 million uninsured people, according to estimates by our colleague Jon Gruber of MIT. Of the remaining 1.5 million uninsured people, two-thirds would be undocumented adults not included in state-subsidized coverage expansions (but many of whom could have access to county clinics and other direct services). In other words, the reforms would have covered 87 percent of California’s uninsured people who are children and documented adults, resulting in an overall coverage rate of 98 percent for those groups. Affordability. As with other proposals incorporating individual mandates, health insurance affordability was a controversial and critical issue in California. Some groups urged a Massachusetts-like waiver of coverage requirements for people in the income range just above California’s maximum state-subsidized level (250 percent of FPL) if they would have had to spend more than a specified percentage of income to purchase coverage. Not wanting to erode his goal of universal coverage, the governor instead proposed a new tax credit (up to 400 percent of FPL) to assure affordability. Only older people and large families facing disproportionately high coverage costs would get significant credit amounts, so the tax credits would account for only a relatively small portion of total state subsidy costs. But the tax credit was a breakthrough compromise element of the final plan. Since many federal and state proposals across party lines incorporate tax credits, key aspects are worth noting. Refundable tax credits. To assure that the credit would work for those who need it, legislative leadership wanted the credit to be both refundable and payable in advance. However, tax officials said that such tax credits (e.g., the federal credit for displaced workers) are very expensive to administer and, when applicable to myriad vendors, are subject to abuse. To address such problems, it was agreed that the tax credit would be available only for private plans obtained through the state pool, whose core administrative functions (enrollment, premium collection, and plan payment from multiple revenue sources) could assure timely and efficient administration. Concerns about the adequacy of coverage and out-of-pocket cost exposure led to more generous standards for the benefit plan whose premiums would determine the credit amount. But the approach retained the key distinguishing feature of tax credits: recipients could apply credits to a choice of competing health insurance plans and could choose to pay more (of their own money) for more comprehensive or broader network plans. Transition toward a regulated market. Also of note is the difficulty California faced in transitioning from a relatively large and unregulated individual market to guaranteed access with no health rating. Massachusetts substantially lowered premiums for people with individual coverage by merging its individual market with its much larger small-employer market and then bringing in lower risks with an individual mandate. Massachusetts’ individual-market prices had been extremely high due to the systemic adverse selection inevitably experienced under its voluntary individual market with guaranteed access and community rating. California had no such easy solution, given its aggressively underwritten individual market with relatively low prices for currently low-risk people (especially those choosing plans with no maternity benefits). The reform bill’s individual-market framework incorporated a number of innovative measures to move the basis of competition from risk selection to value. But its grandfathering of underwritten populations and products would probably have meant a higher risk distribution among initial reformed-market participants. To address this potential problem, “backstop” reinsurance was authorized if the risk distribution of the new market was substantially worse than expected. Fate of the California reform. Ultimately, the final bill approved by the Assembly and supported by the governor did not emerge from the Senate’s Health Committee in significant measure because California was overtaken by a housing-market-induced economic downturn and associated precipitous state revenue decline. The public initiative needed for financing (because unanimous GOP opposition in the legislature precluded the required two-thirds vote), scheduled for the November ballot, proposed structures intended to separate financing sources and spending for health reforms from the state’s general fund budget. However, the consensus among senators was that upcoming state budget and service cuts would not constitute a fortuitous environment to take a major new initiative to the electorate. Lessons for other states. This problem dramatically underscores the observation that if states are to play a significant future role in covering low-income populations, additional federal financing will be needed using formulas that are more timely and sensitive in responding to the greater economic and revenue volatility in individual states. The existing Medicaid per-capita-income-based formula is not responsive to often rapid state economic downturns that cause revenue reductions simultaneous with growth in the low-income uninsured population. One long-standing candidate for a timely metric to trigger increases in federal funds would be a change in state unemployment rates. And if states are to make real progress in covering the uninsured, it will be important to clarify the extent of state authority in defining employer responsibilities. Employers are the primary source of coverage for the nonelderly, including many modest-income people. Nationwide, 45.8 percent of those with incomes between 100 percent and 250 percent FPL have employer coverage, based on 2005-2007 CPS data. Without the ability to include some employer responsibility, most states could not finance major expansions in subsidized coverage for those who cannot afford individual coverage, especially given the “crowd-out” of employer coverage that would ensue. While the California legislation was painstakingly crafted to avoid preemption under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) statute (and more generally to avoid new spending requirements or burdens on most employers that now finance coverage), it is not clear that it, or any such state approach, would withstand a federal court challenge. If, as expected, a pending 9th Circuit Court case regarding a San Francisco initiative goes to the Supreme Court, the Court’s decision should provide at least some clarification of the elusive meaning of existing federal law. The growing concern of major employers who suffer increasing cost shifts and/or competition from others that do not offer coverage may provide support for some legislative resolution. Safeway led a coalition of employers that supported the California legislation. However, most multistate employers would understandably oppose approaches that could lead to fifty (or, in the case of local purview, many more) different standards. Reflecting ample precedent in our system, the plan did not resolve the question of who will pay for health cost escalation that exceeds growth in earnings. Business and labor were both adamant about their opposing views. The public initiative language deferred to subsequent legal decisions whether a majority or supermajority vote of the legislature would be needed to adjust the employer percentage-of-wage contribution floor. (An earlier legal opinion on the governor’s similar construct suggests that a supermajority would be needed.) Some future balance could hopefully allow the real economic trade-offs to be realized by all purchasers with adequate means. Requiring that higher-income people purchase coverage (without new subsidies) brings our current health care cost problem into sharp focus. While familiar with the 16 percent and escalating share of our economy that goes to health care, many advocates are taken aback at the prospect of requiring upper-middle-class Americans to spend even 10 percent of their income on their own coverage and care. But is this not preferable to the current indecipherable cross-subsidies that preclude cost accountability, indirect financing that quietly erodes real earnings for the middle class, and coverage systems that respond to cost escalation by forcing ever-increasing numbers of modest-income workers into the ranks of the uninsured? And if not themselves, who should pay to subsidize higher-income people? The California plan, which ultimately had support from a broad range of perspectives, seems like a better course. on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 3:04 pm and is filed under All Categories, Coverage, Health Reform, Politics, States. 2 Trackbacks for “California’s Shelved Health Care Reform” Healthcare Economist · Why California Health Reform failedMay 6th, 2008 at 4:50 pm alazycowboy.com » Blog Archive » Opportunity Lost: The Failure Of California’s Health ReformMarch 6th, 2008 at 7:36 am 1 Response to “California’s Shelved Health Care Reform” L Ozeran L Ozeran March 13th, 2008 at 4:29 am There are few things more complicated to discuss than the failed healthcare reform efforts in California this past year. As a California physician heavily involved in last year’s reform discussion, this topic is very important to me. I am posting limited comments in other areas on this site with the majority of my remarks here. These comments apply to all of the roundtable discussants’ initial remarks, so I will not confuse the process by posting these comments in multiple locations. If it is possible, perhaps these remarks can be linked from those other roundtable posts. Rather than dissect everything that was done and discuss why each contributed to failure, I think it will be clearer to start at the beginning. How did we get here and what *should* we be doing? The standard business transaction involves a buyer and a seller. Their goals may be different (a buyer wants to buy and a seller wants to sell), but their goals are aligned. If you accomplish the goal of either, you accomplish the goal of the other. There is one relationship between them affected by government. The healthcare transaction also involves a buyer, the patient, and a seller, the provider. The patient wants to receive the best care and the provider wants to give the best care. Their goals are aligned. But it doesn’t end there. There is also an employer who selects the health plan (or none at all) and when the patient can take time off. The employer’s goal, to get the best employees at the lowest cost, is not aligned with the goals of the patient or the provider. There are also insurers, both public (like Medicaid) and private, whose goals are often in direct opposition to the goals of the patient and the provider. Their stated goal is to minimize the money spent on healthcare. Unfortunately, for various legal and financial reasons, the insurers have the most power in the healthcare transaction. To add to the complexity of our healthcare system, there are 5 relationships among the parties, each of these relationships subject to government regulation. Plus, investors influence the behavior of insurers (policy changes at for-profit plans often force similar changes at non-profit plans) and tort attorneys influence provider choices. In this maelstrom, it is no surprise that the employers, patients and providers are all losing while the insurers are showing huge profits and paying huge management salaries and bonuses. It was wrong for our Governor to implement across-the-board 10% budget reductions without considering what was already underfunded (like Medicaid which he acknowledged needs more money). It was equally wrong to come to the reform discussion as though everyone at the table had been suffering equally. When you negotiate to the middle of a tilted table, you guarantee a solution which favors those already favored. The final bill only marginally improved our system without fixing the underlying causes and ultimately would have brought us to the same place we are today. We want a sustainable healthcare system. We want a system which is profitable and effective like every other industry in our capitalist society. To get there, we cannot play or modify the current political game. We need a paradigm shift to define a new game. What should have been done, and needs to be done in future reform discussions is identify our principles for a functional healthcare system. We must acknowledge and discard dysfunctional elements. We must describe first how we want a system to look which works well for all Californians and eliminates a multitude of perverse incentives which increase costs while reducing quality. Then we can look at what rules, regulations, policies and laws we currently have and determine how they need to be modified in order to implement the policies which will support our principles. While the principles ultimately adopted may look somewhat different than these, below I share the principles adopted by the Yuba-Sutter Healthcare Council [disclosure: I am Chair]. These principles can serve as an example of what might make sense. They also should make clear some of the obvious policy choices we would make in an effective reform effort. Many of those policy choices were part of the Governor’s original outline. Unfortunately, the policies actually implemented by the reform bill were warped to the middle of the tilted table in a quid pro quo fashion. = = Sample Principles for Effective Healthcare Reform = = The Yuba-Sutter Healthcare Council is dedicated to continuously improving the health of the residents in our region. The Council has identified a collection of basic principles which together serve as a foundation for optimizing the use of healthcare resources in pursuit of continuously improving local healthcare. The Council believes that each principle will be self-evident to rational individuals who identify democracy and capitalism as axiomatic in American society. However, individual principles taken out of the context of the whole, may not adequately represent the view of the Council. As a result, it is the Council’s intention that all the principles be considered together as a unit in any healthcare policy discussion. 1. Everyone now living will die someday 2. Regardless of how much money we spend, we cannot change the first principle 3. The goals of healthcare should be: * promote positive lifestyle choices * prevent preventable illness * screen for early treatable disease * promote effective therapy * provide comfort when treatment is not an option * allow people to die in a dignified and comfortable manner 4. There is a fixed amount of money that can be spent upon healthcare, even if we choose for it to be 100% of GDP 5. We must optimize our healthcare budget in support of the goals of healthcare 6. Money collected for healthcare should maximally be spent on provision of effective healthcare services 7. Every Californian should be able to access a minimum level of healthcare services 8. No one should be precluded from paying for healthcare services that they choose to obtain in California 9. Patients should have some responsibility for their healthcare choices, so long as they are legally competent 10. Allocation of limited healthcare resources should be done in the most rational fashion that supports our goals 11. No party may dictate to another party what they may charge for their services 12. Sellers of services shall be paid by buyers (or payers) at the agreed upon rate or the seller’s price when no agreement exists 13. Buyers (or payers) who were forced to obtain services in an emergency which limited their ability to investigate other options may seek a neutral third party to negotiate a reduction in a seller’s price. 14. Provider pricing should be transparent 15. In recognition of the critical need for trained healthcare workers, some resources of the healthcare industry (insurers and providers) should be directed to support education and training for the development of the next generation workforce. 16. To ensure that a healthcare system endures in perpetuity, there must be: * adequate financial resources to support education and training of the healthcare workforce * enough clinical positions open to enable trainees to complete their practical training * strong incentives to encourage those capable of becoming healthcare workers to apply to do so More at: http://yubasutterhealthcarecouncil.org/ http://www.DrOzeran.com/presentations/reform1-20070815.php http://www.DrOzeran.com/policy.php

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You are here: Advocacy & Patient Resources Patient Resources Advocacy and Patient Education Upcoming Advocacy ActivitiesPatient ResourcesPatient Resource Video World Bipolar Day Patient Resources Click below for details on a wide variety of valuable organizations and programs that promote education, offer support, and provide guidance for living well with bipolar disorder. ABRATA The Brazilian Association of Families, Friends, and Sufferers from Affective Disorders. http://www.abrata.com.br http://www.afsp.org Balanced Mind Foundation We were formerly known as the Child & Adolescent Bipolar Foundation, and our web address was www.bpkids.org We served families raising kids and teens with depression and bipolar disorder. Our new name is The Balanced Mind Foundation, and our new web address is www.thebalancedmind.org. We have expanded our mission as follows: "The Balanced Mind Foundation guides families raising children with mood disorders to the answers, support and stability they seek." Beyond Bipolar Beyondbipolar.com is the website of Jane Mountain, MD, author of Bipolar Disorder: Insights for Recovery, and in-demand speaker on bipolar disorder and other mental health issues. When she faced the challenges of bipolar disorder, Dr. Jane Mountain chose to give up her practice, cut down on her daily activities and pursue recovery. In doing so, she became interested not only in her own recovery but in helping others who have bipolar disorder. Author of Bipolar Disorder: Insights for Recovery and a popular speaker, Dr. Mountain brings fascinating insight and hope to the millions who have bipolar disorder, as well as their families and friends.http://www.beyondbipolar.com Bipolar Care Givers is an information resource for close family, partners and friends of people with bipolar disorder. It includes information on bipolar disorder and its management, suggestions about ways caregivers can provide support, deal with the illness and take care of themselves, and links to helpful resources. This information is based on guidelines for caregivers developed by combining the research literature with the opinions and consensus of international panels of clinicians, caregivers and people with bipolar disorder, selected for their expertise and experience in dealing with the illness. The website was developed at the University of Melbourne in Australia.http://bipolarcaregivers.org BIPOLAR Education Foundation BIPOLAR Education Foundation (BEF) VISION To promote education, awareness, prevention and destigmatisation of Bipolar disorders and Depression. MISSION To take a community based approach towards Bipolar disorder and Depression education, through programs which engage our key stakeholders and partners including: high schools, sporting clubs, local communities, workplaces, healthcare professionals and governments. Objectives: To promote tolerance and a better understanding of Bipolar Disorders and Depression, thus reducing the stigma To promote the early diagnosis of mental illness whilst delivering our “message of hope” through EDUCATION To deliver mental health education through a team of trained and experienced “Consumer Advocates” To reduce the incidence of SUICIDE in our community through EDUCATION Desired Outcomes: At the BIPOLAR Education Foundation we strive to create and instigate: More accepting schoolyards Positive and understanding workplaces Encouragement of self-responsibility Individuals making informed choices Visit BIPOLAR Education Foundation's website at http://bipolar-edu.org/ The Bipolar Express Issue 7 - October 2010 Bipolar Network News Check out WWW.BIPOLARNEWS.ORG for the BNN Newsletter Those interested in the latest clinical and research information on bipolar disorder might want to check out the newly redesigned website at www.bipolarnews.org. The bipolar network newsletter (BNN) has been published multiple times per year since 1995 and all back issues are available, as well as new volumes for 2009 and 2010. http://www.bipolarnews.org Bipolar Poetry Bipolar Poetry is for anyone who enjoys reading poetry or would like gain insight into the emotional world of the bipolar poet and anyone who lives with bipolar illnes that writes bipolar poetry as a creative expression about how it affects their lives. http://www.bipolarpoetry.com BipolArt BipolArt is a project that offers people with bipolar disorder the opportunity to publish their artwork on the internet for free. The initiators, Magdalena Maya Ben and Eric Bodenschatz, explain, "Our main purpose is to show the creative power of bipolar people. We hope that this project can help bipolar people to better cope with their disease or give them hope. With this project we want to fight against the stigmatization of mentally ill people. Our vision is to establish a worldwide network of bipolar artists. It doesn't matter whether creating art is their hobby or if they are professionals. We want to cumulate all of this creative power and bring it into the open public." More than 1000 works of art, created by more than 300 artists from all over the world, are on display. Kay Redfield Jamison is the official patron of BipolArt. The website (www.bipolart.de) is in German, but you can easily translate its content into English or another language with a click in the Google Translate Gadget. Brandon and the Bipolar Bear and Resources for Childhood Educators "This is the first fictional story available for children about early-onset bipolar disorder. In 32 simply illustrated pages children will follow (and relate to) Brandon's experience with rapid mood swings, irritability, his sense of always being uncomfortable, and his sadness that he can't control himself and that no one can fix him. The comforting explanation of bipolar disorder that Dr. Samuel gives him makes Brandon feel not alone, not bad, but hopeful that the medicines will make him (and his Bipolar Bear) feel better. We were so moved by the power of this little book and we feel better that we now can highly recommend a book for children ages 4 through 11." Click for more information Center for Women's Mental Health, USA http://www.womensmentalhealth.org CREST.BD http://www.crestbd.ca/ Depression Alliance UK charity offering help to people with depression, run by sufferers themselves. http://www.depressionalliance.org Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) The mission of the DBSA is to educate patients, families, professionals and the public concerning the nature of depressive and manic-depressive illness as treatable medical diseases; to foster self-help for patients and families; to eliminate discrimination and stigma; to improve access to care and to advocate for research toward the elimination of these illnesses. http://www.dbsalliance.org Dutch Association for Manic Depressives--Netherlands Sponsors psycho-educational courses to provide information and teach coping skills to bipolar patients, their families, and friends. http://www.nsmd.nl Eli, the Bipolar Bear Eli, the Bipolar Bear is about a child struggling with drastic mood swings and seeking to resolve the issue that is disrupting his whole life. With the help of his parents and a Wise Old Bear, Eli is able to understand what is happening to him and find resources to manage this disorder. ISBN: 0974656828 http://www.ChildHeroesPublishing.com Fundacion de Bipolares de Argentina (FUBIPA) FUBIPA, or the Bipolar Foundation of Argentina, has been working for fourteen years, providing support, information and education for bipolar patients and their families through its thirteen self-help groups located in different sites throughout the country. The website is in Spanish only. http://www.fubipa.org.ar GAMIAN Europe Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks is a non-political, nonsectarian organization dedicated to publishing and promoting information and awareness concerning the incidence and available treatment of mental illness. GAMIAN is particularly interested in enhancing the recognition and availability of treatment for mood and anxiety disorders. http://www.gamian.eu German Society for Bipolar Disorder The German Society for Bipolar Disorder was established in 1999 and is open to professionals, patients, and relatives. The society promotes public awareness of the illness and establishing of local self-help groups, advises patients and relatives, supplies educational materials for professionals and patients, and stages nationwide and local symposia for continuing education. http://www.dgbs.de Iberoamerican Network for Bipolar Disorder (IAN-BD) Provides collaboration and exchange between groups and independent investiagors from the Iberoamerican area, under the institutional support of ISBD. http://www.ian-bd.com IDEA--Italy Fondazione IDEA works to overcome the stigma and prejudice surrounding depression and bipolar disorders. The website is in Italian only. http://www.tin.virgilio.it IRCCS (Institute for Research and Care for Mental Disorders)Centro S. Giovanni di Dio - Fatebenefratelli in Brescia (Italy) The scientific activity of the Biologic Psychiatry Unit has the aim of improving the knowledge regarding the best diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in the management of patients with sub-clinical and acute mental disorders, keeping an eye on the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying the differences in the response to treatments. Above all, the Unit assumes a bio-psycho-social approach to mental disorders in order to individualize and improve the care. http://www.irccs-fatebenefratelli.it (In Italian Only) International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society (IBANGS) IBANGS, founded in 1996, works to promote the field of neurobehavioral genetics in its largest sense. The Society's journal, Genes, Brain and Behavior (G2B) G2B is published jointly by IBANGS and Blackwell Publishing and is a journal publishing top quality research in behavioral and neural genetics in its broadest sense. The emphasis is on the analysis of the behavioral and neural phenotypes under consideration, the unifying theme being the genetic approach as a tool to increase our understanding of these phenotypes. www.ibangs.org International Bipolar Foundation is a not for profit organization whose mission is to eliminate bipolar disorder through the advancement of research; to promote care & support services; and to erase associated stigma through public education. In addition to providing research grants, we offer a free monthly lecture series which is uploaded onto our website, a Buddy Program and Outreach & Referral Program, educational brochures & videos, and an award winning e-newsletter, My Support. We host prominent speakers, host a Mental Health Fair, Caregiver Support Groups, have a Stigma Busters' Program and produce, support and build awareness for fundraising events to raise money for bipolar research and services. www.InternationalBipolarFoundation.org International Society for Affective Disorders (ISAD) Promotes research in the area of affective disorders. http://www.isad.org.uk/ Josselyn Center, The The Josselyn Center for Mental Health, a not-for-profit corporation, is dedicated to providing high quality interdisciplinary mental health and related services to families and individuals of all socioeconomic backgrounds. It has served Chicago's north shore communities since 1951. http://www.josselyn.org The Juevenile Bipolar Research Foundation The Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation is the first charitable organization solely dedicated to the support of research for the study of early-onset bipolar disorder. Our board is a remarkable one, made up of dedicated parents, treating professionals and world class clinical investigators and basic science researchers. http://www.jbrf.org Leading Education and Awareness for Depression Pittsburgh (LEAD) A community advocacy nonprofit that promotes collaboration throughout the community to address the standard of depression care as a common concern. http://www.leadpittsburgh.org Madison Institute of Medicine The Madison Institute of Medicine, Inc. (MIM) is committed to conceptualizing, developing, and disseminating innovative approaches to the education of professionals and the general public about medical disorders and their treatment. An additional focus of MIM is clinical research as a vehicle to advance the frontiers of medicine and improve quality of life. http://www.miminc.org McMan's Depression and Bipolar Web represents the web's most comprehensive one-person site devoted to depression and bipolar disorder (also known as manic depression), with more than 240 articles, more than 150 links, and news - from diagnosis and treatment to personal stories and essays to issues that touch all our lives. This website also includes a reader's forum, an online depression and bipolar book store, and community message boards and chat. http://www.mcmanweb.com Bipolar affective disorder affects approximately 3% of people in the United States, and it has been described with consistent accuracy over the centuries, even before Hippocrates. The complexities and subtle variations make it difficult to diagnose at times and even more difficult to predict the course and outcome. The challenge for clinicians is to identify the most appropriate management strategy for a particular patient, a process often complicated by comorbid conditions, such as substance abuse or ADHD, and noncompliance with treatment. To help meet this challenge, Medscape has created the Bipolar Disorder Resource Center. http://www.medscape.com Mood Disorder Association of Canada, The--Winnipeg Founded in 1983 as a self-help organization to provide support, information and education to those affected by mood disorders. Fosters public awareness of the social, biochemical, and psychological factors in mania and depression through education in the media. Assists those with mania and depression to obtain professional help. http://www.depression.mb.ca National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) NAMI is a nonprofit, grassroots, self-help, support and advocacy organization of consumers, families and friends of people with severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety disorders. http://www.nami.org The mission of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is to diminish the burden of mental illness through research. This public health mandate demands that we harness powerful scientific tools to achieve better understanding, treatment and eventually, prevention of mental illness. For bipolar disorder specific information, click here. For depression specific information, click here. http://www.nimh.nih.gov Pharmacogenomics of Bipolar Disorder (PGBD) Study People with bipolar disorder who are interested in treatment with lithium can receive expert care and contribute to research by participating in the Pharmacogenomics of Bipolar Disorder Study (PGBD). This research study is sponsored by the National Institute for Mental Health and coordinated by the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego. Lithium is one of the most effective treatments for bipolar disorder and many people obtain excellent control of their bipolar disorder with it. The goal of the study is to find the genes that determine who will respond best to lithium. This will one day result in a test to help doctors choose the best medication for each individual patient avoiding the lengthy trial and error process that is so common today. There are 11 sites in the US, Canada and Norway where you may participate. http://www.lithium.ucsd.edu/ Public Initiative in Psychiatry--Russia Founded in 1996 by the doctors and nurses of the Mental Health Research Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. Member of GAMIAN Europe. Website is in Russian and English. http://www.pubinitpsy.da.ru Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfoforall.aspx The Balanced Mind Parent Network Educates families, professionals, and the public. http://www.bpkids.org The Stanley Foundation http://www.stanleyfoundation.org/ The Stanley Medical Research Institute The Stanley Medical Research Institute is the largest private provider of research on schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in the United States. SMRI funds approximately half of all U.S. research on bipolar disorder and approximately one quarter of the research on schizophrenia. In addition, it is a major provider of research on these diseases in England, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Israel, and Australia. http://www.stanleyresearch.org The objective of WHO is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. Health, as defined in the WHO Constitution, is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. http://www.who.int/ Join ISBD Now! Become a part of the ISBD community today and connect wih other professionals. >> Click here International Society for Bipolar Disorders P.O. Box 7168 Pittsburgh, PA 15213 United States of America Phone: (412) 624-4407 Fax: (412) 624-4484 Email: isbd@isbd.org

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MedicareSearch Results « » The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation HomeMedicare Search Medicare: Visualizing Health Policy: Medicare’s Role and Future Challenges November 2012 infographic in the Visualizing Health Policy series takes a look at Medicare—who it covers; the services its beneficiaries use; and the balance policymakers must strike between setting fair payments, keeping care affordable, and sustaining the program for future generations. See the full-size infographic at The Journal of the American Medical… Making Ends Meet: The Medicare Generation This short Kaiser Family Foundation documentary profiles the experiences of three Medicare families trying to pay for their health care costs with other household spending. The families are among 16 featured in a companion report examining the role Medicare now plays in the lives of beneficiaries and the challenges many… Health Reform and Medicare: Overview of Key Provisions Tutorial Snapshots from the Kitchen Table: Family Budgets and Health Care This Kaiser Family Foundation documentary, “Snapshots from the Kitchen Table: Family Budgets and Health Care,” profiles several American families who are struggling to make ends meet. It depicts the narrow financial ledge on which millions of low- and middle- income working households stand even in normal economic times, and illustrates… Medicare 101 Tutorial Nursing Home Reform: Then and Now To mark the 20th anniversary of the passage of landmark federal legislation to improve the quality of nursing home care, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (known as OBRA 87), this video examines the history surrounding the law. The video includes a look at the state of nursing home… Medicare Advantage: The Role of Private Health Plans in Medicare Tutorial Transitions 2006 On January 1, 2006, the six million Americans who are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid saw a change in how their prescription drugs are covered. The dual eligible population was transitioned from Medicaid into the Medicare prescription drug benefit. As a group, these beneficiaries are poorer and sicker than… Medicare at 40 The Kaiser Family Foundation has produced three documentaries to mark the 40th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid. The documentaries examine the social needs that led policymakers to create these programs, the expectations of what they would achieve and the reality of these programs today. Key policymakers, staff officials and members… Medicare and Medicaid at 40 The Medicare and Medicaid health coverage programs were signed into law July 30, 1965. The Kaiser Family Foundation has some new resources that examine how Medicare and Medicaid came into existence and how they have evolved over the past 40 years. You will find new documentaries and extended interviews with…

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UN warns countries to bolster fight against MERS virus (Update) by Jonathan Fowler The UN health agency Wednesday warned countries to bolster their guard against the MERS virus, which has killed 152 people in Saudi Arabia and is causing alarm as it spreads elsewhere. The World Health Organization said its emergency committee, which includes global medical and policy experts, had flagged mounting concerns about the potentially fatal Middle East Respiratory Virus (MERS). "They reached a consensus that the situation had increased in seriousness and that their concerns about the situation had also increased in terms of urgency," Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's health security head, told reporters. The agency called on countries to improve infection prevention and control, collect more data on the virus and to be vigilant in preventing it from spreading to vulnerable countries, notably in Africa. A total of 571 MERS cases have been reported to the WHO, of which 171 have proved fatal. In many of them, victims caught the virus in hospital from other patients, although experts believe camels may also spread the disease. The vast majority of infections have been reported in Saudi Arabia, and cases outside the Gulf nation have largely involved people who had travelled there. On Wednesday the Netherlands became the 13th country outside of Saudi Arabia to report a case of MERS since December. Fukuda said that while Riyadh had done its best to stem the spread of MERS, a WHO team there still found "sub-optimal" infection-control and overcrowding in hospitals. Cases have also risen outside hospitals, possibly because of the winter season or an increase in infections among animal carriers, Fukuda said. Saudi Arabia's agriculture ministry has urged citizens to wear masks and gloves when handling camels, which are thought to be the source of the mysterious coronavirus in the Gulf state. Still no global emergency The risk of MERS gaining the ability to spread further and faster has raised the spectre of a global crisis. But the WHO has so far stopped short of declaring an international health emergency, which would have far-reaching implications like travel and trade restrictions on affected countries. "It's clear is that there is no convincing evidence right now for an increase in the transmissibility of this virus," Fukuda said. "If it is really associated with camels, and all of the infections are from camels to people and it does not become very transmissible among people, then I think that there's a reasonable chance that it would stay a regional infection." MERS is considered a deadlier but less-transmissible cousin of the SARS virus that appeared in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, nine percent of whom died. It caused huge economic chaos. Like SARS, it appears to cause a lung infection, with patients suffering coughing, breathing difficulties and a temperature. But MERS differs in that it can also cause rapid kidney failure. It has proven particularly lethal among older people and those with existing health problems. Some 30 percent of the several hundred people infected with it have died, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. MERS first emerged in 2012 in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites. The annual hajj to Mecca, due in October, draws millions from across the globe and experts fear pilgrims could carry the virus home to nations that are far less able to detect and control it. "We need to raise awareness about MERS infection among people who are going to be going on mass gatherings, as we know that a number of pilgrimages are going to be coming up," Fukuda said. Saudi authorities and international health experts point out that the hajj has successfully ridden out two previous viral episodes in the past decade: SARS and the H1N1 influenza in 2009. There have been confirmed or suspected cases in Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Philippines, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Yemen since December. Thursday's closed-door WHO meeting was the fifth to be held on MERS, and another is expected in coming weeks, the agency said. Explore further: Jordan reports new MERS death view popular Jordan reports new MERS death A man has died in Jordan after being infected with the MERS virus, the government said Monday, on the eve of a World Health Organisation emergency meeting on the disease. Three new MERS deaths in Saudi Arabia Three more people have died from the MERS coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, the health ministry said Sunday, taking the number of fatalities from the disease in the kingdom to 142. WHO to hold emergency talks on deadly MERS virus Tuesday The World Health Organization said Friday it would hold an emergency meeting next week on the deadly MERS virus, amid concern over the rising number of cases in several countries. Saudi MERS death toll rises to 126 Saudi Arabia's death toll from MERS has risen by five to 126 fatalities since the mystery respiratory virus first appeared in the kingdom in 2012, the health ministry said Friday. Jordanian dies of MERS virus A man has died in Jordan after being infected with the MERS virus, a media report said Tuesday, in the kingdom's second fatality from the disease this year and fourth since 2012.

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Add or Update Your Info YPAA Executive Board Distinguished Alumni Award | Yale Psychiatry Distinguished Alumni Award2014: Henry Jarecki, M.D.Henry Jarecki, M.D. graduated from the University of Heidelberg Medical School in Germany and completed his residency in psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Jarecki is an adjunct professor of psychiatry at Yale and has founded and led a number of trading, investment, technology, and biotechnology companies.With Dr. Thomas Detre, Jarecki wrote Modern Psychiatric Treatment, the first textbook on psychiatry that made extensive use of psychopharmacology.Since its founding in 1999, Dr. Jarecki has been chairman of PsychoGenics, a biotechnology company that specializes in behavioral testing in the service of contract research and drug development. He is also a founding member of the board of directors of Cobalt Therapeutics, which has developed computerized therapeutically-validated interventions for psychological disorders.Dr. Jarecki is actively engaged with institutions in scientific, educational and human rights arenas, including his work as a trustee of the Institute of International Education (where he serves as vice chairman) which manages the Fulbright Program for the U.S. Department of State, and as chairman of that organization’s Scholar Rescue Fund.He is married to Gloria Jarecki, has four sons, and lives in Rye, New York. Henry Jarecki, M.D.

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Login Join now Site Home Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator Announces New Tenants, Website, Special Events Share this: Posted by Brian Kilen (@briankilen) · Aug 19, 2013 Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator Announces New Tenants, Website, Special EventsROCHESTER, Minn. — Aug. 19, 2013 — The Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator has already filled all offices, with Boston Scientific, Clear Vision Consulting, Icon Venture Partners and Imanis Life Sciences as the newest tenants. It also has started a publicly available website as a resource for people considering entrepreneurship. In addition, the Accelerator will become a venue for special events and discussion groups led by business leaders. The Accelerator opened just five months ago and has 16 tenants, including start-up companies and venture capitalists. Three MBA students also have been housed in the Accelerator to work with the start-ups. All offices are rented on a month-to-month basis. Besides offices, the Accelerator has shared work spaces, some still available for leasing. New Tenants Boston Scientific transforms lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world. As a global medical technology leader for more than 30 years, the company advances science for life by providing a broad range of high-performance solutions that address unmet patient needs and reduce the cost of health care. Clear Vision Consulting provides resource services and consultation to the medical device, biologics and pharmaceutical industries. Expertise includes all aspects of project and product development, quality assurance and compliance, as well as regulatory and clinical affairs. The firm has a solid track record of working with all sizes of corporations to address compliance needs on a global scale. Icon Venture Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on enterprise technology companies. Icon's extended team of industry experts work together to identify and support early-stage companies and founders that have the potential to be the future icons of the industry. Imanis Life Sciences was launched in 2012 by Stephen J. Russell, M.D., Ph.D., Kah-Whye Peng, Ph.D., and Dennis Young, with a vision to dramatically accelerate progress in the fields of regenerative medicine, cancer therapy and biomedical science by providing ready access to novel reporter gene imaging technologies that can be used to follow the fate of these treatments in the body. The company's primary goal is to facilitate the widespread adoption and routine use of their proprietary NIS imaging/biosensor technology for dynamic in-life imaging of genetically modified cells, and to ensure that all potential users have ready access to a comprehensive suite of NIS products, services and facilities. "We are not only extremely pleased with the number of businesses leasing space in the Accelerator but we are equally pleased with the quality of people, which is a mix of talented entrepreneurs, experienced business people and venture capital firms," says President Gary Smith, Rochester Area Economic Development, Inc. "Due to support received from Rochester Area Foundation and Southern Minnesota Initiative Fund, we also are pleased to announce the addition of three summer interns who will be assisting Accelerator businesses with market research and strategy development." Some of these companies enjoyed the support of MBA student interns this summer. Three interns from the University of St. Thomas and Augsburg College worked on business analysis, pricing strategy, product development, a pilot study, business modeling and planning, and marketing and sales planning. The positions were funded through the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation and Rochester Area Foundation. With the launch of a website, the Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator is offering online resources to people who are interested in forming new businesses. The site, http://www.mcbusaccel.com/, is a source for actionable information such as writing a business plan and the basics of company formation. Tenant blog posts will also be accessible, in which entrepreneurs plan to share experiences such as moving from a corporate career to starting a small company. Special events can be found on the Web calendar at http://www.mcbusaccel.com/events/. Entrepreneurs are encouraged to sign up on the website to receive email notifications about the events and other news about the Accelerator. The site also provides information about leasing space, sponsors, business advisers and service suppliers. Forums and Special Events Upcoming events include a dialogue with a venture capital firm on seed investment programs and a presentation by a local law firm about starting a company. Accelerator events are open to the public, free of charge, and require RSVP registration on the website or by emailing info@mcbusaccel.com. "Our goal with the Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator is to bring together like-minded entrepreneurs, investors and advisers to share ideas, resources and expertise, and by doing so we hope to build a unique ecosystem and support the spirit of entrepreneurism in Rochester," says Jim Rogers, chair, Mayo Clinic Ventures. The Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator provides infrastructure that enables entrepreneurism for the Rochester community. Founded by the Rochester Area Economic Development, Inc. (RAEDI), City of Rochester, Mayo Clinic Treasury Services and Mayo Clinic Ventures, the Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator provides collaborative space for new companies, venture capital firms and entrepreneurs. It also works with existing companies and service providers to support entrepreneurial ventures. It encompasses over 2,000 square feet within the skyway level of the Minnesota BioBusiness Center. The Accelerator promotes local and regional economic development through new company creation and expansion. Recognizing 150 years of serving humanity in 2014, Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit 150years.mayoclinic.org, http://www.mayoclinic.org and newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org. Brian Kilen, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu Boston Scientific Clear Vision Consulting Jim Roger Mayo Clinic Ventures Minnesota BioBusiness Center Minnesota news release News Release Have something to say? Please login or register to respond.

