Bootleg Fentanyl Caused Overdose Epidemic

April 21, 2006, was marked by an extreme number of overdoses in Camden, New Jersey, with reports of similar overdose outbreaks coming in from other parts of the state as well as from Maryland, Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia. The Detroit and Chicago overdoses occurred a few months earlier than those in Camden and elsewhere and, in the beginning, were attributed to illicit use of heroin. Read more

Smoke More, Drink More, Get Alzheimer’s Sooner

A new study suggests that heavy smoking and drinking can hasten the onset of Alzheimer’s disease by several years.  Eliminating smoking and drinking are considered the two most important steps to preventing Alzheimer’s disease. Read more

Alcohol May Increase Breast Cancer Risk

A woman’s history of drinking is directly linked to her chances of developing the most common form of breast cancer and it doesn’t matter what form of alcoholic beverage she prefers, either.  The largest study ever conducted that matches alcoholic consumption with types of breast cancer says that three drinks a day increases the risk of estrogen- and progesterone-positive cancer by as much as 51%. Read more

90,000 Babies In US Mistreated During First Year of Life

Researchers for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported the findings of a study that identifies more than 90,000 infants who were neglected or received poor parental care during their first year of life. In about a third of the cases, the poor treatment came during the first week of life.

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Sex, Pot, Cancer is Ugly New Trend

Patient demographics has led researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center to identify two types of cancer associated with the head and neck and the types of people more likely to get one form of the cancer or the other. Read more

Link Found Between Smoking and Diabetic Neuropathy

Researchers have found a link between smoking and diabetic neuropathy. A study found that 62 percent of patients with diabetic neuropathy smoked cigarettes compared with 33 percent of patients who didn’t smoke.

Patients were entered into the study if they scored greater than 12 on the self-completed Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (S-LANSS) pain scale, self-reported nerve pain, or were treated at hospitals with neuropathic pain as noted in hospital charts.

The participants in the study then underwent a clinical evaluation to determine whether their pain was truly part of the neuropathic pain complex. Their current smoking habits were also determined; about 13% of the patients smoked. The researchers found that the 13% of smokers in the study made up 21% of the patients who were suffering from neuropathic pain.

“When a smoker comes into your office and complains of diabetic neuropathy, it may be a good teaching moment,” commented Rollin Gallagher, M.D., a clinical professor of psychiatry and anesthesiology at the University of Pennsylvania.
He said it is a good time to outline for the patient how smoking and diabetes both cause insult to the nerves, especially the long nerves of the legs and arms.
“It is not clear exactly why smoking appears to increase the risk of diabetic neuropathy,” said Toby Weingarten, M.D., a co-author of the study with Todd Call, M.D. and a Mayo colleague. He said some doctors believe that smoking causes some sort of ischemic injury secondary to diabetes in exacerbating the pain.

Clean Hands Too Tempting For Alcoholics

Med Headlines - Alcoholism is a sad, tragic illness that often leads the sufferer to take desperate measures. Researchers in London recently reported that an alarming number of alcoholics are ingesting alcohol-based hand wipe solutions when other form of alcohol is out of reach.

The study was spurred by the discovery that an alcohol-dependent patient, assumed to be in a period of hospitalized abstinence, was experiencing withdrawal symptoms, even without known alcohol ingestion.

The collapsed patient was found with empty bottles of the infection-control hand rub solution, kept in his room for sanitation purposes. His blood alcohol level registered nine times higher than the legal limit allowed for driving in Britain. This high concentration is potentially fatal.

This discovery led to a search of poison-control reports of the country’s toxicology database, which revealed alcohol poisonings had increased by more than 300% after the introduction of the alcohol hand rubs.

Many of the alcohol overdoses are attributed to accidental ingestion, especially in the cases of children, confused individuals, and the elderly, all of whom might mistake the clear solution for water. Sixty-six percent of the overdoses were found to be intentional, however, and all involved alcoholics.

While lethal doses of ethanol (drinkable alcohol) have been established, no such information is available for isopropanol, the type of alcohol used for infection control.

Researchers suggest making hand-wipe dispensers harder to reach, perhaps keeping them under lock and key, and keeping the smaller containers out of the rooms of known alcoholics while they are in hospitals, nursing homes, and other types of healthcare facilities.

The full report, submitted by Paul I Dargan, MRCP, of Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, can be found in the December 1 issue of BMJ.