Anemia Drugs Linked to Blood Clots and Increased Death Rates

The February issue of JAMA released a report showing a positive correlation between a class of drugs called ertyhropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) and blood clots that are deep in the leg veins - venous thromboembolism (VTE). Read more

Women Approve of Anti-HIV Gel

In an effort to combat the spread of HIV, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have found an experimental anti-HIV gel is safe for women to use on a daily basis. Read more

Scientists Report an Increase in Drug Resistant TB Worldwide

The World Health Organization has just released findings regarding a large increase in the number of tuberculosis outbreaks in the former Soviet Union this week. This study is the first of its kind to be released in the past 4 years. Read more

Extremely Rare and Deadly Amoeba Infects Fire Captain

A Fire Captain by the name of Matt Moore became seriously ill several months ago and visited four hospitals without receiving any answer from doctors about his strange illness. Mr. Moore was growing sicker each day and was eventually put on life-support in the critical unit in San Diego, California before he started to get some answers. Read more

More Expectant Moms Want Elective Cesarean

A survey of registered users at electivecesarean.com found that 56% of expectant mothers want an elective cesarean through their own choice. The majority said that it is because they don’t want to risk physical damage to their body (39.4%), a planned cesarean is preferable to an unpredictable planned vaginal delivery (PVD)(33.6%) and they’ve been put off by previous experience or knowledge of PVD trauma. (25.1%). Fear of PVD is cited by 16.7% of women. Read more

Antibiotics Overused in Patients with Dementia

According to the report published in the February 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, more than 5 million Americans have dementia. And about 70 percent of them will live in nursing homes at the end of their lives. Recurrent infections and fever are common among these patients, who may receive antibiotics to treat these conditions. Read more

Children with Down Syndrome Do Not Benefit From Antioxidants

Trisomy 21, or Down Syndrome, is the most common genetic cause of learning disability in the UK, affecting 1 in 1000 live births.  Neuronal depletion and structural abnormalities of the brain are seen even in infants with Down syndrome.  Why the changes occur isn’t fully understood, but it has been suspected that the damage to the neural cells is caused by an increased activity of superoxide dismutase that occurs in children with Down syndrome, which increases concentrations of hydrogen peroxide.

The presence of damaging superoxide dismutase  led to a belief that high levels of antioxidants may reduce the effects of Down syndrome, improving language and psychomotor development.  Previous studies have investigated the effects of folate and antioxidants, with no significant effect being found.  However, due to commercial marketing claiming substantial benefits, many parents of children with Down syndrome give their children specialized vitamin and mineral supplements.

A study published by the British Journal of Medicine, finds that such supplements do not help.  UK researchers studied the effect of specialized supplements on 156 babies under 7 months old with Down syndrome.  The children were assessed for development after an 18 month period, and the researchers found that the supplements made no difference.  This is important information for parents to consider before giving such supplements to their child, as there are potentially adverse effects from high doses of vitamins and minerals.

Source: British Medical Journal

Husband’s Angry Outburst Awakens Woman from a Coma

Yvonne Sullivan endured a very problematic pregnancy only to lose her newborn son during a traumatic premature birth last July. Blood poisoning and septic shock caused Sullivan, 28, to lapse into a coma that lasted for two weeks, prompting doctors to consider removing her from life-support systems since her vital organs had shut down and she was 100% dependent upon a ventilator. Read more

Humira Approved for Treatment of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

Humira, a drug commonly given to adult patients to treat rheumatoid arthritis, has now been approved to treat similar ailments in juvenile patients. Abbott recently announced that they received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market Humira (adalimumab) as treatment to reduce the symptoms of moderately to severely active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in patients four years of age and older. Read more

Hormone Therapy May Affect Mammogram Findings

Hormone therapy is commonly used to help treat women with menopause. However, this therapy can increase their risk of having abnormal mammograms and breast biopsies and may decrease the effectiveness of both methods for detecting breast cancer. Read more

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