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NIH Home > About NIH > Explore NIH Explore NIH What Is NIH? Health at All Ages How does a child's diet affect her bones for life? Why do some people develop dementia but others don't? These and hundreds of other questions drive the work of NIH researchers committed to ensuring the health and well-being of Americans throughout the lifespan. Thanks to NIH research we have fluoride in our water to protect our teeth, cholesterol-lowering drugs to prevent heart disease, and a greater understanding of developmental disorders. We have unraveled the mystery of the human genome and looked inside the human brain. Today, due largely to NIH research, a baby born in the United States can expect to live to nearly age 79. And thanks to NIH, Americans and people around the world can hope to live healthier, safer, and more productive lives. Genes Affect Quitting NIH-funded research has found that genetics can predict how difficult it is likely to be for a smoker to quit and whether he or she could benefit from medications. The study moves health care closer to individualized quit treatments. FLIP About 440,000 Americans die each year from preventable smoking-related diseases, including lung cancer, which kills more U.S. men and women than any other type of cancer. A study supported by several NIH Institutes found that people with high-risk forms of certain genes had much greater success in quitting smoking when they used medications approved for nicotine cessation. Quit smoking help at smokefree.gov Learn more about tobacco (nicotine) addiction Why Are Drugs Hard to Quit? Quitting drugs is hard because addiction is a brain disease. NIH created this video to help people get easy-to-understand information about addiction. Find other videos, fact sheets, quizzes, and more at NIH’s Easy-to-Read Drug Facts site. The National Institute on Drug Abuse created this easy-to-read website about drug abuse, addiction, and treatment. It has pictures and videos to help readers understand the text. The website also can read each page out loud. The pages are easy to print out to share with people who do not have computers. It’s also a resource for adult literacy educators who help people with low literacy. Free Will and Drugs Dr. Nora Volkow, neuroscientist and director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), talks about the brain, addiction, and how some drugs can destroy free will in this New York Times Profiles in Science video. Researchers now suspect that addiction is caused by a combination of genes and environment. Brain imaging shows that repeated drug-related experiences can, in fact, alter the workings of the brain. Read a New York Times article about NIDA director Nora Voklow’s research and how addictive substances affect the brain chemical dopamine. The piece also discusses the dangerous and growing problem of prescription drug abuse. This and many other drug-related topics are covered in detail on the NIDA website. New Ways to Fight Addiction Substance abuse causes more deaths, illness, and disabilities than any other preventable health condition. Today, one in four deaths is attributable to alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use. NIH is finding new ways—ranging from exercise to new drugs—to combat addiction. One NIH-funded study found that aerobic exercise might help cocaine abusers establish and maintain abstinence. Another study suggests that a class of drugs already approved as cancer treatments might also help people beat alcohol addiction. Behavior and Addiction “…[T]hrough my clinical studies, I have the privilege of maneuvering between two worlds—the laboratory and ‘real life.’ It’s enormously satisfying to bring advances in basic science to the patients, and also to bring clinical observations back to the lab to sharpen our focus as we move forward.” — Dr. Markus Heilig, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Clinical Director Studying the effects that drugs have on the brain and on people’s behavior can help scientists develop programs for preventing drug abuse and helping people recover from addiction. It can also lead to insights in other areas of neuroscience. BACK Educating Teens on Addiction Dr. Nora Volkow of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has a conversation with students at a high school. NIH provides resources, such as NIDA for Teens and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s (NIAAA) The Cool Spot, to help teenagers learn about drug and alcohol abuse. You can also visit NIAAA’s website to find out what the Institute is doing to understand and combat underage drinking. Curry Spice May Treat Blinding Disease Turmeric, a plant used to flavor curry powders, may have a use outside of the kitchen as an effective treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, an untreatable disease that leads to severe vision loss and blindness. FLIP National Eye Institute-funded researchers found that curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, may alleviate eye problems by preventing the loss of photoreceptors caused by one type of gene mutation associated with the disease. The amount of turmeric used in this study exceeded what a person would consume in a normal diet, and it’s too early to say what an effective dose would be to treat diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, but the yellow spice has a long history as an ancient remedy used in Asian cultures to treat a variety of ailments. Learn more about turmeric and its medicinal history at MedlinePlus. Vision for the World NIH researcher Dr. Sheila West in Niger with children affected by trachoma. Trachoma is a bacterial infection of the eye that is the leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide, affecting more than 40 million people. NIH-funded research has played a critical role in assessing the effectiveness of providing antibiotic treatment to entire communities. This research is now helping to guide efforts to eliminate trachoma within the next decade. Diet and Vision Millions of Americans young and old suffer from vision loss, including retinopathy associated with premature birth, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration. National Eye Institute (NEI)-supported investigators are now discovering that omega-3 fatty acids found in foods such as fish and some nuts and vegetable oils, may also keep our eyes healthy. Omega-3 fatty acids are considered part of a healthy diet and help prevent cardiovascular disease. FLIP Approximately 9 million people in the United States have age-related macular degeneration, with 1.75 million having significant vision loss from the advanced form of the disease. NEI is currently funding a 5-year, 4,000-participant Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS2) to evaluate the effect of fatty acids and the carotenoid nutrients lutein and zeaxanthin (found in fruits and vegetables) on the development of cataracts and advanced macular degeneration. Learn more about the National Eye Institute, age-related vision problems, and how to promote eye health. Childhood Blindness NIH-funded research has reduced the occurrence of childhood blindness. NIH funded multicenter interdisciplinary research—the Vision in Preschoolers (VIP) Study—to determine whether certain tests could identify preschoolers in need of a comprehensive eye exam. Results showed that approximately 98% of 3- to 5-year-olds could be screened successfully. Uncommon Sense Challenges Conventional Vision Using the BrainPort® device, a head-mounted camera serves as "eyes" to gather white, gray, and black pixels of visual information. A computer converts this information to gentle electrical impulses, which are sent to an array of electrodes sitting on the tongue of the user. "Blindness was like a brick wall, and I couldn't figure out how to get through that wall. Did I climb over it? Did I climb around it? I became a real big believer in tools." — Erik Weihenmayer, the only blind man to summit Mount Everest The scientific concept behind BrainPort® originated in the late 1960s by Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita, a physician and engineer. The eye receives visual information and converts it to electrical impulses, which are sent to the brain for interpretation. With BrainPort®, such electrical impulses are sent to the brain by way of nerves in the tongue instead of the optic nerve in the eye. Learning to use BrainPort® is similar to learning a new language, explains Dr. Aimee Arnoldussen, a neuroscientist and BrainPort® researcher. Initially, users must consciously translate the pattern of impulses on the tongue to the idea of an object in space. But, as a person becomes fluent in this process, the translation becomes automatic. BACK Eye Phone NIH funding supports a revolutionary phone app that helps the blind. NIH funding supported the creation of a phone app that helps people who are blind or visually impaired recognize common objects by using their iPhone camera. Users build their item database by photographing an item and recording an audio description. The app will then immediately recognize the item the next time the phone camera is pointed at it. BACK How Rare Are Rare Diseases? In the United States, a rare disease is a disease that affects fewer than 200,000 people. There are nearly 7,000 rare diseases. Combined, they affect more than 25 million Americans and their families. The causes of many rare diseases are unknown, but some can be traced to changes, also called mutations, in genes. Researchers continue to make progress in the diagnosis, treatment, and even prevention of many rare diseases, but the majority of rare diseases still lack treatments. FLIP Many NIH programs are focused on lessening the burden of rare diseases. The Office of Rare Diseases Research coordinates rare disease research and responds to research opportunities for rare diseases. The Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center provides comprehensive information on rare and genetic diseases in English and Spanish to patients, their families, health care providers, researchers, and the public. And, the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program works to encourage and speed the development of new drugs for rare and neglected diseases. Learn more about rare diseases. The Treatment Problem Few drug companies conduct research into rare diseases because it is difficult to recover the costs of developing treatments for small, geographically dispersed populations. FLIP NIH’s Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network studies approximately 90 rare diseases at more than 97 academic institutions. Since its inception, investigators have made progress in every aspect of clinical research of rare diseases being studied in the network. Learn more about the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network. The Human Genome Project and Rare Diseases The Human Genome Project led to the discovery of the precise genetic cause of more than 4,500 rare diseases. In many of those disorders, knowledge of the basic DNA defect led to new approaches to treatments. Children with Rare Diseases Twelve-year-old Hayley Okines (r) and her mom Kerry sit on a panel of families affected by progeria at the Progeria Research Foundation’s 10th anniversary workshop. Progeria is a rare disease that causes dramatic, premature aging. Children diagnosed with progeria age at seven times the normal rate, dying of heart attacks and strokes at an average age of 13. Discovery of the molecular cause of progeria has led to a clinical trial of a drug, originally developed for cancer, that is showing promise of slowing or stopping the course of the disease. Learn more about the impact of NIH research. Living with Sickle Cell Disease Nicholas H. and his mother Bridget talk about life with sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease is a serious disorder in which the body makes red blood cells that are shaped like crescents, or sickles, instead of like discs. The sickle cells tend to break down prematurely and to block blood flow, causing pain, serious infections, and organ damage. Learn more about sickle cell disease from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Clinical Trials for Rare Blood Diseases Neal Young, M.D., Chief of Hematology at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, discusses the value of clinical trials in medical research and the advantages of participating in trials. Dr. Young’s laboratory has developed and tested therapies for patients with aplastic anemia, a rare blood disorder in which the body’s bone marrow doesn't make enough new blood cells. The Office of Rare Diseases Research, working with the National Human Genome Research Institute, supports the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (GARD), a service that provides information on rare diseases in English and Spanish to patients, families, health care providers, and researchers. Learn more about the public database of rare disease information, support groups for rare diseases, and clinical trials. Learn more about aplastic anemia. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) was once an untreatable, major cause of blindness. NIH researchers now understand much more about AMD and how to treat it. FLIP NIH-supported researchers recently identified alterations in two genes that account for 75% of AMD risk. Another NIH-funded study found that a daily regimen of certain vitamins and minerals delays the onset of advanced AMD by 25%. Dr. Dewayne Nash has a family history of Alzheimer's disease, so he volunteered for a study at the UT Southwestern Alzheimer's Disease Center. The decision has changed his life. More on Alzheimer's NIH researchers have developed a drug that reduces two substances that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease in people at risk for developing the disorder. For the first time, activities like reading, writing, and playing games have been associated with lower levels of a substance connected to Alzheimer's disease, suggesting a protective effect of such activities. Researchers recently found that a drug originally developed for treating a type of skin cancer worked to clear a brain protein called amyloid beta that is a culprit in Alzheimer's disease. Web Site for Older Adults “Good information is the best medicine for older adults.” — Donald A.B. Lindberg, M.D., Director, National Library of Medicine Visit NIHSeniorHealth to find reliable, easily accessible aging-related health information. The site features up-to-date health information presented in a variety of formats, such as videos and quizzes, and was specifically designed for older adults. Exercise and Healthy Aging Enjoy all four types of exercise at any age. Endurance or aerobic exercise: Dancing, walking, swimming, biking, jogging, and games such as tennis or basketball. Strength or resistance exercise: Lifting weights or using a resistance band. Balance: Tai Chi, standing on one foot, or walking heel to toe. Flexibility: Shoulder-arm stretches, calf stretches, and yoga. Mixing them up gives more benefit and helps prevent injury. Here are some common questions about exercise and aging. NIH's Go4Life Campaign helps older adults get active. NIH research has found that exercise offers many benefits for healthy aging. These include: Helps a person stay strong, fit, and independent. Helps to manage stress and mood. Prevents or delays disease. Increasing endurance lets a person stay active. Increasing strength helps the older adult continue doing daily tasks. Improving balance helps keep seniors from falling. Being more flexible reduces pain, allows for dancing, and means still being able to reach that top shelf. NIHSeniorHealth offers much more information on the benefits of exercise. Join the many others who are getting active. Let Go4Life help you get started! Ups and Downs of Aging Older adults are leading longer and healthier lives, which Dr. Richard Hodes discusses in this video. NIH is making progress in research to prevent and treat diseases related to age, such as Alzheimer's disease and arthritis. We know that about 5.1 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease today, but by 2050 there could be three times as many. Test your knowledge by taking a quiz about Alzheimer's. Ready to learn more? Check out this Alzheimer's information page and Alzheimer's fact sheet. Can We Prevent Aging? The National Institute on Aging (NIA) investigates ways to support healthy aging and prevent or delay the onset of age-related disease and decline. Researchers have already learned, for example, that healthful eating and exercise and physical activity help promote healthy aging. Can other things help? Is it possible to promote what is known as "active life expectancy"—the time late in life free of disability—or even to increase longevity? Other interventions may help but more research is needed. NIA research covers many topics on health and aging. FLIP Both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis occur more frequently in older adults. Research shows that successful treatment for osteoarthritis involves exercise, weight control, and rest from stress on joints. Learn more with this interactive tutorial. Better Brain Blueprints NIH is supporting researchers to map connections in the brain in high definition. Understanding these connections promises better diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders. Researchers are searching for drugs that protect brain cells and ways to treat brain disorders through gene therapy. "On a scale never before attempted, this highly coordinated effort will use state-of-the-art imaging instruments, analysis tools, and informatics technologies—and all of the resulting data will be freely shared," said the director of the NIH Connectome initiative. (Image courtesy of Van Wedeen, M.D., Martinos Center and Dept. of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University Medical School.) The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research is a cooperative effort among the NIH Office of the Director and the 15 NIH Institutes and Centers that supports research on the nervous system. (Image courtesty of Van Wedeen, M.D., Martinos Center and Dept. of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University Medical School.) Peering Inside the Brain A close-up of healthy neurons—building blocks of the nervous system. More than 150 NIH labs from 11 Institutes conduct research on the brain. NIH supports research on more than 600 neurological diseases. NIH-funded researchers found that the most common form of malignant brain cancer in adults actually has four molecular subtypes, which could lead to more personalized approaches to treating this cancer. Vets with Brain Injuries NIH-funded research found that veterans who experience blast-related head injuries can develop the same kind of long-term brain damage seen in athletes who’ve had multiple head injuries. Learn about traumatic brain injury research. More than 1 million people sustain a brain injury in the U.S. each year, many during sports such as football. Among its traumatic brain injury-related efforts, the NIH is working to prevent traumatic brain injury through new technologies such as a helmet-testing method that mimics real game play. BACK Dr. Story Landis Discusses NIH Brain Research The director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke overviews brain research at NIH. We know that the brain is an amazing biological machine central to many chronic diseases including addiction, mental illness, and movement disorders. NIH continues to push forward with the development of new therapies, including neuroprotective drugs, gene therapy, and stem cells, to address problems such as traumatic brain injury and Parkinson’s disease. Know Stroke What are the signs of stroke, risk factors, and treatments? NIH research has found that stroke patients who received a certain medication within a few hours of the start of stroke symptoms were more likely to recover with little or no disability. NIH works to raise public awareness of the importance of calling 911 at any of the signs of stroke. NIH Makes Progress in Parkinson’s Disease Research NIH-funded researchers have figured out how to reprogram skin cells from people with Parkinson's disease into the nerve cells that die in this disease, making an important step toward cell replacement treatments. Learn more about Parkinson’s research. (Image courtesy of Dr. Ole Isacson, McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School.) “Before me, there were hundreds and thousands of other people with Parkinson’s who participated in clinical trials that gave me the ability to have the medications that I take today. If people today do not participate in clinical trials, there will be no cure. There will be no new medications. They will be no help for people in the future.” — Jean’s clinical trial story Healthy Futures Dr. Alan Guttmacher, Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), talks about how NIH-funded researchers investigate dozens of conditions that affect children from before birth through adolescence to promote their health and well-being. FLIP NIH researchers are dedicated to promoting children's health in many ways, such as: Tackling childhood obesity, which has more than doubled in children ages 2 to 5 in the past 30 years. Exploring the causes and cures of autism, which affects approximately 1 out of 100 U.S. children. Helping reduce infant death rates in the United States, which have dropped more than 70% in the past 40 years. Promoting advances that have nearly eliminated certain causes of intellectual and developmental disabilities. NICHD plays a key role in promoting children's health in the U.S. and around the world. Preventing Birth Defects NIH-supported researchers made a leap forward in preventing neural tube defects, which can cause major disabilities. They found that a woman consuming enough folic acid while pregnant prevents most of these defects. A groundbreaking technique created with funding from NIH changed the life of a young girl born with a heart defect. Want to learn more? Watch this video about healing a child’s heart. Budding Brains A researcher with decades of experience explains what’s going on inside the brains of kids and teens—and how parents can help. “This learning by example is very powerful, and parents are teaching even when they don't realize they are teaching, just by how they handle everyday aspects of their lives … how they manage their time and their emotions. This is how most of the teaching is done…. It’s the everyday moments that really have a huge impact on how the brain forms and adapts.” — Dr. Jay Giedd, NIMH brain researcher Promoting Smiles Oral health problems can cause children pain and lead to poor school performance, unhealthy eating, and hard-to-treat infections. Thanks to NIH research, fluoride in water helps protect children’s teeth. In a recent advance, NIH-funded researchers created a liquid coating that is applied to teeth and releases fluoride over several months to prevent tooth decay. To learn more about oral health, visit the website of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Sound Science Hearing loss can take a toll on a child's intellectual and social development. Thanks in part to NIH-funded research, more than 25,000 U.S. children have cochlear implants, a device that mimics the function of inner ear cells. In addition to conducting research, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders provides information on hearing screening, hearing aids, and other topics for parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Nature and Nurture For the first time, researchers will study a large number of children from before birth through age 21. The National Children’s Study will explore the effects of genes and many aspects of environment on growth, development, and health. FLIP NIH provides several public education campaigns to help families raise healthy children, including Milk Matters, which helps build strong bones, and We Can!, which promotes healthy eating and exercise. The Back to Sleep campaign has helped reduce the rate of sudden infant death syndrome by more than 50%. Understanding Autism NIH researchers have worked for decades to understand a developmental condition that affects thousands of families. Research now indicates that both genetics and environment contribute to autism. NIH-funded researchers: Have identified several genes linked to autism risk. Are working to decode the complete genomes of people with autism to better understand and treat it. Are exploring factors that may raise the risk of autism, such as taking certain medications during pregnancy. Such work is supported by 8 Institutes, including the following: National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorder Brain imaging shows how brain development in children with autism differs from that of other children. Comparing brain images of children with autism to those without it may help pinpoint when and where the disorder begins. It also can help researchers understand how to slow or stop its symptoms. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one NIH Institute that studies autism. Learn more about autism from NIMH. Research in Action An NIH-funded brain and tissue bank: Provided researchers with more than 26,000 samples from people with autism and other developmental conditions. Assisted more than 700 scientists working on autism. Led to more than 60 published studies on autism. FLIP NIH has created 8 Centers of Excellence in Autism Research across the country. This network allows researchers at many different facilities to work together to tackle a single research question. Five NIH Institutes, including the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, support the Centers. BACK Inside Autism NIH-supported researchers bred mice with traits of autism to greatly improve our understanding of autism and brain development. Brain images show differences between a specially bred mouse and a wild one. (Image courtesy of Guoping Feng, Ph.D.) NIH researchers have managed to reverse behaviors in mice that are similar to two of the three main symptoms of autism disorders. The researchers gave an experimental medication to mice who have autism-like behaviors. The treated mice increased their social interactions and lessened their repetitive behaviors. This information may lead to treatments for humans. Research at Work People participate in autism research to help others—and their own families. Researchers now can use data from over 10,000 participants in autism studies. Learn more about participating in research. Early Interventions Launch Successful Lives NIH-funded researchers discovered the importance of early detection and treatment of autism. They also helped establish tools for early diagnosis and a number of effective therapies. NIH researchers have made great progress in identifying and understanding autism. Scientists now believe that autism is a spectrum disorder, with a range of types and traits. All children with autism, though, deserve excellent early care. NIH researchers helped establish a checklist for health care providers that allows for effective early diagnosis. Now, a 5-minute checklist that parents can fill out in pediatrician waiting rooms may some day help in early diagnosis, according to an NIH-funded study. Weighty Issues The HBO documentary “The Weight of the Nation” reflects years of NIH research that has shaped our understanding of obesity—and its dangerous complications. NIH researchers contributed to the creation of the 4-part series. NIH is working on ways to prevent and treat obesity and related conditions through more than 20 Institutes, Centers, and Offices. Learn more about NIH obesity research. Obesity and Pregnancy NIH researchers discovered a link between being obese during pregnancy and health problems in children. One study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) found that obesity increases a woman’s chance of giving birth to a child with a heart defect by around 15%. Another study found a connection between maternal obesity and neural tube defects, in which the brain or spinal column does not form correctly. Learn more about NICHD. Teaching Families More than two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, and approximately 17% of Americans ages 2 to 19 also carry excess weight. Obesity increases the likelihood of many serious health problems, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. NIH programs work to teach families how to fight obesity. From tip sheets on portion control to classes on working out, there’s something for all ages and sizes. NIH obesity-prevention programs include: We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity and Nutrition), which prepares parents and caregivers to help young people stay a healthy weight. Media-Smart Youth: Eat, Think, and Be Active!, a curriculum that helps young people think critically about the media’s influence on their food and physical activity choices. The Weight-control Information Network (WIN), which offers information in English and Spanish on topics such as weight control while quitting smoking. Preventing Obesity NIH—and you—can help protect children from obesity. In a $49.5 million, long-term childhood obesity study, NIH-funded researchers will explore multiple influences on children’s weight, including schools and families. Other studies look at the role of genes in weight. A Strategy for Results NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins discusses how the Institute plans to tackle the obesity epidemic—from understanding genes to influencing environments—to protect the health of millions of Americans. “The National Institutes of Health is determined to take the resources that we have been given by the taxpayers, and learn everything we can about this epidemic in order to turn it around. We aim to be no less than completely innovative, ambitious, bold, and creative in generating the evidence that will get the answers that lead to a better future.” — NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins on NIH obesity plan Understanding BMI The higher a person's BMI, the greater the risk for health problems. But what, exactly, is BMI? BMI—or Body Mass Index—is a way to estimate a person’s body fat. If you know your weight and your height, you can find out your BMI by accessing the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) online BMI calculator. Keep in mind that: Normal weight = 18.5-24.9 Overweight = 25.0-29.9 Obese = 30.0 and above The NHLBI BMI calculator receives 1.6 million visitors a month and ranks #1 on Google. It's available now as a mobile phone app. Read more about NHLBI and obesity. A Devastating Disease NIH-funded research showed that depression is a disorder of the brain. A video from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) describes depression symptoms, treatment, and research—and one man’s climb up from despair. FLIP Research using brain imaging technologies, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), have shown that the brains of people with depression are different from those of other people. Learn more about depression and about brain imaging scans from NIMH. Depression Matters Depression affects a person’s health, work, and relationships—and the people around them. For example, children of depressed moms performed more poorly on language and other skills at age 3 than other children, research shows. FLIP Depression takes a physical toll. It increases the risk of heart disease, for example, as well as the chances of someone dying after heart attack. NIMH provides information on depression and heart disease. Defining Depression More than 1 out of 20 Americans 12 years of age and older report current depression. There are different types of depression, and different populations—men, women, and older people, for example—may show different signs of the disease. Learn the signs of depression. Although depression hurts, treatment works. Unfortunately, only about half of Americans diagnosed with major depression in a given year receive treatment for it, according to NIH-funded research. The National Institute of Mental Health provides information on getting help for depression. Real Cures Researchers are studying how antidepressants work, who benefits most from them, and ways to make better ones. They also have successfully treated depression with brain stimulation techniques. Researchers are pursuing a new antidepressant that could bring relief in just a few hours instead of weeks. They’ve also made great strides in electrical and magnetic brain stimulation. Helping Teens Most teens with major depression benefit from long-term treatment, an NIH-funded study found. Researchers also found that a combination of antidepressants and cognitive behavioral therapy, which is a type of talk therapy, worked best. NIH-funded researchers studied 19,000 teens and found that girls who engaged in risky activity had an increased risk of symptoms of depression. For example, girls who experimented with drugs were more than twice as likely to have depression symptoms as girls who did not. Read more about teens and depression. Depression and New Moms After giving birth, hormonal and physical changes and the new responsibility of caring for an infant can be overwhelming. Researchers now understand much more about post-partum depression, including that it often goes undetected. FLIP Each year in the United States, approximately half a million women are at risk of developing postpartum depression. Older women and teenage girls face their own risks of depression. Learn more about women and depression from the National Institute of Mental Health, and watch a video about post-partum depression. Next: Chronic Diseases >

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The word of the day was plan. Question PeriodBusiness of SupplyCloverdale Rodeo and Country FairAssisted Human Reproduction AgencyWarwick Cheese FestivalMackenzie Gas ProjectCommonwealth War Graves CommissionMaster Corporal Allen StewartMuseumsAlcan Inc.Victorian Order of NursesAnnie PootoogookBurmaWinnipeg NorthCanadian Executive Service OrganizationThe EnvironmentCanada Summer JobsGoods and Services TaxSummer Jobs ProgramOfficial LanguagesCommittees of the HouseOfficial LanguagesAccess to InformationCommittees of the HouseForeign AffairsCommittees of the HouseElectoral Boundaries ReadjustmentThe EnvironmentAboriginal AffairsFisheries and OceansGasoline PricesNational DefenceEconomic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of QuebecSummer Jobs ProgramsCP RailJusticePublic TransitPassportsScience and TechnologyPoints of OrderGovernment Response to PetitionsCommittees of the HouseNational Security Committee of Parliamentarians ActPetitionsQuestions on the Order PaperBusiness of SupplyAboriginal Affairs Master Corporal Allen StewartStatements By Members Charles Hubbard Miramichi, NB Mr. Speaker, on Friday, May 11 a special memorial service was held at St. Mary's Church in Miramichi for Master Corporal Allen Stewart who had lost his life in Afghanistan on April 11. Father Fowler hosted the service organized by Dean Lawrence and the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association. The service was attended by hundreds of Miramichiers including present and former members of the Canadian armed forces. Master Corporal Stewart was only 30 years of age. He was in his twelfth year of service, his fourth overseas tour and a second tasking in Afghanistan. A proud member of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, Allen was from the small rural community of Trout Brook on the northwest Miramichi. After graduating from NSER High School in 1995, service to Canada was his career. His devotion to duty is so reflective of many rural Atlantic Canadians who are serving in our forces. On behalf of all Miramichi constituents and Canadians, I extend condolences and appreciation for his duty to his family, his mother Blanche Gilks, his father John Stewart, his widow Christa Le Furgey Stewart, and especially his two young daughters Brittany and Sarah. MuseumsStatements By Members Kootenay—Columbia, BC Mr. Speaker, May 18 is International Museum Day. This year's theme, “Museums and Universal Heritage”, provides an appropriate opportunity to reflect on the diverse heritage preserved and displayed in museums across Canada. Canada and its museums recognize the shared responsibility among the nations of the world to protect our common patrimony. Canada's museums, whether small local community museums or large national institutions, have played and will continue to play an essential role in the life of this country. Our government is committed to meaningful ongoing support and partnership. Our first priority must be to our federal museums that maintain the story of Canada as a country. In fact, our commitment to Canada's museums totals $267 million. Cultural expression is vital to our nationhood and a thriving cultural sector is an essential part of strengthening Canada's quality of life. Alcan Inc.Statements By Members Robert Bouchard Mr. Speaker, Alcoa has set its sights on the Alcan aluminum company. Alcan's American rival has plans to create a world aluminum giant. This takeover is raising a lot of concerns in Quebec and the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region. Alcoa has offered some good guarantees with respect to maintaining primary aluminum transformation activities, thanks especially to the Government of Quebec, which is insisting that certain conditions be met before it offers any help. However, with regard to research and development, which are crucial for long term economic development, Alcoa's guarantees cover only primary transformation. The people of the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean are worried about the development of initiatives in the secondary and tertiary aluminum transformation industry and about the future of Alcan's research centre. I would like to remind the Minister of Industry that he is no longer a spokesperson for the Montreal Economic Institute. I would like him to recognize that he is responsible for industrial development. Victorian Order of NursesStatements By Members Luc Harvey Louis-Hébert, QC Mr. Speaker, during this National Victorian Order of Nurses Week, I would like to pay tribute to nearly 16,000 employees and volunteers of the VON, who, day in and day out, give freely of their time to help their fellow citizens. VON is a not-for-profit health care organization and registered charity offering health care solutions, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Founded in 1897, the organization is celebrating its 110th anniversary this year and has a network of branches that deliver health care solutions in 1,300 communities across Canada. With its colourful history, VON will remain a dynamic organization in our communities, an organization that works in partnership with local populations to identify their health care needs and find appropriate solutions. On behalf of the thousands of Canadians who benefit from the services provided by VON caregivers, I thank the VON and wish it continued success. Annie PootoogookStatements By Members Nancy Karetak-Lindell Nunavut, NU Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this time to congratulate Annie Pootoogook of Cape Dorset. Annie is a well-known artist in Nunavut having worked with the West Baffin Cooperative since 1997. Last November Annie was awarded the 2006 Sobey Art Award for outstanding new artists in Canada. The Sobey Art Award is Canada's top art award for young artists under 40. This is a tremendous honour for her as she is a third generation artist, as both her mother and grandmother are master graphic artists. Annie has a distinct artistic approach. Her compelling drawings portray life in today's Arctic in a very realistic way. Annie is becoming well known internationally as she will participate in the Documenta show in Germany this summer and was part of the Glenfiddich artist residency in Scotland last year. I congratulate Annie on behalf of my constituents of Nunavut and myself. BurmaStatements By Members May 18th, 2007 / 11:10 a.m. Scott Reid Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON Mr. Speaker, since Tuesday the military government of Burma has arrested nearly 50 peaceful activists. Among them was Su Su Nway, a dissident and member of the national league for democracy. Su Su Nway was arrested along with more than 30 other Burmese for peacefully conducting a prayer service to draw attention to the ongoing arbitrary detention of the leader of the national league for democracy, Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. I know that every member of this House will join me in saluting the courage of Su Su Nway in her struggle against the totalitarian Burmese regime. Canadians across the country call on the Burmese government to free Su Su Nway as well as all other advocates of freedom who have been unjustly imprisoned by the country's undemocratic military regime. Winnipeg NorthStatements By Members Mr. Speaker, this weekend marks the 100th anniversary of Luxton School, named after Mr. W.F. Luxton, Winnipeg's first public school teacher. This school has been a beacon of light and learning in Winnipeg's north end, graduating many world renowned personalities like Monty Hall and Burton Cummings, who will actually join us at our celebrations this weekend. Congratulations to Principal Tom Rossi and all those who have created a classy celebration for this historic occasion. I also want to acknowledge another upcoming historical event. On behalf of the House of Commons I salute the Maples Collegiate Unity Group on its 12th annual walk against racism. A dozen years of standing up to be counted, fighting against all forms of racism, hatred and discrimination. Today I stand in solidarity with members of the Maples Unity Group and say that their courage is an inspiration to all of us. They are a shining example for our whole society to build for the future a community and a country based on equality, dignity and peace. Congratulations to Chuck Duboff and the Maples Unity Group. Canadian Executive Service OrganizationStatements By Members Raymond Simard Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honour the Canadian Executive Service Organization, CESO, and Ms. Norma McCormick, an inspiring individual who lives in my riding. CESO is a not for profit organization that has been promoting sustainable economic development in Canadian communities and abroad for 40 years. It does so by pairing skilled volunteer advisers like Norma McCormick with clients to promote development, build economic capacity, and support sustainable businesses to render communities more self-sufficient. Ms. McCormick joined CESO as a volunteer adviser in May 2004. She recently completed a CESO international assignment in Serbia and Montenegro where she assisted with the harmonizing of Serbian laws with the European Union legislation on occupational health and safety. This is an example to all of us that one person can truly make a significant difference. Please join me in congratulating CESO and Norma McCormick for their efforts in stimulating development in our country and in disadvantaged economies around the world. Mr. Speaker, following the example of the young cyclists from Sherbrooke who braved the winter cold to send a message to the Minister of the Environment with their “Kyoto à vélo” initiative, students from the Collège Sacré-Coeur have also joined forces to send a message to the Prime Minister about environmental issues. On the initiative of a teacher, Bryan Teasdale, the students have sent some 400 letters to the Prime Minister, calling on him to comply with the Kyoto protocol. Their aims are, first, to give a voice to future generations and, second, to obtain concrete commitments from the Prime Minister. The students want to remind him that the earth does not belong to him; rather, it is on loan from future generations. I wish to join with these young people, a true source of inspiration, and I invite all Sherbrooke schools to take part in this act of solidarity. I invite the students to write to the Prime Minister, to share their concerns with him and let him know what action they think he, as Prime Minister, should take. Congratulations to these young people who went ahead and took action. Permalink Canada Summer JobsStatements By Members Irwin Cotler Mount Royal, QC Mr. Speaker, many students look for summer work through organizations using funds from the Canada summer jobs program. Unfortunately, as a result of close to $12 million in Conservative cuts, many worthy organizations and community groups in the health, education and service sectors find themselves without summer jobs funding, while students find themselves without necessary employment opportunities. For example, Maison Shalom, a specialized home for intellectually and physically disabled children and young adults in my riding, Mount Royal, was refused funding for the first time. The Conservative cuts are having a negative impact on groups like this. Why is the government harming organizations, such as Maison Shalom, which seek to protect the vulnerable? Why is it closing off opportunities for student summer employment? Why should Canadians be deprived of these worthy benefits? Goods and Services TaxStatements By Members Rick Norlock Northumberland—Quinte West, ON Mr. Speaker, the Liberal finance critic, the member for Markham—Unionville, is openly musing about whether the Liberals are planning to raise the GST. He said it is an option and that all he could say was that it was consistent with their approach. Consistent with their approach, Mr. Speaker? Does the member mean the same approach they used when they promised to scrap the GST, then did nothing? Or is like their approach to raising taxes? The member for Kings—Hants is on the record approving an increase to the GST as what most economic advisers would suggest. More recently he was asked, should he become prime minister, if he would repeal the Conservative GST cut. The member said, absolutely. The Liberal leader also suggested in June 2006 that he planned to raise the GST to pay for other measures consistent with the Liberal approach. Canadians know all too well what is consistent with the Liberal approach. The question Canadians are now asking is, how high do the Liberals plan to raise the GST? Summer Jobs ProgramOral Questions Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS Mr. Speaker, yesterday the human resources minister admitted what Liberals have been saying in this House for a long time. His new summer grants program is a disaster. It is a disaster for students and for scores of not for profits across Canada. His own ministers are now saying the same thing, one in New Brunswick as we speak. The previous program was working. This new one is not, denying autism organizations, seniors and disability groups, youth recreation, child care agencies, and thousands of others. Will the minister adjust his criteria today and follow the Leader of the Opposition, who yesterday announced that a Liberal government would immediately restore full funding to the summer career placement program? Mr. Speaker, I want to remind the member that the entire $77.3 million that was dedicated last year to not for profits has been dedicated to not for profits again this year. That is an important point. I also want to remind him that every year groups must apply and demonstrate that they are providing good quality jobs for people. The point of this is to provide jobs for students. As I said yesterday, in some cases there are sympathetic groups who appear on the face of it to meet the criteria, but have not been approved. We are looking at those groups. Mr. Speaker, three months ago I asked the minister about these cuts. At that time he said, “It is kind of hilarious that the member would be concerned about a few million dollars in cuts”. Hilarious. Well nobody is laughing now. Organizations across Canada are facing a crisis and students are out of luck. Once again befuddled Conservatives, like Premier MacDonald of Nova Scotia, are shaking their heads at the heartless government. His own MPs are again afraid to face their constituents for good reason. When will this disgraceful situation be resolved? Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely true that we reduced funding. In fact, we cut it to Wal-Mart and some of the large international companies that were receiving it. It is a little rich to hear the member across the way talking about his concern for students when his government, when it was in power, cut $25 billion to universities and colleges without any regard at all for students.

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Thursday, October 23 2014 MERS challenge gets bigger with new cases Saturday, October 5, 2013 By Paul Martin ARAB NEWS.com Saturday 5 October 2013 The global number of infections with the deadly MERS virus has risen to 136, after hard-hit Saudi Arabia confirmed six new cases, the World Health Organization said Friday. Glenn Thomas, spokesman for the UN health agency, said it had been informed by Saudi authorities that the virus had been detected in three men and three women in Riyadh, according to AFP. The virus, which appeared first in the Kingdom last year, has killed 58 people worldwide, 49 of them in Saudi Arabia, according to official Saudi figures and the World Health Organization (WHO). MERS stands for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, in a nod to the fact that the bulk of the cases have been in that region. The fact that Saudi Arabia accounts for the overwhelming majority of cases and deaths has raised concerns about this month’s annual Haj pilgrimage to Makkah and Madinah. The Haj is one of the largest gatherings in the world, and there are fears that pilgrims could carry the virus back to their homelands. But Saudi authorities have said they are optimistic that Haj will pass off without outbreaks, given that faithful Muslims undertake lower-level pilgrimages at other times and there has been no mass spread of MERS. Saudi Arabia has, however, urged the elderly and chronically ill to avoid the event. Experts are struggling to understand MERS, for which there is still no vaccine. It is considered a deadlier but less-transmissible cousin of the SARS virus that erupted in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, nine percent of whom died, and sowed economic chaos. on Saturday, October 5th, 2013 at 12:29 pm and is filed under Health, Pandemic.

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University of Maryland Medical Center Again Named Top Hospital for Safety & Quality Tuesday, December 06, 2011 UMMC is one of only two hospitals to get this honor every year. For the sixth year in a row, The Leapfrog Group has ranked the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore as a top hospital for patient safety and quality of care. The University of Maryland Medical Center is one of only two hospitals in the United States to make this stringent list every year since its inception six years ago. The Leapfrog Group Annual Top Hospital List provides a public comparison of hospitals on key issues, including patient-care outcomes, use of best practices, patient safety initiatives and measures of efficiency. Each year, Leapfrog adds new, more stringent performance measures and expands the criteria for hospitals to meet its standards. “The top hospital designation for 2011 reflects our unrelenting commitment to excellence in patient care, embraced at every level, from doctors, nurses and pharmacists, to therapists, technicians and support staff,” says Jeffrey A. Rivest, president and chief executive officer of the University of Maryland Medical Center. “The fact that this recognition has continued for six years in a row is testimony to the culture of excellence that drives the Medical Center’s approach to patient care and helps sustain the highest standards of treatment in the midst of rising expectations.” Leapfrog’s key criteria center on policies and procedures that are based on scientific evidence and represent the best practices in health care. For example, research has shown that ordering medications, lab tests and imaging studies electronically reduces errors. Under the Leapfrog standards, hospitals score highest in this category if they use this process to effectively prevent errors. The University of Maryland Medical Center fully implemented computerized physician order entry four years ago and has met that requirement again this year. Other research has shown that staffing hospital intensive care units (ICUs) with physicians who have specialized training in intensive or critical care, known as intensivists, significantly reduces mortality rates and patient length of stay in the hospital. The University of Maryland Medical Center has more intensive care units than most hospitals in the country – 10 units, including surgical, medical, neurological, cardiac surgery, multi-trauma and pediatric ICUs. All are staffed by doctors specially trained in intensive and critical care medicine. “All the physicians treating patients at the medical center are faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine,” says E. Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., vice president for medical affairs at the University of Maryland and dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “This recognition by The Leapfrog Group is continued affirmation that great teams of professionals working together drive great patient outcomes.” The University of Maryland Medical Center also scored well on many of the safe practices selected by Leapfrog, such as nurse staffing, quality and leadership, hand hygiene, medication reconciliation, communication of critical information to patients and having a leadership structure and systems in place to provide patient safety. “A collaborative, professional and meaningful environment for our nurses and other patient-care staff provides a solid foundation for high-quality patient care,” says Lisa Rowen, DNSc, RN, senior vice president for patient care services and chief nursing officer at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Rivest adds, “The Leapfrog recognition continues to validate our partnership and collaboration with the University of Maryland schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work and Dentistry. Their faculty members participate in research-driven, quality-of-care projects within the medical center, helping us to elevate quality and patient safety to higher levels.” "Once again, the Leapfrog results show just how excellent the University of Maryland Medical Center is. It's more than a feeling – the Leapfrog results verify the outstanding job being done on safe practices at UMMC. They are truly a top hospital," says John Miller from the Mid-Atlantic Business Group on Health, an association of employer health-care purchasers, including large employers in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia that drives cost-effective health care, through value-based purchasing. Bill SeilerMedia Relations410-328-8919bseiler@umm.edu • Find Out More About Leapfrog & UMMC

医学

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American Chemical Society Press Room News Releases 2010 August Worldwide shortage of isotopes for medical imaging could threaten quality of patient care EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE | August 22, 2010 Worldwide shortage of isotopes for medical imaging could threaten quality of patient care Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society BOSTON, Aug. 22, 2010 — Twenty million medical scans and treatments are done each year that require radioactive isotopes and scientists today described a global shortage of these life-saving materials that could jeopardize patient care and drive-up health care costs. They spoke at a symposium at one of the opening sessions of the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, being held here this week. Medical isotopes are minute amounts of radioactive substances used to diagnose and treat a variety of diseases. Isotopes injected into the body can enable doctors to determine whether the heart has adequate blood flow; cancer has spread to a patient’s bones; and help diagnose gallbladder, kidney, and brain disorders. When delivered into a malignant tumor, isotopes can kill the cancer cells minimizing damage to nearby healthy tissue. The shortage of radioactive isotopes also threatens activities in other areas, including basic and environmental research, oil exploration, and nuclear proliferation, the scientists noted. “Although the public may not be fully aware, we are in the midst of a global shortage of medical and other isotopes,” said Robert Atcher, Ph.D., MBA, in an interview. “If we don’t have access to the best isotopes for medical imaging, doctors may be forced to resort to tests that are less accurate, involve higher radiation doses, are more invasive, and more expensive.” The shortage already is forcing some doctors to reduce the number of imaging procedures that they order for patients, he added. Atcher directs the National Isotope Development Center (NIDC), a U. S. Department of Energy unit that is responsible for production of isotopes nationwide. Each day more than 50,000 patients in the United States receive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures using medical isotopes, particularly individuals with heart problems and cancer. Eight out of every 10 procedures require one specific isotope, technetium-99m, which has a “half-life” of only six hours. Half-life is time it takes for 50 percent of a given quantity of a radioactive substance to “decay” and disappear. Thus, like other radioactive isotopes, technetium-99m can’t be stockpiled. It must be constantly made fresh, and distributed quickly to medical facilities. Wolfgang Runde, Ph.D., who works with Atcher at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and presented a report on the situation here, said that an unexpected shut down of a major isotope production facility in Chalk River, Ontario, Canada, in 2009 precipitated the shortage. Los Alamos also is part of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Chalk River facility was scheduled to restart this summer but remained closed as of early August. The Chalk River facility produces 50 percent of the U.S. supply of the isotope used to make technetium-99m. Production problems occurred at other isotope facilities, compounding the problem. Remaining isotope suppliers have not been able to make-up for the resulting shortage, leaving the United States in an isotope supply crunch. “Shortage of this key medical isotope makes it more difficult to carry out important medical procedures, such as finding out whether cancer has spread to the bones,” Atcher said. “Doctors have been trying everything they can think of to meet the needs of patients, including the use of other less-than-ideal isotopes, but it has been a real struggle.” Atcher also noted that the United States is highly dependent on foreign suppliers of medical isotopes. Only about 10-15 percent of the isotopes used in medicine are produced domestically. The nuclear medicine community has been pressuring the U.S. government to develop improved domestic capability for producing these materials to reduce this dependence, Atcher said. Medical isotopes aren’t the only isotopes in short supply, Atcher noted. Helium-3, for instance, is a non-radioactive isotope with multiple uses, including efforts to develop nuclear fusion reactors and monitoring to prevent illegal nuclear material from being smuggled into the U.S. Another, californium-252, which is used for oil exploration, to help start-up nuclear power reactors, and in mass spectroscopy, a mainstay analytical tool in chemistry, astronomy, and other fields of research. “The challenge we have is to produce enough materials to meet commercial needs as well as needs of the research community — from nuclear physics, to environmental research, to medical research — amid increasing demands and fewer isotope sources” Atcher said. “The long-term solution to this crisis remains to be seen.” The American Chemical Society is a non-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 161,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio. During the meeting, Aug. 22-26, the contacts can be reached at: 617-954-3522

医学

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'Stress Gene' Might Raise Odds for Heart Attack, Death, Study Shows WEDNESDAY, Dec. 18, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- A genetic variant occurring in a significant number of people with heart disease appears to raise the odds for heart attack or death by 38 percent, a new study suggests. This "stress reaction gene," which Duke University scientists previously linked to an overproduction of cortisol, a stress hormone that can affect heart risks, was found in about 17 percent of men and 3 percent of women with heart disease. The new finding, also from Duke researchers, offers a potential new explanation for a biological predisposition to heart disease and early death, the study authors said. The research may eventually lead to personalized therapies for heart disease patients. "This is very exciting, but it's very preliminary. It certainly merits further investigation," said study author Beverly Brummett, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine. "Down the line, if the findings were replicated, then the next step would be to test people [on a widespread basis] for the gene and watch them more closely." The study was published Dec. 18 in the journal PLoS One. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of Americans. Its most common cause is the narrowing of coronary arteries, which can lead to heart attacks, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. About 600,000 people in the United States die each year due to heart disease. Brummett and her colleagues ran genetic analyses on more than 6,100 white men and women who were part of a large database of Duke heart catheterization patients. Two-thirds of the participants were men. Patients carrying the genetic variant experienced the highest rates of heart attacks and deaths over an average follow-up period of six years. Despite adjusting the results for heart disease risk factors such as age, obesity and smoking history, the genetic trait was associated with a 38 percent higher risk of heart attack and death. This kind of association, however, does not necessarily prove a cause-and-effect relationship. Dr. Nieca Goldberg, medical director of New York University's Women's Heart Program, said the research was "very exciting." "There's a lot of talk going on about personalized medicine and we're trying to really individualize our therapies," said Goldberg, who was not involved in the study. "This identifies a genetic trait that predisposes people to heart disease, and once this is tailored a little more and we have more research, it would be exciting if this [genetic test] became commercially available," said Goldberg, who is also a spokesperson for the American Heart Association. Goldberg said it would be useful to know how frequently the gene variant occurs in other ethnic groups, such as blacks, Asians and Latinos, since all of the study participants were white. The American Heart Association offers information on various types of heart disease. SOURCES: Beverly Brummett, Ph.D., associate professor, psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, N.C.; Nieca Goldberg, M.D., clinical associate professor, medicine, and medical director, New York University Women's Heart Program, New York City, and spokesperson, American Heart Association; Dec. 18, 2013, PLoS One

医学

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Heart Patients Without Artery Plaque Buildup Still Face Risks: Study WEDNESDAY, June 4, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- People who have heart disease without major plaque build-up in their coronary arteries still face a significantly increased risk for heart attack and death, a new study indicates. The condition -- called non-obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) -- damages the walls of the heart's blood vessels, but does not decrease blood flow or cause symptoms. Because of that, it's generally been regarded as being a low-risk condition, according to background information in the study. Researchers analyzed data from nearly 41,000 U.S. veterans who underwent heart angiography -- a test used to check for blockages in the arteries -- between 2007 and 2012. They were categorized as having either normal, non-obstructive or obstructive coronary artery disease. The more severe the disease, the greater the risk of heart attack and death within a year after undergoing angiography. This was true even among those with non-obstructive disease, who had a 28 percent to 44 percent increased risk of heart attack or death. It's possible that non-obstructive plaque deposits in coronary arteries can still rupture and cause heart attacks, said the researchers, who were to present their findings Wednesday at an American Heart Association (AHA) meeting in Baltimore. Such research should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. "Unlike obstructive CAD [coronary artery disease], which blocks blood flow, non-obstructive CAD may initially appear less threatening on angiography tests since it doesn't result in decreased blood flow, but it appears to have significant risk for heart attack and death," study author Dr. Thomas Maddox, a cardiologist for the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, said in an AHA news release. "Dismissing non-obstructive CAD as harmless could be dangerous. Our findings show there is indeed a risk, that non-obstructive damage can lead to heart attacks just like obstructive disease, and that we should consider preventive therapies for these patients," added Maddox, who is also an associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. People with non-obstructive coronary artery disease should talk to their doctors about preventive measures, such as losing weight, quitting smoking, exercising, eating a healthy diet and taking medications such as aspirin and statins, Maddox suggested. The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about heart and vascular diseases. SOURCE: American Heart Association, news release, May 4, 2014

医学

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100 questions & answers about HIV and AIDS / Joel GallantDr. Gallant presents the latest information about being diagnosed and living with HIV/AIDS. He answers questions about all aspects of the disease including issues specific to women, and corrects some still-prevalent misconceptions. HIV : an essential guide for the newly diagnosed / Brett GrodeckProvides readers with everything they will need to know about surviving the first year of HIV infection, covering doctors, treatment options, coping mechanisms, and holistic approaches. HIV and AIDS / Paula JohansonDescribes the disease's discovery and discusses issues relating to HIV and AIDS, including contracting the virus, prevention, getting tested, dealing with a positive diagnosis, and living with the disease. Quicksand : HIV/AIDS in our livesA first-person narrative discusses how the author's brother-in-law was diagnosed with AIDS and his battle with the disease, explaining how HIV is transmitted and describing the emotions people feel when a loved one has the virus. Viruses, plagues, and history : past, present, and future / Michael B.A. OldstoneThe story of viruses and humanity is a story of fear and ignorance, of grief and heartbreak, and of great bravery and sacrifice. Michael Oldstone tells all these stories as he illuminates the history of the devastating diseases that have tormented humanity, focusing mostly on the most famous viruses.

