MRSA Infections in Newborns Are On the Rise
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Community-acquired methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections are cropping up with surprising frequency in newborn boys, and mom could be involved, researchers reported here.
“Community-acquired methicillin-resistant staph aureus is a substantial and increasing proportion of staph infection in previously healthy neonates,” Regine M. Fortunov, M.D., of Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. “Individuals who are most at risk are seven to twelve days of age, and male.”
China province hit by cholera outbreak
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A cholera outbreak in a rich eastern Chinese province has sickened 158 people though there have been no deaths reported, state media said.
The waterborne disease, which can quickly cause severe dehydration and death and is connected with unsanitary cooking methods, broke out in the city of Jiaxing in Zhejiang province, close to China’s commercial capital of Shanghai.
U.S. urges urgent preparations for flu pandemic
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Governments have to work harder and faster to prepare for an inevitable bird flu pandemic, U.S. Health Secretary Michael Leavitt said on Monday as he began a tour of Southeast Asian nations hit by the virus.
“Three times in this century we have experienced pandemic influenza and they will come again. We must be ready,” Leavitt told Thai and U.S. health officials in Bangkok.
Sharp rise in UK breast cancer survival rates
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Earlier detection and better treatments have pushed up breast cancer survival rates in England and Wales where two thirds of newly diagnosed women are likely to be alive 20 years later, scientists said on Monday.
New figures released by the charity Cancer Research UK show Britain is gaining ground on France, Switzerland and the Nordic countries which have among the highest survival rates for breast cancer in Europe.
Stroke Mortality Highest Among Blacks Living in the South
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Preliminary results of a National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke funded study suggest that while African Americans have an overall higher risk of dying from stroke than whites, that risk is even greater for blacks who live in the south.
For example, African American men living in South Carolina are almost four times more likely to die from a stroke than are white men living in that same state.
Blood Pressure Control Poor In Women Over 80
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Women older than 80 have poor control of their blood pressure, and sub-optimal treatment may be part of the problem, according to data from a long-running heart study.
The data suggest “major gaps in the implementation of anti-hypertensive therapies recommended by current guidelines,” contended Donald Lloyd-Jones, M.D., of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in the July 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Stroke Patients Regain Language Skills After Intense Therapy
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Short term, intense language therapy has improved communication skills in stroke patients left with chronic aphasia, researchers here reported.
The intense, 30-hour language training program improved measurable communication skills by 85%, according to Marcus Meinzer, Ph.D., of the Unversita"t Konstanz here.
Low-dose Aspirin Reduces Stroke Risk in Women
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Low dose aspirin is associated with a reduction in stroke risk among women age 65 or older, according to 10-year data from the Women’s Health reported Monday at the American College of Cardiology meeting here.
But there was no significant benefit for vitamin E therapy, said Paul M. Ridker, MD, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and colleagues, reporting for the Women’s Health Study.
Diabetic and Obese Teen Carotids Appear Elderly
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The carotid arteries of type 2 diabetic or obese teenagers have the look of those their grandfathers might have, suggests a small study.
This study, led by Silva Arslanian, M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, adds to a growing body of evidence that cardiovascular disease takes root in childhood.
Stress Can Help You Live Longer
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According to research from the US, stress can be good for you. Bursts of short-term stress, such as the kind you get before an interview, can help you live longer and reduce your chances of developing arthritis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
This type of stress triggers the release of protective proteins in your body that help repair cells, and it also boosts your immune system.
Prostate Cancer Awareness Urged
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Prostate cancer is the most common nonskin cancer in men and the second leading cause of death for males, yet studies show that nearly half of men over age 50 are not screened annually for the disease.
In observance of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, the Germantown office of UT Medical Group Inc. hosted a seminar on Sept. 29 to educate men about the importance of screening and promising new treatments for the disease.
Some Common Diet Tips That Really Work - and Why
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Losing weight is a national preoccupation. I challenge anyone to turn on the television or radio, surf online or open a magazine without finding an advertisement for a weight loss product or an endorsement for a new diet or eating plan. Everyone wants to be healthy and look their best, and for possibly the first time in the last half century, those two things happen to coincide. The current ideal of beauty is far closer to what’s attainable by a ‘real’ person than it has been in decades. Thanks to the recent popularity of actresses and singers who aren’t rail thin, coat hangers are out and healthy muscles and curves are in.
Hodgkin’s survivors at risk for breast cancer
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Due to the chest radiation that is often given for treatment, women who survive Hodgkin’s disease are at heightened risk for breast cancer. In fact, in some survivors, the odds of developing breast cancer are as high as 40 percent, new research indicates.
The authors warn, however, that the findings are based on older treatment approaches and, therefore, may not be applicable to women treated today for Hodgkin’s disease, a type of cancer that affects the lymph nodes and organs involved in the body’s immune system.
Toronto’s mystery illness is legionnaires’ disease
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Canadian health officials on Thursday identified the “mystery illness” that killed 16 people in a Toronto nursing home as legionnaires’ disease.
The disease, a type of pneumonia, is contracted by people breathing in small droplets of water contaminated with the bacteria—often from ventilation systems. It is rare in Ontario, though the bacteria are common in the environment throughout North America.
Uterine cancer may raise ovarian cancer risk
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As many as one quarter of young women with uterine cancer also have ovarian cancer, new research suggests.
Several groups advocate ovary-sparing treatment to safeguard fertility in young women with uterine cancer, the authors explain, but reports have suggested that these women have ovarian cancer rates ranging from 5 to 29 percent, according to a report in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
