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Thursday, May 29, 2008
When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, so does her unborn baby. There is no known safe amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant and there also does not appear to be a safe time to drink during pregnancy either. Therefore, it is recommended that women abstain from drinking alcohol at any time during pregnancy. Women who are sexually active and do not use effective birth control should also refrain from drinking because they could become pregnant and not know for several weeks or more.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Osteopathy is an approach to healthcare that emphasizes the role of the musculoskeletal system in health and disease. In most countries osteopathy is a form of complementary medicine, emphasizing a holistic approach and the skilled use of a range of manual and physical treatment interventions (osteopathic manipulative medicine, or OMM in the United States) in the prevention and treatment of disease. In practice, this most commonly relates to musculoskeletal problems such as back and neck pain. Many osteopaths see their role as facilitating the body's own recuperative powers by treating musculoskeletal or somatic dysfunction. According to the American Osteopathic Association, the difference between an osteopath and an osteopathic physician is often confused. In the United States, Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.s) are fully licensed medical physicians and surgeons, practicing in all clinical specialties along with their M.D. colleagues. Just lik M.Ds, D.O.s practice the full scope of medicine. In the United Kingdom, courses in Osteopathy have recently become integrated into the university system. Instead of receiving a Diploma in Osteopathy (D.O.), with or without a Diploma in Naturopathy (N.D.), graduates now become Bachelors of Osteopathy or Bachelors of Osteopathic Medicine, or Bachelors of Science in either Osteopathy or Osteopathic Medicine, according to the institution attended: but these degrees do not lead to prescribing rights and in this case Osteopathy and Osteopathic Medicine are synonymous. There is one "cross-over" institution, the London College of Osteopathic Medicine, which teaches osteopathy only to those already qualified in medicine. Before using the title of "osteopath," graduates have to register with the UK regulatory body by statute; the General Osteopathic Council.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Lenses made from polycarbonate materials offer the highest level of impact protection. These lenses can withstand the force of a ball or other projectile traveling at 90 miles per hour, according to the AAO.
"It's absolutely necessary for athletes to use protective eyewear because eye injuries can be devastating," Dr. Ruth Williams, a glaucoma specialist at the Wheaton, Ill., Eye Clinic and an AAO clinical correspondent, said in a prepared statement. "Unfortunately, many athletes feel they don't need protective eyewear or that injuries are uncommon."
Examples of sports-related eye injuries include corneal abrasions, eyelid bruising, retinal detachment and internal bleeding. Consequences can include infection and vision loss, and people who've suffered eye injuries have an increased risk of developing glaucoma.
Eye protection is available for most sports, including basketball, baseball, hockey, football, lacrosse, fencing, paintball, water polo and golf.
"Wearing properly fitted protective eyewear will not harm your performance in a game, and it may save your sight," Williams said.
Because eye protection isn't mandatory in most children's sports leagues, parents need to make sure their children wear eye protection.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Ernest Moore, an audiologist and cell biologist at Northwestern University, said the zebrafish seems to have the ability to suffer from the condition, known as tinnitus. Treatment with drugs appears to help restore electrical activity in the fish's inner ear to normal.
"If they work in clinical trials in humans, this might offer a cure," Moore said. "What we're hoping is that we could perhaps help individuals who have this intractable problem."
Moore himself is one of those people. He suffers from tinnitus, and said the cause may date back to the years when he hunted for possum with his grandfather without using ear protection.
Later, he worked as an audiologist in the U.S. Army Reserves and remembers "listening to stories about ringing in the ears and telling people why we didn't really have a cure."
Moore describes his tinnitus as sounding a bit like white noise. Others, he said, hear a pure tone in a middle frequency.
The American Tinnitus Association says many people suffer from the condition 24 hours a day. William Shatner, the "Star Trek" actor, describes his own case as creating "agonizing screeching in my head," according to the association.
"Some people have it all the time, and some people have it intermittently," Moore said. "Some people only recognize it at night, when it's quiet. You have it in one ear, and you put that ear on the pillow, and you can hear it."
Causes of tinnitus appear to include noise exposure and genetic susceptibility. The use of some pharmaceutical drugs can cause it, too.
Treatments include the use of devices that mask the noise and surgery, Moore said. Some people find relief through drugs like aspirin and steroids, he said.
Researchers have tried to study tinnitus by looking at the rat, which can develop the condition. Moore turned to the zebrafish, a tropical fish that's often found in aquariums.
Fish, like humans, have two ears, he said, and electrical activity allows the fish to hear. Moore is giving different drugs to the fish and testing how they affect neuronal activity involving hearing.
Moore said he's submitted a grant proposal to the Department of Defense, which is spending money to support research into tinnitus.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Few patients who have short-term kidney dysfunction while awaiting a liver transplant develop severe kidney problems once they have their transplant, says a U.S. study.
An increasing number of patients have kidney dysfunction while awaiting liver transplantation, which has led to debate among transplant experts about which patients are likely to develop kidney dysfunction after liver transplant and should be considered for combined liver/kidney transplantation.
This kind of decision is extremely difficult due to the lack of a reliable predictive model and the increasing shortage of organs available for transplant, according to background information in the study, led by Ranjeeta Bahirwani, of the University of Pennsylvania.
The study included 60 people who had liver transplants between March 2000 and August 2005, and had serum creatinine of at least 1.5 mg/dl for at least two weeks prior to, and at the time of, transplantation.
The patients were followed for a median of 36 months after their transplant, and only eight of them had significant kidney dysfunction. Those who had kidney dysfunction for more than 12 weeks before transplant were at increased risk for severe post-transplant kidney problems.
Diabetes and serum creatinine level at the time of transplant were other major predictors of severe post-transplant kidney problems.
"Our data are reassuring that the vast majority of patients with pre-transplant renal insufficiency do not develop advanced stage 4 or 5 chronic kidney disease," after liver transplant, the study authors wrote.
Serious post-transplant kidney disease was particularly rare among patients whose pre-transplant serum creatinine was elevated for less than 12 weeks. The researchers suggested that elevated serum creatinine levels for more than 12 weeks before transplant, the presence of diabetes, and the serum creatinine value at the time of transplant could help identify patients who might be considered for combined liver-kidney transplantation.
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