医学

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Top Ranked Equity Analyst Joins Vital Therapies, Inc. (VTI) 3/20/2012 9:03:52 AM SAN DIEGO, March 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Vital Therapies, Inc., a development stage biotechnology company focused on allogeneic cellular therapy for acute liver failure, today announced that it has appointed Duane Nash, MD, JD, MBA, as the company's Chief Business Officer and Medical Director. Dr. Nash joins Vital Therapies, Inc., from Wedbush PacGrow Life Sciences where he was Senior Vice President in Equity Research. According to STARMINE® / Thomson Reuters, Dr. Nash is currently ranked first among 66 equity research analysts nationwide who publish in the biotechnology market, based on prior 12 month return on recommendations. Dr. Nash received a BA in Biology from Williams College, an MD from Dartmouth Medical School, a JD from the University of California at Berkeley, and an MBA from the University of Oxford. He completed his internship in General Surgery at the University of California at San Francisco, where he served as a member of the liver transplant team. Dr. Nash also practiced as an attorney for six years, most recently at the law firm of Davis Polk, where he focused on intellectual property litigation and corporate matters. "Liver failure poses a staggering unmet need both in the United States and worldwide," said Dr. Nash. "Fortunately, Vital Therapies' ELAD® has shown unique promise, with preliminary data suggesting it may improve survival among patients with acute liver failure. I'm honored to play a role in the company's upcoming pivotal trials where we hope to confirm preliminary findings, and also in ELAD's subsequent commercialization." "We are delighted Dr. Nash is joining our program to commercialize ELAD in USA, EU and worldwide," said Terry Winters, PhD, Vital Therapies, Inc.'s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "His unique mix of skills and experience in the life sciences will be invaluable in helping to transition the company to the public markets and in implementing our upcoming pivotal studies for marketing approval. His intimate knowledge of both clinical practice for liver disease and the breadth of new technologies under development is a compliment to the potential of ELAD in liver therapy."About Vital Therapies, Inc.Vital Therapies, Inc. is a private development-stage biotechnology company based in San Diego, California. The company is developing ELAD®, an extracorporeal liver support system which functions by processing toxins and synthesizing proteins and metabolites that are the key processes of normal human liver function, and represents the first human allogeneic cellular therapy for acute liver failure. Vital Therapies has completed seven clinical trials including a pivotal trial in China, which was used to file for marketing approval in China and which remains pending. A US/EU pivotal trial plan to secure BLA and MAA approval has received written guidance from FDA and EMA. The first protocol under this plan, for a survival trial in acute alcoholic hepatitis, has been allowed by FDA. The trial should start soon.About ELADELAD is a bedside system whose central component is four cartridges containing 440 grams of immortalized human liver cells and 32,000 hollow fibers. The patient's plasma flows inside of the hollow fibers to allow two-way transfer of metabolites. During ELAD therapy the cells metabolize toxins and synthesize proteins and other liver specific products essential for life. The ELAD cell cartridges are produced at VTI's GMP-compliant facility in San Diego, California.ELAD is a trademark of Vital Therapies, Inc.STARMINE is a trademark of Thomson ReutersSOURCE Vital Therapies, Inc. Jilin Aodong Defers $25 Million Investment in Vital Therapies, Inc. (VTI) Covidien plc (COV) Agrees to Buy superDimension, Inc. for About $300 Million Vital Therapies, Inc. (VTI), Raises $22.6 Million, Developing Liver Device Tobii Technology AB Sees $21 Million for Eye Tracking Technology Jilin Aodong Makes $2 Million Initial Investment in Vital Therapies, Inc. (VTI) Swedish Company, Aerocrine to Bring HQs to NC, Will Create 45 New Jobs Three-Year Follow-Up Data Confirm Safety and Survival Benefit in Chinese Liver Failure Patients Treated With Vital Therapies, Inc. (VTI)'s ELAD(R) Bioartificial Liver Funding Round Nets $11.3 Million for Absorbable Medical Device Maker Tepha, Inc. Vital Therapies, Inc. (VTI): Bioartificial Human Liver Therapy Trial Progressing Medical Device Investor Emergent Medical Partners Has Raised $70 Million Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Vital Therapies, Inc. (VTI)

医学

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Daily Saints | Uncle Eddie�s Saint Richard PampuriMay 1 by Fr John Bartunek, LC | Source: Catholic.net Uncle Eddy's E-mails -- May 1Saint Richard Pampuri, O.H.A religious brother from the Hospitaller Order of St John of God.(entered heaven on this day, 1930)Dear Pam,From the tone of your last notes, I gather you are falling prey to a disease they don�t teach you about in your pre-med curriculum: egoism. Let me explain. Go back in your mind�s eye to the first time you ever thought of becoming a doctor. What attracted you to the possibility? Was it the money, the prestige, the science? Not at all, it was the mission of helping people in need. You loved the idea of being able to heal wounds, to restore health and vigor to people who were suffering. Now, reflect for a moment on what you and your fellow medical and pre-med students talk about most of the time. Is it about the ideal of helping as many sick people as possible, or is it about the excitement of research, the salaries of specialists, the relative comforts of different institutions, the prestige of medical schools, and the dangers of lawsuits?... So, do you see what I mean about the dreaded disease of egoism? Maybe taking a look at today�s saint will help cure you.Richard too was popular and talented. He, like yourself, lost both his parents by the time he was ten years old. He also shuffled from boarding school to boarding school. He ended up in Pavia (northern Italy) and decided to study medicine at the reputable university there. World War I intervened. He served first as a sergeant, then as an officer in the medical corps, where he was sickened at the sight of so much unnecessary suffering caused by human greed and stubbornness. He finished his studies after the war, graduating at the top of his class. Two internships later, he began practicing on his own in Milan (northern Italy), all the while keeping up a healthy prayer life and a deep involvement in parish activities. He strove to remember that Jesus himself was present in each of his patients, and he treated them accordingly. When his heart drew him to consecrate himself totally to serve Christ 24/7, he left to join the Hospitaller Order of St John of God, an Order where he could combine religious life and medical practice. Everyone he worked with � patients, orderlies, nurses, fellow practitioners, and hoards of poor people whom he had served free of charge � vocally regretted the loss and begged him to stay on. But God was inviting him to greater intimacy, and, wisely, he accepted the invitation.As a religious brother he only lived for three more years. But in those years he continued growing in sanctity and putting all his love and talent at the service of others, whether his brothers in religion, his patients, or the poor. When his own health took a turn for the worse, at the young age of 33, he was called home to the Father�s House.That, my talented and wise niece, was a doctor. Keep his sentiments close to your heart, and, if God wills it, you too will become a true, Christian doctor, in whom, as St Richard put it in a letter to his sister (a missionary), "neither self-indulgence nor pride, nor any other evil passion, [will] prevent me� from seeing in my patients Jesus who suffers, and from healing and comforting Him."Your devoted uncle,EddyTo read more about other Saints of the day, CLICK HERE Click Here to Donate Now!

医学

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Home » News » US Stunning adult stem cell developments evoke hope, caution A laboratory scientist documents research findings. Credit: Rhoda Baer/NEI laboratory/National Institutes of Health. By Addie Mena Washington D.C., Feb 7, 2014 / 04:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Remarkable advancements in stem cell biology are enabling scientists to reprogram mature cells into a variety of different tissues – but experts say these methods should be used carefully to avoid ethical questions and inadvertent cloning. While the new technology is an “exciting and surprising development,” said Brendan Foht, assistant editor of “The New Atlantis” bioethics journal, “some important scientific and ethical questions need to be addressed” before the technique is applied to human cell therapy. “The scientists found that the cells made through this technique seemed to have even more developmental potential than embryonic stem cells,” and are able to turn into a variety of embryonic and placental tissue in addition to a range of adult tissues. “This means that this technique may not just be a way of creating stem cells, but a way of creating embryos,” opening the door to human cloning, Foht told CNA on Jan. 5. The new mechanism produces “stimulus triggered acquisition of pluripotency” or STAP cells, which uses stressful situations, such as acid baths, to trigger adult animal cells into a re-programed state where they can develop into a wide range of tissues. Findings were detailed in two papers published in the scientific journal “Nature” on Jan. 29, involving research from the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Japan as well as the Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the United States. The reprogrammed cells showed “totipotency,” or the ability to turn into embryonic and placental tissue, but did not on their own have the ability to be grown for extended periods of time. However, when scientists altered certain aspects of the cell culture, the some STAP cells were able to replicate and grow – some displaying qualities like existing pluripotent stem cells that can morph into a variety of tissue, and others maintaining totipotent ability to grow into embryonic and placental tissue. “It’s exciting to think about the new possibilities these findings open up, not only in areas like regenerative medicine, but perhaps in the study of cellular senescence and cancer as well,” said Haruko Obokata, who lead the project at RIKEN. “But the greatest challenge for me going forward will be to dig deeper into the underlying mechanisms,” Obokata said, “so that we can gain a deeper understanding of how differentiated cells can convert to such an extraordinarily pluripotent state.” Foht said that while the development is exciting and may “really provide an easy source of pluripotent stem cells for regenerative medicine and research,” further research and ethical inquiry is needed to determine “under what conditions these cells are totipotent and have the character of embryos.” He pointed out that Charles Vacanti, co-leader of the Harvard STAP cell project, told the “New Scientist” news source that “you can very easily, from a drop of blood and simple techniques, create a perfect identical twin.” Vacanti also mentioned that he asked an unnamed collaborator to look further into the cloning applications of this technology, and that this partner was able to reprogram a mouse's white blood cell to form into an embryo and then into a mouse fetus. He added that the purpose of the experiment is not to investigate cloning further but rather to understand the mechanisms behind the new technology. Foht weighed in that while many are worried about the ability of people to willfully misuse the technique for human cloning, “we should be perhaps more worried that the reckless use of this technique will inadvertently create cloned human embryos in the process of making stem cells.” He argued for continued research into how to manipulate STAP cells, saying that it “might provide knowledge that will be useful for those who would misuse this technique” for human cloning, and that “such misuses can be prevented by strong legal prohibitions.” If the mechanism behind STAP cells is further investigated and understood, Foht reflected, “when we start using this technique on human cells, we can be sure that we are using it in a way that does not create human embryos.” Tags: Adult stem cells, Bioethics Most Popular Funding for adult stem cell research increasing, report finds Quest for ethical stem cells prompts moral questions Doctor calls stem cell surgery on toddler revolutionary Vatican honors boy for courage during trachea transplant

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The Children's Aid Society The Children's Aid Blog Helping Families Heal: The Children’s Aid Society’s Domestic Violence Services Posted by The Childrens Aid Society on July 19, 2010 | Domestic violence is a serious behavioral issue which adversely affects every member of the family. The Children’s Aid Society’s innovative Family Wellness Program provides comprehensive services to help parents and children stay safe and eventually heal from the effects of domestic abuse. Safety is critical, handled by the Program’s experienced case managers, advocacy specialists, and crisis management counselors. From safe shelters, housing, and public benefits to legal assistance with orders of protection and emergency response – the Family Wellness Program Case Manager is the “go to” person for families in crisis. We begin the process of helping families heal from the trauma of domestic violence by giving them free access to support groups, as well as one-to-one and group counseling sessions with Family Wellness Program therapists specializing in abusive relationships. Survivors, witnesses and perpetrators (abusive partners) of domestic abuse receive professional help to understand the effects of violence, learn to modify extreme behavioral patterns and begin healing. Recently, The Children’s Aid Society has expanded domestic violence support services to East and Central Harlem and the Washington Heights district, as part of our unwavering commitment to helping families in crisis – one family at a time. abusive partners Children’s Aid Society counseling sessions Family Wellness Program Fixing Foster Care Posted by Childrens Aid Staff on July 14, 2010 | For some children, the foster care system is the best route out of abusive living situations to stable loving homes. Thanks to new state reforms and procedures children are spending less time in foster care limbo- court cases are being expedited and adoptions are happening faster. In June, many websites, including Forbes.com and MSNBC.com, and print publications ran a story by Associated Press David Crary on the successful reforms of the foster care system. The system has three key components- shorter stays in foster care; faster adoptions; and reaching out to, intervening and offering support to troubled families so that children can avoid entering foster care in the first place. This strategy that approaches foster care from all angles has had great success in many states dramatically lowering the number of children in foster care. John Mattingly, commissioner of New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services, pointed out that since the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1990s, the foster care population in New York City has been declining from its highest at 50,000 children. According to the most recent federal data the number of children in foster care in the United States has decreased by 17% since 1998. Though some worry that budget cuts will affect the new policies, it’s not stopping some states - New York, Florida, California and Ohio, to name a few - from pursuing their goals of significantly lowering the foster child population. These states have been working diligently to reduce their budgets, and they deem a child’s removal from their home the ‘worst case scenario’. One of the major problems keeping foster children out of adopted homes is the slow moving court system. Even though drastic reforms are being made, it’s not the norm yet, and delays in the courts still occur. A new budget cut in New York could cost 3,000 families any preventive services , and without the funding, it’s hard to tell whether these new procedures will continue to be successful or not. Preventive service programs provide counseling to struggling families to try to avoid a child’s removal. Jane Golden of The Children’s Aid Society said, “All of these models that we’ve seen as successful are in danger - there’s a great risk of going back to the old days.” Whatever the situation - poverty, neglect or abuse - many children are removed from their homes but often have long waits to join new, safe and supportive families. Only time and perseverance can bring about change, and we hope the budget cuts do not affect the hard work and great progress that have been made in improving the foster care system. Administration for Children's Services children's aid Children’s Aid Parents Graduate from Pepin Leadership Institute Posted by gianym on July 12, 2010 | They arrived early to set-up their work - decorations, upholstered furniture, dresses and curtains. Their family and friends oohed and awed at the creativity and obvious hard work. Great things are always happening at Children’s Aid Community Schools. On Saturday, June 5th, nearly 400 parents from five Washington Heights Community Schools graduated from The Children’s Aid Society Ercilia Pepin Parent Leadership Institute at the Mirabal Sisters Campus. The Institute offers guidance on navigating the school system in order to improve their children’s education. While getting empowered to advocate for their children in their schools, the Institute also offers parents educational and personal enrichment of their own. Parents can take GED, literacy, technology or child care licensing classes. Courses in upholstery, dress making, wood and fabric painting and culinary arts are also available. Many of their finished pieces, edible or wearable, decorated the school’s cafeteria for all eyes to see. The parents were greeted and congratulated by New York State Senator Bill Perkins, New York State Assembly Members Adriano Espaillat and Herman Farrell and New York City Council Member Robert Jackson. On hand to award the “We Are New York” Conversation Program certificates for English was Anthony Tassi, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Adult Programs. Ercilia Pepin Parent Leadership Institute More Than Art Posted by Cathleen on July 09, 2010 | Adolescence is a difficult time for most of us. Teenagers struggle to fit in, stand out and define themselves. This time period is even more difficult for adolescents who become involved with the court system, either spending time in juvenile detention or incarceration facilities. The Children’s Aid Society’s juvenile justice programming is designed to give these teenagers the skills and unwavering support they need to make better choices in all areas of their lives. This multi-faceted effort is called Lasting Investments in Neighborhood Connections (LINC) and it focuses on connecting youth re-entering their communities (after being incarcerated) with adults who will positively influence their lives. Since 2008, Artistic Noise, an arts entrepreneurship program for youth involved in the juvenile justice system, has partnered with LINC to offer arts programming to participants in Brooklyn, The Bronx and Harlem. This partnership provides a safe space for youth to process and document their lives using visual arts while learning valuable life and job skills. Their artwork explores issues that range from self-identity to incarceration. On June 10th, Artistic Noise held an opening reception for the presentation of “Unfinished Business”, this year’s art exhibit. “Unfinished Business” Exibition Statement- written by teen curators “Artistic Noise is about devotion, determination, meditation and unfinished business. Inside and outside, the worlds connect. The spirit is open-minded with a diverse perspective. The picture of me is bigger than words. What we see and what reflects us- that’s what we are, that’s what makes our art.” The program participants were not only artists and curators of the exhibit but they were also the event hosts and business professionals responsible for selling merchandise and greeting their guests. With support and encouragement teenagers can transform from youth at risk of lagging behind their peers emotionally, socially and academically to future business leaders and creative artists. After School and Weekend Teen Development Artistic Noise Children’s Aid Youth Councils Overcome Obstacles and Celebrate the End of the School Year With the school year coming to an end, many students will look back at what they have learned, how they have grown and how these experiences have shaped the road ahead. The 2010 Children’s Aid Society Middle Schools Youth Councils have a lot to be proud of. Their accomplishments were on full display at the End of Year Award Ceremony on Monday, May 10th, 2010 at the National Center for Community Schools. The youth and their group developers honored each other with awards and by sharing their most memorable stories. Many were brought to tears when they recalled their experiences, the personal issues and the positive impact made on each other’s lives. All can confirm that their work in the Youth Council has improved their self-esteem, confidence in public speaking and that the friendships made will be remembered always. The Youth Councils empower students to make a change in their school and communities. This year, the Youth Councils focused on the issues of Domestic Violence, Child Abuse and Animal Cruelty and facilitated workshops on these topics at their 2010 “Make a Change” Conference. Congratulations to the 2010 Community Schools Youth Councils for all that they have accomplished! gradutation Children’s Aid’s David Giordano Receives Community Award Posted by Anonymous on July 05, 2010 | David Giordano, the Director of Children’s Aid’s East Harlem Center, recently received the José R. Sánchez Community Leadership Award at the Metropolitan Hospital Center Community Advisory Board’s 2010 Annual Public Meeting. Giordano was recognized for his hard work and dedication to the children and families served by Children’s Aid, as well as to the community at large. Both David and Children’s Aid demonstrate a long-standing commitment to the communities we serve. During his 27-year tenure at Children’s Aid, Giordano held a number of positions including group worker, case worker and program coordinator, and has been director of the East Harlem Center since July 2006. The Center has served the East Harlem community for more than 50 years and continues to provide a range of services from early childhood to teen programming, in areas including educational and career readiness, sports and recreation, mental health services and adult ESL classes, which are especially important for the community’s new immigrants. At the awards ceremony, Monica Brown, The Metropolitan Hospital Center’s Community Advisory Board First Vice Chair, presented Giordano with the award and spoke glowingly about both David and Children’s Aid. She currently serves with him on East Harlem’s Community Board 11’s Health and Human Services Committee – he as Chair, she as Vice Chair. Ms. Brown was also a Children’s Aid Society Head Start Director in East Harlem. “I am truly honored, as well as very humbled, to receive this recognition,” said Giordano. “Our rewards and recognition for the work we do is also seen through the accomplishments of the youth we work with.” Metroplitan Hospital Children’s Aid Panthers Win Rawl Cup! The Children’s Aid Society Panthers, a girls basketball team based at the Frederick Douglass Center in Harlem, emerged victorious at the 2010 Rawl Cup. The Panthers defeated a Texas all-star team for the championship in the 14 and under division. Coach Hammer Stevens and nine student athletes traveled to Austin, Texas for the international tournament, held March 31 – April 3, 2010. In addition to 200 youth teams from across the United States, teams from Mexico, Japan, Chile, Norway, Israel and China competed in this exciting basketball competition. The tournament is named for Vince Rawl, who organized the event in Austin for boys and girls youth basketball teams. The athletes had more than just slam dunks on their minds - the 2010 Rawl Cup tournament also included the Green Ball Project, an initiative aimed at educating youth about environmental issues. The organizers used sports as a means of communicating to the players – and their home cities and countries – the importance of a greater usage and development of alternative energy, energy conservation and recycling. The Panthers have been victorious at other tournaments on the road, including such prestigious competitions as the AAU Tournament of Champions in Virginia in 2007, East Orange Turkey Shoot, PAL (Police Athletic League) in 2009, Hoop Group Christmas Challenge, also in 2009, the MJ Sharp Shooters and the Martin L. King Challenge in Houston, TX in January 2010. The Senate Introduces Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act: Report on School Nutrition Standards Posted by Childrens Aid Staff on June 28, 2010 | According to federal statistics, many American children consume half of their daily calories at school. In addition, there are 31 million children participating in the National School Lunch Program and more than 11 million participating in the National School Breakfast Program. An important question: are these children getting the proper nutrition they need? A new bill, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, has been introduced in the Senate with goals that include improving the nutritional quality of meals served at school. The bill, which has the support of the Food and Beverage Industry, calls for an investment of $4.5 billion in new funding for childhood nutrition programs over 10 years. It has bipartisan support in the Senate and is backed by many important public advocacy groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Diabetes Association. School nutritional guidelines have not been updated in almost 30 years. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 has bipartisan support in the Senate and is backed by many important public advocacy groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Diabetes Association. It has three main objectives: (1) to end childhood hunger; (2) to promote health and reduce childhood obesity; and (3) to improve program management and integrity. Suggested methods of achieving these goals include Expanding after-school and summer meals for at-risk children and connecting more eligible low-income children with school meals Provide funding for school gardens and for getting local producers into school cafeterias Giving the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to establish national nutrition standards for all food sold on school campus–including vending machines Stefania Patinella, Director of Food and Nutrition Programs “From the beginnings of the Go!Healthy, The Children’s Aid Society recognized the dearth of tested and effective responses to this urgent crisis in child health. We set out to create program models that would not only work within our own Community Schools and Centers, but in low-income communities across the country. Our resulting obesity prevention programs are innovative and effective...Go!Healthy takes a holistic and comprehensive approach to child health. Our three pronged approach includes education, foodservice and advocacy.” National School Lunch Children’s Aid Grows It’s Own Nurses! Every week at Children’s Aid Community School, Mirabal Sisters Campus, in Washington Heights, a group of 10 future nurses are preparing for a profession in which they will experience the limitless rewards of saving a life, and a profession that is also experiencing a growing shortage. It is predicted that by 2025, the country will be facing a shortfall of 260,000 nurses. Growing Our Own Nurses addresses the growing national nursing shortage by generating interest among young students in nursing careers. Growing Our Own Nurses is an after-school program for 6-8th grade students that meet twice a week. On Tuesdays students participate in fun lessons on medically-related topics. Lessons are fun and interactive; students learn about an array of health-related subjects, learn how to take vital signs, as well as how to draw blood (red Kool-Aid) from a “dummy” arm. On Thursdays, students venture out of school to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital to observe health professionals in the “real world.” Visits are also engaging and interactive. Hospital workers take our students nurses on tours of the different areas of the hospital, for instance: in the pulmonary care section they were able to see an artificial heart and taught about its function; in radiology they were taught about the CAT scan and sonogram machines and their purpose; and in the surgical section, they were provided with the opportunity to wear a set of surgical outfits. Students interacted with patients, as well as put their nursing skills into practice by taking each other’s vital signs with actual hospital equipment. Other activities have included visiting the American Museum of Natural History, a viewing of the movie Supersize Me and participating in a Nurses Week event. Growing Our Own Nurses is an incredibly inspiring and innovative program. Many of these youth now view nursing as an exciting potential profession and are discussing which areas of medicine they want to study. If you would like to learn more about programs like Growing Our Own Nurses at Children’s Aid, visit our website at www.childrensaidsociety.org. Karen Mackenzie Development Associate The Children's Aid Society Guardian Angels for Families in Need Founded in 1933, Homemaker Services is one of The Children’s Aid Society’s oldest programs that helps keep families together. Circumstances exist, some of which parents don’t have control of, where even though they are emotionally available for their children, their physical condition doesn’t allow them to care for their child the right way. Stepping into a household where a parent is sick and unable to care for their children is one of the focuses of Homemaker Services. For parents who struggle with their job schedule, Homemakers can care for the children during those work hours. Homemakers step in where the parents need help the most. These professionals are extremely experienced in dealing with family issues as well as childcare so that they can offer the greatest support possible to families in need. The Homemakers combine their experience with that of professional Social Workers to maximize the potential help the Homemakers Services offer. Services include housekeeping, childcare, cooking and transportation to and from school. Whatever the issue may be at home, if there is a tough situation for a child, Homemakers could be the first to take control and solve the problem to the best of their ability. They use their expertise to not only give instruction and care but also to teach the families meaningful life skills and behavioral techniques so that families can function better. Homemaker Services is available any day of the week, currently assisting 85 families and 200 children. For more information, please visit www.childrensaidsociety.org/familysupport family homemaker program We have been serving children for more than 150 years... Here's what's happening at Children's Aid today. For more information please visite specific program pages. Sights and Sounds of Children's Aid Find more video content on: The Children's Aid Society YouTube Channel Children's Aid Goes Healthy! Click "play" below to watch youth from across New York City take part in the Iron Go!Chefs Competition, one of many programs at Children's Aid that teaches young people how to cook and enjoy healthy foods. Children's Aid College Prep Charter School Opens Its Doors The Children’s Aid College Prep Charter School officially opened its doors with a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house on Monday, August 27, 2012. Among the 150 guests in attendance were students, families, friends, Children’s Aid Society and charter school staff, Senator Gustavo Rivera, Deputy Bronx Borough President Aurelia Greene and Deputy Chancellor Marc Sternberg. Children's Aid On Twitter Tweets by @ChildrensAidNYC AC Blog(24) Adoption and Foster Care(29) After School and Weekend(66) AmeriCorp(2) CEO Corner(50) Community Schools(96) Domestic Violence(20) Early Childhood(42) Events and Announcements(260) Family Support(75) Healthy Habits(94) Legal Advocacy(22) Orphan Trains(4) Teen Development(87) Teen Pregnancy Prevention(20) The Case Foundation Charity Navigator Blog CityLimits Fosterhood GastroKid Harlem Live Latest from TASC A Voice for Children

医学

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Return to Natural Healing African Holistic Remedies can save and extend your life! Welcome to the official site of Dr. Llaila O. Afrika. This site has the most complete information on Natural Holistic Health in the world! Dr. Afrika Free Yourself From Arthritis Unnecessary suffering is due to ignorance. Digital Video Download Recover From Arthritis in 90 Days to Six Months. You can overcome arthritis permanently without drugs or surgery by Llaila Afrika Natural Cures For: Natural Cures For Heart Disease Natural Cures For Prostate / Fibroid Natural Cures For High Blood Pressure Natural Cures For Cancer Natural Cures For Diabetes Natural Cures For Arthritis Natural Cures For Obesity About Dr. Afrika African American Health Statistics Why is Holistic Health so important? Advantages of Holistic Health and Natural Cures verses drugs and surgery. What is Ethnomedicine? WE HAVE BEEN MISLED! The food and drug industries relentlessly use television, radio, newspapers, magazines and other media in their pursuit of our dollars. The large manufacturers of fast foods, cereals, cookies, pizza, beer and wine, and other processed foods send messages 24/7 to get the dollars out of our pockets and into theirs. They put profit before your health. Arthritis is a disease reaction and a symptom of a disease. It is an inflammation caused by crystallized toxic waste from a diet of constipating foods and/or synthetic chemicals that reduce moisture in the joints and cause waste deposits in the joints. The presence of arthritis can mean that the body is not dissolving and flushing out toxins or minerals. The waste deposits can collect and congest in the tissues and muscles. The body immobilizes (stops) any part of the body that needs repairs. For example, a sprained wrist becomes stiff and a strained muscle becomes stiff (called nature's cast). An injured part of the body remains sore or stiff until it is repaired. If repairs are not made then that part becomes permanently stiff (calcified) or immobilized. The crystallized waste in impaired or immobilized joints and/or tissue can rub against each other causing inflammation. Arthritis is inflammation caused by waste in the bone joints while rheumatism is waste in the muscles. The body uses heat (inflammation) to increase circulation, kill bacteria and bring healing nutrients to arthritic areas. Conventional drugs ultimately make arthritis worse and destroy the body! One In Every 250 African-American Women Have Lupus What is lupus? How does it feel? Many people with lupus feel tired, experience joint aches and pains, loss of hair, scarring skin lesions, while others may develop complications with involvement of the kidneys or central nervous system. The symptoms can be persistent or intermittent, and the devastating reality is that many women don't even know they have the disease. Lupus, an autoimmune disease in which antibodies react against the body's own tissue, affects nearly 250,000 Americans. The arthritis-related disease is a chronic and sometimes life threatening disease that occurs in one of three forms: discoid lupus, which affects the skin; drug- induced lupus, which occurs because of a reaction to one or more drugs and usually disappears when the person stops taking the drug; and systemic lupus erythematosus (or SLE), which involves the skin, joints, kidneys, nervous system, lungs, heart and/or other organs. According to the Arthritis Foundation, 90 percent of lupus patients are women and a large majority of those women are African-American. However, the disease overwhelmingly affects women and most commonly affects them in their childbearing years ages 15 to 45. "What we do know is that a large number of women aren't aware they're living with the disease." "Two hundred and fifty thousand people have been diagnosed with lupus, and early detection and treatment of the disease is the first step toward coping with the disease," said Dr. Klippel. The Arthritis Foundation wants women, especially African-American women, to be aware of the common signs of lupus and to visit their physician if they experience four or more of the usual lupus symptoms. Older African Americans experience greater challenges with osteoarthritis than other cultures. In a review published in Ethnicity & Disease (Vol. 14, 2004), Tamara Baker, an assistant professor at the University of South Florida's School of Aging Studies and her colleague, Kelli Dominick (Duke University), found that older African-Americans have especially high rates of osteoarthritis (OA), suffer more from arthritis-related pain and physical limitations than older whites, and are more likely than their white counterparts to be under-treated for arthritis pain and disability. The Impact of Arthritis on African Americans In their review, Baker and Dominick found that: Women experience a higher prevalence of knee OA (osteoarthritis) than men. African American men are more likely to be diagnosed with hip OA than white men. African Americans were more likely than whites to report some activity limitation. African Americans more often ranked arthritis as the primary cause of physical limitation. Nearly 6.3 million of the 70 million people with arthritis or a related condition are African Americans. Arthritis is one of the most common conditions reported among African Americans -- more common than heart disease, chronic bronchitis, asthma and diabetes. After age 35, African-American women report a higher rate of arthritis than Caucasian women. African Americans with arthritis say it is the top condition that limits their major daily activities. Economic factors and availability of transportation also may contribute to differences in seeking care for arthritis. T.A. Baker, Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104-3028, USA. tamarab@umich.edu African Americans with a mean age of 70.1+/-9.01 years. Experience pain in the knee(s) (77%) was the most frequently reported pain location. Joint pain (95%) was the most frequently reported arthritis symptom. The multivariate analysis showed that reporting more depressive symptoms and experiencing limited joint movement were significant indicators of pain intensity and accounted for 31% of its variation. The results of this study reinforce the importance of examining the relationship between pain, psychosocial factors, and demographic characteristics among older African Americans. Washington University in St. Louis school of medicine. Arthritis and resulting disabilities appear worse in African-Americans. By Michael Purdy July 11, 2005 -- A pilot study comparing the results of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in African-Americans and Caucasians has revealed that African-Americans are more likely to suffer pain and disability from the disorder. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis used questionnaires, physical examinations and laboratory tests to assess symptoms and disability levels in 33 African-Americans and 67 Caucasians. Both disease activity and the resulting disabilities were worse in African-Americans," says senior investigator Richard Brasington, M.D., associate professor of medicine. "Further analysis of our results showed that this was linked primarily to their socio-economic status, not to their culture." Earlier studies highlighted poor outcomes and low self-efficacy scores among African-American patients with other chronic diseases such as lupus and scleroderma. Brasington, who is on staff in the rheumatology division at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, couldn't find any information on disparities in outcome for the rheumatoid arthritis patients he sees and therefore decided to conduct his own study. Rheumatoid arthritis afflicts approximately 2.1 million Americans or about 1 percent of the population. Women are two to three times more likely to develop the disorder than men. Symptoms, which often occur in episodic bursts, include morning stiffness, fatigue and joint and muscle pain. In severe cases, rheumatoid arthritis can damage cartilage, tendons, ligaments and bone, leading to joint deformity and instability. As a result of their work on the pilot study, Brasington and his colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine have become involved in a multi-center study of early rheumatoid arthritis in African-Americans. The study group, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is called the Consortium for Longitudinal Evaluation of African-Americans with Early Rheumatoid Arthritis. A pilot study to determine whether disability and disease activity are different in African-American and Caucasian patients with rheumatoid arthritis in St. Louis, Missouri, USA." Journal of Rheumatology, April 2005. Funding from the Eastern Missouri chapter of the Arthritis Foundation supported this research. U.T Iren, M.S. Walker, E. Hochman, R. Brasington St. Louis Children's hospital Arthritis in African Americans Excerpts from the FREE brochure Arthritis in African Americans Osteoarthritis Treatment includes exercise, medications, use of heat and cold, joint protection and weight control. You can reduce your risk for OA by maintaining your recommended weight or losing weight if you are overweight. People with lupus should have their kidneys checked closely by their doctors. According to the Arthritis Foundation, "As it stands, research hasn't uncovered why lupus affects African-Americans three times more than their Caucasian counterparts," said John H. Klippel, M.D., medical director for the Arthritis Foundation. "What we do know is that a large number of women aren't aware they're living with the disease." Gout is a painful condition caused by uric acid crystals in one or more joints (often the base of the big toe). Uric acid is a substance that forms when the body breaks down waste products called purines. Uric acid is usually dissolved in the blood and passes through the kidneys into the urine. In people with gout, the uric acid level in the blood becomes very high. This causes uric acid crystals to form in joints and other tissues. It can lead to joint pain and swelling. Gout affects approximately 2.1 million Americans. Gout occurs much more commonly in men than in women. It can occur at any age, but usually begins between ages 40 and 50. African-American men are twice as likely as Caucasian men to have gout. This may be related to their greater risk of high blood pressure and the increased uric acid levels in the blood caused by some high blood pressure medications. Symptoms of gout include, sudden joint pain and swelling, often in the big toe, shiny red or purple skin around the joint, and tenderness around the joint. A doctor diagnoses a person with gout by taking fluid from the affected joint. The fluid is examined under a special microscope for uric acid crystals. The good news is that gout can be treated and attacks of gout can be prevented. Gout is usually treated with medication and changes in diet. Medication prescribed for gout help treat attacks, reduce uric acid production, or help rid uric acid from the body. THE STATEMENT: "THERE ARE NO KNOWN CAUSES AND TREATMENTS FOR ARTHRITIS" IS MISLEADING AND FALSE." BY Dr. Robert Bingham, Orthopedic Surgeon Desert Hot Springs, Ca. "There are no known causes or cures for arthritis. This is the position of the medical community. This statement is totally untrue and very disturbing. The fact is, arthritis is a $6,000,000,000 a year industry. The medical community derives great profits for its arthritis treatments. The Arthritis Foundation, for example, has collected millions of dollars on the pretext of finding a cure for arthritis. To this date, not one single cure has been found for any type of arthritis. The bottom line is, it would not be good to eliminate arthritis ($6,000,000,000) from the American economy. Next to cancer, this dreadful disease is the worse disease a person can have. The medical community has resigned itself to the fact that Arthritis is an autoimmune disease. My colleagues and I say that this a “cop-out." When doctors cannot find any other explanation for a disease, they call it an autoimmune disease. We believe it is impossible for the body to be immune to itself." All of the causes and cures are known. Arthritis is a very profitable business. Preventing and Reversing Arthritis Naturally by Raquel Martin Yucca: Nature’s Healing Arts from Folk Medicine to Modern Healing By Lonnelle Ailkman Rheumatoid disease Cures At Last By Anthony Di Fabio The Natural Healing Companion By Dr Deborah A. Wianeck, Prescription for Nutritional Healing by James Balch MD Healing Without Medication By Robert S. Rister Confessions of a Medical Heretic By Robert S. Mendelsohn MD The Rheumatoid Disease Patient’s Nutritional Handbook By The Desert Arthritis Medical Clinic Foundation Natural Relief For Arthritis By Carol Keough The Causation OF Rheumatoid Arthritis By Dr. Roger Wyburn-Mason Overcoming arthritis and other rheumatic diseases By M.Warmbrand Fight back against arthritis by Robert Bingham, M.D. www.arthritis.org African Holistic Health By Dr. Llaila O. Afrika Early Use Of California Plants By Edward K. Balls Rheumatoid Arthritis, Food Allergy As A Factor By M. Zeller Food Hypersensitivity Simulating Rheumatoid Arthritis By M. Zussman Nutrition In Arthritis By Bernard Langdon Wyatt Yucca Plant In The Treatment Of Arthritis By Robert Bingham, M.D. Home | On-line Store | Certification Classes | Testimonials | About Dr. Afrika | Lectures | Ask Dr. Afrika | Contact ©2012 African Holistic Health. All rights reserved. The information provided on this site should not be construed as personal medical advice or instruction. No action should be taken based solely on the contents of this site. Readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being. The information and opinions provided here are believed to be accurate and sound, based on the best judgment available to the authors, but readers who fail to consult appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries. The publisher is not responsible for errors or omissions.

医学

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Corrective Eye Surgery for Refractive Errors Surgery for correcting or improving refractive errors: Clear vision depends on how well the cornea and lens permit light rays to fall onto the retina. Light rays must be refracted (bent) to focus on the retina. The retina is the light-sensitive nerve layer that lines the back of the eye, which creates impulses from the light rays that are sent through the optic nerve to the brain. If the cornea or eye shape is abnormal, vision can become blurry because light does not fall properly on the retina. Called a refractive error, an abnormal cornea shape can often be corrected by refractive eye surgery, which, in turn, corrects the vision problem. Refractive errors can include myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism (an irregularly shaped cornea which causes blurring), and presbyopia (similar to hyperopia, a condition which causes the lens to harden). The goal of most refractive eye surgeries is to reduce or eliminate a person's dependency on eyeglasses or contact lenses. Refractive eye surgery is not for everyone. One type of surgery may be more suitable for one person than another. Always consult your physician for a diagnosis and to discuss which type of surgery, if any, may be appropriate for you. There are several types of corrective surgical procedures for refractive errors, including, but not limited to: laser in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) surgery/wavefront-guided LASIK photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) radial keratotomy (RK) astigmatic keratotomy (AK) automated lamellar keratoplasty (ALK) laser thermal keratoplasty (LTK) conductive keratoplasty (CK) intracorneal ring (Intacs) What is LASIK surgery? LASIK, or laser in-situ keratomileusis, surgery is used to correct nearsightedness. When a person is nearsighted (myopic), his or her eye is too long or the cornea is too steep, resulting in too much focusing power. The light rays entering the eye come in focus before hitting the retina, resulting in blurry vision when looking in the distance. The procedure, which should be performed by a skilled eye surgeon, involves reshaping the cornea using an excimer laser. LASIK is replacing many of the other refractive eye surgery techniques. A promising new technology, called wavefront-guided LASIK, provides an advanced method for measuring optical distortions in the eye. The Eye Surgery Education Council states that physicians can now use this technology as a roadmap to evaluate the eye by measuring how light is distorted as it passes into the eye and then is reflected back. This creates an optical map of the eye, highlighting individual imperfections. In addition, the wavefront technology allows the surgeon to tailor the laser beam settings for a more precise procedure. This provides a patient sharper, better quality vision as well as a reduction in nighttime vision difficulties. How is LASIK surgery performed? Although each procedure varies slightly, in general, LASIK surgery involves using a computer-controlled excimer laser (a cold, ultraviolet laser) and a microkeratome (a surgical instrument). With these instruments, the surgeon cuts a flap in the center of the cornea to remove a thin layer of tissue. By removing the tissue, the cornea flattens, reducing the myopia. The flap, which is replaced without using sutures, adheres back to the cornea within minutes. Recovery after LASIK surgery: In most cases, recovery from LASIK surgery is fast and involves minimal discomfort. Mild pain relievers may be recommended by your surgeon to relieve discomfort during the first day after surgery. Patients typically take eyedrops for a week after the procedure. Possible side effects of LASIK surgery: Generally, LASIK has a high success rate. However, side effects do occur. The following are the most common side effects and complications. Each individual may experience side effects differently. Side effects may include: dry eyes (during the healing process) eye discomfort (mostly during the first 24 hours following surgery) irregular astigmatism, which can decrease the corrected vision (astigmatism means blurring caused by an irregularly shaped cornea) corneal haze or glare overcorrected or undercorrected vision inability to wear contact lenses in the future loss of the corneal flap, requiring a corneal graft Benefits of LASIK surgery: For most candidates, LASIK surgery usually involves little pain and recovery is rapid. Other benefits may include: LASIK can correct a wide range of myopia, up to 15 diopters (unit of measurement of the refractive power of a lens). LASIK can be repeated to correct the vision further. The eyes stabilize between three and six months after LASIK surgery. The eye is not weakened, because only one flap is cut into the cornea. LASIK usually causes little or no scarring of the cornea. Post-operative care is usually limited to using eye drops for a week after surgery. What is photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) surgery? Photorefractive keratectomy, or PRK, uses the same excimer laser used in LASIK surgery and is performed to reshape the cornea in an attempt to correct mild to moderate myopia (nearsightedness). According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), PRK has a 95 percent success rate. Only about 15 percent of patients need glasses, occasionally, following surgery. How is PRK surgery performed? Although each procedure varies slightly, in general, PRK surgery involves an excimer laser beam reshaping the cornea by removing microscopic amounts of tissue from the outer surface. The procedure, which generally only takes a few minutes, uses a computer which maps the eye's surface and calculates the required corneal change. Possible side effects of PRK surgery: Generally, PRK surgery has a high success rate. However, side effects do occur. Because the corneal surface is cut, it takes several weeks to heal. In addition, there is some eye discomfort following the surgery that may last for several weeks. The following are the most common side effects and complications. Each individual may experience side effects differently. Side effects may include: mild corneal haze (following surgery) glare or halos around light (this side effect may be present for months following the procedure) Who is a potential candidate for LASIK or PRK eye surgery? According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), potential candidates for corrective laser eye surgery must meet the following criteria. However, it is advised that potential candidates consult his/her physician before undergoing any type of corrective eye surgery. The criteria include: The candidate must be at least 21 years old if being treated with the Summit laser (one brand of excimer lasers), or 18 years old if being treated with the VISX laser (another brand of excimer lasers). This age requirement is necessary to ensure the eyes have finished growing. The candidate must have mild to moderate nearsightedness (myopia). The candidate must be free of eye disease, problems with the retina, or scarring of the cornea. The candidate must have the financial ability to pay for this costly surgery, since insurance may not cover the procedure. The candidate must be aware of all the side effects, risks, and benefits of the surgery. Candidates should also be aware of the alternative treatment options available. What is radial keratotomy (RK) surgery? Radial keratotomy surgery, or RK, is a procedure also used to correct myopia (nearsightedness). The procedure involves making microscopic, radial incisions (keratotomies) in the cornea to alter the curvature of the cornea, thus, correcting light refraction. Hundreds of thousands of people who qualified for this type of surgery have undergone the procedure successfully since its introduction to the US in 1978. While the procedure has been popular in the past, it has been almost completely replaced by the LASIK procedure. How is RK surgery performed? Although each procedure varies slightly, in general, RK surgery involves an eye surgeon cutting (with a calibrated diamond scalpel) radial or spoke-like incisions into the cornea outside of the center of the cornea (also called the optical zone, which is the area where a person sees through). Due to pressure inside the eye, the incisions cause the center, or optical zone, of the cornea to flatten, reducing refraction. Possible side effects of RK surgery: One main side effect of RK surgery is the excessive amount of time it takes for the cornea to heal. In some cases, healing may take weeks. The following are the most common side effects and complications. Each individual may experience side effects differently. Side effects may include: a weakened cornea that can rupture increased risk of infection difficulty in fitting contact lenses, if needed glare around lights fluctuating vision during the first few months cataracts (a change in the structure of the crystalline lens that causes blurred vision) Benefits of RK surgery: In most cases, RK has proven to be safe and effective for mild degrees of myopia. What is astigmatic keratotomy (AK) surgery? Astigmatic keratotomy (AK) is a surgical procedure, similar to radial keratotomy (RK), which is used to correct astigmatism (an irregularly shaped cornea which causes blurring). Instead of using a radial pattern of incisions, the surgeon makes the incisions in a curved pattern when performing AK surgery. What is automated lamellar keratoplasty (ALK) surgery? Automated lamellar keratoplasty, or ALK, is a surgical procedure that is mainly used for hyperopia (farsightedness) and severe cases of myopia (nearsightedness). A person with hyperopia has shorter-than-normal eyes, causing objects up close to look blurry. How is ALK surgery performed? Although each procedure varies slightly, in general, ALK surgery for myopia involves the surgeon cutting a flap across the front of the cornea with a microkeratome (surgical instrument). The flap is folded to the side and a thin slice of tissue is removed from the surface of the cornea. The removal of tissue flattens the central cornea, or optical zone, reducing refraction. The flap is then put back in place, where it adheres without sutures. During ALK surgery for hyperopia, the surgeon makes a deeper incision into the cornea with the microkeratome (a surgical instrument) to create a flap. The internal pressure in the eye causes the corneal surface to stretch and bulge. The bulging cornea improves the optical power, correcting the hyperopia. The flap is then put back in place, where it adheres without sutures. Possible side effects of ALK surgery: The following are the most common side effects and complications. Each individual may experience side effects differently. Side effects may include: astigmatism (blurring caused by an irregularly shaped cornea) overcorrection or undercorrection inability to wear contact lenses after the procedure What is laser thermal keratoplasty (LTK)? Laser thermal keratoplasty, or LTK, applies heat from a laser to the periphery of the cornea to shrink the collagen fibers, and reshapes the cornea. When the tissue is treated thermally, it contracts the tissue and causes the central cornea to steepen. You must be age 40 or older to qualify for this procedure. What is conductive keratoplasty (CK)? Conductive keratoplasty, or CK, uses heat from low-level, radio frequency waves, rather than laser or scalpel, to shrink the collagen and change the shape of the cornea. A probe that is smaller than a strand of hair is used to apply the radio waves around the outer cornea. This creates a constrictive band that that increases the curve of the cornea and improves vision. What is an intracorneal ring (Intacs)? Intracorneal rings, or Intacs, is a micro-thin intracorneal ring that is implanted into the cornea. Intacs produces a reshaping of the curvature of the cornea, thus improving vision. Intacs are only available in the US for low degrees of myopia. How to prepare for refractive eye surgery: Most refractive eye surgeries are performed on an outpatient basis, with most procedures lasting less than one hour in duration. In preparation for surgery, you may be asked to: arrange for someone to drop you off and pick you up again after surgery. not wear your contact lenses for a period of time before surgery, to prevent corneal warpage. not wear eye make-up for a couple of days before surgery. What to expect during surgery: Although each procedure varies slightly, in general, refractive eye surgery involves minimal discomfort. The eye is usually numbed with eye drops prior to surgery. While in surgery, you may also: stay awake during the procedure. your eye may be kept open with an eye speculum (a spring-like device between the eyelids). Specific events that occur during surgery vary depending on the type of surgery performed. Recovering from surgery: Recovery times vary depending on the surgery, but can last anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months. The following are some common symptoms following surgery. However, each individual may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms following surgery may include: blurry vision minor discomfort Anatomy of the Eye Eye Care Specialists Eye Examinations Correcting or Improving Vision

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News Stories Search News Articles News Staff For News Media Main Campus News Contact Us About Brody School of Medicine repeats as Top Ten Award winner by the American Academy of Family Physicians in promoting primary care By Spaine StephensFor ECU News Services Representatives from the Department of the Family Medicine accepted the award May 3, from left to right: Dr. Kari Kirian, clinical instructor; Dr. Lars Larsen, vice chair of educational development; Dr. Jeff Cain, AAFP president; Dr. Chris Duffrin, assistant professor; and Dr. Lauren Whetstone, assistant professor. (Contributed photo) GREENVILLE, N.C. (May 24, 2013) — The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University has received a Top Ten Award by the American Academy of Family Physicians for contributing to the pipeline of family physicians.With 20.9 percent of graduates choosing family medicine residencies, the Brody School of Medicine earned the top spot among the 12 schools that received 2013 Top Ten Awards. This is the third consecutive year that the Brody School of Medicine has earned the Top Ten distinction.Representatives from ECU accepted the award in Baltimore, Md., earlier this month.“The Brody School of Medicine has a strong tradition of continuing to work diligently toward its founding legislative missions of an emphasis on primary care training, training underrepresented minorities, and improving the health care of those in eastern North Carolina,” said Dr. Ken Steinweg, professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine. “This particular award is national recognition in one of those areas, our No. 1 standing in promoting primary care—in particular family medicine—as a medical profession among medical students.”The medical school’s success in rankings over the last decade has helped attract promising family-medicine-track students who are enthusiastic about the campus and the faculty. The Brody School of Medicine focuses on recruiting and teaching the students but also on having a faculty of professional examples for the future physicians to learn from.“They know that’s what we’re about,” Steinweg said. “They’re surrounded by good role models and beautiful facilities.”The Brody School of Medicine has held fast to the top rankings consistently because of the support of the administration and efforts of other medical school faculty and staff, he added.“We have a tradition of doing this,” Steinweg said. “All in all, it’s an initiative of the whole medical school.”At a time when the United States is facing a shortage of primary care physicians, adding to the pool of family physicians is vital to the health of America, said AAFP President Dr. Jeff Cain.“Family physicians are the foundation of primary care,” Cain said. “Theirs is the only specialty in which all physicians are trained to provide primary care. The expertise of family physicians becomes even more important to people who have serious and chronic health conditions.”Research shows that family physicians are the source of care for close to six out of 10 patients with anxiety, depression, diabetes, cancer and heart disease.This year’s Top Ten recognition was expanded to 12 schools out of the nation’s 126 allopathic medical schools to accommodate the growth in the number of geographically separated medical school campuses across the country. Contact: Spaine Stephens

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Public release date: 18-Sep-2006 Contact: Mount Sinai Press Office newsmedia@mssm.edu The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine Cabernet sauvignon red wine reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease A new study directed by Mount Sinai School of Medicine has found that moderate red wine consumption in a form of Cabernet Sauvignon may help reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The study entitled "Moderate Consumption of Cabernet Sauvignon Attenuates �-amyloid Neuropathology in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease" is in press, and will be published in the November 2006 issue of The FASEB Journal. The breakthrough study will also be presented at the "Society for Neuroscience Meeting" held in Atlanta, Georgia, October 14-18, 2006. "Our study is the first to report that moderate consumption of red wine in a form of Cabernet Sauvignon delivered in the drinking water for ~7 months significantly reduces AD-type �-amyloid neuropathology, and memory deterioration in ~11-month-old transgenic mice that model AD," reported researchers Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti and Dr. Jun Wang at Mount Sinai. "This study supports epidemiological evidence indicating that moderate wine consumption, within the range recommended by the FDA dietary guidelines of one drink per day for women and two for men, may help reduce the relative risk for AD clinical dementia." "This new breakthrough is another step forward in Alzheimer's research at Mount Sinai and across the globe for this growing health concern that has devastating effects," say Giulio Maria Pasinetti, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Director of the Neuroinflammation Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and lead author of the study and Dr. Jun Wang, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and co-Author of the study. "These findings give researchers and millions of families a glimpse of light at the end of the long dark tunnel for future prevention of this disease." People with AD exhibit elevated levels of beta-amyloid peptides that cause plaque buildup in the brain, which is the main characteristic of AD. An estimated 4.5 million Americans have AD. Presently, there are no known cures or effective preventive strategies. While genetic factors are responsible in early-onset cases, they appear to play less of a role in late-onset-sporadic AD cases, the most common form of AD. However, lifestyle factors such as diet and now moderate wine consumption are receiving increasing attention for its potential preventative impact on AD. Using mice, with AD-type �-amyloid (A�) neuropathology, researchers at Mount Sinai tested whether moderate consumption of the red wine Cabernet Sauvignon changes AD-type neuropathology and cognitive deterioration. The wine used was delivered in a final concentration of approximately 6% ethanol. It was found that Cabernet Sauvignon significantly reduced AD-type deterioration of spatial memory function and A� neuropathology in mice relative to control mice that were treated with either a comparable amount of ethanol or water alone. Cabernet Sauvignon was found to exert a beneficial effect by promoting non-amyloidogenic processing of amyloid precursor protein, which ultimately prevents the generation of AD �-amyloid neuropathology. ### This study was done in collaboration with Dr. Susan S. Percival at the University of Florida's Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition Department. Mount Sinai School of Medicine Located in Manhattan, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is internationally recognized for ground-breaking clinical and basic-science research, and innovative approaches to medical education. Through the Mount Sinai Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Mount Sinai trains biomedical researchers with an emphasis on the rapid translation of discoveries of basic research into new techniques for fighting disease. One indication of Mount Sinai's leadership in scientific investigation is its receipt during fiscal year 2005 of $174.1 million in research support from the NIH. Mount Sinai School of Medicine also is known for unique educational programs such as the Humanities in Medicine program, which creates opportunities for liberal arts students to pursue medical school, and instructional innovations like The Morchand Center, the nation's largest program teaching students and physicians with "standardized patients" to become not only highly skilled, but compassionate caregivers. Long dedicated to improving its community, the School extends its boundaries to work with East Harlem and surrounding communities to provide access to health care and educational programs to at risk populations.

