Previous Medical News
2010/07/10
1. Be aware of indicators of heat stroke, exhaustion
The two biggest health concerns during a heat wave for any age are heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Heat stroke is when the body is unable to regulate temperature and the body temperature rises rapidly. The sweating mechanism fails and the body can’t cool down. Warning signs of heat stroke include an extremely high body temperature, above 103 degrees; red, hot and dry skin; an inability to sweat; rapid, strong pulse; throbbing headache; dizziness, nausea, confusion or unconsciousness. Call for immediate medical assistance while you begin to cool down the victim. Get them to a shady area, and spray them down with cool water from a garden hose or use a sponge with cool water.
Heat exhaustion is a milder form of a heat-related illness. The elderly and those with high blood pressure are prone to it. Warning signs of heat exhaustion include heavy sweating; paleness; muscle cramps; tiredness or weakness; dizziness or fainting; nausea, headaches or vomiting; skin may be cool and moist; fast, weak pulse; and fast and shallow breathing. Give them cool beverages and have them rest. Take a cool shower and get them into an air-conditioned environment.
2. Lady Gaga, what big eyes you have: A 'bad romance' between eye-popping contact lenses and optometrists (American Optometric Association, 7/6/10)
Love the doe-eyed, anime-inspired look Lady Gaga sports in her "Bad Romance" video? If so, you're not alone -- growing numbers of teenage girls and young women are risking their vision to get it for themselves. Lady Gaga's saucer eyes were computer generated, but special contact lenses imported illegally, yet easily, have become all the rage with girls who want to resemble cartoon characters or dolls. The contacts, called circle lenses, come in a variety of colors, including orange, violet and pink. Some sites carry lenses with designs such as spider webs, flowers and stars. Because they extend beyond the iris and cover part of the white of the eye, they make the wearer's eyes look larger. They are not approved by the FDA, so they cannot legally be sold in the U.S. They are widely available online from retailers in Asia and Canada for around $20 to $30 a pair. Users risk eye injuries or even blindness when they buy lenses without a prescription or consultation with an eye care professional. Badly fitting lenses can deprive eyes of oxygen.
3. FDA clears first implantable telescope for vision: New hope for advanced macular degeneration (FDA, 7/6/10)
The FDA has approved a first-of-its-kind technology to counter Macular Degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness in older adults - a tiny telescope implanted inside the eye. 90 percent of telescope recipients had their vision improve by at least two lines on an eye chart, and three-quarters went from severe to moderate vision impairment. Two million Americans with advanced Macular Degeneration could benefit.
4. Task force urges bone-density tests for more women (U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in Annals of Internal Medicine, 7/5/10)
Routine screening for osteoporosis should include all younger postmenopausal women who have at least the same chance of a bone break as an older woman. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's draft guidelines widen its 2002 advice, when it first said that all women over 65, plus those 60 to 64 at higher risk for fractures, should get a bone density test. The task force now says all younger postmenopausal women should get checked if their risk of a broken bone is the same or greater than the average 65-year-old woman. Factors that can increase risk include low weight, certain drugs, smoking, heavy alcohol use and a parent who broke a hip.
5. ICU Deaths More Likely on Weekends (Chest, 7/10)
Patients admitted to an intensive care unit over the weekend may be more likely to die than those admitted at other times, perhaps because of reduced staffing.
6. U.S. cancer death rates continue drop (American Cancer Society, 7/7/09)
U.S. cancer death rates are falling, with big decreases in major killers such as colon and lung cancer. The improvement was due a decline in smoking, better treatment and earlier detection.
7. Busy Social Life Is Key to Beating Cancer (Cell, 7/10)
An active social life may help patients fight cancer. This study links the stress of relationships to reductions in the size of cancerous growths.
8. Kids who eat with mom and dad are thinner (Journal of Pediatrics, 7/10)
Children who regularly sit down to family meals and get plenty of vegetables in their diet tend to be thinner than their peers without such eating habits.
9. Blood Pressure and Diabetes: How Low Should You Go? (Journal of the American Medical Association, 7/7/10)
Tight control of high blood pressure, recommended for those with diabetes by national guidelines, gives no better results than moderate control. The guidelines suggest you want diabetics to have systolic blood pressure under 130. But in this new study those who kept their systolic pressures moderately controlled -- at 130 to 139 -- did as well as those who controlled it more tightly.
