Archive for November, 2016

The study was done on over 2 million teens who were subjected to medical examination for more than two decades. It found out that celiac has become a common diagnostic disease now more than in the past.

What is Celiac Disease?

Abbreviated as CD, celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that leads to damages of the small intestines and thus interfering with the absorption of food nutrients. Individuals suffering from CD have to keep off from gluten, rye and barley. If the correct diet is not followed, CD can turn out to be complicated causing malnutrition, infertility, low bone density and lactose intolerance.

These kinds of medicines are categorized under a group of painkillers referred to as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These medicines have the potential of increasing someone’s relative risk of encountering a heart failure. The risk is about 20 percent as per the analysis of medical records containing data of about 10 million patients.

As an individual takes more NSAIDs, this risk is also increased. That is according to Andrea Arfe, the study author and Ph.D. student at University of Milano-Bicocca, in Italy. He said that there are some NSAIDS that doubles ones risk of being hospitalized if they are consumed in large quantities. These include etoricoxib (Arcoxia), piroxicam (Feldene), indomethacin (Indocin) and diclofenac (Cataflam or Voltaren).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has some of the top experts fighting against Zika virus. The CDC lab develops tests to diagnose viral diseases like Zika that are transmitted via fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. This fraction is headed by a chief, Robert Lanciotti.

Whistleblower fired and reinstated

Lanciotti was fired in May this year after he raised concerns regarding the efficiency of the Zika test. He voiced out his arguments both internal and external in the spring of recommendations for a new test for Zika. He said that the said test is less effective compared to another established test and that it fails to capture about 40 percent of Zika infections. He also pointed out the possibility of the agency hiding information regarding testing differences in local public and states health laboratories.

A recent study estimates that the incidences of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are more pronounced in the black men population. This is compared to other diseases like esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) among the white non-Hispanic. The researchers thus arrived at the conclusion that screening may be a necessity.

Anoop Prabhu, MD said that after generalizing the study, the finding is that high-risk population – for that matter the African-American – had a deeper history when it comes to tobacco and alcohol. He is from the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the division of gastroenterology at University of Michigan Medical School.

The research warns that such a huge number of unused prescribed narcotic painkillers may lead to an opioid epidemic in the United States. Dr. Brandon Maughan said that translating this to the U.S. population means that over 100 million opioid pills are not used by patients as intended. This opens ways for the possibility of patients misusing or abusing the pills.

Past studies have indicated that most painkillers abusers source them from friends and families who did not finish their dose. Maughan and his colleagues noted this during news release at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and School of Dental Medicine.

The study done by researchers from the University of Michigan and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found out the rates of children being born addicted to opiate-based painkillers such as morphine or heroin has increased. The study noted that Florida is much worse with some people already referring to the state as the home of “Oxy-Express.”

There is a substantial increase of 500 percent in the occurrence of babies born addicted to drugs. According to the Tennessee Department of Human Services, within the first decade of the millennium, children born addicted to opiate-based drugs multiplied almost 10 times. The study estimates that about 13,539 U.S. babies are born addicted on a yearly basis.

Jamie Harris, a former nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital, says that some of the things that always occupied her thoughts included medication error. She says that most of her young patients depended on potent drugs. Upon being discharged, they would be left at the hands of their parents to handle everything pertaining to their health.

The time for giving a dose, the quantity of the dosage needed, and the tools to be used in administering the drug are some of the things the parents have to do. That is quite a challenge, especially for parents with tight schedules and gets back home exhausted. The most dangerous part arises when the drug turns lethal, when administered incorrectly.

When it comes to eggs, letting the babies enjoy a teaspoon at the age of 4 or 6 months indicates a reduction in allergy levels by 46 percent. This is suggested to be better than waiting for to do so later on in their lives. With peanuts, infants tasting it at 4 months to 11 months were linked with a 71 percent reduction in the development of allergies.

Dr. Robert Boyle said that the suggestion posted by these findings is that eggs and peanut should be among the first foods a baby encounters. He is from Imperial College London where he works as a pediatric allergy researcher. He did not shy away from adding that most doctors wouldn’t recommend this.

How the study was done

For the researchers to conduct the study, they brought on board data of more than 73,000 Denmark births. They analyzed this data and found out that the possibility of children whose mothers smoked 10 or more cigarettes during pregnancy stood a higher chance of developing a chronic tic disorder. Their risk was calculated to be 66 percent.

Tics are sudden, repeated, non-rhythmic muscle movements, which are accompanied by sounds or vocalizations. After one has suffered both motor and vocal tic for more than a year, the Tourette syndrome is usually diagnosed. Treatment of tics is only done when they begin to interfere with the child’s self-image or activities. Some of the treatment options available are antipsychotic, clonidine or cognitive behavioural therapy.

The study consisted of two groups: 98 young people who did not have bipolar disorder – the control group and another one o 105 young people with Bipolar disorder. The average age of the participants who enrolled for the study was 14 at the time of enrollment. Bipolar disorder is a condition that leads to a significant shift in the patient’s mood, energy, activity levels and in the process impedes one’s ability to conduct everyday duties.

At the start of the experiment, 34 percent of the young men suffering from bipolar disorder also showed a disorder in substance abuse. This suggested that they had a problem with the abuse of drugs or alcohol. On the other hand, only 4 percent of the control group kids abused drugs.