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Dr. William Cahan Dr. William Cahan served as medical advisor to the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute. The Distinguished Professor Award was named in his memory. William G. Cahan was a thoracic surgeon at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City for more than 50 years. He was a pioneer in national efforts to combat smoking, working both in the medical profession and in government. He was also an author and tireless advocate of laws and educational programs to eradicate smoking. Dr. Cahan’s clinical work centered mostly on lung cancer and breast cancer. He often referred to his operating room as “Marlboro Country.” His research innovations included advanced studies of the health effects of radiation and the practice of removing lymph nodes between the lungs when performing lung cancer surgery because the cancer tended to spread in these areas. He was irrepressible in speaking out against cigarette smoke. From actors to taxi cab drivers he would say “cut it out.” Born in 1914, Bill Cahan grew up in New York City, graduated from Harvard College in 1935 and received his medical degree from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1939. After serving in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, he joined the surgery department at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in 1949 where he spent his life combating the diseases caused by direct and involuntary smoke inhalation. In 1974, he married Grace Mirabella-Cahan, the former editor of Vogue and Mirabella magazines. They acted as a united force to bring attention to the public health menace resulting from exposure to second hand tobacco smoke. Such efforts included lobbying the City Council of New York in the late 1980’s to restrict smoking in restaurants and public buildings. contact information · return to main · © 2007 FAMRI

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The Feingold Diet Program for ADHD Proudly making Feingold-acceptable products: WHAT IS THE FEINGOLD DIET? SYMPTOMS HELPED WHY? RENEW FREE eNEWS Eczema, Hives (Urticaria) One of the scientists at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Kristjan Kehler, studied the medical records of more than 43,000 children with eczema. He found that they were far more likely than those without it to later receive a diagnosis of ADD. Moreover, people with eczema are also prone to suffer from asthma. (Note: Novartis is the manufacturer of Ritalin.) This information was presented at the 61st annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology. The doctors attending found the information interesting, but puzzling. But the connection between ADD, eczema and asthma does not seem so mysterious when you consider that all of these conditions can be brought on by exposure to certain synthetic food additives. Diet Connection The diet Dr. Feingold used as Chief of Allergy at Kaiser Permanente in California was based on an earlier diet developed at the Mayo Clinic by Stephen Lockey. It was frequently used for general allergies and asthma when triggers were unknown. The very first patient recognized as having improved behavior because of a dietary change was a woman in her 40s who came to Kaiser Permanente suffering from acute giant hives around her eyes. Dr. Feingold tested her for allergies, but all tests were negative. Then, to test the possibility that food colors and flavors were a factor, he put her on a diet that eliminated them. Her hives vanished within 72 hours. Ten days later, Dr. Feingold received a phone call from the Center's chief of psychiatry, asking, "What did you do with that patient?" It turned out that the woman had been in psychotherapy for about two years; she was hostile and aggressive, unable to get along with anyone at home or at work. In less than two weeks on the diet, her behavior had become quite normal. Dr. Feingold writes in Why Your Child is Hyperactive, "Since we had no previous experience or knowledge of a behavioral disturbance induced by artificial colors and flavors, I became curious and alerted the staff to look for similar situations." And that was the beginning of what later came to be known as the Feingold Diet. One may wonder how this lady came to be almost 40 years old before needing psychotherapy for her hostility; why didn't she get hives earlier? Or why weren't they more serious when she was a child? It is important to look at the dates. Her first appointment with Dr. Feingold was in the summer of 1965. Although products with artificial colors and flavors were available even before World War II, they were introduced relatively slowly; it was in 1964 that the first Lucky Charm cereals with colored marshmallow pieces were sold. Kool-Aid was another common source of artificial colors and flavors which - by 1953 - was selling a million packets a day. This is not so much when you remember that the U.S. population at that time was over 160 million people. Although Tang was first introduced as a breakfast drink in 1957, its sales didn't take off until after it was used on space flights beginning in 1965. By the mid-1960s, when this lady sought out Dr. Feingold, the use of food additives had increased significantly. In his book, Why Your Child is Hyperactive, published in 1974, Dr. Feingold comments on page 21 on the evidence favoring additives as a cause of the recent rise in what he called H-LD (Hyperactivity - Learning Disability). He writes: "Most of the synthetic additives, aside from colors, were less than thirty-five years old. Could the mass of convenience foods, the great tangle of additives, have anything to do with the recent alarming incidence of H-LD?" "There seemed to be circumstantial evidence. A Standard & Poor's graph projecting the dollar-value increase in artificial flavors looked very much like a graph indicating the rising trend of H-LD for the same period. A soft-drink graph displayed a certain parallel to the increased incidence in hyperactive children, and the synthetics were often used in the soft beverages." Links: - Research on diet and skin problems - Tommy's story - Walker's story

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House, Senate Look to PAHPA Reauthorization to Stoke Biodefense Initiave Bill has passed the House and was the subject of a closed-door executive session in the Senate on December 14. One of the bill’s key provisions is renewing the federal Special Reserve Fund to purchase medical countermeasures against such diseases as anthrax, botulism, and smallpox for the Strategic National Stockpile. [© pressmaster - Fotolia.com] The array of federal biodefense programs created in the years after 9/11 is on track to remain in place through federal fiscal year 2018. There will also be some new provisions that officials hope will encourage more development of medical countermeasures that can be stockpiled for emergency use. Earlier this month a House of Representatives bill (HR 2405) to reauthorize those biodefense programs for the next five federal fiscal years cleared the chamber on a simple voice vote. President Barack Obama’s administration has declared its support for HR 2405, adding that it “looks forward to working with Congress to improve and strengthen the bill, for example by authorizing a strategic investor for medical countermeasures, as its consideration shifts to the Senate.” The Senate version of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) Reauthorization of 2011 (S.1855), introduced last month, was the subject of a closed-door “executive session” on December 14 by the chamber’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, on its way to an expected approval by that chamber. Among the bill’s most important provisions is renewing the federal Special Reserve Fund (SRF) to purchase medical countermeasures against such diseases as anthrax, botulism, and smallpox for the Strategic National Stockpile. The SRF was created through the Project BioShield Act of 2004, one of two bills that are being renewed through the new legislation. The other is the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006, which established the Biodefense Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “The first legislation made these programs happen, and now the reauthorization is an issue of how to make them more operational and functional,” Dara Alpert Lieberman, senior government relations manager for the public health defense group Trust for America’s Health, told GEN. Setting Funding Levels Both the House and Senate versions of PAHPA Reauthorization would fund the SRF at $2.8 billion over five years, from FY 2014 through FY 2018. The original 10-year PAHPA authorized $5.6 billion. “While certainly everybody would like to see the SRF be a little bigger in order to incentivize more industry, it’s actually a very reasonable number,” Phyllis Arthur, senior director, vaccines, immunotherapeutics, and diagnostics policy, for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), told GEN. It remains to be seen how, if at all, the House and Senate will prevent Washington from draining the fund for other purposes. Three times since FY 2004, most recently in FY 2009, money from SRF was transferred to homeland security. Additionally, last year Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC), Judd Gregg (R-NH), and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) introduced a bill that rescinded a $2 billion transfer from the SRF to fund increased education state aid. To discourage such draining of the fund, both the House and Senate versions of PAHPA Reauthorization require HHS to alert Congress on the potential impact of diminished funding levels whenever the amount of BioShield funds available for procurement amounts to less than $1.5 billion. The House goes even further by stipulating that appropriations to the SRF are not available for use other than for payments made by the HHS Secretary to a vendor for advanced development or procurement of a security countermeasure or for associated administrative expenses. Addressing Regulatory Concerns Also in both the House and Senate versions of the PAHPA Reauthorization is language creating “regulatory management plans.” Through this drug developers can establish formal frameworks for obtaining scientific feedback from and interactions with officials regarding the development and regulatory review of countermeasures. While details differ, both bills require the plans to spell out the data that would be required for approval, including protocols and developmental milestones. The plans are also supposed to help drug makers work through complex scientific issues such as developing animal models. “These are the kinds of timelines that interest industry,” Arthur noted. “It’s really just having consistency in terms of communication to and from the agency and consistency in feedback when trying to solve some of the regulatory hurdles. This is a good way to make sure that work is staying on track or that issues are being identified. If we’re not on track for certain portfolio products but there’s a good reason why a scientific hurdle hasn’t been accomplished, that would be identified in the report. It’s not really to blame; it’s more to track and to make sure that we understand where the priorities are over time.” The Senate bill also clarifies FDA’s review process for medical countermeasures. It requires FDA to take material threat determinations by the US Department of Homeland Security into consideration when reviewing products. As Lieberman noted that would put into statute a practice of FDA’s Medical Countermeasures Initiative that was only expanded to CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) in April; the $170 million program was launched in 2010 strictly for activities related to preparing for and responding to an influenza pandemic. “The idea behind codifying was to make sure that those reviewers working on medical countermeasures were acutely aware of what the products they were working on were designed to do,” Arthur explained. Also to that effect, Section 304 of the Senate bill charges the HHS secretary with accelerating countermeasure activities by ensuring the appropriate involvement of FDA personnel in interagency activities, ensuring FDA involvement and consultation in flexible manufacturing activities, and promoting the development of countermeasure expertise within FDA. Section 306 also requires the HHS secretary to submit an annual report detailing FDA’s medical countermeasure development and review activities, including identifying regulatory science priorities and scientific gaps. Annual Budget Considerations Are Important Closer coordination among government agencies and faster decisions will be essential if countermeasure developers are to spend a decade and roughly $1 billion to bring these drugs to market. To that extent PAHPA should prove helpful. How to achieve both will require more time to hash out in conference, since that accounts for many of the differences in the reauthorization bills. “Because diseases or conditions requiring the use of CBRN countermeasures important to national security have historically occurred infrequently, manufacturers have asserted that a commercial market sufficient to justify investment in the development of CBRN countermeasures does not exist, and therefore economic incentive must be provided by the public sector by providing a guaranteed market,” Ryan C. Morhard, legal analyst with the Center for Biosecurity of UPMC, told GEN. Obama’s administration has positioned itself as supportive of more biotech business activity in countermeasures. In 2010, HHS announced a strategy for its Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE) that included encouraging translation of research; providing testing, development, and manufacturing services with mature pharmaceutical partners; and involving the federal government as a strategic partner and investor to countermeasure developers. That same year, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology issued its own study designed to speed up development of flu vaccines. The proposed PAHPA Reauthorization will codify into law some of their recommendations, and in some cases, set funding for these and other biodefense priorities. Both the Senate and House bills, for example, call for plans to implement HHS’ PHEMCE strategy. The most significant biodefense measures go beyond PAHPA legislation, however, to the annual budget bills that future Congresses will decide for all the agencies involved. So while PAHPA may set a fairly sound direction, a better indication of Congress’ commitment to biodefense will be as simple as following the money. KEYWORDS: Biodefense Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011 Policy/Legislation Senate Passes PAHPA Reauthorization of Biodefense Programs, With Some Variations from House Defense Authorization Measure Yields Less for Chem-Bio Defense, More for Cooperative Biodefense Engagement Do-It-Yourself Bioengineers Bedeviled by Society's Paranoia

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Hampshire Center 260 Sunrise BoulevardRomney, WV 26757-6345 Michelle Abruzzino-Smith Michelle Abruzzino-Smith has been the Administrator at Hampshire Center since 2005. She is a graduate from Fairmont State University in the Human Service Field and has a Master's Degree from West Virginia University in Social Work. Michelle has worked in the long-term care field since 1997. Vickie Haines Vickie Haines has been the Director of Nursing since 1998 and was promoted to Senior Director of Nursing in 2006. Vickie started her career with Hampshire Center as a floor nurse in 1993 and shortly after became the CRC. Vickie graduated with her Nursing Degree from Shenandoah University. Sheila Keister Sheila has been the Admissions and Marketing Director at Hampshire Center since 2005. Sheila started her career at Hampshire Center in 1993 as a Certified Nursing Assistant. Over the years, Sheila has worked in different capacities at the center such as GNAS, Central Supply Coordinator and bookkeeper. Jeanne Wittmann Jeanne Wittmann has been the Rehabilitation Program Director since 2004. Jeanne has been with Hampshire Center's therapy department for 10 years and has worked for Genesis HealthCare for 14 years. Jeanne graduated from the PTA program at De Anza Community College in Cupertino CA. She also has a Bachelor's Degree in Art from San Jose State University. Find A Location

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Infectious Diseases Experts Welcome Reintroduction of STAAR Act in Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance 06/06/2013The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) applauds Representative Jim Matheson (D-UT) for reintroducing the Strategies to Address Antimicrobial Resistance (STAAR) Act to provide urgently needed federal leadership to tackle this growing public health crisis. IDSA has long raised the alarm about this urgent issue and urged the federal government to strengthen its response to antimicrobial resistance in policy recommendations published in 2011 (“Combatting Antimicrobial Resistance: Policy Recommendations to Save Lives”). The problem continues to worsen, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted in its March 2013 Vital Signs report on the rise of a “nightmare” class of resistant bacteria that kills approximately half of patients infected. Congress recognized the need to address antimicrobial resistance and the lack of new antimicrobial drugs by providing incentives to stimulate the development of new antimicrobials in the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), which became law in 2012. The STAAR Act would complement FDASIA by enhancing efforts to combat the development of resistance and spread of resistant infections. “It is critical that Congress protect its investment in the development of new antimicrobials by enacting the STAAR Act, which will strengthen the federal response to antimicrobial resistance through enhanced leadership, surveillance, research, and data collection,” said Henry Chambers, MD, chair of IDSA’s Antimicrobial Resistance Committee. “Importantly, the STAAR Act will help ensure that new drugs do not immediately become obsolete by improving antimicrobial stewardship efforts to preserve the effectiveness of these lifesaving medications for patients who need them.” “My bill takes a common sense approach aimed at better understanding and monitoring the cause and spread of antimicrobial resistant infections, improving antibiotic development and ultimately helping people who need and rely on antibiotics,” Representative Matheson said. “Antimicrobial resistance is often caused by the overuse of antibiotics; my bill addresses this problem by calling for data collection on antibiotic use as well as research to combat so-called ‘superbugs.’ ” Specifically, the STAAR Act provides direction and authority for the federal government to combat antimicrobial resistance by: Reauthorizing the Antimicrobial Resistance Task Force, establishing an Advisory Board of outside experts and an Antimicrobial Resistance Office in the Department of Health and Human Services whose director will coordinate government efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance; Building upon existing National Institutes of Health (NIH) efforts by creating an antimicrobial resistance strategic research plan and authorizing the Clinical Trials Network on Antibacterial Resistance; Building upon CDC’s programs by authorizing the Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance and Laboratory Network and additional efforts to enhance the national capacity to prevent the transmission of resistant infections and the development of resistance; Expanding current efforts to collect antimicrobial resistance and use data; Developing and testing quality measures on antimicrobial use. A IDSA-led group of more than 20 organizations representing physicians, pharmacists, dentists, health care epidemiologists, infection prevention and control professionals, patients, and public health experts also voiced support for the STAAR Act in a letter to Representative Matheson today, applauding the lawmaker for reintroducing the legislation. “IDSA has long called for a multi-pronged strategy to combat antimicrobial resistance,” said IDSA President David A. Relman, MD. “The STAAR Act includes many of the steps needed to ensure that our federal response to this public health crisis is coordinated and robust. We look forward to working with Representative Matheson and other leaders in Congress and the administration to enact this important legislation.” In 2010, IDSA launched the 10 x ’20 Initiative, calling for the development of 10 new systemic antibiotics by 2020. An IDSA policy report published in April 2013 found that only one such antibiotic has been developed to date, with few promising antimicrobial drugs in the development pipeline to treat the most serious, life-threatening infections. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is an organization of physicians, scientists, and other health care professionals dedicated to promoting health through excellence in infectious diseases research, education, prevention, and patient care. The Society, which has nearly 10,000 members, was founded in 1963 and is based in Arlington, VA. For more information, see www.idsociety.org. Sky Opila

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Life Extension Magazine October 2005 Coenzyme Q10 New Applications for Cancer Therapy By Christie Yerby, ND Computer graphic of a coenzyme Q10 molecule. The green spheres represent carbon, the red spheres are oxygen, and the white spheres are hydrogen. Promising new research suggests that coenzyme Q10 may be an important adjuvant therapy for cancer patients. Scientists have discovered that CoQ10 can program cancer cells to self-destruct before multiplying at their customary, lethal rates. For millions of cancer patients, the implications of this discovery are nothing short of profound. This finding was one of several from recent studies conducted by researchers at the University of Miami (FL), using CoQ10 as their test agent.1 In a telephone interview in July 2005, principal investigator Dr. S.L. Hsia told Life Extension, “This is the first time in history we have been able to selectively teach a cancer cell to kill itself with CoQ10, via a mitochondrial mechanism, without harming the healthy cells.” According to team researcher Niven R. Narain, cancer cells lose their apoptotic potential, or ability to respond to programmed cell death. “What CoQ10 does is to restore apoptosis to cancer cells,” Narain told Life Extension. “The data suggest that CoQ10 significantly reduces expression of the bcl-2 gene family, which is responsible for conferring resistance to cell death. In essence, CoQ10 modulates bcl-2 in a manner that allows the cancer cell to kill itself without adversely affecting normal cells. This is why we say it is ‘selective,’ because the bcl-2 family is not affected in normal cells.” CoQ10 Research: Past and Present CoQ10, a fat-soluble, vitamin-like nutrient that is also called “ubiquinone” because it is found in every human cell, boosts energy, is a powerful antioxidant, and can bolster immune health. Growing research indicates that CoQ10 is valuable for fighting fatigue, preventing and managing heart disease and some cancers, and possibly reversing some of the toxic effects of chemotherapy.2 As a coenzyme, it supports many important biochemical reactions in the body. Interest in CoQ10’s therapeutic uses can be traced as far back as 1957, when it was first identified by Frederick Crane, PhD. In the 1960s, Peter D. Mitchell, PhD, discovered that CoQ10 produces energy at the cellular level, work that would eventually earn him a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1978. In the early 1980s, Karl Folkers, PhD, director of the Institute for Biochemical Research at the University of Texas, and Peter H. Langsjoen, MD, FACC, began studying CoQ10. In 1983, seven years before Folkers received the National Medal of Science in recognition of his work, the Life Extension Foundation announced CoQ10’s potential benefits for health disorders ranging from neurological aging to heart disease, and drew attention to numerous clinical studies demonstrating its safety.2 The recent findings about CoQ10 may mean that in the near future, a diagnosis of cancer may carry with it more hope for being able to continue living a long and healthy life. But does this mean we are closer to finding a cure for cancer? Computer artwork of a molecule of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The atoms are shown as spheres and are color-coded: carbon (yellow), oxygen (red), nitrogen (blue), hydrogen (white), and phosphorus (green). “We encourage cancer patients to continue the traditional treatment their doctors recommend,” says Dr. Hsia. He feels, however, that adjuvant, or integrative, therapy with CoQ10 may be advisable. “It might be advantageous to give cancer patients CoQ10,” he says, “given that it will help healthy cells produce more ATP [adenosine triphosphate], the energy molecule.” Dr. Hsia notes that CoQ10 is concentrated in the mitochondria, the energy-generating “power plants” contained in each human cell. CoQ10 is an important cofactor, or contributing ingredient, in the production of ATP, the molecule that serves as the cell’s major energy source and is central to many life-sustaining biological processes.3 Some health experts believe that diminished ATP levels may lead to the development of chronic illnesses, including cancer. CoQ10-Depleting Agents The body’s natural stores of CoQ10 can be depleted in numerous ways, including inadequate biosynthesis due to gene mutation, inhibited production caused by cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, normal aging, strenuous exercise, and cancer.3 Correcting these deficiencies often requires supplementing with greater amounts of CoQ10 than can be obtained through dietary sources.3 Studies show that patients treated with statin drugs have lower plasma levels of CoQ10, since these medications block mevalonic acid, which is a precursor of both cholesterol and CoQ10.4-8 CoQ10 supplementation may prevent plasma depletion without affecting the statins’ cholesterol-lowering effects.9 Normal aging can also affect CoQ10 levels. “By age 20,” says Narain, “CoQ10 diminishes in our bodies. It has been suggested that low levels of CoQ10 may lead to a number of diminished states of health, playing a part in many degenerative illnesses.” The increased metabolic rates seen in athletes during strenuous competition or endurance exercise may accelerate the body’s utilization of CoQ10. Unless these increased demands are met through supplementation, the body’s CoQ10 levels may remain in a depleted state.10 Decreased CoQ10 bioavailability may cause cellular damage resulting in altered DNA and consequently leading to poor health.8 Studies have noted diminished CoQ10 levels in cancer patients and others with chronic illnesses.11-14 Results from assay studies accumulated over 25 years reveal that viral infection may deplete CoQ10 levels and that AIDS patients show a “striking” beneficial response to CoQ10 supplementation.15 Free radicals, which alter cell membranes and DNA, have been implicated in the aging process and the development and progression of many chronic and degenerative illnesses, including cancer.16 Some researchers believe that free radical damage may contribute to the pathogenesis of cancer and that antioxidant supplements may help aging adults counter the effects of environmental toxins.11,17,18 Antioxidants inhibit free radical formation or quench existing radicals, thus halting the progression of free radical damage. Many nutrients act as antioxidants, with CoQ10 being one of the more powerful.19 CoQ10 deficiencies thus may contribute to greater cellular damage from free radicals. Some conventional cancer therapies and radiation treatments kill cancer cells, in part by spurring free radical formation.16 Although it may seem illogical to supply a source of antioxidants during conventional cancer treatment, the value of using antioxidants to treat cancer remains a topic of great debate, despite the known adverse effects of chemotherapy drugs.18 Recent data, however, suggest that antioxidants can help counter the toxic side effects of chemotherapeutic agents without affecting their anti-cancer actions. Results from a study investigating the combined efficacy of tamoxifen citrate (Nolvadex®) and CoQ10 were reported in May 2005. Tamoxifen is commonly used to prevent and treat breast cancer. While known to be an antioxidant as well as a non-steroidal anti-estrogenic drug, it can produce adverse side effects with extended use. Researchers sought to determine whether CoQ10 could help to minimize tamoxifen’s side effects while maintaining or increasing its antioxidant actions.18 In this study, rats with chemically induced mammary carcinoma exhibited lowered levels of antioxidant activity, suggesting a possible increase in free radicals and the resultant peroxidative damage often implicated in cancer development. Rats that received 28 days of tamoxifen and CoQ10 had significantly increased glutathione-related antioxidant enzymes. The researchers concluded that the combination of CoQ10 and tamoxifen restores antioxidant activity that is diminished by chemotherapeutic agents, and increases antioxidant actions that may prevent cancer cell proliferation and protect cells from free radical damage.18 Another chemotherapy drug, Adriamycin® (doxorubicin), can damage the heart. In 1996, scientists noted that CoQ10 helped prevent Adriamycin®-induced cardiotoxicity. Again in 2005, researchers reported that CoQ10 appears to prevent Adriamycin®-induced damage to the mitochondria of the heart.20 People with cancer affirm their belief in the benefits of nutritional supplements by adding them to their health-restoration programs. A recent study showed that 63% of 453 oncology patients used vitamins and herbs, leading the researchers to call for further studies. “Use of CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) will likely increase,” the study reported.21 According to scientists at the University of Colorado, high-dose antioxidants inhibit the growth of different rodent and human cancer cells both in vivo and in vitro. Because each antioxidant may have a different mechanism of action on tumor cells, cancer cells may respond uniquely to different antioxidants. While antioxidant treatment for a short time (a few hours) may not inhibit cancer cell growth, treatment over a longer period of time (24 hours or more) with the same dose may inhibit tumor growth. Thus, the efficacy of antioxidants may depend on the cellular environment.22 Chemotherapy drugs can have toxic side effects.20,23 By reducing cellular damage, antioxidants may help to minimize these side effects and improve outcomes for patients with cancer. Emerging evidence suggests that CoQ10 may be a valuable adjuvant therapy for individuals undergoing conventional cancer therapy. Cancer-Preventive Effects As early as 1961, low levels of CoQ10 were noted in patients with myeloma, lymphoma, and cancers of the breast, lung, prostate, pancreas, colon, kidney, head, and neck.16 However, CoQ10’s potential value in preventing breast cancer did not become apparent until more than three decades later, in studies conducted by Knud Lockwood, MD, a cancer specialist in Copenhagen, Denmark.24 Lockwood’s treatment of 32 “high-risk” breast cancer patients with antioxidants and other nutrients, including a daily dose of 90 mg of CoQ10, produced remarkable results. Although four deaths were expected, no deaths occurred. The subjects also reported decreased use of painkillers, an absence of weight loss, and an improved sense of well-being. Of the 32 participants, six showed partial tumor remission and two benefited from an even higher dose of CoQ10. One woman experienced a stabilized tumor when taking 90 mg of CoQ10; after her daily dose was increased to 390 mg, the tumor disappeared, a finding confirmed by mammography.24 Another patient who had a small tumor removed from her right breast refused to undergo a second operation to remove another. Instead, she began taking 390 mg of CoQ10 daily. Three months later, mammography confirmed an absence of tumors or metastasis in her breast.25 In a follow-up study more than one year later, three other subjects in the original study who had combined conventional cancer therapy with CoQ10 supplementation of 390 mg a day also saw their tumors disappear with no evidence of metastasis.26 CoQ10 thus appears to be the dominant nutrient contributing to breast cancer regression and prevention of its recurrence.25 Correcting a CoQ10 deficiency may be essential for good health. According to Stephen Sinatra in his book The CoQ10 Phenomenon, “Without CoQ10, the body cannot survive.”10 Sinatra recommends CoQ10 supplementation, especially for those undergoing breast cancer therapy and others who are at risk of having depleted stores of CoQ10, including aging adults and users of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs.10 1 2 Complementary Alternative Cancer Therapies

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RWJCSP Home / Scholars 2008-2010 Scholars J. Jane Shin Jue, MD, (Internal Medicine) received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University and her medical degree from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. During her time in medical school she founded a free health clinic which continues to serve the homeless and marginalized community of Manhattan's lower East side. Completing her residency in Internal Medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center, she also received special training in global health medicine. Uganda, India, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Brazil are some of the places where she has done medical work. She was a 2007 recipient of the AMA Leadership Award. Areas of prior research for Dr. Jue include barriers to HIV testing, diabetes disparities, and also professionalism in medical education. She is currently working on research in adolescent obesity. Other areas of interest include the impact of media in health promotion, ethics in health care management and heath care financing, and ethics in medical training. Zachary Meisel MD, MPH, (Emergency Medicine) received his undergraduate degree in History at Columbia. He received his medical and public health degrees at Johns Hopkins and completed his residency as chief resident at the University of Pennsylvania. He is interested in how health care workers communicate with each other during emergencies and is particularly interested in patient safety during transitions in care from EMS to hospital settings. He is a contributing columnist for the online journal Slate, and is interested in evaluating methods to improve the dissemination of health services concepts to influential, non-medical decision makers. Mark Neuman, MD, (Anesthesiology) is an anesthesiologist who attended Yale College and the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. He completed his training in anesthesiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. Dr. Neuman’s research examines the intersection of acute surgical care and the medical management of chronic conditions in the elderly. His current projects focus on strategies for improving inpatient care for patients with hip fracture and reducing rates of re-admission after surgical procedures. Matthew Press, M.D., (Internal Medicine) received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Brown University. He completed his internal medicine residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He also has studied at the London School of Economics. His current research interests include the impact of organizational culture and workplace characteristics on health care quality. Charmaine Smith Wright, MD, (Internal Medicine/Pediatrics) grew up in Illinois, then went to Harvard for college and medical school. She completed her residency in combined internal medicine and pediatrics at Harvard's Combined med-peds program and was selected chief her final year. During residency, she nurtured her interest in maternal-child health and nutrition throughout the lifespan. She continues to work to understand the associations that exist between pregnancy, mother and child by studying prospective and retrospective cohort data and developing a postpartum weight loss program. Anje Van Berckelaer, MD (Family Medicine) is a family physician who trained at Harvard Medical School and the family medicine residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. She has recently worked in pediatric malnutrition and TB/HIV programs in sub-Saharan Africa with Medecins Sans Frontieres. Her current research and advocacy interests are centered on access to health care and enrollment in public health insurance programs. Glenda Wrenn, MD (Psychiatry) received her undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Nuclear Engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and her medical degree from Jefferson Medical College. She completed her residency training in Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania where she participated in the Clinical Research Scholars Program in Psychiatry. Her clinical and research interests include enhancing resiliency of communities, integrating systems of mental health care, developing effective systems to respond to mass trauma, and addressing health disparities in mental health access. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program at the University of Pennsylvania 13th Floor Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6021 Tel: (215) 573-2740 • Fax (215) 573-2742 • rwjcsp@mail.med.upenn.edu

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Home > Newsroom > Montefiore News Releases Montefiore Overview The Children's Hospital at Montefiore Experts for Media Montefiore Twitter Timeline Montefiore News Releases Guidelines for Participation in Montefiore Social Media Public Relations Staff Directory News Releases Research Tackles Childhood Obesity in the Bronx Bronx, NY (March 29, 2010) -The National Institutes of Health has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University $1.22 million to combat childhood obesity in the Bronx. Working with Montefiore Medical Center, The University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for Einstein, a team of researchers will build upon their earlier work using education-based audio CDs in the classroom to encourage physical activity and promote positive lifestyle habits. The prevalence of pediatric obesity has tripled in the past three decades and inner-city minority children have been disproportionally affected. In the South Bronx, nearly one in three children enrolled in the Head Start program, which provides educational services for three- to five-year-olds from low-income households, is obese. Almost half are overweight or obese.1 "After 20 years of medical practice in the South Bronx, I have come to appreciate the enormity, complexity and morbidity of the epidemic," said Philip Ozuah, M.D., Ph.D., chair of pediatrics at Einstein and Montefiore and principle investigator of the study. "The impact of obesity on children and their health is devastating and demands to be addressed." Physical inactivity is one of the contributing factors to this widespread problem. Although the World Health Organization has identified physical activity in schools as an essential strategy to prevent childhood obesity, many schools - especially in low-income areas - lack facilities to implement the recommendation. To address this reality, Dr. Ozuah and his team created a series of 10-minute audio CDs designed to encourage aerobic activity. Developed in conjunction with the New York City Department of Education and local schools, the education-based CDs coincide with the curriculum of each grade level. The activities are led by a teacher in a standard classroom setting and are meant to be a supplement to physical education classes and recess. "Through his innovative approach to confronting childhood obesity, Dr. Ozuah offers the type of leadership we need to fight the epidemic and its consequences, including the appearance of type 2 diabetes among children and adolescents," said Allen M. Spiegel, M.D., the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean at Einstein and former director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. "Type 2 diabetes is no longer a disease diagnosed only in adults. Children are now facing the dire complications associated with lifelong exposure to type 2 diabetes, including heart disease, kidney disease, blindness and lower-limb amputations. We face enormous human and economic costs if we do nothing." "This novel strategy to increasing physical activity in children is the outgrowth of Montefiore's school-health program," said Steven M. Safyer, M.D., president and CEO of Montefiore Medical Center. "As one of the largest programs in the country, Montefiore's school-health program has a legacy of success in developing novel ways of improving the health and well-being of urban school-aged children." The series of CDs, called CHAM JAM (Children's Hospital at Montefiore Joining Academics in Movement), contain educational material and music that encourage dance, movement and exercise. To keep the activities fresh and to offer variety, new versions are regularly developed and distributed. Building upon this promising pilot program, Einstein-Montefiore researchers will use this new grant to quadruple the reach of the CD series, from 4,000 to 16,000 students enrolled in kindergarten through third grade in Bronx schools. Through this new randomized group, researchers will evaluate the frequency of CD use, physical activity level during playback, and overall physical fitness of the students over the course of two years. "We have received consistently positive feedback from the schools we're working with and our preliminary results are very promising," said Dr. Ozuah. "We believe that this program, if validated by further research, has the potential to transform school-based health policies across the country in terms of increasing physical activity in inner-city children, particularly in resource-poor neighborhoods." Researchers have already begun to identify additional schools to participate in the program and will begin distributing the new CDs in the coming weeks. This new phase of the study will run through August 2011. ### Patients & Visitors

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Study: No higher cancer rate at Conn. Pratt plants By STEPHEN SINGER AP Thursday 23 May 2013 08:17:12 PM Twitter EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — An 11-year study of the incidence of brain cancer at jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney in the state ended Thursday with university researchers saying they found no statistically significant elevations in the rate of cancer among workers.Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Illinois at Chicago said they identified 723 workers diagnosed with tumors between 1976 and 2004 at the United Technologies Corp. subsidiary. The tumors were malignant, benign or unspecified and included 277 cases of brain cancer.Researchers examined records such as work documents and cancer registries of 222,123 men and women who worked in one or more of eight Connecticut Pratt & Whitney plants between 1952 and 2001. They also reviewed 11 chemical or physical agents on the basis of known or suspected carcinogenic potential that could affect the central nervous system or other organs.The $12 million study, commissioned by Pratt & Whitney, was overseen by the state Department of Public Health. William Gerrish, a spokesman for the state agency, called it a "comprehensive study that has met its goals," and the project's principal researcher said the results were positive."The news is good," said Gary Marsh, the University of Pittsburgh researcher who led the study.Employees can be reassured that working at Pratt & Whitney before 2002, the start of the study period, "does not increase your risk of developing brain cancer and does not increase your risk of dying," Marsh said.The son of a Pratt & Whitney worker who died at age 46 was not so certain, though."It leaves a lot of questions unanswered," said Todd Atcherson, whose father, Charles Atcherson, died in 1998 after working at Pratt & Whitney for about 25 years.Workers and the union expressed concerns about several workers who died of brain cancer within a few years of each other and the study became too large, "losing sight" of individuals, he said.Paul Dickes, chief health and safety representative at the Machinists union, which represents Pratt & Whitney workers, said he's reassured that the study determined it's safe to work at the two remaining Connecticut plants."It doesn't bring closure to people who had illnesses," he said. "I'm disappointed it doesn't resolve those issues."Pratt & Whitney spokesman Ray Hernandez said: "We are pleased that employees have answers to their questions and there is no correlation between cancer and the workplace."Comparisons among Pratt & Whitney plants showed a slightly higher incidence of tumors and cancer among workers at the North Haven plant, the researchers said. But further evaluation found no association with estimated workplace exposures.The slightly elevated cancer rates at the North Haven plant may reflect external occupational factors that researchers did not measure such as other companies where employees worked or factors unique to North Haven, Marsh said.The study is one of the largest and most comprehensive in an occupational setting, he said. It also is the first large-scale study of workers in the jet engine manufacturing industry.The results echo what was released in the first stage of the three-stage study in 2008. The researchers said then they did not find statistically significant excesses in deaths from malignant brain tumors among North Haven workers.Workers and their families, joined by the Machinists union, pushed for the study after widows and union officials said they were concerned with what appeared to be numerous and similar deaths at Pratt & Whitney plants. ENGINE MANUFACTURER PRATT WHITNEY PLANTS NORTH HAVEN PLANT

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Health Highlights: Dec. 3, 2013 Anti-Seizure Drug Can Cause Serious Skin Reactions: FDA In rare cases, the anti-seizure drug Onfi (clobazam) can cause serious skin reactions that can result in serious injury and death, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says. The drug is used in combination with other medications to treat seizures caused by a severe form of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. The drug's label and its patient Medication Guide have been changed to explain the risk, the FDA said. The skin reactions -- called Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) -- can occur at any time during Onfi treatment. However, the risk of skin reactions is greater during the first 8 weeks of treatment or when a patient stops taking Onfi and then starts taking it again. All cases of SJS and TEN reported to the FDA have resulted in hospitalization, one case resulted in blindness, and one case resulted in death. Patients taking Onfi should seek immediate medical treatment if they develop a rash, blistering or peeling of the skin, sores in the mouth, or hives, but patients should not stop taking the drug without first talking to their health care professionals, the FDA said. Stopping Onfi suddenly can cause serious withdrawal problems, such as seizures that will not stop, hallucinations, shaking, nervousness, and stomach or muscle cramps. Obama Announces $100 Million HIV Research Program A $100 million National Institutes of Health initiative to pursue a cure for HIV was announced Monday by President Barack Obama. He said the money will be used to develop a new generation of therapies, and also said the U.S. should be a leader in research to eliminate HIV or to force it into remission without the need for lifelong therapy, the Associated Press reported. Obama made the announcement at a White House event marking World AIDS Day, which was Sunday. He also said the U.S. had passed the goal he set last year to support 6 million HIV patients worldwide in getting access to anti-retroviral drugs. So far, the U.S. had helped 6.7 million people receive the life-saving treatment, the AP reported. First Human Case of H7N9 Bird Flu Reported in Hong Kong Hong Kong has reported its first human case of H7N9 bird flu. The patient is a 36-year-old Indonesian maid who is in hospital in critical condition, according to Hong Kong Health Secretary Ko Wing-man, the Associated Press reported. The maid was known to cross the border to the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen to buy, slaughter and eat chickens, said Ko, who added that Hong Kong will step up its flu pandemic preparedness plan. The H7N9 virus was first identified in mainland China in April and has since sickened 139 people and killed 45 in China and Taiwan. The spread of the virus appears to have stalled since Chinese authorities cracked down on live animal markets, the AP reported. Even so, experts fear the virus will re-emerge this winter. 4th Meningitis Case Confirmed at California University Another case of meningitis has been confirmed at the University of California, Santa Barbara and public health officials have urged the school to suspend parties and other social events on the campus. The 18-year-old male student was the fourth case at UCSB in a month. One student has been left permanently disabled, NBC News reported. The B strain of meningitis has been confirmed as the cause of three of the cases. The strain in the latest case still needs to be confirmed. The B strain of meningitis is not covered by the vaccine recommend for U.S. college students. Princeton University in New Jersey has been hit by an outbreak of meningitis B, but it has a different genetic fingerprint than the strain in the UCSB cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NBC News reported. U.S. Bishops Face Lawsuit Over Catholic Hospitals' Abortion Policies A lawsuit filed Friday against the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops says the group's anti-abortion orders to Catholic hospitals prevent proper care of pregnant women in medical distress, leading to medical negligence. The suit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a woman who says she was not given accurate information or care at a Catholic hospital in Michigan after her water broke at 18 weeks of pregnancy, The New York Times reported. As a result of this failure by staff at Mercy Health Partners in Muskegon, Tamesha Means says she was exposed to dangerous infections. The suit alleges that the bishops' ethical and religious directives require Catholic hospitals to avoid abortions or referrals "even when doing so places a woman's health or life at risk." The ACLU said it launched legal action against the bishops because there have been several cases in recent years in which Catholic hospital policies on abortion interfered with medical care, The Times reported. Both the hospital and the bishops conference refused comment. An advisor to the bishops could not speak about the ACLU lawsuit because he was unfamiliar with it. But John Haas, president of the National Catholics Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, told The Times that the bishops' directives do allow actions to treat women at risk, even if the treatment might cause the loss of the fetus. Females Overlooked in Basic Surgical Research, Study Says Health Highlights: April 1, 2014