10. Mother's diet, genes raise birth defect risk (Human Molecular Genetics, 7/10)
Mothers who eat a high fat diet before and during pregnancy may be putting their offspring at risk of birth defects such as congenital heart disease and cleft palate.
11. Glucosamine no help with low back pain (Journal of the American Medical Association, 7/6/10)
Taking glucosamine for six months did no more to ease chronic lower back pain than taking a dummy pill.
12. Chocolate Reduces Risk of Pregnancy Complications (Annals of Epidemiology, 7/10)
Eating chocolate at least three times a week could cut the risk of pregnant women developing preeclampsia, a condition that can threaten the lives of both mothers and babies. Preeclampsia is one of the most common causes of complications during pregnancy. Blood vessels in the placenta fail to develop and the major symptom of the condition is elevated blood pressure in the mother. The condition affects the unborn child by disrupting the transfer of nutrients, leading to premature birth and other complications.
13. Fish oil linked to lower breast cancer risk (Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 7/10)
Taking fish oil supplements may help reduce breast cancer risk. Taking fish oil supplements on a regular basis had a 32% reduced risk for developing invasive ductal breast cancer, compared with women who did not take fish oil supplements. Other supplements were not linked to breast cancer risk in the new study, including black cohosh, dong quai, soy, and St. John's wort, which are often taken to relieve some of the symptoms of menopause.
14. Too Much Screen Time Can Threaten Attention Span (Pediatrics, 7/10)
Too much time spent watching television and playing video games can double the risk of attention problems in children and young adults. The current recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics for children aged 2 and older is to watch TV or play video games less than two hours a day.
15. The FDA warns against using quinine for leg cramps (FDA, 7/8/10)
The FDA has cautioned consumers against using quinine for leg cramps, warning that the drug could cause severe side effects, including death. Quinine, sold under the brand name Qualaquin, is approved for treatment of uncomplicated malaria, but has a long history of use as a remedy for leg cramps, especially at night.
16. Depression may double dementia risk (Neurology, 7/10)
Those who suffer from depression may have nearly double the risk of developing dementia later in life.
17. Anxiety Ups Fatality Risk for Heart Patients (Archives of General Psychiatry, 7/10)
Stress and anxiety are well-known triggers for heart problems, but their impact is even more severe among those already coping with heart disease. People with heart disease who worry a great deal may have a higher risk of strokes, heart attacks, and an early death. Anxiety poses a real threat to the heart.
18. Rude Colleagues Cause More Workplace Errors (British Medical Journal, 7/10)
Rudeness in the workplace causes employees to make more mistakes. Workers who are treated unpleasantly, or witness colleagues being treated badly, make more errors than usual. Loss of attention may be a factor.
19. Early pot smoking, depression may be linked (American Journal of Epidemiology, 6/9/10)
Children and teenagers who smoke marijuana may have a somewhat heightened risk of developing depression. Early marijuana use was linked to a 50 percent increase in the risk of developing a depression "spell" after age 17.
20. To protect babies, keep car seats in the car (Pediatrics, 7/5/10)
To prevent injuries in babies, car seats should stay in the car. Almost 9,000 infants go to the emergency room (ER) every year for car seat-related injuries that happen outside the car.
21. Neck size could help ID childhood obesity (Pediatrics, 8/10)
Measuring children's neck circumference could provide a quick, simple way to screen them for weight problems and might also be useful for spotting kids at risk of sleep apnea, a disorder in which tissues at the back the throat temporarily collapse during sleep to create repeated stops and starts in breathing.
22. Home Births Linked to Higher Newborn Death Rate (American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 7/1/10)
Planned home births are associated with a tripling of the newborn mortality rate compared with hospital deliveries, yet planned home births are also linked to reduced preterm birth and low birth weight.
23. Teen smoking down, still 1 in 5: Decline in U.S. Teen Smoking Rate Stalls (CDC, 7/8/10)
The rate of decline of high school smokers has leveled off or slowed after many years of progress, and more vigorous efforts are needed to reverse this "discouraging" finding.
24. Recall: Tylenol recall is expanded (McNeil Consumer Healthcare, 7/8/10)
The latest recall by Johnson & Johnson's McNeil consumer health care unit covers 21 lots of products, including Children's Tylenol.
25. Recall: Rocky Mountain Natural Meats recalls 66,000 pounds of bison meat (USDA, 7/3/10)
A Colorado company has recalled 66,000 pounds of bison meat sold nationwide after federal agriculture officials linked it to E. coli sicknesses.
