Here We Go Again...

From Nine MSN:

Advanced Medical Optics Inc says it is recalling its Complete MoisturePlus contact lens solutions and has called on consumers to stop using them after data showed a higher risk of eye infections.

The announcement follows AMO's recall of the same product last year due to a bacterial contamination, and a recall by rival Bausch & Lomb Inc after its contact lens solution was linked to infections.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) interviewed 46 patients with Acanthamoeba keratitis, a rare but serious cornea infection, and found that of the 39 who wore soft contact lenses, 21 used Complete MoisturePlus.

I would think that after last year's debacle, that we wouldn't be having so similar problem this year.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

Save Jaws!

From The Concord Monitor:

Year after year, beach season brings accounts of harrowing shark attacks as people around the world plunge into the surf to escape summer's heat.

But the reality is that these fearsome predators kill an average of four people worldwide every year, while humans kill anywhere from 26 million to 73 million sharks annually, according to recent calculations by an international team of scientists.

With the latter toll mounting rapidly in recent years, there has been a growing realization that something must be done to prevent sharks from disappearing from the planet.

Two weeks ago, Mexico, which has a large shark fishery, enacted a new law that protects three species, bans the practice of shark "finning" - slicing off the fins of a newly caught shark and tossing the animal back in the ocean to die - and requires authorities to monitor the activities of large shark-fishing boats. Early next month, officials from around the globe will meet in The Hague, Netherlands, to decide whether to put tight new controls on the trade in two heavily fished species, spiny dogfish and porbeagle, under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

I don't think they're going to make a series of films of the shark being saved from the fisherman.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

The Body In 4D

From Yahoo:

Canadian researchers say they have developed the most detailed model of a human yet, a movable "4D" image that doctors can use to plan complex surgery or show patients what ailments look like inside their bodies.

Called CAVEman, the larger-than-life computer image encompasses more than 3,000 distinct body parts, all viewed in a booth that gives the image height, width and depth, the researchers said on Wednesday.

CAVEman also plots the passage of time -- the fourth "D."

Scientists can layer on the unique visuals of patients, such as magnetic resonance images, CAT scans and X-Rays, giving physicians high-resolution views of the inner workings of the body while it appears to float within arm's reach.

Seems like an expensive replacement for Netter's Anatomy Atlas. Still, the patients will think this is really cool so this would be an impressive marketing gimmick.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

TGIF

"Doctors at a hospital have gone on strike. Hospital officials say they will find out what the Doctors' demands are as soon as they can get a pharmacist over there to read the picket signs!"

A Sticky Syrup Story

From The Economist:

Fructose apparently tricks the brain into thinking you are hungrier than you actually are. Unlike carbohydrates made up of glucose, fructose does not stimulate the pancreas into producing insulin. Nor does it promote the production of leptin, a hormone made by fat cells. Under normal conditions, the amount of insulin and leptin in the body signal to the brain that you’ve had enough to eat. Meanwhile, fructose doesn’t seem to suppress the production of ghrelin, the hormone that triggers appetite, which normally declines after eating.

Let's face the facts. this high fructose corn syrup, which is found in many, many products is there for one reason- it's downright cheap. Once we accept that, the rest makes sense.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

Honest Abe Pox

From MSNBC:

Abraham Lincoln might have been in the early stages of a life-threatening type of smallpox when he delivered his Gettysburg Address, lauded as one of history's greatest speeches and an archetype of genius brevity.

The speech's powerful first words — "Four score and seven years ago ..." — belied a weak and dizzy President Lincoln, concludes a new study.

I think this is a little difficult to diagnose seven score and three years later.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

Get Off Your Butt!

From Medical News Today:

It has been suggested that one way to tackle the rising problem of obesity is to find ways to increase physical activity among workers with sedentary occupations. Many people spend most of their working day sitting in front of a computer screen. What if they could work at a computer and walk at the same time? Could this be a way to burn off enough calories to make a difference? This was the thinking behind the experiment performed by two scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, US.