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Most Recent Posts Survey Finds Minority Communities Have Distinct Health Concerns, Face Barriers to Reaching Ideal Health 09.16.14 | By Kaelan Hollon While the majority (66 percent) of Americans continue to be optimistic about their health, minority communities have unique and distinct health concerns and barriers to reaching their ideal health, according to PhRMA’s Second Annual National Health Survey. New Report Highlights How to Realize Full Public Health Benefits of Responsible Clinical Data-Sharing 09.12.14 | By Mark Grayson Clinical trials are the primary means of testing the safety and efficacy of new medicines. The data generated from rigorous, highly controlled trials form the basis of regulatory decisions about whether to approve the treatment for use by patients. In addition to these studies, researchers and regulators are increasingly recognizing the value of other types of research, such as observational studies. With this recognition has come a desire for greater transparency and access to the data generated from clinical trials of all types as a mea U.S. Successes on HIV/AIDS Inspire Efforts Further Afield 09.11.14 It was like delivering a death sentence. When HIV/AIDS cases started appearing 30 years ago, and effective ways to combat or manage the deadly disease didn't exist, dealing with a positive HIV test with a patient was a harrowing experience for physician and patient alike. Those afflicted soon felt isolated by an epidemic fraught with myths and misunderstood by a fearful society. But fast forward 33 years. A Look at The Progress and The Hope in The Pipeline 09.10.14 | By Preet Bilinski Looking back at the past 25 years of HIV/AIDS treatment, the progress that has been made can only be described as tremendous. Since 1995, with the development of the first protease inhibitors, the death rate in the U.S. from HIV/AIDS decreased by 83 percent. Celebrating the Men and Women Who Have Changed the Lives of Patients with HIV/AIDS 09.09.14 | By Robert Zirkelbach Working with our tremendous partners in academia, research and community activism is one of the most rewarding things we do at PhRMA. This year, at the 3rd Annual Research and Hope Awards ceremony on September 10, we will celebrate the inspiring stories of individuals who have helped advance the fight against HIV/AIDS. And their efforts are worth admiring. Week in Review: Progress for Progress 09.05.14 | By Kaelan Hollon Astellas US President Jim Robinson said in a guest post this week, “We are on the cusp of amazing progress in U.S. biopharmaceutical research and development,” and he is right. With more than 3,400 medicines in development in the U.S., patients are seeing new treatments bring hope for the future. Thanks to innovation, we are helping more patients than ever before. New Reports Demonstrate the Importance of Biopharmaceutical Industry Exports to U.S. Economy 09.05.14 | By Mark Grayson Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Commerce released two new reports detailing the extraordinary impact that exports have on our economy. The new data revealed that exports supported more than 11 million jobs within the U.S. While the Majority of Americans Report It Has Been A Good Health Year, Americans with Chronic Health Issues Are Less Optimistic 09.03.14 | By Kaelan Hollon While the majority of Americans (66 percent) report they have had a good year when it comes to their personal health, that hasn’t necessarily been the case for all of us, particularly for those dealing with certain chronic health issues. Driving Amazing R&D Progress 09.02.14 | By Jim Robinson We are on the cusp of amazing progress in U.S. biopharmaceutical research and development, but without policies that help attract and retain research-based companies and partnerships to help bring new medicines to patients, we run the risk of losing our country’s competitive advantage. Medicare Part D Continues to Hold Down Costs, Maintain High Level of Patient Satisfaction 08.28.14 | By Allyson Funk Yesterday, the latest Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report was released examining projected long-term federal spending, including that of Medicare. TPP Moves to the Next Phase 08.28.14 | By Jay Taylor “We talk a lot in Congress about doing things for our children and grandchildren. Are Physicians Becoming Sidelined In Our Health Care Conversations? 08.27.14 | By Kaelan Hollon Today, Americans can do almost everything online. With a few clicks, we can manage our bank accounts, order groceries and book vacations. We can even manage components of our health and health care by scheduling doctor appointments online, ordering prescription refills and comparing test results. One Stop for Innovation: PhRMA’s New Innovation.org 08.26.14 | By Robert Zirkelbach It’s likely many of us have paused to think about what life would have been like in a bygone time and felt thankful for the modern comforts we enjoy, from refrigeration to cell phones. When looking at the progress we’ve made and the comforts we enjoy, medical innovation should be at the top of the list. Week in Review: Breaking Down the Barriers to Patient Health 08.22.14 | By Kaelan Hollon This week, we addressed some of the barriers that patients face when it comes to their health and how the biopharmaceutical industry helps individuals get the treatments they need. 1 in 4 Americans Believes Vaccines Can Cause Autism in Young Children 08.20.14 | By Kaelan Hollon School’s back in session. But, while families are scrambling to buy new clothes and classroom supplies, one thing is glaringly missing from too many back-to-school “must have” lists—annual immunizations. Pages« first‹ previous123456789…next ›last » Share

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HomeAbout SitePreserve Your ArticleContent Quality GuidelinesDisclaimerTOSContact Us Complete information on the structure and function of Spinal Cord Saurab Structure: The spinal cord is a white, soft and cord (rope) like substance running through the backbone. The internal structure of the spinal cord is much simpler and more uniform throughout its various parts than that of the brain. No matter where it is sectioned, it gives the same general appearance. The interior of the spinal cord looks gray because it is filled with neurons without having myelin sheath in their axons (unmyelinated axons). In other words, the interior of the spinal cord is filled with some gray matter. Interestingly, the gray matter is so distributed that the interior looks almost as a butterfly whose essential form is the English capital letter "H". The outer of the spinal cord looks white as it is filled with some myelinated axons, in other words, the outer of the spinal cord is filled with some white matter. The chief function of the gray part of the spinal cord is integrative in nature, whereas the chief function of the white part is communicative in nature. There are thirty-one pairs of peripheral spinal nerves connected to the spinal cord. The sensory spinal nerves are connected to the cord at the back or dorsal part. In fact, there are two (left and right) dorsal roots through which sensory information enter into the spinal cord. The motor spinal nerves are connected to the cord at the front or ventral part. There are two (left and right) ventral roots through which motor information go out of the spinal cord. The sensory information go towards the brain in the two dorsal columns of neurons and motor information go downward of the spinal cord in the two ventral columns of neurons. There are also two sets of lateral (side) columns of neurons whose function is both sensory and motor in nature. The spinal cord has two major functions: (a) carrying information, and (b) coordinating reflexes. First, it receives sensory information through the afferent nerves from the sensory receptors throughout the body, and sends them to the brain. It also carries information from the brain through efferent fibers to the muscles and glands. Second, it coordinates reflexes without the involvement of the brain, thus, the spinal cord has both communicative and integrative functions. Reflex Actions: Excepting the above sensory and motor functions, spinal cord controls some other important functions also. These are called as reflex actions. In order to control reflex actions, the spinal cord does not take any assistance from the brain. Reflex actions are automatic, unlearned, involuntary, and inborn responses. Therefore, these actions are sudden in nature and have a purpose of protecting the individual or his organs from sudden danger. For Example if someone throws a stone towards you; suddenly you move your body to avoid the incoming danger of being hurt. The path through which reflex action is conducted is known as "reflex arc", which involves (a) receptor (b) afferent neuron (c) spinal cord (d) inter- neuron (e) efferent neuron (f) muscles or gland. You May Also Like: What are the functions of Microtubules and Microfilaments ?Essay on the functioning of Democracy in India Guidelines About SiteContent Quality GuidelinesTerms of ServicePrivacy PolicyDisclaimerCopyrightRecent Articles spellingerrors Report Spelling and Grammatical Errors Suggestions Suggest Us Testimonials Users Testimonials Preserve Articles is home of thousands of articles published and preserved by users like you. Here you can publish your research papers, essays, letters, stories, poetries, biographies, notes, reviews, advises and allied information with a single vision to liberate knowledge. Before preserving your articles on this site, please read the following pages:1. Content Guidelines 2. TOS 3. Privacy Policy 4. Disclaimer 5. Copyright Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy | User published content is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Copyright © 2012 PreserveArticles.com, All rights reserved.

医学

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Category Archives: Early childhood Special Delivery: March of Dimes Honors Arizona State Health Director for Work on Improving Turnaround Times on Newborn Screening An inaugural honor awarded by the March of Dimes last month—the Newborn Screening Quality Award—is the first in a series of awards to state health directors who have made changes to vastly improve newborn screening programs that help prevent death and disability for new babies. The inaugural award was presented to Will Humble, MPH, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services. He established a policy of full transparency for the length of time it takes Arizona hospitals to send newborn blood samples to the lab for analysis, with a target of having 95 percent of samples screened within 72 hours. “When hospitals hold onto blood samples for a few days, or a lab is closed on the weekend, this can lead to deadly delays for newborns,” said Edward McCabe, MD, the March of Dimes chief medical officer. “But under Will Humble’s leadership, Arizona has put in place a process that is a model for other states to follow.” McCabe says the award—named for Robert Guthrie, MD, who developed the first mass screening test for babies in 1963—recognizes leadership in establishing a culture of safety as a way to avoid deadly delays in states’ newborn screening processes. All states were put on notice about hazardous newborn screening test shipping practices by a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigative series, Deadly Delays, published in 2013. She series found that many hospitals delayed sending tests to labs for a variety of reasons, including staff vacations or shortages, or batched the tests in order to save money on shipping, causing diagnosis delays that resulted in babies’ deaths or disabilities. Faces of Public Health: James Perrin, MD, American Academy of Pediatrics James M. Perrin, MD Earlier this week the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) hosted a daylong Symposium on Child Health, Resilience & Toxic Stress in Washington, D.C. that brought together federal government officials, national thought leaders and medical professionals to discuss the emerging science of toxic stress. According to the AAP, science shows that adversity experienced in childhood has long-lasting physical and emotional effects that have come be known as "toxic stress.” Toxic stress can occur when a child experiences chronic adversity without access to stable, supportive relationships with caring adults. These adverse childhood experiences can include physical and emotional abuse; neglect; exposure to violence; food insecurity; and economic hardship. An AAP 2011 policy statement found that toxic stress can affect a child's brain development and lead to the presence of many adult diseases, including heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease and liver disease. “[Currently], there are more randomized trials for leukemia than for effects of stress on children,” said James S. Marks, MD, MPH, senior vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, at the symposium. “This is about more than our children—it’s about our future as a people and a society, and the earlier you invest in children the better the return to society and to those children and families.” During the symposium, the AAP announced the formation of the Center on Healthy, Resilient Children to launch in the next year or so, which will be a national effort coordinated by the AAP and many partners to support healthy brain development and prevent toxic stress. In addition to prevention efforts to keep children healthy, the Center will focus on ways to help pediatricians and others identify children who have experienced adversity and toxic stress and ensure they have access to appropriate interventions and supports. "Pediatricians envision a world in which every child has every opportunity to become a healthy, successful adult," said James M. Perrin, MD, president of the AAP. "Achieving this will require strong, sustained investments in the health of the whole child, brain and body. It will require building upon our existing work and forging new partnerships across sectors and fields of expertise.” NewPublicHealth spoke with Perrin following the symposium NewPublicHealth: How familiar are pediatricians with the evidence surrounding the burden and response to toxic stress in children and families? James Perrin: I think there is increasing awareness of toxic stress in pediatric practice, not only in community practice, but in our specialty practices, too. I think people are recognizing how critically important toxic stress is to the developing child and developing brain. And the increasing science in this area has been incredibly helpful for us to understand the potential permanent effects of toxic stress. But we also want to focus on positive ways to affect brain development. Reading to children, for example, affects brain development and brain growth in positive ways. Read more

医学

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Daniel was dreading the first day at his new school. Any kid would be a little nervous to be starting at someplace new, but Daniel was extra-worried because he uses a wheelchair. He wondered how the other kids would react. Would they stare and make fun of him? On the first day of school, he rolled into his new classroom and met his teacher. She asked if it would be OK to talk to the class about his wheelchair and Daniel agreed. Whew! He felt so relieved when she did. Mrs. Boyle told everyone that wheelchairs are just a good way of getting around if a person has trouble walking. "It helps Daniel be independent," she said. What Does a Wheelchair Do? Daniel's motorized wheelchair was nothing like the old-fashioned kind you see in black & white movies — or like the one President Franklin Delano Roosevelt used. No longer are wheelchairs heavy and difficult to maneuver. Today's wheelchairs are lighter, faster, and easier to use. Many use computer technology and offer better support for a person's back, neck, head, and legs. They also include safety features such as automatic brakes and anti-tipping devices. Power wheelchairs have many advantages for kids who need them. Electronic controllers can help a kid who uses a wheelchair drive smoothly, brake easily, and make the wheelchair move with the touch of a hand or even by puffing on a special straw! Some hand controllers look like a joystick used to play video games and are easy to operate. Who Needs a Wheelchair? Kids can need wheelchairs for many different reasons. Some have had injuries either to their legs or spine, which controls leg movement. Others have disabilities due to muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy. In some cases, kids have wheelchairs but don't need to use them all the time. For example, they might be able to walk with the aid of crutches or a walker sometimes. What's Life Like? Kids who use wheelchairs usually fall into two categories: kids who use them for a short time (for instance, kids who broke a leg or had surgery) and those who use them for a long time, or permanently. Even though kids who use a wheelchair for a short time may feel frustrated or sad about relying on others to get around, they know that someday the wheelchair won't be necessary. For kids who depend on a wheelchair for the long term, life is different. They'll need to learn how to use the wheelchair in lots of different situations — at home, in school, while away on vacation. In some cases, it will be hard to use the wheelchair or it might take a long time. That can be frustrating, but wheelchairs are getting better all the time. And researchers continue to look for treatments and cures for the medical problems that lead to paralysis. People who use wheelchairs can shop, work, go to school, play, drive cars — even compete in some special types of sports competitions. But they also must look for handicapped-accessible buildings, special ramps, parking places, and environments that are wheelchair-friendly. Not everyone is as accepting as Daniel's teacher, so life can be hard for someone who uses a wheelchair. A person may be teased, feel left out, and get treated differently than other kids. The next time you see a kid using a wheelchair, try to be a friend. Usually, kids in wheelchairs don't need to be pushed around, but they might need other kinds of help. Opening a door or clearing the path will be appreciated. But the best help of all is to be kind and friendly and not to tease or stare. People who use wheelchairs are the same as everyone else. They just get around on wheels instead of feet! Originally reviewed by: Michael A. Alexander, MD WheelchairNetThis is an online resource for the people who use wheelchairs and those interested in them.KidNeeds.comThis website is for children with special needs, their parents, and other caregivers and contains information and health supplies. Going to an Occupational TherapistOccupational therapy helps children overcome obstacles to be as independent as possible. Learn more about OT.Spina BifidaInside your spine is the spinal cord, which is like a closed tube made up of nerves. Spina bifida can occur when there is an opening in the cord.Going to a Physical TherapistPhysical therapy uses exercises and other special treatments to help people move their bodies. Find out more in this article for kids.Kids With Special NeedsLots of kids have special needs. Find out more in this article for kids.

医学

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For years Nancy Buckeye experienced an occasional heart flutter, but never gave it much thought. “I’d mention it to my friends and they’d say they have the same thing,” says the 73-year-old from Edgeley, N.D. “But when the episodes became more frequent and intense, it became obvious to me something was wrong." Starting her inquiry with Linda LeVee, NP at Sanford Health Edgeley Clinic led to an appointment with cardiologist Dr. Susan Farkas at Sanford Heart which led to tests. The diagnosis: atrial fibrillation (AF). A common heart-rhythm disorder, AF varies in severity, becoming more prevalent in later life. While some people barely feel a flutter, others have lengthy periods of racing heart, dizziness and lightheadedness. Nancy experienced several troublesome episodes daily. “What really got my attention was when Dr. Farkas said this condition increased my stroke risk,” says Nancy. “That’s when I knew I needed to do something.” Initial attempts For Nancy, then 71, the first line of treatment was medications. She also wore a special monitor for a month so her heart team could better analyze her particular AF. “The monitor showed my irregular heart rhythm would come and go. There was no predicting when it would happen,” says Nancy. “And always I was left feeling weak, tired and shaky.” When the standard medication didn’t significantly help, Dr. Farkas recommended a consultation with Dr. Christopher Pierce. A cardiologist and electrophysiologist, Dr. Pierce specializes in the heart’s electrical system. Close examination of Nancy’s problem led to two approaches. The first was stronger medications, but difficult side-effects resulted. The second was cardioversion, an outpatient treatment that involves shocking the heart back into normal rhythm. The treatment worked initially, but within days the AF returned. “Although many people get the help they need from medications or cardioversion, Nancy’s heart episodes continued,” says Dr. Pierce. “She was an excellent candidate for a heart-ablation procedure" Advanced treatment Dr. Pierce’s experience in heart-ablation procedures spans more than a decade. Until recently, these procedures typically relied on heat to alter the electrical tissue causing the rhythm irregularity. “With cryoablation, we use freezing,” says Dr. Pierce. “It’s very precise, plus it shortens the procedure. With less time under general anesthesia, patients feel better sooner. Most go home the next day.” Dr. Pierce began offering cryoablation in 2011 and was the first in North Dakota. He now performs 60 a year. A life-changing difference Nancy had never heard of cryoablation but was familiar with Dr. Pierce’s work. An acquaintance in her hometown had excellent results from a pacemaker procedure performed by him. “When Dr. Pierce said there was an 80 percent chance the cryoablation procedure would work, I was pretty confident,” says Nancy. “I was also very impressed with his extensive experience. I had complete trust in him.” Nancy underwent cryoablation in Sanford’s Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory in April 2012. Similar to an angiogram the procedure involves threading a small catheter to the heart through a vein in the upper leg. Advanced imaging technology helps pinpoint the areas in need of ablation. “Absolutely this procedure made a difference,” says Nancy, eight months later. Except for one baby aspirin a day, she’s been taken off all medications. “Thanks to state-of-the-art technology and the gifted hands of Dr. Pierce, I have more energy and feel great.” she says. Dr. Pierce says that’s the best possible outcome. “That’s what medicine is for,” he says. “To hear someone say, ‘Wow, it really changed my life’ … there’s nothing better.” It’s early afternoon on a cold January day. Nancy’s at home packing her suitcase for a trip to the West Coast with her husband. “I feel like I’ve really been freed up to enjoy these retirement years,” she says. “Now I have the get-up-and-go, and that’s exactly what I plan to do. With five children, 14 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, we have no shortage of activities.” If heart problems disrupt your rhythm of life, learn about the advanced options available at Sanford. Visit heart.sanfordhealth.org. Posted Date: March 2013 Frequent episodes of atrial fibrillation left Nancy Buckeye feeling weak, shaky and worried. An advanced heart procedure gave her the boost she needed. Now she’s back in rhythm, enjoying life. Info & Alerts

医学

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Chernobyl Study Reveals First Direct Evidence That Risk Of Thyroid Cancer Rises With Increasing Radiation Dose The risk of thyroid cancer rises with increasing radiation dose, according to the most thorough risk analysis for thyroid cancer to date among people who grew up in the shadow of the 1986 Chernobyl power-plant disaster. SEATTLE – The risk of thyroid cancer rises with increasing radiation dose, according to the most thorough risk analysis for thyroid cancer to date among people who grew up in the shadow of the 1986 Chernobyl power-plant disaster. The incidence of thyroid cancer was 45 times greater among those who received the highest radiation dose as compared to those in the lowest-dose group, according to a team of American and Russian researchers led by Scott Davis, Ph.D., and colleagues at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. They report their findings in the September issue of Radiation Research. "This is the first study of its kind to establish a dose-response relationship between radiation dose from Chernobyl and thyroid cancer," said Davis, referring to the observation that as radiation doses increase, so does the risk of thyroid cancer. "We found a significant increased risk of thyroid cancer among people exposed as children to radiation from Chernobyl, and that the risk increased as a function of radiation dose." Having such information in hand, Davis said, may help officials better predict what long-term health effects to expect in the event of a similar nuclear accident or terrorist attack. "Another potential benefit of the findings is that it allows officials to more accurately understand and document the magnitude of the thyroid-cancer burden that has resulted from Chernobyl. This information will be important in designing and maintaining programs targeted toward the victims of the disaster." While about 30 people were killed immediately from the blast, which remains the worst accident of its kind in history, an estimated 5 million people were exposed to the resulting radiation. "Prior to Chernobyl, thyroid cancer in children was practically nonexistent. Today we see dozens and dozens of cases a year in the regions contaminated by the disaster, and the incidence continues to rise," Davis said. "This provides some evidence that there's an excess of thyroid cancer in children and in people who were children at the time of the accident. However until now nobody had taken the next step to find out just how much a risk there is and whether it rises along with radiation dose." While previous Chernobyl studies have relied on broad-stroke estimates of radiation exposure based on such factors as ground contamination, geographic proximity to the northern Ukraine plant or other surrogate measures of exposure, this study is the first of its kind to factor into the equation individualized estimates of radiation dose based on in-person interviews about diet and other lifestyle factors, said Davis, a member of Fred Hutchinson's Public Health Sciences Division. "After all these years, many efforts have been made by various research groups around the world to study the health effects of Chernobyl, and hundreds of scientific papers have been published. But ours is the first report that provides quantitative estimates of thyroid-cancer risk in relation to individual estimates of radiation dose," said Davis, also chairman of the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Seattle. Kenneth Kopecky, Ph.D., a biostatistician in Fred Hutchinson's Public Health Sciences Division, was the study's co-investigator and directed the data analysis. Public Health Sciences Division staff managed and coordinated all aspects of the project. They included Theresa Taggart (project manager), Lynn Onstad (statistician), Teri Kopp (administration) and Laurie Shields (research coordinator). The Fred Hutchinson team organized a collaborative effort with a dozen scientists at four Russian institutions to conduct this research: the Medical Radiological Research Center (in Obninsk), the Byransk Diagnostic Center and the Bryansk Institute of Pathology (both in Bryansk), and the National Center of Hematology (in Moscow). All investigators were members of the International Consortium for Research on the Health Effects of Radiation funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research. The researchers focused their efforts on western part of the Bryansk Oblast of Russia. This region, located about 66 miles northeast of Chernobyl, is the most heavily contaminated area in the Russian Federation. This was the first study of this type among residents of the Russian Federation exposed to Chernobyl radiation. Working through a local cancer registry, the researchers identified 26 people with thyroid cancer who were less than 20 years old when the Chernobyl accident occurred; the majority were under 16 when their thyroid cancers were diagnosed. They then identified 52 healthy control subjects from the general population for comparison purposes. The controls and cancer cases were matched by age and place of residence at the time of the accident. The researchers then set about collecting information from these individuals and their mothers or fathers that would allow them to estimate each person's radiation dose using computer models. Interviews took place in the home and were conducted by Russian physicians. Individual doses depended largely on the ingestion patterns of food contaminated with radioactive iodine-131 (I-131), which concentrates in the thyroid gland. The primary source of food-based I-131 was milk from cows that grazed on contaminated pastures. Radiation doses to the thyroid increased along with the amount of milk and dairy products consumed. External, airborne radiation and contamination of other foods also contributed somewhat to the overall dose, depending on the person's proximity to the plant at the time of the accident. These doses were all received within the first few months after the accident, before the I-131 in the environment decayed into non-radioactive elements. While other radioactive contaminants remain in the area, they do not cause appreciable doses of radiation to the thyroid. In addition to the study's ability to estimate individual radiation doses based on personal interviews, other strengths of the study included the fact that all cases of thyroid cancer were confirmed independently by a panel of expert pathologists, and the study focused on people exposed as young children and adolescents, a group that is likely to be most susceptible to the effects of radiation exposure to the thyroid gland. Limitations of the study included its small sample size and its reliance on individual recall for reporting factors such as milk-consumption patterns that were used to estimate radiation dose. Efforts are under way to investigate a larger population in a similar fashion to see if these findings can be replicated, Davis said. For his contributions to the field, earlier this year Davis became the first foreign epidemiologist elected to the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. The group's status in that country is on a par with the esteemed National Academy of Sciences in the United States. In May he received an honorary diploma in Moscow. Davis and colleagues have extended their cancer-risk studies to older Chernobyl survivors and are investigating how the damage caused to DNA by radiation influences the risk of developing thyroid cancer. This work is part of Fred Hutchinson's Global Health Initiative, which focuses on international collaboration to understand and solve some of the most widespread health problems in the world, including cancer and infectious diseases. SIDEBAR IT ALL STARTED WITH A RUSSIAN HELICOPTER PILOT WHO WAS TREATED FOR LEUKEMIA AT FRED HUTCHINSON Providing some long-awaited answers to Chernobyl survivors has been a rewarding research endeavor for Scott Davis, Ph.D., and colleagues at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, but it hasn't been a straightforward one. Some of the team's greatest achievements were simply establishing the working relationships and infrastructure to get the studies off the ground. "Within the first year of the 1986 accident, we were very interested in seeing if we could get involved and participate in long-term studies of health effects," Davis said. "But at the time of the accident, our government and that of the former Soviet Union were not so friendly, so establishing connections through that route didn't work." But in 1990, an opportunity surfaced when a Russian helicopter pilot involved in the initial efforts to contain the Chernobyl radiation developed leukemia and came to Fred Hutchinson for a bone-marrow transplant. After his treatment, an informal exchange program began between Fred Hutchinson and the National Center for Hematology in Moscow, whose director approached the center for assistance in developing a research and treatment institute for victims of the accident. Davis and colleague Kenneth Kopecky, Ph.D., made their first trip to Moscow that year. Then, in 1992, the Soviet Union collapsed. "We were back to square one in terms of negotiations," Davis said. But, thanks to efforts by Fred Hutchinson's then-president and director, Robert W. Day, M.D., and by the late Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, a former center trustee and former chief of naval operations for the U.S. Navy, new relationships were established. In 1992, a research consortium consisting of three international teams working in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine was created to study long-term health effects of the radiation released at Chernobyl. "Our initial work in Russia was simply to conduct small pilot studies to establish in concrete terms whether we could carry out all phases of an epidemiological study," Davis said. "There was no history of doing this kind of research in Russia or the other two countries. We had to set it all up from scratch." Challenges included purchasing Russian vehicles for the field teams using federal dollars – an unprecedented bureaucratic challenge for the researchers – importing all laboratory equipment and supplies, and then figuring out a way to maintain them without the standard resources that one takes for granted in the United States. "It's been a long haul and an enormous amount of time and work," Davis said, whose 30-plus trips to the former Soviet Union include walking the grounds of the evacuated plant and surveying the desolated 30-kilometer evacuation zone. Once the team established the capability to do the research, the group began its studies of thyroid cancer, a disease linked to radiation exposure. By the early 1990s, many new cases of the disease, particularly among young children, were diagnosed in regions near the blast. Since then, reports show several hundred cases of thyroid cancer in young children in the three countries contaminated by Chernobyl, a trend that appears to be continuing. Despite the lack of resources available to initiate these studies, Davis said that scientists and citizens of the three countries were eager for the research from the start. "Our collaborators in Russia have been terrific colleagues," he said. "We now have very close ties with our partner institutions." He also credited the strong encouragement and support from Fred Hutchinson's senior administration for helping him establish stable working relationships with their overseas colleagues. "The incredible support and flexibility of the center, especially in the early stages, really made this happen. That can't be overstated," Davis said. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, home of two Nobel laureates, is an independent, nonprofit research institution dedicated to the development and advancement of biomedical technology to eliminate cancer and other potentially fatal diseases. Fred Hutchinson receives more funding from the National Institutes of Health than any other independent U.S. research center. Recognized internationally for its pioneering work in bone-marrow transplantation, the center's four scientific divisions collaborate to form a unique environment for conducting basic and applied science. Fred Hutchinson, in collaboration with its clinical and research partners, the University of Washington Academic Medical Center and Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in the Pacific Northwest and is one of 38 nationwide. For more information, visit the center's Web site at http://www.fhcrc.org. The above story is based on materials provided by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. "Chernobyl Study Reveals First Direct Evidence That Risk Of Thyroid Cancer Rises With Increasing Radiation Dose." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 2 September 2004. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/09/040902085844.htm>. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. (2004, September 2). Chernobyl Study Reveals First Direct Evidence That Risk Of Thyroid Cancer Rises With Increasing Radiation Dose. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 22, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/09/040902085844.htm Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. "Chernobyl Study Reveals First Direct Evidence That Risk Of Thyroid Cancer Rises With Increasing Radiation Dose." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/09/040902085844.htm (accessed October 22, 2014).

医学

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ADHD May Raise Girls' Risk for Suicide as Young Adults FRIDAY, Aug. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Girls diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide as young women, a new study suggests.Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley also found these girls, particularly those with early signs of impulsivity, were two to three times more likely to hurt themselves later in life, compared to girls who did not have the disorder. They noted that these girls also were more likely to continue to have symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and make much greater use of psychological services.The study was published online in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology."ADHD can signal future psychological problems for girls as they are entering adulthood," study author Stephen Hinshaw, a psychology professor at Berkeley, said in a journal news release. "Our findings reinforce the idea that ADHD in girls is particularly severe, and can have serious public-health implications."The researchers recruited 228 girls ranging in age from 6 to 12. Of these girls, 53 percent were white, 27 percent were black, 11 percent were Hispanic and 9 percent were Asian-American.After extensive testing, the researchers found 140 of the girls had ADHD. Of the girls diagnosed with the condition, 47 were considered ADHD-inattentive, meaning they had a hard time paying attention but they could sit quietly. Meanwhile, 93 of the girls had ADHD-combined, a combination of hyperactive, impulsive and inattentive symptoms.After the initial assessment, the researchers followed up with the girls five and 10 years later. Of the original group, 95 percent of the girls were still involved in the study after 10 years. By this time, the participants were between 17 and 24 years old.The researchers asked them about their life problems, including their symptoms of depression, substance use, suicide attempts and self-injury. The researchers also assessed their academic achievement and neuropsychological functioning.The study revealed that 22 percent of the girls with ADHD-combined attempted suicide at least once in the 10 years after they were diagnosed, while 8 percent of the girls with ADHD-inattentive and 6 percent of the girls who did not have ADHD did the same.Girls in the ADHD-combined group also were much more likely to hurt themselves. The researchers found 51 percent admitted to scratching, cutting, burning or hitting themselves. In comparison, only 19 percent of the girls without ADHD and 29 percent of those with ADHD-inattentive injured themselves.The researchers noted there were no differences in substance abuse across the three groups of girls."ADHD in girls and women carries a particularly high risk of internalizing, even self-harmful behavior patterns," Hinshaw said. "We know that girls with ADHD-combined are more likely to be impulsive and have less control over their actions, which could help explain these distressing findings."Although the research found an association between ADHD and increased suicide risk, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.More informationThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides more information on ADHD.SOURCE: American Psychological Association, news release, Aug. 14, 2012. Related Articles Tall, Heavy 1-Year-Olds May Be at Risk for Obesity Later, Study Finds October 21, 2014 Black Women Fare Worse With Fertility Treatments, Study Says October 21, 2014 Learn More About Sharp

医学

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News Opinion Lifestyle Showcase Sports Ads Classifieds Jobs Extras CU Notices Contact Us Community Team Lifesaver raises money, awareness for ovarian cancer April 27, 2012 By DANA BORICK (dborick@sungazette.com) Save | Jen Zarko credits her daughter for saving her life. While pregnant with Maylen, now 17 months old, Zarko's doctors discovered a cyst growing inside her ovary. After learning about the risks of having surgery while pregnant, Zarko and her doctors agreed on a compromise: Doctors would deliver Maylen via Caesarean section a month before her due date and then remove Zarko's ovary and fallopian tube. Article Photos "A biopsy showed I had a grade 1 endimetrioid carcinoma - a relatively slow-spreading type of ovarian cancer that would have never been caught so early without that ultrasound," Zarko said. "My husband and I tried for a long time to get pregnant, and now I understood why it took so long. God works in mysterious ways!" Maylen was the inspiration for Zarko's Relay For Life team, Team Lifesaver, which formed last year. "I will always be grateful to my little girl for being my lifesaver," Zarko said. "After learning that I had cancer just days after I had given birth to my daughter - the most beautiful person I'd ever seen - I knew that I had to do as much as I could, not to benefit myself, but for her ... I want the money our team raises today to be the funding for the research that will find a cure for her generation. I want to know that if she ever hears those dreadful words, they won't sound so final." Zarko said she began the team to raise awareness of ovarian cancer. "Every woman knows the signs for breast cancer, how to do a self-exam and that they should be getting mammograms regularly past a certain age, but very few women even give a passing thought to ovarian cancer," Zarko said. "The symptoms of ovarian cancer - bloating, low back pain, feeling full quickly, lack of energy, etc. - are so common that many women would pass them off as nothing. Most of the time, ovarian cancer isn't diagnosed until it has spread to another organ that does show symptoms." Zarko said she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 34, having had no family history of it and no real symptoms. "I would love for one of our future goals to be to advocate for insurance companies to cover a routine ultrasound of the ovaries the same way they will cover a mammogram," Zarko said. "It's such a simple, non-invasive and painless procedure, and it's amazing to think how many lives could've been changed by early detection." The team is holding sandwich and bake sale and yard sale, and plan to have a raffle, bake sale and gift sale of homemade items available for sale during the event, which will be held 4 p.m. May 18 to 4 p.m. May 19 at the Williamsport Area High School track. Last year, the team raised $1,000 in its first year. Team co-captain Marie Mertes hopes team members each will reach their personal goal of $100. The team is comprised of about 10 members of Mertes' and Zarko's family. Mertes, of Williamsport, got involved with the team to support Zarko, her aunt. Along with Mertes and her family, the team also includes Zarko's mother, Huldah "Merry" King; her brother, Jim King, and his wife, Deb King; her nephew, Joe King, and his wife, Mylie King; her niece Crista Carnes; her nephew, Jimmy King, and his wife, Holly King; her cousin, Stephanie Ardell, and her daughter, Alysha Ardell; and friend, Anna Marie Bennett. Mertes and her family, which includes husband Charles "Chuckie" Mertes II and daughters Autumn, 7, and Bella, 4, are excited to celebrate Zarko's one-year anniversary of being cancer free during this year's event. "All I know is that I'm lucky - I was labeled a 'survivor' without having to put up much of a fight," Zarko said. "My heroes are the ones who truly have to fight to earn that title, and those survivors are another reason why I'm proud to walk that track on Relay day." "This is a way to celebrate them [survivors]," Mertes said. "We plan to do this as long as we can." Mertes said she helps organize the local fundraisers since Zarko and her husband, Ken, and daughter recently moved from Mount Carmel to Elysburg and can't make all the planning meetings. "Jen graduated from St. John Neumann and grew up in Williamsport," she said. Zarko said most of her family is in Williamsport, which is why she chooses to participate in the Relay For Life of Williamsport. "Even though the rest of the family is not on the official roster, they all still help out with events and fundraisers when they can, and come take turns walking on behalf of Team Lifesaver during the event," Zarko said. "I'm incredibly grateful for everyone in the family who lends us a hand, buys a sandwich, walks a few laps or donates their talent to our fundraisers." Mertes said her team will focus on a children's carnival for the event because she noticed a lot of kids attended last year's event and there wasn't much for them to do. "We want to have face painting, a duck pond and create a phone booth out of a refrigerator box so we can change into our superhero costumes," Mertes said. "We get to have fun, too." "A lot of people need to support this," Mertes said. "Too many tears are shed for these people." Zarko agreed. "It's hard to find someone who hasn't been personally affected by it - maybe not as survivors, but as friends or family members of someone who battled cancer," she said. "Way too many people were affected because they lost someone they loved to cancer." Save | Subscribe to Williamsport Sun-Gazette I am looking for:

医学

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FACTBOX-Why are maternal deaths so high in Afghanistan? Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation - Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:01 GMT KABUL, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Afghanistan has the worst rate of maternal mortality in the world, the latest World Health Organization data shows, with a toxic mix of inaccessibility, poverty and cultural barriers to women's healthcare conspiring against expectant mothers. One Afghan woman in 11 will die of causes related to pregnancy and birth during her childbearing years, the WHO says. In neighbouring Tajikistan, that figure is one in 430, while in Austria, it is one in 14,300. WHY DO SO MANY WOMEN DIE IN PREGNANCY AND BIRTH? A tradition for early marriages and a lack of effective family planning mean women often have babies very young and very frequently, which can increase the risk of health complications such as eclampsia -- fits caused by high blood pressure. Girls who give birth before age 15 are five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their 20s, United Nations figures show. A 2010 UN report said some studies showed half of all Afghan girls were married before that age. A weak economy and decades of conflict have hit public health provision, so clinics and hospitals, while state-funded, are few and often limited to urban areas. There is also a lack of trained midwives, although this is slowly being addressed. The geography of Afghanistan and poor infrastructure mean it can be physically difficult to get women from home to the hospitals that do exist. With car ownership still low, women are transported by motorbike, donkey or even wheelbarrow to clinics. WHY AREN'T THEY BEING HELPED? Women in deeply conservative Afghanistan face daunting cultural barriers to accessing maternal healthcare. Many are unable to leave the house without a male relative to accompany them. If one is not available, they must give birth at home. Treatment by male doctors remains taboo, and blocks to women's education under the Taliban regime severely restricted the numbers of female doctors and midwives. Barriers persist unofficially in some conservative areas, which either lack girls' schools or have leaders who still object to their education. Medical intervention in birth is still regarded with some suspicion. A liking for big families means some women prefer not to undergo procedures like caesarian sections, which can limit them to just three or four babies -- a small family by Afghan standards, where the average is just over five. Women's families often favour taking them to village elders or traditional birth assistants for help. Among them, even basic healthcare skills can be lacking. Villagers say traditional birth assistants often don't wash their hands before deliveries, and have been known to sever the umbilical cord with broken glass or the edge of a shoe. ARE THINGS GETTING BETTER? Data from the WHO shows that the rate of maternal mortality had declined since the Taliban were ousted from government, to 1,400 per 100,000 live births in 2008 from 1,800 per 100,000 lives births in 2000. The Afghan government also flags up improvement. A recent survey it carried out of 22,000 families suggested the maternal mortality rate had dropped to 327 per 100,000 live births, although it admitted its results were skewed to more secure areas, and some under-reporting remained. Presenting the survey, Afghanistan's acting minister of public heath, Suraya Dalil, said the department recognised there was still a long way to go to improve maternal health. A survey carried out by the charity Save the Children in 2010 found that only 14 percent of births are attended in Afghanistan, and that only 16 percent of women were using modern contraception. (Compiled by Jan Harvey; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Paul Tait) We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. For more information see our Acceptable Use Policy.

医学

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Home Page - Arthritis and Other Rheumatic Diseases Home > Online Library > Home Page - Arthritis and Other Rheumatic Diseases > Common Types of Arthritis and Other Rheumatic Diseases > Rheumatoid Arthritis What is rheumatoid arthritis? Rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic, autoimmune disease, is the most crippling form of arthritis and affects approximately 1.3 million Americans. This chronic disease is characterized by painful and stiff joints on both sides of the body that may become enlarged and deformed. Rheumatoid arthritis affects more women than men (75 percent of persons with rheumatoid arthritis are women). Onset of the disease is usually middle-age, but it does occur in individuals as early as age 20. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis may also have osteoporosis, a progressive deterioration of bone density. Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) is a form of arthritis in children ages 16 or younger that cause inflammation and stiffness of joints for more than six weeks. Unlike adult rheumatoid arthritis, which is chronic and lasts a lifetime, children often outgrow juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. However, the disease can affect bone development in the growing child. What causes rheumatoid arthritis? The exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis is not known. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder, which means the body's immune system attacks its own healthy cells and tissues. The response of the body causes inflammation in and around the joints, which then may lead to a destruction of the skeletal system. Rheumatoid arthritis also may have devastating effects to other organs, such as the heart and lungs. Researchers believe certain factors, including heredity, may contribute to the onset of the disease. What are the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis? The joints most commonly affected by rheumatoid arthritis are in the hands, wrists, feet, ankles, knees, shoulders, and elbows. The disease typically causes inflammation symmetrically in the body, meaning the same joints are affected on both sides of the body. Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis may begin suddenly or gradually. The following are the most common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. However, each individual may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include: inflamed, painful joints enlarged and/or deformed joints (such as fingers bent toward the little finger and/or swollen wrists) frozen joints (joints that freeze in one position) cysts behind the knees that may rupture, causing lower leg swelling and pain hard nodules (bumps) under the skin near affected joints inflamed blood vessels (vasculitis) may occur occasionally, leading to nerve damage and leg sores inflamed membranes around the lungs (pleurisy), the sac around the heart (pericarditis), or inflammation and scarring of the lungs themselves, that may lead to chest pain, difficulty breathing, and abnormal heart function Sjögren's syndrome (dry eyes and mouth) If a person has four or more of the following symptoms, he/she may be diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis: morning stiffness that lasts longer than one hour for at least six weeks three or more joints that are inflamed for at least six weeks presence of arthritis in the hand, wrist, or finger joints for at least six weeks blood tests that reveal rheumatoid factor x-rays that show characteristic changes in the joints The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis may resemble other medical conditions or problems, including acute rheumatic fever, Lyme disease, psoriatic arthritis, gout, osteoarthritis, gonococcal arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis. Always consult your physician for a diagnosis. How is rheumatoid arthritis diagnosed? Diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis may be difficult in the early stages, because symptoms may be very subtle and go undetected on x-rays or blood tests. In addition to a complete medical history and physical examination, diagnostic procedures for rheumatoid arthritis may include the following: blood tests (to detect certain antibodies, called rheumatoid factor, and other indicators for rheumatoid arthritis) Treatment for rheumatoid arthritis: Specific treatment for rheumatoid arthritis will be determined by your physician based on: expectation for the course of the condition The earlier a diagnosis is made and treatment is started, the more joint damage and impairment can be prevented. Treatment can range from simple therapies, such as diet and rest, to more aggressive therapies, including medications. Treatment may include: resting affected joints regularly nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, such as ibuprofen disease-modifying medication, such as slow-acting medications (to slow bone deformation) corticosteroids (to reduce inflammation) immunosuppressive medications, such as methotrexate (to suppress inflammation) exercise (to keep the joints as flexible as possible) physical therapy (to keep the joints from "freezing" and becoming immobile) heat or cold application to the joints surgery (to repair, replace, or fuse together an affected joint) assistive devices such as canes, crutches, or walkers Common Types of Arthritis and Other Rheumatic Diseases Or call 1-888-824-0200UCH1000010 (4)

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Enrollment in HIV/AIDS clinical trial at UTHCT to evaluate effectiveness and safety of two medications will end soon Enrollment in a clinical trial designed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of two prescription drugs widely used to treat HIV/AIDS will end soon, said Michael Borucki, MD, an associate professor of medicine at UTHSCT.The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler is one of 95 institutions in the United States and the only one in the Tyler area involved in this clinical trial, he said. Enrollment in the clinical trial ends June 5. Pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline is funding the study.Its purpose is to compare two well-studied, safe, two-way combination drugs – Epzicom and Truvada – with each other, Dr. Borucki said. GlaxoSmithKline makes Epzicom and Truvada is made by Gilead Sciences.“It’s a relatively lengthy clinical trial, lasting two years. Many clinical trials involving people with HIV last just six months or a year,” said Dr. Borucki, an infectious disease specialist and principal investigator of the study at UTHSCT.“Everyone enrolled in this clinical trial receives the preferred protease inhibitor, Kaletra. It’s currently considered the best in its class of protease inhibitors,” he said. Protease inhibitors block the action of a protein that is needed for the HIV virus to reproduce itself. Kaletra also can be taken just once a day, which is much more convenient for patients than having to remember to take it several times a day, Dr. Borucki said.In addition, participants will receive either Epzicom or Truvada, he said. Neither physicians nor participants will know who is getting which drug.“Both medications are single tablets taken once a day and have similar safety and benefit profiles. Both are good drugs. The purpose of this study is to determine if one of these is more potent or safer than the other,” Dr. Borucki said.Participants must be at least 18 years of age, be infected with HIV, and have never received drugs to treat their HIV. Study-related clinic visits, medical evaluations, and investigational medications will be provided at no cost to participants during the 14 months of the study.One month’s worth of the drugs that make up the standard treatment for HIV/AIDS costs about $1,000, Dr. Borucki said. A month’s supply of the Kaletra-based regimen costs about $1,600.At the end of 2004, about 415,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 1981, when AIDS was first identified, half a million U.S. residents have died from the disease. Approximately 1 million people are currently living with HIV/AIDS in the United States.Because of drugs developed and tested in clinical trials such as this, many people with HIV/AIDS are able to live a normal and full life, Dr. Borucki said.“As physicians, we now spend more time worrying about the patients’ blood pressure, blood sugar levels, etc., than on their HIV/AIDS,” he said. Most patients take just two to four pills daily to control their disease.“The improvements in HIV care are one of the marvels of scientific discovery, even compared with the treatment patients received just a few years ago. We have a number of medications that can be taken once daily. And the safety profile of these newer medications is much better than where we were five or six years ago,” Dr. Borucki said.For more information about this study, call the Center for Clinical Research at (903) 877-7753.

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Program designed to educate farm workers about pesticide exposure wins statewide award from rural health group A collaborative effort by several entities at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler has received a Communities that Care Award from the Texas Rural Health Association.“El Terror Invisible: Preventing Exposure to Agricultural Chemicals for Promotores” is designed to alert farm workers to the dangers of pesticides.It is a four-hour, bilingual workshop for “promotores” – lay health educators who live in rural communities and know farm workers and their families, especially migrant workers.“El Terror Invisible,” or “The Invisible Terror” in Spanish, refers to harmful agricultural chemicals that are not always visible or readily apparent to the farm worker.The workshop describes the dangers of these chemicals using materials developed by Thomas Arcury, Ph.D., a professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston Salem, North Carolina.The workshop’s goal is to instruct these lay health educators about the risks of exposure to pesticides and chemicals, the symptoms of exposure, and the recommended treatment for these symptoms.The lay health educators in turn teach farm workers about these issues.The workshop is a collaboration of the Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health (SWCPEH); the Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention, and Education; and Lake Country Area Health Education Center – all located at UTHSCT – and the National Center for Farmworker Health in Buda, Texas.Funding for the workshops has been provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and SWCPEH.“The promotores, or health educators, are trusted members of their communities,” said Amanda Wickman, outreach education coordinator for the Southwest Ag Center.Wickman helped develop the program along with Miguel Gaona, the health careers promotions coordinator for Lake Country AHEC and lead instructor of the workshops.Gaona and Wickman are bilingual, and their ability to deliver the program in Spanish has been instrumental to its success.Gaona said most promotores have worked in the fields and know the conditions the workers face.“This is also an issue of children’s health, because they work alongside their parents in the fields. Parents also take pesticides home with them on their clothes,” said Larry Lowry, Ph.D., coordinator and co-principal investigator for SWCPEH.In addition, Debra Cherry, MD, medical director of SWCPEH, has been involved with the program.Mickey Slimp, Ed.D., executive director of the Northeast Texas Consortium, also located on the UTHSCT campus, nominated the workshop for the Communities that Care Award.For 60 years, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler has provided excellent patient care and cutting-edge treatments, specializing in pulmonary disease, cancer, heart disease, primary care, and the disciplines that support them. With an operating budget of more than $125 million and biomedical research funding that exceeds $10 million annually, UTHSCT has a major economic impact on East Texas. Its two medical residency programs – in family medicine and occupational medicine – provide doctors for many communities in East Texas and beyond. For more information, visit www.uthct.edu.

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iTunes Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals Menu Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals Vaccines and diseases HVI and policy In line with its mission, HVI is collaborating with international research organisations to address a number of issues related to ensuring access to future HIV vaccines and with countries to develop policies and strategies for use and scale-up of future HIV vaccines. HVI is committed to engaging the scientific community as well as the community involved in promoting HIV vaccines at the local grassroot level, on issues related to assessing and employing potential vaccination strategies. HVI also strives to create an enabling environment for research institutions and to act as an honest impartial broker. HVI is involved in a number of studies and consultations, which have been chosen not only to resolve research questions, but also to stimulate interest in the vaccine research community. To accelerate industry investment and prepare for future access, it is essential for WHO-UNAIDS to catalyse discussions on these issues. Examples of on-going studies: Delivery and cost-effectiveness study: HVI is involved in a study to assess the potential logistics, practical and political issues related to the delivery of future HIV vaccines. An assessment of Brazil, Thailand and Kenya will be made as to their capacity to deliver a future HIV vaccine to chosen target populations. A cost-effectiveness analysis which will estimate the cost-effectiveness for different vaccination strategies in three different countries will follow. Cost information will be collected in Brazil, Thailand and Kenya. Collaborators: Emory University, Wayne State University and local institutions in each of the three countries, yet to be finalised. The WHO-UNAIDS HIV Vaccine Initiative is a joint activity of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). HVI site sections HVI Home State of the Art of HIV Vaccine R&D Advocacy and Policy Request for Small Grants Application HIV Vaccine Country Profiles African AIDS Vaccine Programme Vaccine research and development

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What Is Von Recklinghausen's Disease? Skeletal deformations like scoliosis can be a symptom of Von Recklinghausen's disease. Those who suffer from Von Recklinghausen's disease may need stair lifts and other assistive technology to remain mobile. View slideshow of images above Von Recklinghausen's disease, more commonly known as neurofibromatosis, is an inherited condition caused by genetic mutation. This condition can cause a variety of medical symptoms, from non-cancerous tumors to blindness. As of the early 21st century, there is no cure for Von Recklinghausen's disease, though symptoms may be treated and managed in a variety of ways. An abnormality in human chromosome 17 leads the the development of Von Recklinghausen's disease. The condition is inherited genetically, meaning that parents may pass the disease on to their offspring. The name of the disease comes from the first researcher to recognize and classify the condition in 1882, German pathologist Friedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen. It is possible to detect Von Recklinghausen's disease in the womb, through advanced genetic testing. Cells can be removed from the fetus via amniocentesis, a minimally invasive fetal testing technique. If one parent has the disease, the fetus has approximately a 50% chance of sharing the genetic mutation. It is possible for neurofibromatosis to spontaneously appear without a heredity inheritance, but this is relatively rare. Symptoms of the condition include the appearance of soft, fleshy tumors anywhere on the body, dark hyper-pigmented skin spots called cafe au lait spots, or skeletal deformations such as scoliosis. Some, but not all, patients exhibit speech problems and learning disabilities. Tumors on the iris of the eyes leads to a high incidence of partial or full blindness in patients with neurofibromatosis. Ad Skeletal issues frequently develop as a result of the condition. Many patients develop bone lesions, or pits, that can cause pain and skeletal deformities. Some undergo corrective surgery to help lessen pain and improve mobility. Surgery is also used to remove many of the fleshy tumors often found with neurofibromatosis as a means of managing the condition and preventing pain or discomfort. There are three different subtypes of Von Recklinghausen's disease, known as NF1, NF2, and the very rare schwanomatosis. Testing and symptom appearance can help determine which type of the condition is present; for instance, people with NF2 may not show any cafe au lait spotting at all. In addition, NF2 symptoms may develop later in life, often during adolescence. Prognosis for people with neurofibromatosis varies; although a progressive disease, symptoms may appear slowly in some cases and quickly in others. Complications include brain tumors, high blood pressure, and neurological problems. Some patients also lose mobility or must undergo amputation of limbs as the disease progresses. Ad What Are the Different Iris Diseases? What Is a Petroclival Meningioma? What Is Blood Dyscrasia? What Is Renal Adenocarcinoma? What Are the Different Types of Platelet Disease? What Is Platelet Aggregation? What Is Von Willebrand Disease?

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Beating the Odds of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia By Cancerwise Blogger on May 27, 2010 11:55 AM By Lana Maciel, Staff WriterIn May 2003, Kenneth Woo was enjoying eight years of living cancer-free, having overcome his second bout with Hodgkin's disease in May 1995. But after that eight-year stretch, he began experiencing more health problems. Simple daily activities were taking a toll on his body. His heart would race after a routine trip up the stairs in his two-story Sugar Land, Texas, home. Even a day spent with friends on the golf course was tiresome. He felt dizzy every time he bent down to pick up the golf ball. Considering he had gone so long without a cancer relapse, Woo knew his chance of recurrence was slim, so his first thought was that maybe he was anemic. But a subsequent visit to the doctor indicated a diagnosis that was much worse. What he had was acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), an aggressive form of leukemia with a low survival rate."The doctor told me that AML was a typical side effect of the type of radiation and chemotherapy treatments I received from Hodgkin's disease," Woo says. "Because two of my chromosomes were mutated from previous cancer treatments, it didn't look promising."Facing a new challengeThe diagnosis left Woo speechless and shocked. The fact that he had leukemia was a difficult reality to face. And the fact that the survival rate was less than 20% was an even bigger blow.As Stefan Faderl, M.D., associate professor in MD Anderson's Department of Leukemia, explained to Woo's wife, Clara, although the disease wouldn't kill him, the chemotherapy might, particularly because of the highly toxic level of treatment required.Woo was enrolled in a clinical trial developed from a pediatric leukemia treatment, and he immediately began chemotherapy.Not only did he lose 40 pounds, but he couldn't see his two young daughters for weeks because he was in isolation. And when his blood cell count dropped to zero, he could only see his wife through a glass window. Armed with his strong Christian faith and the support of family and friends, Woo found the strength and motivation to fight through the cancer. Finding a matchThough Woo's AML treatment went well, Marcos de Lima, M.D., associate professor in MD Anderson's Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, told him that it wasn't all over just yet. Chemotherapy alone would not cure him. His best option for a long-term cure would be to receive a stem cell transplant. With his family in town visiting from Hong Kong, doctors began typing for a suitable donor. Woo's oldest sister, Emily, turned out to be a perfect match. As part of another clinical trial, Woo received the drugs fludarabine and intravenous busulfan, a combination invented by Borje Andersson, M.D., Ph.D., professor in MD Anderson's Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. The combination made Woo's immune system less likely to reject the transplant and more receptive to the new stem cells.The procedure was complete on Oct. 3, 2003. After five difficult months, Woo had won the battle against AML."It's been seven years since the transplant, and since then I've been doing well," Woo says. "There are still some minor side effects, but they're manageable." Life after AMLWoo continues to take anti-rejection drugs to keep his immune system from fighting the transplanted stem cells. It's a small inconvenience, and it's one that he's happy to do considering it keeps his body healthy and free from the AML that threatened to take his life. As a result of his experience, Woo is a firm believer in donating stem cells every chance he gets, as is his wife. He also continues to give back to MD Anderson, volunteering at the hospital and working with the Anderson Network, a patient-to-patient support organization that is part of the Department of Volunteer Services, as a mentor and supporter for other patients."Without having gone through that experience, I couldn't do what I do now," Woo says. "Friends and patients going through treatments can identify with me, and it helps them to know that I understand, that I've been there. "It's one thing for a doctor to explain something to a patient. But as a patient myself, I can relate to them on a different level and explain to them what it's going to be like. Of course, everyone's experience is unique, but what's important is that I give patients hope."Related Stories: Q&A: Intravenous Busulfan Before Stem Cell TransplantMD Anderson resources:AMLLeukemia Care CenterStem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy CenterBorje Andersson, M.D., Ph.D.Additional resources:Busulfan Categories: Cancer Patient Stories, Patient Care Cancerwise Feature Story, Leukemia Jennifer Texada A number of readers left comments about this story on the MD Anderson Facebook page. Below are a few of those comments S. Mcmillan-Maker I ♥ Dr. de Lima. He's my mom's dr. She had her SCT in March. :-) funny man with great bedside manner! T. Taplin This is a great SCT success story. Go Anderson ! R. Bridges What a wonderful story. Those are the ones you want to hear about. God has truly blessed Mr. Woo and his family. Z. Kinds-Brown An Awesome Story! S. Willheit Frederickson Congratulations, Mr. Woo, we are so glad you have beaten down your leukemia and get to enjoy your life again with your family! M Guevara-Hinojosa Psalms118: 17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. Praise the Lord........... L. Painter this is wonderful, Congrats are in order, M. Field Velasco How Awesome now go forth and enjoy every day of your life to the fullest ♥ T. Pike What a wonderful story! Congratulations Mr. Woo. http://www.facebook.com/mdanderson Good Afternoon, I saw a story on Mr. Kenneth Woo on a different forum and his positive outcome to Acute Leukemia. My brother just got diagnosed with the same kind of leukemia. He has never had a history of any other illnesses or issues and is currently pretty healthy other than this. He is currently at Stanford Medical Center in California. Could you please share with me your opinions regarding this and what should be our first step. I appreciate any input you might have on this subject and so happy that you have had good results with this patient. I am concerned about the chemo treatment, but if there's a good prognosis with it, then it's worth trying it. Do you know of anything other than chemo that might help in this situation? Thank you very much and God Bless you. Kellie Bramlet replied to comment from Ana Hi Ana, we;re so sorry to hear about your brother. Please call 1-877-632-6789 to speak to our health information specialists. They can help answer your questions. Leave a comment Kyssi Andrew's three lessons on coping with hair loss What you should know about bladder cancer How we help cancer caregivers Patients strut their stuff during holiday parades Spotting melanoma in children How a PACU nurse helps our patients, one smile at a time Survivor raises awareness for breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma What happens when you send a letter to a patient or your care team? Learning to let others help me through a mastectomy A day in the life of a stem cell transplant patient Archives

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1351.0.55.011 - Research Paper: Testing the Reliability of a Measure of Aboriginal Children's Mental Health, Mar 2006 Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 02/03/2006 First Issue About this Release This report details an analysis of the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey as they pertain to the measurement of mental health in Aboriginal children under the age of 18 years. In the paper we do not focus on the mental health outcomes of Aboriginal children in Western Australia (those interested in such issues should read the survey publication Zubrick, et al. 2004). Rather, we focus on testing the validity of applying the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to this population. We begin with a consideration of contextual issues that govern the measurement of health and mental health in particular. We then describe the basic data collection methods and present descriptions of the mental health variables that comprise the measures. The principal findings of the paper follow including a set of analyses of the psychometric characteristics of the measures based on structural equation modelling and multi-level modelling of carer and community clustering. We finish by summarising the limitations of the findings and provide concluding comments. This page last updated 3 November 2006

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← Energy Efficiency, Consumption and Carbon Pricing Terry Deacon, Relaxed Selection, and the Evolution of Language → The Onion on two Nobel Prizes By David KrollPosted: October 10, 2010 Upon hearing that Robert Edwards won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine last Monday for the biological studies and medical implementation of in vitro fertilization, an inkling of cynic in me thought about how this advance primarily serves the relatively wealthy nations of the world. Not that this is terribly different from any other medicine prize that recognizes contributions to the richest segment of society. For example, malaria has not been the subject of the prize since 1902 and 1907 when Robert Ross won for demonstrating the insect-mammal lifecycle of Plasmodium and Alphonse Laveran won for originally identifying the protozal nature of the infectious agent (and as the founder of the field of medical protozoology), respectively. But even with that, the Nobel citation for Ross noted first the 76,000 members of the British army in India hospitalized for malaria in 1897 before it discussed the five million Indian civilians who died of the disease. Of course, the 4 million individuals who owe their lives to IVF – and the parents who have the life experience they desired – may disagree as to the relative importance of Edwards’s work. But leave it to The Onion to put such cynicism into their inimitable style: The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded Monday to Robert Edwards, the British in vitro fertilization pioneer who made it possible for shitloads more babies to be born on top of the half million or so daily births already dangerously stressing the planet’s dwindling resources. But what equally caught my eye was their closing sentence that joked about awarding the Prize in Chemistry to “the inventor of Pepcid antacids, which allow people to eat twice as much goddamn food as anybody needs.” In fact, it turns out that the Prize – in Physiology or Medicine – was actually awarded in 1988 in part for the discovery of the forerunner to Pepcid, cimetidine or Tagamet. In that case, one-third of the award went to the industrial and academic physiologist and pharmacologist, Sir James Black, for the discovery of “beta-blocker” drugs for coronary heart disease as well as the identity H2-histamine receptors and design of antagonists for peptic ulcers. Pepcid (famotidine) and Zantac (ranitidine) were second-generation structural analogs that lack the liability of cimetidine in inhibiting the metabolism of other drugs. An aside – For the chemists and pharmacologists, this was accomplished by replacing the imidazole structure with a thiazol or furan, for famotidine and ranitidine, respectively. If this kind of thing excites you, I encourage you to read Sir James’s beautifully-written Nobel lecture, “Drugs from Emasculated Hormones: The Principles of Syntopic Antagonism” – PDF here. You may also care to read these recollections of Sir James Black published in the July 2010 issue of the British Journal of Pharmacology following his death this past summer. I was honoured – yes, “honoured” – to have my remembrance included in the compilation of reflections (full text, PDF.) In fact, I am grateful to Wiley and the British Pharmacological Society for making the entire BJP issue dedicated to Sir James open-access. It includes not only the personal reflections but several of his original papers and personal history of his work. The remainder of the 1988 prize was shared with my chemotherapy heroes, Gertrude Elion and George Hitchings, for antimetabolite chemotherapeutics that also gave rise to treatments for gout and in organ transplantation. Hence, my dear friends at The Onion, the Nobel Prize has already been awarded in reality for the science that gave rise to Pepcid, albeit not to the exact inventors at Merck. These drugs, however, were originally developed to treat peptic ulcer disease, a potentially lethal disease, especially for people over age 55 – not so that we could eat far more food than we need. However, I have nothing to add on their joke about the Nobel Prize in Literature going to Twilight author Stephenie Meyer. I believe that one is still not true. Compilation. (2010). Sir James Black (1924-2010) reflections British Journal of Pharmacology, 160: S5-S14 DOI: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.2010.00846.x The Onion on two Nobel Prizes by PLOS Blogs Network, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. About David Kroll View all posts by David Kroll → This entry was posted in History, Pharmacology. Bookmark the permalink. ← Energy Efficiency, Consumption and Carbon Pricing

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http://capuano.house.gov/news Democratic Leader Gephardt Joins Congressmen Capuano and Moakley at the MassGeneral Hospital for Children January 10, 2000 -- Today Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO) joined Congressman Capuano (D-MA) and Congressman Moakley (D-MA) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) for a briefing on the services available to children and their families. MGH is renaming its pediatric department the "MassGeneral Hospital for Children", creating a hospital within a hospital, to emphasize the importance of pediatric services and research to the institution. "For many of us working in Pediatrics, the change in the name also better reflects what our service is," says R. Alan B. Ezekowitz, MBChB, DPhil, chief of the Pediatric Service at the MassGeneral for Children. "We are a full service pediatric health care provider with the ability to offer all the technologies and expertise that a general hospital can offer," says Ezekowitz. Massachusetts General Hospital was founded in 1811. It is the oldest and largest teaching hospital of the Harvard Medical School. It conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with an annual research budget exceeding $200 million. "Institutions like the MassGeneral Hospital for Children are critical to our health care system. With an emphasis on family-centered care and a commitment to pediatric research, MGH represents what is right with our health care system. All members of the Massachusetts delegation are committed to protecting and increasing the federal investment in our great teaching hospitals," stated Congressman Capuano. "Massachusetts General Hospital really exemplifies the connection between basic research and medical care. MGH is committed to increasing our understanding of disease in an effort to improve patient care and we must continue to support institutions like it all across this country," stated Rep. Gephardt. Rep. Joe Moakley said, "Massachusetts General Hospital is one of the best hospitals in the world. People from all over the world look to MGH for leadership and this pediatric �hospital within a hospital' is only the beginning of even more specialized health services designed specifically for our children. I am pleased to have been able to show House Democratic Leader Gephardt our great hospital and the efforts its excellent staff is making toward improving health care for everyone, regardless of age."

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Washington, DC – Children’s National Medical Center has opened a new pantry to meet the dietary needs of families who keep kosher while their children are being treated at the hospital. The facility gives families a dedicated place to eat prepared kosher meals and snacks. “This is an important addition to the services we offer the children and families we care for,” said Kurt Newman, MD, President and CEO of Children’s National Medical Center. “Because of our location in the nation’s capital, it is important for us to meet the needs of a diverse population; this is one of many ways that we meet both the medical and cultural needs of families while they’re with us. The new facility was made possible through support from the Gregory Mark Taubin Memorial Fund and in partnership with Bikur Cholim of Greater Washington, a charitable organization that works with hospitals around the Washington area to help Jewish patients and their families. The pantry includes a refrigerator, dairy and meat microwaves, and disposable utensils. Bikur Cholim of Greater Washington volunteers will stock the pantry with microwaveable meals and snacks all bearing symbols of national kosher supervision organizations. To date, Bikur Cholim of Greater Washington has received support for this project from the Meir L’Olam Fund dedicated in memory of Rabbi Melvin Rishe and from Judy and Louis Morris in memory of Chazzan Akiva and Helen Ostrovsky. Audrey Siegel, executive director of Bikur Cholim of Greater Washington, said, “When a child is in the hospital, families want to devote their full attention to the needs of their child. The new kosher pantry will help observant families do just that, by making sure they have easy access to kosher food and snacks. The entire staff at Children's National Medical Center has been understanding and supportive, and we are honored by this opportunity to work together. Dr. Newman said, “We are so grateful to Bikur Cholim for making it possible to expand our services to be more accommodating to families. It’s a wonderful partnership that will benefit so many people. For more information, contact Erin Corcoran at 301-565-8523 or ecorcora@childrensnational.org or Adam Segal at 301-593-4247 or adam@the2050group.com.

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Home > Faculty > Faculty Directory > Steven M. Safyer, M.D. Faculty Profile Steven M. Safyer, M.D. Professor, Department of Medicine (Administration) Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Population Health Dr. Steven Safyer is a public health leader with a national reputation for developing community-based health initiatives, including one of the first Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) Tuberculosis programs in the state, a coordinated network of AIDS care, and the Rikers Island Correctional Health program. On the strength of these and other programs, Montefiore won the 1996 Outstanding Community Service Award, one of the most prestigious awards that the AAMC bestows. Beginning in the mid-1980s, at the start of the AIDS epidemic, Dr. Safyer led the medical and mental health program at Rikers Island, where he was a leader in New York City’s effort to stem the emergence of tuberculosis and to address the devastating impact of rising rates of HIV/AIDS. While Director of the Montefiore Rikers program, he was co-PI on grants whose awards totaled close to $7 Million dollars of extra mural research support by such prestigious foundations and agencies as Robert Wood Johnson, National Institute of Drug Addiction, and American Foundation for AIDS Research. In 1993, he became Medical Director at Montefiore and was thereafter rapidly promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. In January, 2008, following a national search, he was appointed Montefiore's CEO and President, which he has led through a comprehensive strategic planning process, integration of the newly acquired Montefiore North Division, and the signing of an unprecedented ten year affiliation agreement with Einstein, among other initiatives. Dr. Safyer has been has been a regular lecturer to, and an appointed member of numerous panels and committees for regional and national organizations, including Health and Human Services, Association of American Medical Colleges, American Public Health Association, Aetna, Hospital Association of New York State, the Greater New York Hospital Association, and others. Dr. Safyer has been active on health care reform in the press, in the debates and discussions, and with the political process, both at a state and national level. Dr. Safyer received his Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University. He is a 1982 graduate of Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Montefiore in the Primary Care and Social Internal Medicine program. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and is a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. Material in this section is provided by individual faculty members who are solely responsible for its accuracy and content. ssafyer@montefiore.org The Hill published an op-ed by Einstein's Dean, Dr. Allen M. Spiegel, and Montefiore President and CEO Dr. Steven Safyer titled "Angelina Jolie, the Sequester, and Health in America." More media coverage

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Study Ties Breast Gene to High-Risk Uterine Cancer By: MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Chief Medical Writer Women with a faulty breast cancer gene might face a greater chance of rare but deadly uterine tumors despite having their ovaries removed to lower their main cancer risks, doctors are reporting. A study of nearly 300 women with bad BRCA1 genes found four cases of aggressive uterine cancers years after they had preventive surgery to remove their ovaries. That rate is 26 times greater than expected. "One can happen. Two all of a sudden raises eyebrows," and four is highly suspicious, said Dr. Noah Kauff of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. His study, reported Monday at a cancer conference in Florida, is the first to make this link. Although it's not enough evidence to change practice now, doctors say women with these gene mutations should be told of the results and consider having their uterus removed along with their ovaries. "It's important for women to have that information ... but I think it's too early to strongly recommend to patients that they undergo a hysterectomy" until more research confirms the finding, said Dr. Karen Lu, a specialist in women's cancers at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She plans to study similar patients at her own hospital, the nation's largest cancer center, to see if they, too, have higher uterine cancer risks. About 1 in 400 women in the U.S., and more of eastern European descent, have faulty BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes that greatly raise their risks for breast and ovarian cancer. Doctors advise them to be screened early and often for breast cancer, and to have their ovaries out as soon as they have finished having children to help prevent ovarian and breast cancer, because ovarian hormones affect breast cancer as well. But the role of BRCA genes in uterine cancer isn't known, Kauff said. His study looked at 1,200 women diagnosed with BRCA gene mutations since 1995 at Sloan Kettering. Doctors were able to track 525 of them for many years after they had surgery that removed their ovaries but left the uterus intact. The vast majority of uterine cancers are low-risk types usually cured with surgery alone. Aggressive forms account for only 10 to 15 percent of cases but more than half of uterine cancer deaths. Researchers were alarmed to see four of these cases among the 296 women with BRCA1 mutations. None were seen in women with BRCA2 mutations, Kauff said. The study was discussed Monday at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology's annual meeting in Tampa, Fla. Last year, the actress Angelina Jolie revealed she had preventive surgery to remove both breasts because of a BRCA1 mutation. Her mother had breast cancer and died of ovarian cancer, and her maternal grandmother also had ovarian cancer.

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Home > Health News > Having Kids Walk to School Comes With Risks, Benefits Added physical activity is healthy for youngsters, but traffic poses danger, study finds. MONDAY, April 7, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Many parents are understandably worried about letting their kids walk or bike to school. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in children aged 2 to 14, and one of five kids killed in a traffic accident in the United States each year was on foot at the time, according to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now a new study published online April 7 and in May print issue of Pediatrics suggests that more walking doesn't necessarily have to mean more accidents for kids. Instead, researchers say, the likelihood of an accident depends more on the environment kids have to travel through -- such as high-traffic areas -- and they're calling on policymakers to do more to make sure kids can safely walk or bike to school. Dr. Gilbert Liu, a pediatrician at the University of Louisville, and father of four, understands the fear. "The more that you're on a busy street, the greater the risk would be of getting hurt crossing an intersection," said Liu, who was not involved in the new study. But he says there are also big health benefits to getting kids walking. Kids who walk or bike to school get more physical activity, and they tend to maintain a healthy body weight more easily. For the study, Canadian researchers fanned out across the city of Toronto. They counted how kids arrived at 118 schools around the city on a single spring day in 2011. They used that number to estimate what proportion of the kids enrolled in the schools actively traveled to school each day. They then compared those estimates to the number of pedestrian collisions reported within the school boundaries from 2002 to 2011. Over those nine years, there were 481 collisions within 105 school boundaries -- most were minor or resulted in no injury. Thirty were counted as serious, and there was one fatality. The researchers also recorded features of the "built environment" around the schools, such as how many traffic lights there were, and whether there were "traffic-calming" devices like crossing guards and speed humps. At first blush, researchers said, the news wasn't good. The more kids walked or biked to given school, the higher their risk of getting hit by a car. But the picture changed after they factored in environmental features like crossing guards, speed humps, and traffic lights. Those features were more strongly associated with the risk of pedestrian accidents than the proportion of kids who were walking or biking to school. At first, those results might seem a little counterintuitive. After all, those are all things that are designed to makes streets safer, not more dangerous. But researchers say those are also things that are markers for busy traffic areas. "It's not that the traffic light is where the crash happens. It's that if you're in a neighborhood with lots of traffic lights, that's probably the kind of built environment that's built for cars rather than for children," said lead researcher Dr. Andrew Howard, a senior scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Liu agreed. He said it's a little like finding a large number of fire trucks at a big fire. "The last thing you'd want to say in a situation like that is 'well, maybe, if we reduce the number of fire trucks we could reduce the size of the fire," he said. Both experts said the real solution is making high-traffic areas around schools safer for kids who travel on foot. "Making street improvements has been shown to be economically revitalizing. People who live in more walkable environment report more social cohesion and a greater sense of community," said Liu, who co-wrote a journal commentary on the research. "When you make a community more walkable, you make it a better place to live overall," he added. More information For more tips on how to walk to school safely, visit the National Center for Safe Routes to School. SOURCES: Gilbert Liu, M.D., pediatrician, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Kentucky; Andrew Howard, M.D., senior scientist, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto; May 2014 Pediatrics

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Physician Leadership News Boston hospital settles gender bias suit United Press International, February 8, 2013 A Boston hospital has agreed to settle a gender bias lawsuit by paying its former head of anesthesiology $7 million, lawyers said. The settlement between Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Dr. Carol Warfield includes some non-financial items. Warfield, now 61, charged that Dr. Josef Fischer, who was then head of surgery, systematically sabotaged her and tried to have her removed after she became head of anesthesiology in 2000. She complained to Paul Levy, then the hospital's chief executive, and said he allied with Fischer to force her out of her position.

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Hyperbaric Chamber- Carbon Monoxide Detox: May 24, 2011 The use of hyperbaric therapies is usually linked to the treatment of persistent wounds, but it can also be used in emergency rescues. Although it resembles a big blue submarine, the hyperbaric chamber often doubles as a lifesaver. It creates a, pressurized environment and releases pure oxygen. Super-saturating the body with oxygen helps accelerate wound healing. The same technology can cleanse the body of carbon monoxide in the event of a poisoning. Lee Memorial Hospital is one of only a handful of centers in the state of Florida that still offers emergency hyperbaric services. On the cusp of hurricane season, more attention is paid to improper use of generators. Used outside to provide power, they are perfectly fine. But used indoors, they create a potential for disaster. “People do not realize the affect of carbon monoxide poisoning,” says Capt. John Manson with the N. Ft. Myers Fire Dept. “They say it’s the silent killer because you don’t smell it or anything.” Rescue crews are well acquainted with the dangers. After Hurricane Charley in 2004, the hyperbaric unit treated a record number of poisonings. “We had a lot of carbon monoxide poisoning, a lot of people put generators on the soffit and therefore the carbon monoxide rose through the soffit and into the house,” says Dr. Robert Casola. “We treated over 35 people in two days.” The multiplace chamber is built to treat several people at once. A feature that proved lifesaving. “During hurricane Charlie, we had families of six and seven,” Dr. Casola says.

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Difference: AfferentPupillaryDefects (r2 vs. r1) AFFERENT PUPILLARY DEFECTS Contents AFFERENT PUPILLARY DEFECTS Recognizing an Afferent Pupillary Defect Measuring a Relative Afferent Pupillary Defect Afferent Pupillary Signs in Selected Disorders Normal Subjects Functional Visual Loss Amblyopia Occlusion Retinopathies and Maculopathies Optic Neuropathies Optic Chiasm Optic Tract Midbrain Lateral Geniculate Nucleus and the Geniculocalcarine Tract Recognizing an Afferent Pupillary Defect Damage to the pre-geniculate anterior visual pathway, including the retina and optic nerve, impairs the rate and amplitude of the direct and consensual pupillary light reaction when the affected eye is stimulated. When the opposite eye is stimulated, the direct and consensual response will not be similarly affected unless it too is injured. The degree to which pupillary light reaction is impaired is directly proportional to the degree of damage to the visual neural elements. For example, with complete unilateral optic nerve damage no direct or consensual pupillary response is observed when the injured side is stimulated by light, a sign referred to as an amaurotic pupil. Because of the bilateral projections of the afferent pupillomotor input to the Edinger-Westphal nuclei, the pupils are equal in size in a patient with an amaurotic pupil. When less-than-complete injury to the afferent visual system occurs, the resulting impairment of the pupillary light reaction is referred to as a relative afferent pupillary defect. The direct pupillary light reaction is characterized by a reduced rate of initial constriction, reduced maximal amplitude of contraction, and early or excessive escape relative to the direct light reaction of the opposite pupil (47, 48). At the beginning of the 20th century, the English ophthalmologist Robert Marcus Gunn (49) described a pupillary sign associated with retrobulbar neuritis whereby the pupil of the affected eye demonstrated secondary dilation when it was continuously stimulated by direct light for several seconds, a phenomenon now referred to as pupillary escape. Clinicians often generalize his original description of this test and refer to the abnormal pupillary reaction associated with disease of the afferent visual system as a Marcus Gunn pupil. I prefer the term "relative afferent pupillary defect", because pupillary escape, by itself, is an insensitive sign of optic nerve disease (50, 51) and because this term more aptly describes the pupillary signs associated with disorders of the afferent visual pathway. The most sensitive way to detect a relative afferent pupillary defect at the bedside is to compare the direct reactions of both pupils by alternating the light stimulus back and forth between the two eyes serially, a test referred to as the alternating (or swinging) light test (of Levatin) (52). First, ask patients to stare at a distant fixation target to prevent their pupils from intermittently constricting as a result of the near reaction during the test. Then, use a bright hand-held light and stimulate each eye back and forth at a regular interval while observing the reactions of the directly stimulated pupil. Use dim ambient illumination and a bright stimulating light, such as a hand-held Finhoff transilluminator, to facilitate large amplitude and brisk pupillary reactions. Finding the best combination of ambient illumination and stimulating light intensity may require some initial trial-and-error test runs. For example, if the room light is too bright, then the pupils will be small and the amount that they constrict when stimu

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Paving the way for better sleep in Alzheimer's A new sleep pattern monitoring system has been developed by UK researchers to help spot sleep disturbance in people diagnosed with early dementia. The system, known as PAViS, could be used remotely by healthcare workers to view sleep profiles and analyse sleep patterns based on sensory data gathered at the patient's home. Writing in the International Journal of Computers in Healthcare, Huiru Zheng and colleagues at the University of Ulster at Jordanstown, County Antrim, Northern Ireland explain how sleep disturbance is one of the most distressing of symptoms in Alzheimer's disease and might also be an early indicator of the onset of the disease in some cases. They point out that so-called "telecare" systems allow healthcare workers to monitor patient activity whether in normal or supported housing. There are almost half a million people in the UK with Alzheimer's disease and for many of those sleep disorders and disruptive nocturnal behaviour present a significant clinical problem for healthcare workers and are a cause of distress for caregivers. Sleep-related problems generally worsen as the disease progresses and are an indicator of cognitive impairment and lead to the patient being less alert than would be expected during waking hours as well as reducing their overall wellbeing. Various systems have been developed in recent years to monitor sleeping patients. However, these would often tend to involve other people in the patient's home as well as simply monitoring sleep patterns rather than long-term monitoring and analysis of sleep profiles for assessing sleep quality. PAViS, pattern analysis and visualisation system, circumvents the problems and allows healthcare workers to quickly see shifts in sleep pattern and detect unusual patterns in order to assess the changes in health condition of people with early dementia over the course of weeks and months. Data are collected from infrared movement detectors and sensors on bedroom and other doors in the patient's home. This provides a non-invasive, pervasive and objective monitoring and assessment solution, the team says. The team has worked with Paul Jeffers of the Fold Housing Association in Holywood on patient case studies to demonstrate proof of principle in monitoring a patient's total amount of sleep time, sleep episodes and their rhythm of sleep. The PAViS component of their approach daily, weekly and monthly charts to allow sleep patterns, and more importantly changing patterns, to be spotted quickly and easily. The team found that it was relatively easy to distinguish between the sleep patterns of a non-Alzheimer's patient with only one or two sleeping "episodes", big movements, such as getting out of bed during the night reflecting many hours of undisturbed sleep. This compares with 35 episodes or more in Alzheimer's patients and many fewer hours of total sleeping time. "PAViS provides a tool to enable telecare service and carers to be able to have a better overview of the client's behaviour so as to provide sufficient support when necessary," the team says. "While current telecare service focuses on providing telemonitoring of clients' daily activity, and tries to detect abnormal behaviour, it is also important to investigate the correlation of behaviour profile, such as sleep pattern profile, with the clients' health condition," the team adds. They conclude that, "The knowledge discovered or obtained from the long-term sleep profiles can also be used to support intervention in detecting and responding to abnormal sleep pattern." More information: "A pattern analysis and visualisation system for sleep monitoring in ambient assisted living environment" in Int. J. Computers in Healthcare, vol 1(4), 320-331 Journal reference: International Journal of Computers in Healthcare Provided by Inderscience Publishers Mathematics simplifies sleep monitoring A UQ researcher has created a new way to measure breathing patterns in sleeping infants which may also work for adults. Trouble sleeping? It may affect your memory later on The amount and quality of sleep you get at night may affect your memory later in life, according to research that was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New ... Sleep disturbances hurt memory consolidation Sleep disturbance negatively impacts the memory consolidation and enhancement that usually occurs with a good night's sleep, according to a study published Mar. 28 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. Pediatric epilepsy impacts sleep for the child and parents Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital for Children in Boston have determined that pediatric epilepsy significantly impacts sleep patterns for the child and parents. According to the study available in Epilepsia, a jour ... Southerners sleepiest, U.S. 'Sleep map' shows (HealthDay) -- Where you live in the United States may influence how well you sleep, researchers report.

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Medicineworld.org: Archives of health news blog Go Back to the main health news blog Subscribe To Health Blog RSS Feed Archives Of Health News Blog From Medicineworld.Org December 11, 2008, 5:17 AM CT Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease linked Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes and celiac disease appear to share a common genetic origin, researchers at the University of Cambridge and Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, have confirmed.Their findings, which are reported in this week's edition of the New England Journal (NEJM), identified seven chromosome regions which are shared between the two diseases. The research suggests that type 1 diabetes and celiac disease may be caused by common underlying mechanisms such as autoimmunity-related tissue damage and intolerance to dietary antigens (foreign substances which prompt an immune response).Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder which causes the body to attack the beta cells of the pancreas, limiting its ability to produce the insulin necessary to regulate blood sugar levels. Celiac disease, also an autoimmune disorder, attacks the small intestine and is triggered by the consumption of gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley and rye) and cereals. The development and anatomy of the small intestine and pancreas are closely related, and the gut immune system shares connections with pancreatic lymph nodes, which have been associated with an inflammation of the pancreas and the destruction of beta cells.In order to assess the genetic similarities and differences between the two inflammatory disorders, the scientists obtained 9339 control samples, 8064 samples from people with type 1 diabetes and 2560 samples from individuals with celiac disease. They found a total of seven loci (regions of a chromosome) were shared between the two......... Posted by: JoAnn Read more Source Sugar can be addictive, Princeton scientist says A Princeton University scientist will present new evidence today demonstrating that sugar can be an addictive substance, wielding its power over the brains of lab animals in a manner similar to a number of drugs of abuse.Professor Bart Hoebel and his team in the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute have been studying signs of sugar addiction in rats for years. Until now, the rats under study have met two of the three elements of addiction. They have demonstrated a behavioral pattern of increased intake and then showed signs of withdrawal. His current experiments captured craving and relapse to complete the picture."If bingeing on sugar is really a form of addiction, there should be long-lasting effects in the brains of sugar addicts," Hoebel said. "Craving and relapse are critical components of addiction, and we have been able to demonstrate these behaviors in sugar-bingeing rats in many ways".At the annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology in Scottsdale, Ariz., Hoebel will report on profound behavioral changes in rats that, through experimental conditions, have been trained to become dependent on high doses of sugar."We have the first set of comprehensive studies showing the strong suggestion of sugar addiction in rats and a mechanism that might underlie it," Hoebel said. The findings eventually could have implications for the therapy of humans with eating disorders, he said......... Surge in older cancer survivors expected as baby boomers age The United States could be faced with a national health care crisis in the coming decades as the country's baby boomer population ages and a growing number of elderly adults find themselves diagnosed with and living longer with cancer.That is the position of a team of scientists from across the country who believe current prevention measures, screening, therapys, and supportive care for older patients at risk of or dealing with cancer are lacking in the US.In a special supplement issue of the international journal Cancer being released this month - Aging in the Context of Cancer Prevention and Control: Perspectives from Behavioral Health Medicine the scientists say there is an urgent need for clear, evidence-based practice guidelines to assist physicians, oncologists and others who provide short- and long-term care management to elderly adults with cancer.Only with more immediate research will proper prevention efforts, screening, therapy approaches, post-treatment survivorship and end of life care be put in place to serve this rapidly growing population, the experts say.Consider these facts: More than 60 percent of all cancerous cancer diagnoses in the U.S. occur in people age 65 or older. There are an estimated 6.5 million adults age 65 or older currently living with a history of cancer in the U.S......... Posted by: Janet Read more Source Late preterm births present serious risks to newborns More than half a million babies are born preterm in the United States each year, and preterm births are on the rise. Late preterm births, or births that occur between 34 and 36 weeks (approximately 4 to 6 weeks before the mother's due date), account for more than 70% of preterm births. Despite the large number of affected babies, a number of people are unaware of the serious health problems correlation to late preterm births. A new study and an accompanying editorial soon would be published in The Journal of Pediatrics investigate the serious neurological problems linked to late preterm births.Dr. Joann Petrini of the March of Dimes and his colleagues from institutions throughout the United States studied more than 140,000 babies born between 2000 and 2004, ranging from preterm (30-37 weeks) to full term (37-41 weeks). The scientists reviewed the babies' neurological development and observed that late preterm babies were more than three times as likely to be diagnosed with cerebral palsy as full term babies. They also observed that late preterm babies were at an increased risk for developmental delay or mental retardation.Editorialist Dr. Michael Kramer of McGill University points out that the "rates of preterm births are increasing, particularly in the United States, and the associated risks are a serious public health concern." He sees the increasing number of twins and induced labors as contributing factors in the rise of preterm births. "The rise in twins may be due to the use of fertility therapys like hormones and in-vitro fertilization," Dr. Kramer explains. However, he notes that the increased risks may not always come from early delivery itself, but from other underlying problems, such as gestational diabetes, that may lead to early delivery......... Posted by: Emily Read more Source

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The Future of Health Care comments Obamacare tops 6 million signups By Tami Luhby @Luhby March 27, 2014: 3:32 PM ET Obamacare lines in most uninsured county NEW YORK (CNNMoney) More than 6 million people have signed up for Obamacare, as a crush of people raced to get health insurance before the March 31 deadline. President Obama announced the milestone Thursday in a call with enrollment counselors and outreach volunteers, who are undertaking an intense marketing drive in the final days of open enrollment. There were more than 1.5 million visits to HealthCare.gov and more than 430,000 calls to the call centers on Wednesday. Those who've started the application by next Monday but are unable to finish because of technical issues will receive more time to complete the process, officials have said. Reaching 6 million is a symbolic victory for the Obama administration following the botched launch in October. Share your story: Have you begun using your Obamacare benefits? It is short of the initial goal of 7 million, which was based on a projection by the Congressional Budget Office and adopted by the administration. But it shows considerable gains from the first month when just 106,000 people had signed up. Last month, the CBO revised its projection down to 6 million because of the rocky initial rollout. Related: Obamacare's amazing comeback But just how many people fully enroll in the program this year remains to be seen. The latest figures reflect those picking plans, not paying their premiums. Only those who pay their first month's premium are considered enrolled, while those who don't pay have their policy selections canceled. Insurers have said that the share of people sending in payments is in the 80% range. Also, the total number of enrollees nationwide is not that important a number, experts have said. What's more critical is whether enrollment meets each insurer's expectations since that's what will determine premiums for next year. Insurers are looking at both how many people pick their policies and how many claims they file. Many experts are watching the share of young adults picking plans since they are considered healthier and less costly than older enrollees. Some 25% of those signing up are between ages 18 to 34, as of the end of February, the latest figures available. The White House and independent experts had forecast about 40% would be young adults. First Published: March 27, 2014: 2:31 PM ET Join the Conversation Most Popular

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| | Mental illness was fuzzy and unclear in those days and like many, I was living undiagnosed. Yashi's Story It was the day after my birthday and I was having breakfast with a close cousin in Los Angeles. A homeless man came up to the outside eating area in an obvious state of psychosis, mumbling to himself and asking for money. It’s uncommon to see the homeless in a courtyard setting of caf�s in this quaint part of town. What’s more uncommon is this gentleman was dressed indecently and looked both mentally and physically unwell. The unsightly image pulled at my heartstrings in ways very few could ever comprehend. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one, but I immediately dialed for an ambulance, knowing this was a severe case needing attention. “[Poetry helped] tap into places and leave behind the horror of hopelessness I never fully understood ... As my cousin and I were walking back to our cars we saw firemen tending to the gentleman with necessary protocol. But there was something I overheard and couldn’t stop thinking about that probably mimicked the mindset of most that were present during this spectacle. Earlier as the manager of the caf� was shooing the man away from the customers he said, “No amount of meds can do anything for him.” At that moment all I could think about was some time ago, when a kind taxi cab driver called the local police on me because I was skipping down Ventura Boulevard talking to myself in an obvious state of psychosis. After repeated questioning, authorities took me to a close family member’s house and eventually an intervention took place at UCLA medical center that would lead me to the path of recovery that I’m on now. I don’t tell this story often but when I do I always get asked the same question, “Where was your family? How did you end up on the street in the first place?” Yes, I was living drug free in a loving family environment. But I was also living with deep internal pain and severe depression that I kept silent from my parents and siblings. Mental illness was a fuzzy and unclear concept in those days and like many, I was living undiagnosed. I had no clue there was a name for what I was experiencing for several years. I had never shown the signs of having a break from reality so there was nothing alarming that the average person could detect. But I spiraled into my first manic episode that day with a series of intense delusions and took off without anyone’s knowledge, landing me on the streets 300 miles away from home. That’s how fast that can happen. Thank goodness the cab driver spotted me within 24 hours of my disappearance. Who knows where I would be today if he hadn’t seen me. As I was seeking recovery, writing poetry was my lifeline and helpline. I could tap into places and leave behind the horror of hopelessness I never fully understood to begin with. I could cry for help. It unleashed my ability to communicate with the outside world while trying to cope with my bipolar symptoms. Poetry was the only place in my brain that I liked myself. I knew I had a chance to feel special with poetry. Through prayer, positive thinking, poetry, family and medical treatments, recovery reared its wonderful head and empowered me to make a difference. I absolutely had to share hope with others and for me that’s with words, whether speaking publically or writing. The road of recovery is a journey, not a destination.� Yes, it takes determination but also lots of support, whether from doctors, family, friends, the community and sometimes all of the above. It can take months or years to find the right therapy or medications to regain control over basic, every day functioning. But with proper support it can be done. �This is why I advocate. This is why NAMI advocates and why there are thousands of hard-working members across the country offering support and fighting for their family members, friends and neighbors living with mental illness. Apathy comes from unawareness and that’s why spreading awareness is so crucial, why talking about it is essential and why sharing with others what works for you is so important. Sharing our stories reminds us that we’re not alone. The reality of how most of these illnesses can be managed still goes unnoticed by many. Treatment can help many severe cases, but a strong support structure is paramount. NAMI is working to keep that conversation going and offering that support by showing that there have been others who have gone through similar experiences and have made it to the road to recovery. I don’t know how the homeless man got to the severe mental state he was in. Nor do I know what will become of him once the local authorities release him from their care. What I can say is if someone had of seen my spectacle quite some time ago on Ventura Boulevard they may have said the same thing: “No amount of meds can do anything for her.” With support from my friends and family, with treatments and writing poetry, I’m here. Today, I travel around the country speaking publicly and performing spoken word to let others know there is hope. Find out more about Yashi on her website and Facebook page.