Researchers James Levine and Jennifer Miller designed a vertical work station that allows an office worker to use a computer while walking on a treadmill at a speed of their choice. The machine looks like a regular treadmill superimposed with a metal frame that holds a desk area in front with adjustable arms holding a screen and keyboard with mouse.

Actually, this is simple enough to work...

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

Noncardiac Chest Pain

From Science Daily:

The discomfort caused by esophageal (non-cardiac) chest pain is often severe, driving many patients to emergency rooms and physicians’ offices despite the fact that the ailment has no definable pathology. Although this pain may sometimes be the result of acid reflux disease, when this is absent most patients present hypersensitivity of the esophagus, and a recent study suggests a potential new way of managing this and other symptoms.

We say: See, not all chest pain needs a cath and a stent.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

Hi Def Colonoscopy

From Japan's Corporate News:

Pentax will release its new 'I' series endoscopic system compatible with megapixel images, for the U.S. market, developed to meet the needs of the medical field for high quality, high resolution and multi-functional instruments.

The new system consists of the '90i' video scope with a megapixel CCD in the image sensor and the 'EPK-I' light source processor equipped with advance image processing capabilities.

We say: Better resolution, whether for the Super Bowl, or to see the details of the colon better, is always a good thing.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

Oxy-Guilty

From The International Tribune:

The company that makes the painkiller OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, has agreed to pay $600 million in fines and other payments to resolve the criminal charge of "misbranding" its product, one of the largest amounts ever paid by a drug company in such a case.

The company and three of its current and former executives pleaded guilty in federal court here Thursday to criminal charges that the firm had misled doctors and patients when it claimed that the drug was less likely to be abused than traditional narcotics.

The three executives, including the company's president and its top lawyer, also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of misbranding the drug. Together, they agreed to pay $34.5 million in fines.

We say: Yeah, but when they made billions on this product, these millions of dollars of fines are simply the cost of doing business, and a slap on the wrist.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

TGIF

BBQ Linked To Cancer

From CNN:

Postmenopausal women who like barbecued and smoked meat would be wise to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables too, a new study suggests.

Dr. Susan E. Steck of the University of South Carolina in Columbia and her colleagues found that postmenopausal women who consumed the most grilled, barbecued or smoked red meat over their lifetime have a 47 percent increased risk of breast cancer. Big meat-eaters who also skimped on fruit and vegetables had a 74 percent increased risk of the disease.

We say: I guess we could just eat all of our meat boiled and live forever according to this research!

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

What Lurks Beneath...

From IOL:

Some doctors now think that the internal fat surrounding vital organs like the heart, liver or pancreas - invisible to the naked eye - could be as dangerous as the more obvious external fat that bulges underneath the skin.

"Being thin doesn't automatically mean you're not fat," said Dr Jimmy Bell, a professor of molecular imaging at Imperial College, London.

Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create "fat maps" showing where people store their fat.

According to their data, people who maintain their weight through diet instead of exercise, are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are otherwise slim.

We say: If you're obese on the outside, could you really be thin on the inside?

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

iComplication

From MSNBC:

iPods can cause cardiac implantable pacemakers to malfunction by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart, according to a study presented by a 17-year-old high school student to a meeting of heart specialists on Thursday.

The study tested the effect of the portable music devices on 100 patients, whose mean age was 77, outfitted with pacemakers. Electrical interference was detected half of the time when the iPod was held just 2 inches from the patient’s chest for 5 to 10 seconds.

We say: Whenever there is a new technology, there is always a concern that stuff may not play well together. With all of the electronics inside modern pacemakers, it's certainly not a great idea to have a magnetic hard drive of an iPod spinning just an inch or two away from it. I suspect, although the article doesn't state, that a flash memory based iPod would be a safer alternative, but like everything else, more research is needed.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

Artifical Blood

From The Guardian:

We're all familiar with the calls for blood donors. But donated blood, while valuable, also poses risks to the recipient, including diseases such as hepatitis C or HHIV, the virus that causes Aids.