医学

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Parenting & Family Topics: campaign, car, children, deaths, family, health, heat, Hispanic, hot, latino, medicine, parenting, pediatrics, summer, trokeDuring the hot summer months, it’s more important than ever to make sure baby isn’t left behind in the car. (Photo/Getty Images)New gadgets aren’t effective against the danger of leaving kids in hot cars, warns report by Nina Terrero, @nina_terrero Follow @NBCLatino12:22 pm on 07/30/2012 Heat waves are scorching the country this summer, and as the temperature escalates so does the risk of children passing away from heat exposure in locked cars. An astonishingly high number of children have passed away from stroke deaths after being accidentally left in a hot car. Though a crop of new gadgets has popped up on the market to help prevent parents from unintentionally leaving a child behind in a hot car, a new report has found these new warning devices aren’t at all effective. A report conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found the majority of consumer products marketed to parents as a warning tool are extremely limited in their effectiveness. The report cited the new consumer products’ “inconsistencies in arming sensitivity” and “susceptibility of the systems to misuse” – meaning that a spilled bottle of juice, a cell phone signal or squirmy toddler can easily disrupt the motion sensors designed to identify children left behind in cars. “While many of these products are well intended, we cannot recommend parents and caregivers rely on technology to prevent these events from occurring,” said NHTSA Administrator David L. Strickland in a statement. According to statistics published by the NHTSA, heatstroke is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle-related deaths for kids under the age of 14. Approximately 33 children died of heatstroke – medically referred to as “hyperthermia” – in 2011. Since 1998, nearly 540 children have lost their lives to vehicular heatstroke – an average of 38 children per year. The majority of cases where children have died after being left in a hot, parked car are accidental, says Mark Robert Zonfrillo, a pediatric emergency physician at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Zonfrillo explains that temperatures inside a car can quickly escalate to deadly levels and children’s bodies are unable to sustain the heat. “Most of these tragic cases occur when there’s a break in established parenting routines,” says Dr. Zonfrillo. “The fact that it’s unintentional makes these situations absolutely heartbreaking— but completely preventable.” Dr. Zonfrillo recommends parents get into the habit of double checking the back seat before hopping out of the car. He adds that some caregivers may find it helpful to place a small stuffed animal within view of as a reminder that a child is in their car seat. Because about 30 percent of deaths occur when children are trapped in an unattended vehicle during play, Dr. Zonfrillo also recommends that parents lock cars when they are not in use. The NHTSA report follows a national campaign urging parents to ask, “Where’s baby? Look before you lock.” For practical tips on keeping kids safe from heatstroke, click here. Paul Bowen:August 18, 2012 at 3:55 pmI have been working on something that will keep this from ever happening to any child again.my ideal is a winner.I can be reached at bowencustompainting@yahoo.com

医学

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Prevention Institute VIEW AS WEB PAGE Prevention Institute alert: July 30, 2014 SWEET Act Would Curb Consumption, Support Health by Taxing Soda, the ‘New Tobacco’ Today, Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut took a giant step for the health of Americans: She and two colleagues introduced a national, penny-a-teaspoon tax on the sugar that’s packed into soda and other sugary drinks. The proceeds would be used to fund prevention and health programs designed to reduce “the human and economic costs” of diabetes and other chronic health problems related to overconsumption of sugary drinks. With this bill, Rep. DeLauro is elevating to the national stage a conversation we as a nation desperately need to have. The bill is sure to be opposed by the soda industry and faces an uncertain future in Congress. But just as early proposals to limit smoking were dismissed and belittled only to become law when public attitudes changed, we believe the American people and our political leaders will come to understand the need to limit the consumption of sugary drinks. Prevention Institute is proud to be one of the original endorsers of the SWEET Act. In support of the bill, Prevention Institute founder and Executive Director Larry Cohen made the following comments: “Soda and sugary beverages are the new tobacco and the fight to reduce their marketing and consumption is the next great public health battle. I helped create the nation’s first multi-city no-smoking laws and advocated for years to increase the tax on tobacco. I see a sugar-sweetened beverage tax as just as valuable and just as groundbreaking. “Sugar-sweetened beverages do extensive damage to our health, have no nutritional value, and are particularly harmful to children. Their extensive marketing, especially to children, low-income people and communities of color, is insidious and has created a nightmare of chronic disease, placing horrendous burdens and costs on our health system. Every step we can take to reverse these burdens is life-saving.” We at Prevention Institute applaud Rep. DeLauro, along with her colleagues, Representatives Eleanor Homes Norton and Jim Moran, for their courage in sponsoring this legislation. We’re proud to support the national effort, just as we’ve endorsed a measure that will appear on the ballot in Berkeley, California, right in our backyard, to place a one-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages. We’re fighting for our health—and the health of our children. Here’s a link to the full text of the SWEET Act. Give it a read—it’s short and, yes, sweet, and the first section lays out the rationale for why we need to get a grip on soda marketing and consumption. Mark Bittman on Why It Makes Sense to Tax Soda Bittman’s got the scoop: He had the privilege of introducing the SWEET Act to the American public in his New York Times blog yesterday. It’s a good read. Visit our website: www.preventioninstitute.org t 510-444-7738 | email: prevent@preventioninstitute.org

医学

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Depression and Anxiety Among College Students By Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. Pages: 1 2All Depression and anxiety are prevalent problems in colleges across the country. “There is no question that all of the national surveys we have at our fingertips show a distinct rise in the number of mental health problems,” said Jerald Kay, M.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the Wright State University School of Medicine. Indeed, in the past 15 years, depression has doubled and suicide tripled, he said. According to a survey from the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA), universities and colleges also have seen an increase in students seeking services for anxiety disorders. The average age of onset for many mental health conditions is the typical college age range of 18 to 24 years old, said Courtney Knowles, executive director of The JED Foundation, a charitable organization that aims to reduce suicide and improve mental health for college students. In fact, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, 75 percent of all individuals with an anxiety disorder will experience symptoms before age 22, as cited in the ADAA Report. Other students, who might not have clinical anxiety or depression, still suffer. According to the 2006 American College Health Association Survey, 45 percent of women and 36 percent of men felt so depressed that it was difficult to function. Contributing Factors During college, “students deal with a unique amount of stressors,” said Knowles. Specifically, college calls for a significant transition, where “students experience many firsts, including new lifestyle, friends, roommates, exposure to new cultures and alternate ways of thinking,” said Hilary Silver, M.S.W., a licensed clinical social worker and mental health expert for Campus Calm. When students can’t manage these firsts, they’re more likely to struggle. “If students do not feel adequate or prepared to cope with the new environment of a college campus, they could easily become susceptible to depression and anxiety,” said Harrison Davis, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Counseling and Coordinator of the Community Counseling master’s program at North Georgia College & State University. Feelings of inadequacy can stem from academic stressors. In college, competition is much more significant, said Dr. Kay. So, there is the palpable pressure to do well, whether the demands come from parents or the student, said Silver. Adjusting to college also influences identity — a phenomenon Silver has termed Identity Disorientation. “When students head off to college, the familiar people are no longer there to reinforce the identity these students have created for themselves.” This can make students “disoriented and feel a loss of their sense of self,” contributing to symptoms of depression and anxiety. A shaky identity and lack of confidence can lead college students “to make poor choices about drinking and drugs,” said Silver. In fact, according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) report, Wasting the Best and the Brightest: Substance Abuse at America’s Colleges and Universities, 45 percent of college students binge drink and nearly 21 percent abuse prescription or illegal drugs. For some students, college isn’t the first time they encounter depression and anxiety. Because of advancements in psychotherapy and medication, “we’re seeing students matriculate into college who have had a previous psychological disorder,” said Dr. Kay. And though these students “can handle college in an effective fashion,” he said, it puts a great strain on counseling centers to accommodate the larger numbers. When evaluating universities, parents and students should make sure schools have the necessary mental health resources. It’s important they approach investigating these services just as diligently as they do looking for a school that has a great biology program if that’s what their child wants to study, said Knowles. Explore what each counseling center offers; review the school’s leave of absence policy; and work with the counseling center on the appropriate accommodations, he said. Pages: 1 2All Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. is an Associate Editor at Psych Central and blogs regularly about eating and self-image issues on her own blog, Weightless. Tartakovsky, M. (2008). Depression and Anxiety Among College Students. Psych Central. Retrieved on October 23, 2014, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/depression-and-anxiety-among-college-students/0001425 Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 30 Jan 2013 Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved. Loneliness Quiz Blog: Depression on My Mind Specific Symptoms of a Depressive Episode Ask the Therapist about Depression Ask Others about Depression New Depression Medications on the Horizon Depression in Older Adults Depression in Children Teenager Depression Depression in Women More articles on depression... Dysthymic Disorder Dysthymia Treatment Depression News Clinical Trials Evidence-based Treatment for Children Join Our Depression Support Group

医学

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New potential drug target in tuberculosis Scientists reveal structure of a key tuberculosis protein Matthias Wilmanns, Head of EMBL Hamburg Tuberculosis remains one of the deadliest threats to public health. Every year two million people die of the disease, which is caused by the microorganism Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Roughly one third of the world's population is infected and more and more bacterial strains have developed resistance to drugs. Researchers from the Hamburg Outstation of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology (MPIIB) in Berlin have now obtained a structural image of a protein that the bacterium needs for survival in human cells. This image reveals features of the molecule that could be targeted by new antibiotic drugs. The results appear in this week's online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). M. tuberculosis is dangerous because it hides and persists in the immune cells of our bodies. "It can only persist there because of the activity of key molecules," says Matthias Wilmanns, Head of EMBL Hamburg. "We are investigating the functions of tuberculosis proteins and determining their atomic structures, in hopes of finding weak points and new inhibitors." A protein called LipB is essential for the organism because it activates cellular machines that drive the bacterium's metabolism. Stefan Kaufmann's department at the MPIIB has specialised in the biology of M. tuberculosis infection and its ability to survive in immune cells. They discovered that LipB is highly active in acutely infected cells, particularly in patients infected by multidrug-resistant forms of M. tuberculosis. "In these cells we see a 70-fold increase in the production of LipB when compared to other cells," says Stefan Kaufmann, Director at the MPIIB. "This strongly indicates an involvement in pathogenesis and makes it a particularly interesting target where traditional drugs have lost their efficacy." A structural picture of the protein - a kind of technical diagram of its building plan - has yielded important clues about its activity. Qingjun Ma from Wilmanns' group purified LipB and obtained crystals of the molecule. Using the high-energy synchrotron radiation beamlines at EMBL Hamburg, on the campus of the German Electron Synchrotron Radiation Facility (DESY), he created an atom-by-atom map of the protein's structure. A high-resolution picture of the active site of LipB bound to a lipid inhibitor helped to determine the function of the enzyme. In collaboration with EMBL's Proteomics Core Facility in Heidelberg and researchers from the University of Illinois (USA), the Hamburg group discovered how LipB attaches specific fatty acids onto other proteins. "LipB is a very promising drug target," Wilmanns says, "because it belongs to a vital pathway. Unlike other organisms M. tuberculosis has no backup mechanism that could take over LipB's role. This means that an inhibitor blocking its active site would shut down key processes the bacterium needs to survive and replicate. This would be a very effective strategy for a drug." The scientists will now search for compounds that can do so. At the same time, they are continuing to look for other proteins as drug targets. Wilmanns and his colleagues from various other institutes are now focusing on structures of molecules that help M. tuberculosis to persist in its dormant state and could become drug targets. ### Over the past three years, EMBL has coordinated an "M. tuberculosis structural proteomics" consortium, supported by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and produced high resolution images of more than 30 proteins. "Structure-based drug discovery has been a big success in the battle against many other diseases. We are now applying these tools to tuberculosis, one of the most devastating infectious diseases of mankind," Wilmanns concludes. A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. -- Sir Francis Bacon

医学

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ORDR Home Diseases Carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 deficiency Carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 deficiency Carbamyl phosphate synthetase (CPS) deficiency CPS 1 deficiency Hyperammonemia due to carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 deficiency The U.S. National Institutes of Health, through the National Library of Medicine, developed ClinicalTrials.gov to provide patients, family members, and members of the public with current information on clinical research studies. There is a study titled Study of Treatment and Metabolism in Patients With Urea Cycle Disorders which may be of interest to you. To find this trial, click on the link above. Orphanet lists clinical trials, research studies, and patient registries enrolling people with this condition. Click on Orphanet to view the list. The Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT) provides access to reports, data, and analyses of research activities at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including information on NIH expenditures and the results of NIH-supported research. Although these projects may not conduct studies on humans, you may want to contact the investigators to learn more. To search for studies, enter the disease name in the "Text Search" box. Then click "Submit Query". Patient Registry The Urea Cycle Disorders Consortium is a team of doctors, nurses, research coordinators, and research labs throughout the US, working together to improve the lives of people with Urea Cycle Disorders. The Urea Cycle Disorders Consortium maintains a registry for patients who wish to be contacted about clinical research opportunities. For more information on the registry see: http://rarediseasesnetwork.epi.usf.edu/ucdc/takeaction/index.htm ResearchMatch is a free national research registry designed to bring together patients, healthy volunteers and researchers. Anyone from the United States can register with ResearchMatch, and a parent, legal guardian, or caretaker may register on behalf of a volunteer. Researchers from participating institutions use the ResearchMatch database to search for patients or healthy volunteers who meet the study criteria. Many studies are looking for healthy people of all ages, while some are looking for people with specific illnesses. ResearchMatch was developed by major academic institutions across the country and is funded by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research. Click on the link to learn more about ResearchMatch. General Clinical Trials & Research

医学

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New Study Shows Partnership Between University of Maryland School of Medicine and Eastern Shore Area Health Education Center May Help Address Cancer and Health Disparity Issues Claudia R Baquet Claudia R Baquet M.D., M.P.H. Partners Hope Program, Pairing Major Academic Health Care Institution with Rural Health Education Center, Could Become National Model Robust partnerships between rural community health education centers and academic health care institutions can make substantial strides toward addressing race-, income- and geographically-based health disparities in underserved communities by empowering both the community and leading University institutions, according to newly published research from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. University of Maryland Medical Researcher Claudia R. Baquet, MD, MPH, and her team examined 17 years of a partnership between the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a rural health education non-profit on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the Eastern Shore Area Health Education Center (ESAHEC). The research team found that rural communities were more willing to participate in clinical trials and biospecimen donations when long-term partnerships were established between University Medical Centers in cooperation with local community health educational centers. The paper was published in the most recent issue of Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education and Action, a journal published by Johns Hopkins University Press. “Maryland’s Eastern Shore has a rich history of ethnic, racial and cultural diversity in their communities,” says Dr. Baquet, professor and associate dean for policy and planning and director of the Center for Health Disparities at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “The Eastern Shore represents populations with unique health disparities that are amenable to targeted interventions, “ she says. But like many rural regions in the state, the Eastern shore has unique needs when it comes to health care. “Its residents have higher rates of cancer and chronic disease than those who live in urban areas,” she says. Furthermore, the area lacks public transportation systems to take patients to and from health care. It also has a growing number of older residents who are Medicare-eligible yet are not aware of the services available to them.” The researchers, who formed this partnership, envision that the partnership will become a model for other programs throughout the country, fostering community-engaged research, particularly among rural communities. The partnership between the ESAHEC and the School of Medicine is funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD) and the NIH National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). "Dr. Baquet’s research is representative of the kind of study the NCI Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities has been promoting since the Center's inception over a decade ago,” says Sanya A. Springfield, PhD, CRCHD’s director. "It’s gratifying to see Dr. Baquet's research reflect how a model of mutual respect and trust can lead to community empowerment, a refocus on healthy lifestyle behaviors, and increased willingness to participate in clinical trials and biospecimen donation among our underserved communities. These are all essential components to building greater capacity, eliminating disparities, and advancing the science of cancer health disparities.," Dr. Springfield said. The researchers describe the relationship between the School of Medicine’s Office of Policy and Planning and the ESAHEC, a nonprofit funded by the Health Resources Services Administration and the Maryland health department. The goal of the ESAHEC is to use educational partnerships to help address shortages in primary care and specialty health professionals in the nine rural counties that make up the Eastern Shore of Maryland. “This ongoing research partnership with the ESAHEC is special in its truly bi-directional nature, in which both partners participate fully in the research process and each benefits from the other’s expertise,” says Dr. Baquet. ESAHEC’s educational programs include a Bioethics Mini-Medical School for the public and other research and health-topic training for the rural community, as well as continuing education for established health care professionals and a health career education track for children from Grade 8 through Grade 12. The Eastern Shore ESAHEC is one of three partnerships in Maryland and 255 in the nation. Outreach that educates the community and community health professionals about health care and research is core to the issue of improving health care outcomes, increasing access and addressing health disparities, says Baquet. Increasing public trust in research is another major benefit of the program. Examples of types of research jointly conducted by the partners includes: research on barriers to clinical trial participation, strategies to address biospecimen donation for future research purposes, telehealth training, bioethics barriers to research participation, patient navigation to cancer screening for rural and urban communities. “We are hoping that our outreach will encourage greater community trust in academic researchers and greater participation in research, allowing academics to better understand and address the issues facing rural communities,” Baquet says. “In turn, we hope that academic health center faculty will become more culturally competent, responsive to community needs and expertise and will learn to include community organizations as meaningful partners in their research. This model has a higher potential for sustainability than the approach that we call ‘helicopter research,’ where academics conduct studies but do not share their results or return any benefit to the community.” “We do have a truly bidirectional partnership,” says Jeanne Bromwell, co-author of the article and deputy director and continuing education coordinator at the ESAHEC. “Dr. Baquet respects our role in the community and we very much respect her knowledge and contacts through the School of Medicine. People here often look at academics as outsiders. With our contacts down here, we are able to bring Dr. Baquet’s expertise to the community in a way that does not make them feel threatened. It is a phenomenal relationship.” The research results are used to develop new programs to educate community members about bioethics and the benefits of clinical research, easing their concerns and suspicions about such studies. Community members have participated in research examining the use of community health workers as patient navigators for cancer screening for African-American patients. They also participated in research that found that telehome care patient monitoring of home health patients with certain chronic diseases improves outcomes. The partnership with the medical school also has provided the ESAHEC access to critical funding for which it would not otherwise be eligible. The program continues to form bonds between the School of Medicine and its students and the residents and health professionals on the Eastern Shore, in keeping with the School’s mission, says E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, vice president for medical affairs of the University of Maryland and John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and dean of the School of Medicine. “The School of Medicine’s mission reaches well beyond Baltimore, throughout the state of Maryland, the nation and, indeed, the world,” says Dr. Reece. “We hope that our incredibly valuable partnership with our colleagues on the Eastern Shore will serve as a model for other academic medical institutions across the country, creating a new future for the health of America’s rural residents.” About the University of Maryland School of Medicine Established in 1807, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was the first public medical school in the United States, and the first to institute a residency-training program. The School of Medicine was the founding school of the University of Maryland and today is an integral part of the 11-campus University System of Maryland. On the University of Maryland's Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine serves as the anchor for a large academic health center which aims to provide the best medical education, conduct the most innovative biomedical research and provide the best patient care and community service to Maryland and beyond. www.medschool.umaryland.edu. About the Eastern Shore Area Health Education Center The Eastern Shore Area Health Education Center (AHEC) is a private, non-profit, 501(C) 3 organization, which became operational in 1997. Governed by a 16 person Board of Directors, AHEC services the nine counties comprising Maryland’s Eastern Shore. AHEC’s goal is to increase the number of health care providers who provide services in rural and underserved areas and eliminate health disparities among diverse populations of the Eastern Shore by providing and coordinating programs that improve the health status of all. In the face of rapidly changing demographics in the region, AHEC leverages federal, state and local resources to support health careers promotion, health professions student rotations in underserved rural communities, continuing education, and community health promotion activities. Contact University of MarylandSchool of MedicineOffice of Public Affairs655 West Baltimore StreetBressler Research Building 14-002Baltimore, Maryland 21201-1559Contact Media Relations(410) 706-5260 • esahec.org• Office of Policy and Planning• Center for Health Disparities

医学

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Facts and Giving Sam Sommer Fund Hair Today Saturday began the last month in which I will have a full head of hair. On April 1, I will be shaving my head. I've alluded to it before, I've talked around it. But it's almost here. And I think it's time to share my thoughts. Hair has always been an important part of our family. My chidren have strong opinions about their own hair, and how it should look. Sammy's first haircut After the lice-shaving incident, everyone was reluctant to get a haircut. This is Sammy's shaggy look. For Sam, losing his hair was a big deal at first. I think it was more the idea of the change, rather than the actual hair loss. It changed how he looked, and it changed how people looked at him. Throughout his treatment, he was mostly bald, and then as it grew back after treatment, we noticed and celebrated. And throughout all of last summer, his hair grew back after some of the heavy rounds of chemo, during the outpatient portion of his treatment. He actually had quite a bit of hair on his head when we headed into transplant (bottom right hand pic) and I think that helped him to feel more "normal" through the summer. He shaved his own head for transplant, and it was quite an....art piece. At the very beginning of this terrible journey, someone suggested that I shave my head to raise money. Sam was totally opposed to it. I know that everything in his life seemed so topsy-turvy, having my head look completely different would be one more terribly weird change. So I dropped the idea, but I marveled at the photos of the 46 Mommas who Shave For the Brave...and I thought that maybe someday...maybe. When Sammy was in the hospital back in October, I was feeling helpless and frustrated. I made t-shirts (and raised about $5000!), but that just didn't seem big enough. I posted a little idea to Facebook "maybe the time has come to shave my head." It seemed like it would be a BIG statement. It's come to be something so much bigger. With Sammy's death, it has given me a purpose and focus to my desire to give this all meaning. I don't want to hear that any of this terrible stuff happened for a reason, I really don't. And I do believe that I have a responsibility to make something happen because of it. (Which is far from the same thing.) There are so many ways to help kids with cancer. There are so many ways to help their families and their caregivers. We have been the recipients of so much generosity throughout our whole experience. The patient and family support organizations are amazing, and made so many days so much brighter in the midst of so much gloom. I know that we will continue to support these organizations and their missions, and we want to make the world brighter for these families. But if I'm being totally honest here, I know that there's only one thing that I can do to have real, lasting impact, and that's to raise money for research. The only way we are going to end this terror once and for all is with the research that will create better treatments, more effective protocols, and better long-term prospects for all survivors. By funding research, I know that I am putting my heart and soul into my own private goal of a day when no other parent will hear what we heard: "there's no more that we can do for your child." And so I am shaving my head and raising money, along with a whole bunch of my friends and colleagues (including Michael...we will be the #baldestparentsontheblock), the 36 Rabbis Shave For the Brave. (My feelings on how so many of our colleagues and friends have stepped up to join our cause will fill a whole other blog post...I am moved beyond words at this point.) Sammy and his buddy Braeden (who now has awesome hair!), little bald heads learning together When I walk around out in the world right now I'm feeling a little invisible. Not that people don't see me, trust me, they do. But on the outside, I look pretty much...the same. Much like Sammy as his hair grew in while he was still in treatment, I don't look like someone who is changed. Shaving my head, which will be 109 days after Sam's death, 658 days after I became a "cancer mom," will give me a whole new look. My grief will not be invisible. And my visible grief will be so much bigger than just about me and so much bigger than just about Sammy. As of this writing, we've raised almost $360,000. To put it in perspective, a St. Baldricks' Scholar receives a three-year minimum grant at $110,000/year - our fundraising so far has almost fully funded a three-year St Baldricks' Scholar! Imagine the brain power and how much that can change the future, the face of childhood cancer. Every time someone asks about my head, about my hair, I will tell them about the research that my simple act of shaving was able to fund. It's for Sam, yes. But this is NOT just about my Sammy. It's about every kid, about every family. It's also for Cara and Ari and Jonah and Clio and Emma and Cookie and Renae and Sean and Isaac and Leah and Collin and Mia and Zachary and Emily and Jackson and Caleb and Nolan and Eric and Katherine and Braeden and Chloe and Pinky and Issy and Aidan and Hannah and Maddie and Erin and Dawson and Samantha and Browyn and Max and Eli (and Ezra, Jonah, Jake, Idan, Samantha, Connor, Rand and so many others who don't have cancer but whose treatments are so close to the same and who have benefited from the same research)....and those who, like Sam, are no longer with us physically...Bo and Ian and Jack and Kayleen and Donna and Talia and Tucker and Addison and Mya and Zach and Sophia and Sammy and Gabriella and Zach and Londyn and Caleb.... And so many more. So many that I can't even type all the names.... So here we go. Let's fund life-saving research. One more month and I will be bravely bald. Will you support me along the way? The link to donate to my goal is here. No amount is too small to help fund the research that will save future kids from the hell that Sammy and our family have endured. Posted by jrotemMarch 3, 2014 at 1:40 AMI remember when Sammy did his own 'do. I'll look forward to seeing yours too. I just found out that a neighbor of mine did this as well, when she was in college. <3ReplyDeleterochelMarch 3, 2014 at 10:32 AMwith your help and g-ds help may the researchers find a cure to this horrible disease. ReplyDeletemonicamfochtmanMarch 3, 2014 at 11:57 AMTHANK YOU for the 46 Mommas Shave for the Brave Shout-out! We're grateful that our efforts have inspired you to also go bald. We love the shout out as well, but your link above doesn't go tour site. It goes to a Kosher cooking page. Thanks! ReplyDeleteMIGUELMarch 3, 2014 at 1:10 PMShave away! Get that SuperSam trim, and I'll "shave" a little something off my bank account to make it worthwhile! (This blog is the first thing I click on any day, or night, or middle of the night, but my Internet is so slow it may take hours to respond, and the wonderful photos are the last things to appear; I've been working on this one since 5:00 o'clock this morning! So just know that, once you "SEND" or "PUBLISH," there's someone out there trying to "DOWNLOAD," no matter how long it takes.)ReplyDeleteMarshaMarch 3, 2014 at 4:30 PMI just called Ronnie Mac to see of I could volunteer massages to parents and caregivers during their stay. I hopefully will be doing it on the 14th day of each month. ... In honor of Sam.ReplyDeleteKaren RatliffMarch 17, 2014 at 8:16 PMWe don't know each other, but I wanted to let you know that because of Sam's story shared by a mutual friend, I was inspired to shave my head on March 9th at a St. Baldrick's event. I personally was able to raise $800 for the cause, and our event raised $60,430.95. Sam's story will live on in all of us. Blessings to you and yours.ReplyDeleteAdd commentLoad more... Days until Shorn Many Calendars It's been 103 days My Little Storyteller On the Front Steps More Counting Footprints in the Snow Frozen in Winter

医学

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« Attributing Blame — from the Baseball Diamond to the War on Terror The Bar Exam Situation » The Interior Situation of Suicide The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine included an article by Peter Bebergal, titled “On the Edge.” (The teaser reads as follows: “Can a test reveal if a person has a subconscious desire to kill himself? Peter Bebergal, who lost a brother to suicide, goes inside Mass. General, where Harvard researchers are trying to find out.”) Here are a few excerpts. Four years after my brother’s death, Harvard researchers at MGH are experimenting with a test they think could help clinicians determine just that. It focuses on a patient’s subconscious thoughts, and if it can be perfected, these researchers say it could give hospitals more of a legal basis for admitting suicidal patients. This missing piece in the suicidal puzzle is what prompted the innovative research study now in its final phase at MGH. The study, led by Dr. Matthew Nock, an associate professor in the psychology department at Harvard University, is called the Suicide Implicit Association Test. It’s a variation of the Implicit Association Test, or IAT, which was invented by Anthony Greenwald at the University of Washington and “co-developed” by [Situationist Contributor] Dr. Mahzarin Banaji, now a psychology professor at Harvard who works a few floors above Nock on campus. The premise is that test takers, by associating positive and negative words with certain images (or words) – for example, connecting the word “wonderful” with a grouping that contains the word “good” and a picture of a EuropeanAmerican – reveal their unconscious, or implicit, thoughts. The critical factor in the test is not the associations themselves, but the relative speed at which those connections are made. (If you’re curious, take a sample IAT test online at implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/.) The IAT itself is not new – it was created in 1998 – and has been used to evaluate unconscious bias against African-Americans, Arabs, fat people, and Judaism. But critics question whether the test is actually practical, and up until now no one has tried to apply it to suicide prevention. As part of his training, Nock worked extensively with adolescent self-injurers – self-injury, such as cutting and burning, is an important coping method for those who engage in it, though they are often unlikely to acknowledge it. Nock thought that the IAT could serve as a behavioral measure of who is a self-injurer and whether such a person was in danger of continuing the behavior, even after treatment. In their first major study, Nock and Banaji asserted that the IAT could be adapted to show who was inclined to be self-injurious and who was not. And more important, they said, the test could reveal who was in danger of future self-injury. The next step, Nock realized, was to use the test to determine, from a person’s implicit thoughts, whether someone who had prior suicidal behavior was likely to continue to be suicidal. It would give doctors a third component, along with self-reporting and clinician reporting, and result in a more complete picture of a patient. Nock doesn’t assume that a test like the IAT would be 100 percent accurate, but he believes it would have predictive ability. “It is not a lie detector,” he says. “But in an ideal situation, a clinician who is struggling with a decision to admit a potentially suicidal patient to the hospital, or with an equally difficult decision to discharge a patient from the hospital following a potentially lethal suicide attempt, the IAT could provide additional information about whether the clinician should admit or keep that patient in the hospital.” Over two years, researchers at MGH asked patients who had attempted suicide if they would be willing to participate in the test. About two-thirds of them agreed (some 200 patients) – even though some had tried killing themselves just hours before – and after answering a battery of questions about their thoughts, sat with a laptop and took the IAT. During one test, a person was shown two sets of words on a screen, one in the upper left corner, one in the upper right. A single word then appeared in the center, and the test taker was asked to indicate with a keystroke the corner containing the word that connected to the center word. The corner sets were drawn from two groups of words (one group was “escape” and “stay,” and another was “me” and “not me”). In one version, the sets were “escape/not me” and “stay/me,” and the series of words that appeared in the center included, among others, “quit,” “persist,” “myself,” and “them.” The correct answers called for “quit” to be associated with the side that had “escape,” for “myself” to be matched with the side that had “me,” and so forth. In theory, a delay in answering on “quit,” even if the person got it right, could reveal that he was associating the idea of “quit” with the idea of himself. The word sets varied depending on the test, and bias could emerge in a positive or negative way. For example, if the sets were “escape/me” and “stay/not me” and a person hesitated in correctly matching “myself” to the side with “me,” it could reveal that he was associating himself with the idea of “stay.” For about the next five months, Nock and his research team at Harvard will analyze all the data collected from MGH. If they think their findings show promise, they will follow up and run their experiment again to see if it yields similar results. If it does, they may seek to implement the test at an area hospital. For now, following up with patients will be pivotal in assessing the test’s effectiveness. Tragically, though, the only way researchers will know for sure whether the test can predict behavior is if a key number of patients attempt suicide again. Nock says it’s still too early to tell how well the test will predict someone’s likelihood of engaging in suicidal behavior. But he says the hope is that the IAT will be able to record subtle distinctions between those who are at risk and those who aren’t by measuring how “positively or negatively people value the option of suicide as a potential response to their intolerable distress. We recommend the entire article, which you can link to here. For a collection of Situationist posts about implicit associations, click here. This entry was posted on July 27, 2008 at 12:01 am and is filed under Implicit Associations, Life. Tagged: Dr. Matthew Nock, IAT, Implicit Associations, Mahzarin Banaji, Suicide, Tony Greenwald. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. One Response to “The Interior Situation of Suicide” Fredric Matteson said January 31, 2009 at 8:12 pm Dear Situationist Staff, Greetings. I was just made aware of the above study. Your staff and those on the research team may be interested in our work over the past 23 years with over 15,000 suicidal patients in 1:1 and group therapy on an acute (4-5 day stay) mental health unit within the medical milieu of a public hospital setting. The model of therapy specifically created for the suicidal patient is called Contextual-Conceptual Therapy (CCT), a precursor to CBT. It is derived from being in dialogue with 15,000 suicidal individuals, listening to their narratives, and being witness to the ubiquity of their algorithms. From those same algorithms we have created a series of questionnaires that help “locate” the suicidal patient. We have had great success with this model. For the past two years, our CCT team has given international presentations — in Switzerland, Canada, Scotland, the UK. This past September the National Health Service (NHS) of England brought our group over for an all-day presentation in Essex before an audience of their lead psychologists. We are recently interested in presenting to academic audiences here in the U.S. In light of that interest, we would welcome starting a dialogue about such a presentation there at Harvard. For further information about our work, you can visit our CCT website at: http:www//ContextualConceptualTherapy.com or contact me directly at contextualconceptualtherapy@gmail.com Thank you, Fredric Matteson

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University Hospital’s new lobby entrance and pedestrian walkway opens Nov. 2 SYRACUSE, N.Y. – University Hospital’s new reception area, two-story lobby and pedestrian walkway across E. Adams Street opened Nov. 2, after a year of construction and renovations. The old 1960s style single-floor main entrance that covered 3,780 square feet has been transformed to a spacious 8,705 square foot, two-story environment whose visual and physical elements define hospitality. The main entrance and Information Center for patients and visitors, located on ground level, features new and expanded stations for Ambassador Services and patient registration. Also housed on the first floor lobby are the EspressOasis coffee bar, offering an extensive choice of hot and cold coffee beverages as well as soups, sandwiches, bagels, pastries and newspapers; the new Spiritual Care Center; and the hospital’s refurbished chapel. The Advocates for Upstate Medical University will open its new and expanded gift shop, to be located off the hospital’s main lobby by the end of October. A special feature of the main lobby is the display of a bronze plaque that was created to commemorate the opening of University Hospital in 1965 and the transfer of the Syracuse Dispensary. The glass-enclosed pedestrian bridge, linking the new garage to the second floor lobby will also open. The bridge leads staff and visitors to an open staircase and to elevators that link the second floor to the main hospital lobby, and to the new second floor Information Center that features handicapped accessible restrooms and a station for Ambassador Services. “The reception area and lobby was designed with our patients and visitors in mind,” said Jason Sciarro, University Hospital’s chief operating officer. “Our intent was to create a visually attractive environment that allows for an easy and uninterrupted flow of traffic.” University Hospital will celebrate the opening of the new reception area and two-story lobby with two events in November. A reception for community leaders will be held Nov. 2, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the main lobby. This event is sponsored by Advocates for Upstate Medical University and the Upstate Medical University Foundation. University Hospital volunteers will serve cider and donuts to members of the SUNY Upstate community and to hospital visitors, Nov. 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Nov. 4, from 5 to 7 a.m. in honor of the opening of the new two-story lobby and reception area. iPage Last Modified: Oct 29, 2005.

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Kick at the Darkness... There’s a brilliant line in Bruce Cockburn’s song “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” that goes:Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight...Sometimes that’s exactly what it takes to bring about change, especially for the things that are the most important in our lives.I spent last Thursday pacing back and forth at the Newark International Airport, cursing the weather delays and hoping to catch a standby flight so I could get back home to my family and so I could spend Friday afternoon at the Canadian Association of Midwives national conference in Halifax. I’m happy to say that I not only made it home, but I made some new friends along the way. (A kind woman from Ohio going home to Halifax to visit her mother and a gracious nurse travelling with her sweet shitzu pup both lent me their cell phones. Thank you!)The CAM conference was a wonderful event. The ballroom at the Lord Nelson Hotel was set with tables, fine linens, and the friendly faces of midwives from across Canada and beyond. It was my first time reading from a real book. (Thank goodness I put my galley in my carry on rather than in the bag that the airlines ‘lost’!) I can’t say why, but there’s an important and momentous difference that comes when you can finally thumb through a bound copy of your work rather than shuffling through the marked up pages of a manuscript. It’s a fine, satisfying feeling, indeed.The AV team hooked my laptop up to a data projector so I could show images on the enormous screen behind the stage. There were audible ooohs and ahhhs when I brought up the cover. (To my knowledge, The Birth House may very well be the first work of Canadian fiction to be graced with a pregnant belly.) The audience laughed, they cried, they cheered. I thanked them for their generosity and their inspiration. I even had the great fortune to welcome two midwives from Ontario into my home on Saturday. We had tea, groaning cake and took a walk along the shores of Scots Bay. It was delightful. I hope to meet many of these wonderful women again when I’m on the road for my tour.I’m sure that these midwives left the conference feeling that their work had just begun. Canada is one of the last industrialized nations to regulate and support midwifery. Many provinces, including Nova Scotia have nothing in place to assist women who wish to choose a midwife assisted birth. While the current provincial health care system is struggling under the weight of overworked obstetricians, GP’s who no longer participate in maternal care, and rural hospitals closing their doors (for various reasons) to expectant mothers, legislation in support of midwifery is still two years away at best. (There are currently no plans to support midwifery in New Brunswick and PEI.) One comment I heard made on a radio program yesterday was that “women aren’t making their voices heard in the matter.” The speaker’s words made me stop and think about women’s voices in general. Have we gotten complacent? Do many of us even understand the implications of our silence? If these strains on the system continue, it means that more and more women may be directed to emergency rooms when they go into labour. It may very well mean an increase in medical interventions…induced births, c-sections, etc. These things were never meant to be, (nor should they be) the ‘norm’ in maternal care...especially not when midwives are there, waiting and willing to take their rightful place in our health care system.Learn more about midwifery. Learn more about how you can support midwifery in your province. Kick at the darkness!Women and Children First...There’s an outstanding bookstore in Chicago’s Andersonville neighbourhood called Women and Children First. I spent many happy hours there with my son when he was a toddler, during story times as well as just browsing. (He was a squirmy, curious lad at best, but I never received anything but assistance and kindness from the staff.) You can imagine the shock I felt in reading that the NYT had run an article stating that WandCF was a child-unfriendly store! Cheers to the oweners and staff for getting a retraction run and for setting the record straight. Read the Women and Children First Blog for details. (and if you're ever in Chicago, you should visit the store!)Miss ChatelaineI’m pleased to announce that an excerpt from The Birth House will be featured in the March issue of Chatelaine! What a glorious long history they have as a women’s magazine. I’m proud that I’ll soon be a part of it! Congratulations on the Chatelaine excerpt! That will really help get the word out. I also couldn't miss the full page ad in this month's Quill & Quire - well done. It's great to have a publisher that is willing to really give a new book all the marketing it deserves. So many don't, or don't have the money to do so. Good luck with the rest of your launches/tours/presentations. Hey Liam,Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words!I haven't seen the Q&Q ad yet, but I've heard from others that it's quite the thing. This whole experience, from research, to writing, to the editing process, and heading into the launch has been a long journey, but a wonderful ride as well. I think the one piece of advice I'd give any writer who has the dream of being published is: embrace the journey. Every step along the way is cause for celebration. Make Our Garden Grow

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Occupational Therapy’s Role in Disaster Relief -A Occupational Therapy’s Role in Health Care Reform Rehabilitation, Disability, and Participation Work and Industry Occupational Therapy’s Role in Disaster Relief By Stephanie Yamkovenko No part of the country is immune from disaster—whether it’s hurricanes in the Southeast, earthquakes in the West, tornadoes in the Central plains, flooding in the Midwest, or blizzards in the North. Disasters take many forms—from the aforementioned natural disasters, to human-made disasters such as terrorism and oil spills. When disaster occurs, society becomes disabled, limiting its members’ ability to perform normal activities. Occupational therapy practitioners have the opportunity to become a part of the solution to a disaster’s disabling effects by playing a role in the three stages of emergency situations: preparedness, response, and recovery. Occupational Therapy’s Role in Preparedness A community can prepare for disasters by creating emergency plans that enable an effective disaster response. Occupational therapy practitioners can participate in this planning by lending their expertise in areas such as designing special needs shelters and training staff and volunteers on assisting persons with disabilities during a crisis. A lack of planning results in a lack of resources to adequately address the needs of disaster victims. Reviewing problems that emerged from previous disaster responses can aid planners and occupational therapy practitioners in avoiding similar mistakes. For example, “the food served to people on special diets [because of conditions such as diabetes] was often difficult to obtain in shelters. Reaching the bathroom and bathing people with mobility limitations was a challenge,” said Susanne Pickering, MPH, MS, OTR/L, CHES, CAPT, U.S. Public Health Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. Pickering was deployed during the first few years of the Kosovo refugee airlift to Fort Dix, New Jersey, in 1999; to the World Trade Center site in 2001; and to hurricane relief efforts in Florida in 2004. To participate in this stage, occupational therapy practitioners need to get involved with local agencies to make community contacts up front. They can demonstrate to emergency planners that they can help them properly respond to the community’s entire population, including those with disabilities, and jumpstart the recovery process. Getting involved before a disaster will ensure that practitioners are called upon if the need arises. At evacuation shelters, people with disabilities require ramps wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and the right to enter a shelter with a service animal. “OTs can educate managers that this is an ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] right and that this person needs to have this dog to stay independent,” said Frank Pascarelli, MS, OTR/L, NMSE, CPI, subject matter expert for the Strategic National Stockpile with the CDC. People with disabilities will become completely dependent and require more staff attention if planners fail to accommodate them in the planning stage. Occupational Therapy’s Role in Response Immediately following a disaster, occupational therapy practitioners’ participation in the response can include managing special needs shelters, facilitating support groups to decrease anxiety, and providing supportive mental health to victims, first responders, and military personnel. “As occupational therapists we are so versatile that we can see a complete picture. We don many hats and are excellent at evaluation, problem solving, and implementation of plans,” said Laura Grogan, OTR, LCDR, of the U.S. Public Health Service. A major part of the response is helping victims to regain control after an uncontrollable event. When everything is chaotic, being able to function in a productive and meaningful manner helps bring normalcy back. Whether it is fixing damaged mailboxes or cleaning up playgrounds for children to resume play, these acts empower victims to take control and reengage in their occupation of living. “You start helping the person figure out what is important,” says Pascarelli. “Every day, you work with that person on trying to rebuild their life in a small, incremental way. It puts control back in their life, and they take control because they’re doing it, and they’re part of the solution.” Occupational Therapy’s Role in Recovery Following the disaster response, occupational therapy practitioners’ contributions to the final stage of emergency situations, the recovery effort, involve repairing and rebuilding disrupted activities and routines. Victims of disasters need to develop coping skills to deal with the effects of their experiences. By engaging in occupation, disaster survivors can restructure their routines to cope with stress and anxiety. “When we’re talking about occupational therapy’s role, there is a point that needs to be made about the body’s physical reaction to stress,” says Charles Christiansen, EdD, OTR, OT(C), FAOTA, executive director of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation. “Research shows that if we normalize routines and lifestyles, we can, in fact, have a measurable positive impact on reducing the negative consequences of stressors [on the body]. Because the immune system is involved, this positive benefit serves a preventative role in helping the person to resist infection and chronic disease that occurs with the wear and tear of stressful situations on tissues and organs.” By participating in all three stages of emergency situations, occupational therapy practitioners can carve out a niche for themselves to help restore order and aid those affected. Yet an often-overlooked aspect of disaster responders is the toll this role takes on one’s self. Working long days, meeting people who have lost everything, and being mentally and physically challenged can lead to exhaustion. “If you see a fellow team member in distress, as an occupational therapist you can help augment their needs, and if they need services beyond your capacity you can facilitate getting services for them,” says Grogan. Practitioners also need to remember to help each other, and to ask for help when they need it. Your Role in Disasters More practitioners should be encouraged to get training in disaster response, says Marjorie Scaffa, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, and a contributing author of AOTA’s concept paper on the role of occupational therapy in disaster relief (AOTA, 2006). “It’s a specialized area and does require some additional knowledge. There is a whole skill set that we don’t have in terms of crisis intervention that I would like to see practitioners pursue to become more proficient in that.” One way to access additional knowledge, Pascarelli notes, is through Web sites like www.fema.gov, which can help occupational therapy practitioners be better prepared to volunteer during disaster situations—like learning the terminology used during disaster response and reading about common stress reactions to disaster. Practitioners need to have an understanding of the hierarchical structure of organizations and agencies involved in planning and response and can do so by affiliating with local and national organizations like the American Red Cross or mental health crisis services. Ultimately, practitioners can help victims of disasters in all stages of emergency situations by creating realistic goals, “empowering them to regain their independence and move from being a victim to a survivor,” says Pascarelli. Reference American Occupational Therapy Association. (2006). The role of occupational therapy in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 60, 642–649. This article was originally published in 2008.

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Sir James George Frazer > The Golden Bough > Page 16 NEXT CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD · SUBJECT INDEX Sir James George Frazer (1854–1941). The Golden Bough. 1922. in order to infuse the rosy hue of health into the sallow patient, gave him water to sip which was mixed with the hair of a red bull; he poured water over the animal’s back and made the sick man drink it; he seated him on the skin of a red bull and tied a piece of the skin to him. Then in order to improve his colour by thoroughly eradicating the yellow taint, he proceeded thus. He first daubed him from head to foot with a yellow porridge made of tumeric or curcuma (a yellow plant), set him on a bed, tied three yellow birds, to wit, a parrot, a thrush, and a yellow wagtail, by means of a yellow string to the foot of the bed; then pouring water over the patient, he washed off the yellow porridge, and with it no doubt the jaundice, from him to the birds. After that, by way of giving a final bloom to his complexion, he took some hairs of a red bull, wrapt them in gold leaf, and glued them to the patient’s skin. The ancients held that if a person suffering from jaundice looked sharply at a stone-curlew, and the bird looked steadily at him, he was cured of the disease. “Such is the nature,” says Plutarch, “and such the temperament of the creature that it draws out and receives the malady which issues, like a stream, through the eyesight.” So well recognised among birdfanciers was this valuable property of the stone-curlew that when they had one of these birds for sale they kept it carefully covered, lest a jaundiced person should look at it and be cured for nothing. The virtue of the bird lay not in its colour but in its large golden eye, which naturally drew out the yellow jaundice. Pliny tells of another, or perhaps the same, bird, to which the Greeks gave their name for jaundice, because if a jaundiced man saw it, the disease left him and slew the bird. He mentions also a stone which was supposed to cure jaundice because its hue resembled that of a jaundiced skin. One of the great merits of homoeopathic magic is that it enables the cure to be performed on the person of the doctor instead of on that of his victim, who is thus relieved of all trouble and inconvenience, while he sees his medical man writhe in anguish before him. For example, the peasants of Perche, in France, labour under the impression that a prolonged fit of vomiting is brought about by the patient’s stomach becoming unhooked, as they call it, and so falling down. Accordingly, a practitioner is called in to restore the organ to its proper place. After hearing the symptoms he at once throws himself into the most horrible contortions, for the purpose of unhooking his own stomach. Having succeeded in the effort, he next hooks it up again in another series of contortions and grimaces, while the patient experiences a corresponding relief. Fee five francs. In like manner a Dyak medicine-man, who has been fetched in a case of illness, will lie down and pretend to be dead. He is accordingly treated like a corpse, is bound up in mats, taken out of the house, and deposited on the ground. After about an hour the other medicine-men loose the pretended dead man and bring him to life; and as he recovers, the sick person is supposed to recover too. A cure for a tumour, based on the principle of homoeopathic magic, is prescribed by Marcellus CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD · SUBJECT INDEX

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Search Health Information If Colonoscopy Picks Up Cancer Risk, Get Next Screen in 5 Years: Study But U.S. recommendations call for 3-year interval after high-risk polyps removed WEDNESDAY, July 25 (HealthDay News) -- People who have had a colonoscopy during which a high-risk potentially cancerous polyp was removed may not need another colonoscopy for five years, German researchers report. If this suggestion were to be adopted, it would be a change from the current recommendation in the United States, which calls for another colonoscopy three years after a high-risk polyp -- one that is likely to become cancerous -- is removed. "This is a case control study, so they didn't follow a group of individuals over time to assess the impact of polyp removal," said Dr. Durado Brooks, director of prostate and colorectal cancers at the American Cancer Society. That kind of patient follow-up, however, did take place in the study that established the current U.S. recommendations for colonoscopy, he noted. In addition, while the German study looks at the odds of cancer developing over time, the older study that set the U.S. guidelines looked at the odds of a new polyp developing, Brooks said. "The time frames they are recommending are something that might be considered, but you cannot make changes in current guidelines based on this study," he said. The report was published online July 23 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. For the new study, a team lead by Dr. Hermann Brenner, at the German Cancer Research Center, in Heidelberg, looked at medical records of more than 2,500 people who had a cancerous polyp removed and compared them to nearly 1,800 people without such polyps. They compared surveillance intervals of less than three years, three to five years, and six to 10 years before receiving another colonoscopy. Looking at the risk of finding colorectal cancer, even for those with high-risk polyps, "strong, statistically significant risk reduction by 60 percent was seen for the less-than-three-years time window and by 50 percent for the three-to-five-years time window," the researchers wrote. This was true for men, women, young and old, they added. Their results suggest that surveillance colonoscopy could take place five to 10 years after the a low-risk polyp was found and removed, and possibly also be prolonged to five years for high-risk polyps, the researchers concluded. The current recommendation for people with high-risk polyps is to have another colonoscopy three years after the polyp was removed, Brooks said. If new polyps aren't found, then another colonoscopy isn't needed for 10 years, he said. The 10-year span between colonoscopies is the recommendation for anyone who has a normal colonoscopy, Brooks added. The advantage of extending the time between colonoscopies from three to five years in patients with high-risk polyps is the use of resources, he said. The problem is that doctors don't follow the current guidelines. "If we could get clinicians just to follow the current recommendations we could expand our resources considerably," Brooks said. "Right now far too many people are getting colonoscopies done at intervals that are not recommended by anyone's guidelines." Some people who have had high-risk polyps get a colonoscopy every year. Many people who have normal colonoscopies get another after five years, Brooks said. All the evidence shows that colonoscopies every five years is much too frequent, he said. "We are doing far too many colonoscopies on people who are in the system, but there are at least 40 percent of adults at risk who have never been screened," Brooks said. "If you're 50 and older and never been screened -- get screened." More information For more about colon cancer, visit the American Cancer Society. SOURCES: Durado Brooks, M.D., director, colorectal cancer, American Cancer Society, Atlanta; July 23, 2012, Journal of Clinical Oncology, online

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Health & Wellness > Health NewsMERS Virus Doesn't Seem to Spread Easily, Study FindsWEDNESDAY, Aug. 27, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- People infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus are unlikely to pass it to others in their household, a new study suggests.Mostly confined to countries in the Middle East so far, the virus has infected 837 people and killed at least 291, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)."A lot of speculations have been made that MERS spreads significantly among family members and household contacts of active cases," said study lead researcher Dr. Ziad Memish, Saudi Arabia's assistant deputy minister of health for preventive medicine.Memish's team studied 26 patients with MERS and their 280 household contacts. The researchers found that 12 people among the 280 household contacts came down with MERS.According to Memish, that puts the odds of getting MERS from another person at about 5 percent. "It's reassuring that very low transmission takes place at home among family contacts, and the majority of transmission occurs at health-care facilities," Memish said.In fact, 25 percent of all MERS cases have been among health-care workers, according to WHO.The new study's findings were published in the Aug. 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, agreed with the findings, saying, "MERS is not very contagious."By comparison, the odds of catching the flu from a close contact are 25 percent, Siegel said. "If someone in your household has flu, there's a one in four chance you're going to get it," he said. With measles, the chances of getting the disease from an infected person in your household are even higher, hitting 90 percent, Siegel said."This study shows that the chances of MERS becoming widespread is small," he said.Siegel added that this low transmission rate has kept the virus largely confined to the Middle East, and the cases seen outside the region have been among people who traveled or worked in that area.MERS can start with a fever, cough and shortness of breath. Pneumonia is a common complication. Diarrhea has also been reported by some patients, the WHO said. Severe cases of MERS can cause respiratory failure requiring breathing support in an intensive care unit. Some patients suffer kidney failure or septic shock. The virus causes more severe disease in people with weakened immune systems, older people and those with such chronic diseases as diabetes, cancer and lung disease, the agency said.More informationVisit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on the MERS virus.SOURCES: Ziad Memish, M.D., assistant deputy minister, Health for Preventive Medicine, Saudi Arabia; Marc Siegel, M.D., associate professor, medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City; Aug. 28, 2014, New England Journal of MedicineCopyright ©2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.Health & WellnessHomeLibraryDiseases & ConditionsTests & ProceduresRecipes by Food CategoryWellness LibraryNews CenterHealth NewsNewslettersPrevention GuidelinesQuizzes & CalculatorsMultimediaHealth Centers

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01:55 PM - April 8, 2005 Rx for FDA and Journalists: A Dose of Skepticism By Susan Q. Stranahan In the wake of Congressional criticism and troubling disclosures about drug safety, the Food and Drug Administration yesterday announced that dozens of popular prescription painkillers must now carry strong warnings of their health risks. (Indirectly, a warning also went out to the news media.) As the Los Angeles Times reports today, the action “was one of the largest relabeling orders in FDA history.” The Times’ Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Denise Gellene write, “In recent months, critics in Congress and elsewhere have subjected the agency to persistent criticism for relying too much on drug makers to sound the alarm over potential safety threats that surface after drugs have reached the market and are being used by patients.” The affected drugs are enormously popular with patients and physicians, according to the Wall Street Journal, which notes that world-wide sales of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in 2004 amounted to about $12 billion (subscription required). “For drug companies, the shift could presage a higher bar for approval of new products and a more public and confrontational process when problems emerge for drugs already on pharmacy shelves,” write Journal reporters Anna Wilde Mathews and Scott Hensley. And in its coverage of the FDA, the New York Times reports that “few studies have examined the long-term health effects of most of these medicines, so regulators are groping a bit in the dark.” The Times’ Gardiner Harris quotes Sen. Charles E. Grassley who oversaw high-profile hearings last fall on the approval of Vioxx. Yesterday’s get-tough decision will be good news, says Grassley, if it “is a turning point and indicates a more independent Food and Drug Administration.” Hopefully it will also produce a turning point in press coverage of prescription drugs. In an interview with CJR Daily in December, James B. Steele, co-author of Critical Condition: How Health Care in America Became Big Business — and Bad Medicine, criticized the news media for being a lap-dog of the pharmaceutical and health industries: “The press is filled with tales of the latest wonder drug or a procedure that will dramatically improve our well-being. They read like PR handouts and play to the public’s anxieties about health. There is seldom a hint of skepticism.” Steele continued: [M]uch of the media’s coverage of prescription drugs, and especially that of television news, has been downright embarrassing. Go back and look at the stories at the time Vioxx was introduced and you will see just how far off the tracks our business goes. Like so many drugs, Vioxx was portrayed as a great breakthrough. But the warning signs were there from the beginning. The news media just failed to examine them. It’s a failure that has been repeated over and over, from hormone replacement therapy to anti-depressants to anti-obesity drugs. When was the last time you read stories about the latest “miracle drug” that included, among other things, a rundown on the previous work of the researchers who conducted the clinical trials or their ties to the pharmaceutical industry? Or how about the health history of those selected for the clinical trials? Or the placebo effect in the trials? Or a detailed look at side effects beyond the obligatory recitation from the drug maker? The drug industry is a huge business — and it deserves to be covered like a business. That means asking tough questions, doing background checks, talking to people who aren’t sitting in the corporate front office. It means reading clinical studies and talking to critics as well as boosters. Most of all it requires a huge dose of that basic journalistic elixir: skepticism. Even in the face of pressure to produce a slick read on a hot topic for page one (a temptation the New York Times succumbed to last Sunday). The FDA’s Dr. Steven Galson yesterday told reporters that it is essential that “the medical and public health community should have confidence in the FDA.” It’s just as important that the larger community have confidence in the news media — but that won’t happen until reporters stop following the very script that Steele outlines above. —Susan Q. Stranahan Susan Q. Stranahan wrote for CJR.

医学

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CALL... AND BECOME A PARTNER IN HOPE. THE COW97 COUNTRY CARES FOR ST. JUDE KIDS RADIOTHON IS ON NOW. PLEASE LISTEN TO THE STORIES OF THESE WONDERFUL FAMILIES ON COW97. Please browse the rest of this page to learn more about St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and learn how you can help these kids who desperately need it St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was founded in 1962 by the late entertainer Danny Thomas. Its mission is to find cures for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. On average, 5,400 active patients visit the hospital each year, most of whom are treated on an outpatient basis. St. Jude maintains 78 inpatient beds and treats upwards of 250 patients each day. St. Jude is the first institution established for the sole purpose of conducting basic and clinical research and treatment into catastrophic childhood diseases, mainly cancer. St. Jude is the first and only pediatric cancer center to be designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. St. Jude has treated children from all 50 states and from around the world. Research findings at St. Jude are shared freely with doctors and scientists all over the world. St. Jude also enjoys a worldwide reputation as a teaching facility. The medical and scientific staff published more than 600 articles in academic journals in 2007, more than any other pediatric cancer research center in the United States. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family’s inability to pay. In 1962, the survival rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer, was 4 percent. Today, the survival rate for this once deadly disease is 94 percent thanks to research and treatment protocols developed at St. Jude. St. Jude has developed protocols that have helped push overall survival rates for childhood cancers from less than 20 percent when the hospital opened in 1962 to more than 70 percent. The current St. Jude survival rates for selected childhood cancers now include: Diagnosis and current St. Jude survival rate: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), most common form of childhood cancer 94% Hodgkin disease (cancer of the lymph system) 90% Medulloblastoma (a type of brain tumor) 85% Wilms tumor (kidney tumor) 90% Of course, donations are not just limited to our 2-day radiothon period...you can donate at any time. Click the banner above, or the "Country Cares/COW97" logo at the very top of this page to go to the donation page Please feel free to check out some of these videos:

医学

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CHS completes acquisition of HMA By Heather Stauffer All four for-profit hospitals in Central Pa. are now part of Community Health Systems Inc., which announced this morning that it has completed its acquisition of Health Management Associates Inc. CHS, based in Tennessee, previously owned, leased or operated 135 hospitals in 29 states, including one local facility, Memorial Hospital in York. HMA, based in Florida, operated 71 hospitals in 15 states, including three local facilities: Carlisle Regional Medical Center, Lancaster Regional Medical Center and Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center.Effective today, HMA will cease trading on the New York Stock Exchange. HMA shareholders will receive $10.50 per share in cash plus 0.06942 shares of CHS common stock for each HMA share they own. HMA shareholders will also receive one contingent value right (CVR) for each HMA share they own, which could yield additional cash consideration of up to $1 per share, depending on the outcome of certain matters."We are very pleased to complete this important strategic acquisition and welcome our newly affiliated hospitals and their physicians and employees to our organization," Wayne T. Smith, chairman and CEO of CHS, said in a news release. "This transaction provides us with increased scale and broader geographic reach as we work to create strong healthcare networks across the nation. Our larger organization is well positioned to address the changing dynamics in our industry and dedicated to providing quality care for millions of patients and all the communities we serve. We look forward to effectively integrating this acquisition and generating significant value for our shareholders."Through its affiliates, Community Health Systems now owns, leases or operates 206 hospitals in 29 states. The organization's affiliates employ more than 135,000 people and approximately 27,000 physicians serve on the medical staffs of CHS-affiliated hospitals. CHS's headquarters will remain in the Nashville, Tenn., suburb of Franklin.CHS trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CYH. Heather Stauffer covers Lancaster County, nonprofits, education and health care. Have a tip or question for her? Email her at heathers@cpbj.com. Follow her on Twitter, @StaufferCPBJ. advertisement

医学

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Public release date: 26-Jul-2012 Contact: Morwenna Grills Morwenna.Grills@manchester.ac.uk New stroke treatments becoming a reality Scientists led by the President of The University of Manchester have demonstrated a drug which can dramatically limit the amount of brain damage in stroke patients. Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, Professor Stuart Allan and their team have spent the last 20 years investigating how to reduce damage to the brain following a stroke. They have been testing the effectiveness of the drug Anakinra (IL-1Ra), which is already used for rheumatoid arthritis in experimental studies of stroke. This new study builds on previous research, although the big difference is that rats with stroke risk factors such as obesity, insulin resistance and atherosclerosis were used alongside healthy rats and older ones. It means the findings have a far greater chance of being replicated in human stroke patients. Researchers induced a stroke in the rats and the drug IL-1Ra, or a placebo for comparison, was injected under the skin. The researchers did not know which animals had been given which drug. This is a similar process to what happens in clinical trials of medicines. The results were startling. MRI scans revealed that the rats that were given IL-1Ra up to three hours after the stroke had only about half the brain damage of the placebo group. Professor Rothwell said: "This is the first time that we are aware of a potential new treatment for stroke being tested in animals with the same sort of diseases and risk factors that most patients have. The results are very promising and we hope to undertake further clinical studies in stroke patients soon." IL-1Ra works by blocking the naturally occurring protein interleukin 1. Researchers at The University of Manchester have identified that it is a key cause of brain injury following a stroke. Interleukin 1 encourages inflammation in the area of the brain affected by stroke. This sends out signals to attract white blood cells and to switch on microglia cells in the brain. Because the barrier surrounding the brain has been weakened by the stroke the white blood cells find it easier to enter the brain. But instead of helping the inflamed area they actually kill nerve cells and worsen the injury. The increasing presence of these cells also explains why the damage in the brain gets worse over time following a stroke. IL-1Ra also reduces the amount of damage to the blood-brain barrier following a stroke so the harmful cells can't enter the brain. In the recent experiments IL-1Ra reduced the damage to the blood-brain barrier by 55% in healthy rats and 45% in rats with underlying health conditions. In all types of rats the drug reduced the amount of activated microglia cells by 40% compared to the placebo group. The only drug treatment currently available for stroke patients is Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA). However, this can only be administered to patients who suffer from a blood clot (ischaemic stroke) rather than bleeding. A brain scan is required to assess which type of stroke a patient has suffered which is why it is essential to get them to hospital as quickly as possible. tPA also has to be administered within a few hours of a stroke to be effective. Professor Stuart Allan at The University of Manchester hopes that IL-1Ra could be used for both forms of stroke, meaning it could be administered immediately. He said: "This drug has real potential to save lives and stop hundreds of thousands of people being seriously disabled by stroke. This really could be the treatment for stroke that we've been looking for over the past two decades." A phase 2 trial with a small number of patients has yielded encouraging results. It's hoped a much larger clinical trial will demonstrate the effectiveness of IL-1Ra in reducing brain damage in stroke patients and that eventually it will become the standard treatment. ### Notes to Editors Stroke is the third most common cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in the western world. More than 100,000 people have a stroke in the UK each year. Nearly a fifth of people still die within 30 days of diagnosis. Those who survive are often seriously disabled. The most common cause of stroke is ischaemia (blood clot causing damage) whilst 15% of strokes are due to primary haemorrhage (direct bleeding into the brain). The induced stroke used in this study was an ischaemia. The animals were randomized for all the experiments, assessments were performed in a blinded manner and analysis was confirmed by two independent researchers. The research from these experiments was published in the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism on the 11 July 2012. Professor Stuart Allan is available for interviews and images can be obtained from the press office.

医学

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Allegheny General Hospital Pioneers Innovative Spine Imaging Technology Physicians at Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) are the first in Pennsylvania and among the first in the nation to introduce a groundbreaking new technology that standardizes the imaging process and yields more precise images of the spine in motion. The Vertebral Motion Analysis (VMA) technology uses fluoroscopy to capture real time images of the spine while the patient is guided through a pre-set range of motion. The technology is ideal for assessing patients with suspected instability of the lower lumbar spine. The VMA features a patented Motion Normalizer device which provides powered passive trunk bending both while the patient is standing and lying down. Patients grip handle bars during the test and the motion normalizing technology gently moves them through a specified range of motion to capture a true picture of the spine’s ability to flex and bend. The most widely-used method for measuring spinal instability currently is static end-range bending x-rays. But such x-rays provide limited information about the patient’s spine function and can yield highly variable results. “If you’re in pain, you bend differently,” said Boyle Cheng, PhD, Director of Research for the Department of Neurosurgery at Allegheny General Hospital. “In the Spine and Biomechanics Laboratory at AGH’s Neurosciences Institute, we have conducted spine studies that demonstrate a difference between healthy and treated spines. You get voluntary bend angles based on how the patient is feeling that day.” Dr. Cheng says the controlled patient positioning of the VMA system greatly reduces test variability and eliminates differences in tests conducted by different radiologic technologists. Additionally, the use of fluoroscopy in place of x-rays means that physicians receive video consisting of hundreds of individual still images when a VMA test is performed versus just three still images of flexion, extension and center from the standard x-ray procedure to evaluate the lower spine. Image recognition software locates the vertebrae on each frame and plots the degree of trunk bending for each level of the spine. A set of biomechanical measurements is overlaid on the video images to provide physicians with expansive data at a glance. “It gives us more information as a baseline pre-operatively to help physicians determine if patients are good candidates for various surgical procedures,” said Paul Kiproff, MD, Chair, Department of Radiology, West Penn Allegheny Health System. “Post-operatively, we can really see if mobility has improved in conjunction with pain relief.” The VMA requires about 30 percent less radiation than the current standard of care of end-range x-rays. This level of radiation is well below that associated with other commonly-prescribed diagnostic procedures, Dr. Kiproff said. VMA testing takes approximately 30 minutes and can assess patients in a weight-bearing or non-weight-bearing posture. Patients who participated in trials of the device at AGH said the VMA delivers an unexpected benefit in addition to capturing images and information about the spine. “It felt great,” said Patrick Overking, 65, of Bruceton Mills, WV. “I drove to the hospital that day wearing a back brace and it had been just two months since my surgery so I was a little worried. But, it felt good and it kind of loosened me up a bit so that I realized that my surgery was pretty good and I didn’t have to be afraid to do a lot of things anymore.” AGH was among six facilities in the country to participate in clinical trials of the VMA technology from 2010 until it received approval by the Food and Drug Administration in 2012, according to the hospital’s principal investigators, neurosurgeons Donald Whiting, MD and E. Richard Prostko, MD. Allegheny General is the only hospital in Pennsylvania and currently one of just five facilities nationwide to offer the now commercially available technology to patients. Helping to bring this new technology from concept to reality is the latest achievement in Allegheny General’s long-standing history of research to improve comprehensive spine care. The Neurosciences Institute at AGH integrates world-renowned experts in the subspecialties of neurology, neurotology, neuroradiology, neuro-critical care, and neurosurgery to offer world class care for patients. Recognized as both a Neurosciences Center of Excellence and a Spine Center of Excellence, the program serves as a national and international referral center for treatment of all types of neurological conditions and conditions impacting the spine. Western Pennsylvania Guide to Good Health. All rights reserved.

医学

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ACA & Catheter Infections Environmental Hygiene HAI Prevention Imperatives Infection Prevention OR/SPD The Science Behind the Technology Toolbox Infection Control Today Infection Control Today Magazine New 3-D Structural Model of Critical H1N1 Protein Developed H1N1 Influenza, Viruses, Spanish Flu, In just two weeks from the time the first patient virus samples were made available, Singapore scientists report an evolutionary analysis of a critical protein produced by the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus strain. In the Biology Direct journal's May 20th issue, Sebastian Maurer-Stroh, PhD, and his team of scientists at the Bioinformatics Institute (BII), one of the research institutes at Singapore's Biopolis, also demonstrated the use of a computational three-dimensional (3D) structural model of the protein, neuraminidase. "Because we were working as a team, driven by the common goal to understand potential risks from this new virus, our group at BII was able to successfully complete this difficult analysis within such a short time," said Dr. Maurer-Stroh, BII principal investigator and first author of the paper.With the 3D model, Maurer-Stroh and his team were able to map the regions of the protein that have mutated and determine whether drugs and vaccines that target specific areas of the protein were effective. Among their findings:-- neuraminidase structure of the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus has undergone extensive surface mutations compared to closely related strains such as the H5N1 avian flu virus or other H1N1 strains including the 1918 Spanish flu -- neuraminidase of the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus strain is more similar to the H5N1 avian flu than to the historic 1918 H1N1 strain (Spanish flu)-- current mutations of the virus have rendered previous flu vaccinations directed against neuraminidase less effective-- commercial drugs, namely Tamiflu® and Relenza®, are still effective in treating the current H1N1 virus. With the Biology Direct journal paper, the Singapore scientists have become the first to demonstrate how bioinformatics and computational biology can contribute towards managing the H1N1 influenza A virus. "BII's H1N1 virus sequence study marks a significant milestone in the use of computational biology methods in understanding how the mutations of the fast evolving influenza virus affect immunogenic properties or drug response," said BII director Frank Eisenhaber, PhD. "This information helps to develop a strategy for fighting the H1N1 virus and for organizing an effective treatment for patients."Other technologies to tackle the 2009 H1N1 Influenza A virus have been developed by scientists at Biopolis research institutes sponsored by Singapore's A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research). They include: -- a chip that is able to quickly sequence or decode the genes in the flu virus and distinguish between the H1N1, seasonal, and mutated flu strains, at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS). -- a microkit for the detection and identification of the flu virus strain within 2 hours, at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN). -- a molecular diagnostic assay to distinguish between the H1N1 and seasonal flu strains, at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB). E-Mail Genes Found in Nature Yield 1918-Like Virus with Pandemic Potential Two New Cases of Human Infection With H7N9 Avian Influenza Virus are Reported WHO Issues Update on Avian Influenza A (H7N9) Virus Novel Avian Influenza A Virus Has Potential for Both Virulence and Transmissibility in Humans First Report of Human Infection with a Wild Avian Influenza A H6N1 Virus Latest Articles Pandemic Preparedness in Healthcare TRU-D SmartUVC Disinfection Robots are Enlisted in the Fight Against Ebola Virus Disease in Liberia Hand Hygiene Compliance Monitoring: Meeting Up With New Technology Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

医学

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Scramble to staff hospital February 13 2013 at 10:31am By BHEKI MBANJWA Negative publicity takes a toll on Addington Hospital. More than 140 vacancies needed to be filled at Durban’s ailing Addington Hospital, where officials were battling to find suitable candidates for some posts, the KwaZulu-Natal parliamentary health portfolio committee heard on Tuesday. In the meantime, several senior managers of the KZN Department of Health, and staff from other hospitals, have been deployed to Addington. The department said it had appointed about 20 medical staff as well as 36 medical interns, two pharmacist interns, five radiographers, 30 community service professional nurses, five professional nurses, two dietitian and one speech therapist. There were still 143 vacancies that needed to be filled. The department noted in a report tabled at the committee meeting at the provincial legislature that the negative publicity attracted by Addington in recent months had made it difficult to fill some of the critical positions. The beleaguered hospital was dealt a blow in October when its newly appointed chief executive, Dr Kobus Kotze, quit just three days after he had been appointed. Thabisile Sakyi – a clinical and programmes manager at Zululand district – has since been appointed acting chief executive officer. The report by the department’s hospital services manager, Thokozani Mhlongo, revealed that a pharmacy manager had been deployed to help with the management of the hospital’s pharmacy and two other senior officials had been deployed from its supply chain management office to help with procurement and stores. Mhlongo said there had been an improvement in drug availability since the deployment of the pharmacy manager. And while the post of senior medical manager was expected to be advertised this month, a manager from Chatsworth’s RK Khan Hospital had been deployed to act in the position, Mhlongo added. The report said an acting nursing manager had been appointed to the position, but that the department was having trouble filling the post of engineer. The post has been advertised three times with no suitable candidate found. Head office has deployed a mechanical engineer to work part-time at the hospital. The hospital had also bought additional linen, which included 100 bed sheets, 500 pillow cases as well as adult gowns and pyjamas, the committee was informed. Of the R680 million allocated to the hospital for the current financial year, the department said about R560m (82 percent) had been spent by last month. According to the report a further R30m had been allocated for new equipment during the next financial year, which begins next month. Meanwhile some services have been temporarily relocated to neighbouring hospitals for the duration of the upgrade and remedial work being done at the hospital. These include obstetrics and gynaecology (relocated to King Dinuzulu Hospital), and orthopaedics and surgery (relocated to Wentworth Hospital). Most Viewed IOL / DailyNews / News / Scramble to staff hospital

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Peer specialists share their stories to assist clients in recoveryBeen there, done thatJoe Tarr on Thursday 12/12/2013 Paul says peer specialists are sometimes asked to do tasks they are not qualified for. Stacy Paul remembers her breakdown vividly. She was riding the bus home after her night shift at St. Mary's Hospital when it happened. "For whatever reason, I couldn't remember where I lived or my name," says Paul, who was 23 and working as a nursing assistant at the time. "I didn't remember my address." The bus driver helped her figure out where she lived by getting her to remember landmarks -- in this case, a park. Doctors later diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder (for things that happened during a troubled childhood), but in fact, she was bipolar, a diagnosis that would take years to make. She moved back to where family lived in La Crosse and remembers years of hard times. "I'd sit and stare into the mirror and talk to myself for hours," Paul says. "I couldn't deal with people. I was very, very suicidal. For a while, I went mute. "I thought my life was over when I was diagnosed, and I guess for a while it was." But once she got back on her feet, Paul, now 41, found purpose in helping others get through similar trauma. She worked until recently as a peer recovery support specialist, a relatively new profession that helps others struggling with mental illness get their bearings. She loved the work, especially helping her clients. But she and others in the field find that many other mental health professionals don't understand the role of a peer recovery support specialist. They talk of being assigned tasks they're not qualified for, including dispensing medication. Says Paul: "We're really at risk out there because people don't even know what we're supposed to be doing." Sharing stories Peer specialists require training and certification, but they aren't doctors or counselors. They offer something different for those recovering from mental illness or addiction. "We share our story," says Paul. "That's one thing unique about peer specialists." Evonne Kundert, vice president of the Wisconsin Association of Peer Specialists, says sharing experiences can help specialists gain clients' trust. "A peer specialist is a person who has lived experiences," says Kundert. "By being able to disclose some of those experiences, they can build a much stronger trust level to people who have mental health or addiction issues." Using peer specialists in recovery has come into vogue in recent years. Faith Boersma, who works for the Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services in the state's Department of Health Services, says they've been used more often since 2007, when Medicaid began reimbursing for their services. In Wisconsin, peer specialists mainly assist those suffering from mental illness and drug addictions, but in other states they also help prisoners, at-risk youth and others. The state began certifying peer specialists in January 2010, says the DHS's Kenya Bright, and there are currently 289 certified in Wisconsin. They're generally hired by health agencies doing contract work for county governments. Paul says that peer specialists meet with clients weekly for three months to help them work on their treatment plans and help them find housing or jobs. They help develop questions for their clients' doctors and identify situations that could lead to a crisis. The specialists also help figure out how to cope with crises. Paul recalls helping one woman, who hadn't left her house in five days, go across the street to a restaurant, where they sat and had coffee. "There've been a few [clients] who were rocky, but clients love having peer specialists," she says. "We're a bridge between them and the doctors and clinicians. They'll tell us stuff they won't tell other people." Kundert, herself a peer specialist, sees the job as offering a real-world example for how people can recover. "I still have difficulty, but I'm living a happy and fulfilling life and I'm holding a job -- things we've been told we would never do. Hope is really there," Kundert says. "I consider myself a recovery trainer in a lot of ways. Because I want people to understand recovery is possible." Misunderstood roles Some peer specialists say mental health professionals often misunderstand the role they play -- and have them doing inappropriate work. Paul says she's been asked to give meds to clients, and also to help them clean their homes or move to a new one. "There are services to do that, but it costs money," she notes. Donna Dalrymple describes the work environment at a local mental health agency as being hostile toward peer specialists. "In staff meetings, we weren't included," says Dalrymple, who no longer works at the organization. "We didn't get to talk about our clients. I don't think they understood what a peer specialist is supposed to do." Workloads are sometimes heavy. Paul was assigned to work with 23 clients but was scheduled for only 12 hours a week. Ideally, a specialist would spend an hour with each of them every week, and that doesn't include travel time (Paul's clients were scattered around the county). Complicating matters is that many specialists receive disability, meaning they're limited in the number of hours they can work each week. Kundert says the experiences of peer specialists vary wildly around the state, with some doing meaningful work and others used as taxi drivers or to run errands. Officials with the state's Department of Health Services admit there have been issues with the use of peer specialists at some agencies. The department recently produced handbook (PDF) for employers on how to best utilize them. "As with any new profession, there's going to be growing pains around that role," Boersma says, noting that roles and responsibilities need to be more clearly defined. Boersma and Bright both expect the use of peer specialists to increase, both because there's evidence it helps and because there's more money available to hire them. Gov. Scott Walker, in his biennial budget, provided $10.2 million to "expand comprehensive community support programs," which includes the use of peer specialists. But, Bright says, "Providers have to be introduced to it." "I'm pretty confident that some of the work we're doing is going to help," Boersma says. "And the benefits of the program are well worth it." Paul has, temporarily at least, given up her peer specialist job to work on a degree in social work. But she remains a believer in the power of peer work. And self-evaluation. "If we are to move forward, we need to know what is working and what is not. That way we, as peers, have opportunities to actively participate as agents of change, to improve services and to enhance our skills." 0 CommentsClose CommentsLog in or register to comment >>Back To Top Select a Movie

医学

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Contests Ebola Coverage The Power Of Peppermint By: Madeline Ellis Posted: Tue 5:34 AM, Jan 13, 2009 By: Madeline Ellis Home / Article At the mention of peppermint, candy canes and ice cream comes to mind. But did you know that peppermint is also an age-old herbal medicine that has been used to treat a wide range of abdominal woes? The oil extracted from the peppermint plant contains a host of compounds, but the most abundant and perhaps the most pharmacologically important is menthol. Studies have shown peppermint oil to be fairly effective at relieving irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a collection of symptoms that includes abdominal pain and cramping, bloating, constipation and diarrhea that affects 5 to 20 percent of the population. One explanation is that the oil—especially the menthol—blocks calcium channels, which has the effect of relaxing the “smooth” muscles in the walls of the intestines. Recently, Alex Ford, a McMaster University researcher, concluded that instead of popular over-the counter drugs, peppermint oil should be the first line of defense against IBS. Peppermint can temporarily allay itching caused by insect bites, eczema and other lesions, including the rash of poison ivy. Peppermint tea can be used as a mouthwash for babies with thrush (yeast in the mouth) or for reducing nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, especially for women who want to avoid stronger medications. Peppermint’s essential oil—menthol—is also an ingredient in many conventional over-the-counter products, including toothpaste, mouthwash, chewing gum, breath mints, chewing tobacco substitutes, cough lozenges and various muscle pain ointments. Menthol stimulates the nerves that sense cold, creating that familiar cooling sensation, and inhibits those that react to painful stimuli, temporarily relieving the pain of muscles and organs that are cramped and in spasm. Your mouth also has some of these nerves, which is why products containing menthol "taste" cool. And, even though the effect doesn’t last long, sometimes even a brief reprieve from a hacking cough or aching muscle can work wonders. Menthol has also been shown helpful in subduing many disease-producing bacteria, fungi and viruses, but because stronger antimicrobials are available, is usually not the first choice in treating serious infections. “Most of the (effective) species are really from the family Lamiaceae, or mint family,” Pavel Kloucek, a scientist at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, told Discovery News. Kloucek and his team have recently identified two other mint family members—Mentha villosa and Faassen’s catnip—along with another non-mint herb, bluebeard, as also have bacteria-busting abilities. Moreover, essential oils for horseradish, garlic, hyssop, basil, marjoram, oregano, winter savory and three types of thyme also showed potent antimicrobial activity. The researchers made the discovery while testing the essential oils to determine how well they could, in vapor form, kill the bacteria responsible for Listeria, Staph, E. coli, Salmonella infections, and more. They are hopeful that peppermint oil and others may soon be wafted in vapor form over food to inhibit bacterial growth. Plant essential oils are lipophilic, meaning that they gravitate towards fat, Kloucek explained. “And luckily, in the cell membrane of bacteria, there is plenty of fat, which serves as a seal. Essential oils are attracted to this fat and, as their molecules squeeze in between the fat molecules, they cause leakage of the membrane.” This leakage causes a meltdown that can eventually kill the bacteria. The obvious problem to overcome in treating foods with essential oils to prevent illness is the oils’ potent taste. While strong mint flavor is desirable in a candy cane, it might not work well with other foods. According to Kloucek and his team, the solution is to carefully match the oil with the food. “To overcome unwanted flavors, an essential oil with the best scent best fitting to the taste of the treated product in the lowest possible concentration should be used,” he said. “You will probably not use garlic essential oil to treat grapes, but for some semi-finished meat products it can be suitable.” Kloucek’s findings have been accepted for publication in the journal Food Control. Monique Lacroix, a professor at the INRS-Institute Armand-Frappier in Quebec, told Discovery News that she agrees “essential oils have a powerful antimicrobial property.” She particularly liked Kloucek’s study because it addressed the volatile nature of the oils by studying them in their vapor phase, as opposed to direct application. Some researchers now advise consumers to eat a tablespoon or more of fresh peppermint, and other green herbs daily. A fun way to enjoy peppermint, aside from eating that leftover Christmas candy cane, is by placing peppermint leaves in an ice tray, and then filling the tray with cold water, pushing down any mint leaves that stick out. Put the tray in the freezer for several hours, and then add the peppermint ice cubes to a glass of water, sparkling water, or any other beverage that you enjoy having cold.

医学

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Contests Ebola Coverage Test-Tube Kids and Cancer? Method Unlikely a Cause By: LINDSEY TANNER, AP Email Posted: Sun 12:40 PM, Jul 18, 2010 By: LINDSEY TANNER, AP Email Home / Article CHICAGO (AP) - For the first time, a large study suggests a higher rate of childhood cancer among test-tube babies, but researchers say the reason probably has nothing to do with how the infants were conceived. More likely, it's related to the genetics of the parents who turned to in vitro fertilization because of infertility, the study's Swedish authors and other experts say. Also, test-tube infants often are born prematurely and have breathing problems at birth - traits linked in other studies with increased cancer risks. Still, cancer in these children is rare despite any elevated risks. "It's rather reassuring," said Dr. Bengt Kallen, the study's lead author and a researcher at the University of Lund. The risk "is so small that it can't matter much for the individual parents or parents-to-be." The study examined Swedish children conceived by IVF, in which eggs are fertilized with sperm in a lab dish and then implanted in the womb. Research on possible health risks including cancer and birth defects in IVF children has had mixed results. Dr. Tommaso Falcone, the Cleveland Clinic's obstetrics and gynecology chief, said it's uncertain whether similar results would be found in the more racially diverse United States. About 57,000 infants are born after IVF each year in the U.S., or roughly 1 percent of all births The results of the new study were published online Monday in Pediatrics. It analyzed more than 2.4 million births in Sweden between 1982 and 2005, including almost 27,000 IVF babies, along with cancer data in children tracked for up to 19 years. Overall, 53 IVF children developed cancer versus 38 that would be expected in other children of the same age, a 42 percent increased risk. Leukemia and brain cancers were among the most common. Kallen said possible reasons for the link include unidentified traits in the parents that might be related to infertility and cancer risks. Absolute risks for cancer in these children are still very low, "far less than 1 percent," Falcone noted. Dr. Elizabeth Ginsburg, medical director of the IVF program at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital, said patients nonetheless should be counseled about the study results.

医学

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Lupus Basics Living with Lupus Lupus Articles Autoimmune DisordersRheumatoid ArthritisSclerodermaSjogren's SyndromeSkin Your RightsNavigating the SystemInsurance Coverage Prenatal smoke tied to poorer asthma-drug response NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Studies have shown that children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy may have an increased risk of developing asthma. Now new research suggests they may also get less benefit from the inhaled steroid medications used to prevent asthma attacks.In a study of more than 1,000 kids between five and 12 years old with mild-to-moderate asthma, researchers found that those who had been exposed to smoke in the womb had less of a response to the inhaled corticosteroid budesonide (Pulmicort) than children with no prenatal exposure to smoking.Overall, both groups of children improved with the medication. However, children with prenatal smoke exposure had 26 percent less of an improvement in their "airway responsiveness." Airway responsiveness refers to a "twitchiness" in the airways that, in people with asthma, can be triggered by small amounts of a normally benign irritant, like pollen or pet dander. Inhaled steroids are the mainstay of therapy for persistent asthma, helping to prevent attacks of coughing, wheezing and breathlessness. One of the ways doctors measure whether a patient is responding to inhaled steroids is by testing airway responsiveness. In this study, children with prenatal exposure to maternal smoking had less of an improvement in airway responsiveness after starting budesonide -- and some had no improvement at all, said Dr. Benjamin A. Raby of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, one of the researchers on the study. The full implications of the difference are not clear. The researchers did not have information on whether children exposed to prenatal smoking actually had higher rates of asthma attacks or hospital visits than other children, despite treatment with inhaled steroids.But the findings do raise that possibility, Raby told Reuters Health.He stressed, however, that no one is suggesting children with prenatal tobacco exposure should forgo inhaled steroids. "Inhaled steroids are the first-line therapy for persistent asthma, regardless of whether children had in-utero exposure to smoking or not," Raby said.Instead, he explained, the findings offer a potential explanation for why a child with prenatal exposure to smoking may not be responding as well as hoped to inhaled steroids. These children may need a second type of medication -- such as oral drugs known as leukotriene modifiers -- added to their treatment in order to control their asthma, Raby said.The study, which was led by Dr. Robyn T. Cohen of Drexel University in Philadelphia, is published in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology.The data come from a clinical trial in which 1,041 children with persistent asthma were randomly assigned to use budesonide, another type of inhaled asthma medication called nedocromil or a placebo over four years. Of those children, 150 had been exposed to smoking in the womb, and 39 of them were given budesonide. The study is the first to link prenatal smoke exposure with a reduced response to inhaled steroids, which, along with the small number of children exposed, means that further research is needed to replicate the findings, according to Raby. It is also impossible to definitively say that prenatal tobacco exposure is the lone culprit, the researcher noted. He and his colleagues did account for children's current exposure to secondhand smoke at home, but teasing out the impact of prenatal exposure by itself is difficult. The researchers do think it is biologically plausible that prenatal tobacco exposure could affect children's later response to asthma medication.Lab research suggests that prenatal exposure to smoke can influence the development of the lung structure or the smooth muscles of the airways, which could affect the body's later response to asthma medications. SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/mer34n Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, online August 5, 2010

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