Wouldn't an artificial form be better? It could be made completely sterile, and might even be manufactured in dehydrated form: just add water and you have a litre of O negative, the universally transfusible version, which could be easily transported to locations where it was needed, or stored against future need.

We say: With the perpetual shortage of blood out there, artificial PRBC's would be welcomed at hospitals around the world. A stable product like this that could be stored at room temperature with a long shelf life would even be of greater benefit to the harsh conditions of battlefield medicine, or the third world. There's a lot of potential here, but let's recall that this has been a tough nut to crack, and I'm sure there is a lot more research needed here.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

A New Nose For Nora?!

From The Onion:

As a pediatric plastic surgeon, Dr. Jessica Krieg changes little faces and lives for the better. Yet for all the good she does, she is all too aware that rhinoplasty and liposuction can be difficult, scary experiences for a child. With her new book, Norah's New Nose, she hopes to change all that.

"These children, on the threshold of becoming something—and someone—beautiful, are often scared and unsure of what's about to be done to them," Krieg said. "In Norah's New Nose, I try to show them there's nothing to fear, and that when it's over, there's no need for shame."

Is this really helping children to understand about their upcoming surgery, or clever marketing? I hope that this doesn't encourage a new group of folks that want to look like a Barbie doll. How many rhinoplasties are done in children anyway to justify a book?

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

MySpace: Doctor Edition

With the traffic that it generates, MySpace has become one of the top internet destinations for the younger generation on the internet. While I doubt it will be duplicated, there are now some attempts to make "The Virtual Physician Lounge." Quite recently, I was approached by one company that is attempting to create exactly this type of service, and was looking for "influential bloggers." This week, I was emailed an invitation for the new Sermo community.

Personally, I think these services face an uphill battle. Physicians are hardly lonely teens that have the need to post every minutiae that happens to them or their patients (not to mention issues of confidentiality and HIPAA). Also, unless there is compelling content, and enough discussion, it looks like a dead forum, and no one will return. Still, there may be room for one or two players in this area, and if it offers some value to the busy doctor, they may gain some traction in this niche market.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

TGIF

 Save This Page

Soup Is Good Food

From Daily Mail:

A bowl of soup a day could keep the pounds at bay.

Health experts have discovered that adding low-calorie vegetable broth to the start of a meal can actually help to lose weight.

Because you tend to feel full sooner, you eat less of your main course.

The soup regime was tested by researchers at Pennsylvania State University, led by Dr Barbara Rolls.

So this is simple advice that just about anyone can follow. Then again, as we head into warmer weather, I don't think that folks are going to be clamoring for a nice hot bowl of soup this summer.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

Laser Retina Scanner

More.

This seriously fast laser promises to improve the diagnosis, and treatment of retinal diseases. I'm not sure I'm thrilled with the idea of a laser running through the rods and cones of my eyeball's posterior, as last time I checked, they say not to directly look at the laser. However, those crafty folks up at MIT promise that you'll be able to be zapped in around five years if all goes according to plan.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page

Appalachia Combats Heart Disease

From Physics.org:

The task won't be easy. States in Appalachia lead the country in heart disease risk factors such as smoking, obesity and lack of exercise, and those factors could partly come from long-held cultural practices and beliefs.

That's why the two-day conference that began Thursday includes historians, who can explain the unique characteristics of the region that stretches from Mississippi into upstate New York, including parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and all of West Virginia.

Four of the five states with the highest rates of common heart conditions are in Appalachia, according to the CDC. West Virginia is the highest in the country, with about 10.4 percent of adults reporting a common heart condition such as coronary heart disease, compared to a national average of about 6.5 percent.

So thirteen states are ready to take a stand. What about the other 37? Then again, for those of us that have driven through there, I can't imagine that those folks could have great access to health care. Seriously, many of them are really dirt poor, and the area is quite rural. If they are having an MI, I doubt they're getting to a cath lab too soon.

Medicine Tag
Health Tag

 Save This Page