Archive for July, 2009

Plastic surgery to get rid of wrinkles and migraines?

A new study has discovered that deactivating muscles that can irritate the trigeminal nerve branches can stop migraine headaches.

“In this study, we’ve shown that surgical treatment of migraine headaches is safe, effective, and that this reasonably short operation can have a colossal impact on the patients’ quality of life — all while eliminating signs of aging for some patients, too,” Dr. Bahman Guyuron, a plastic surgeon involved in the study, said.

A year after the surgery, 57 percent of the patients who had actual treatment said their migraines were gone, compared with only 4 percent in the sham surgery group.

A large number of researchers think that migraines are induced by irritation of an area of the head called the trigeminal nerve branches. The new surgery, described in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery removes some of the muscles, or “migraine triggers,” that are around these nerves. This supposedly relieves the painful irritation, and reduces forehead wrinkles too.

Dr. Guyuron the world-leading plastic surgeon who made the discovery, said: ‘I have a huge number of patients who have not had any symptoms for over five years.

‘They tell me, one after the other, that their lives have changed.’

The hour-long surgery also smooths out wrinkles and the patient can be discharged the same day.

To date there have been approximately 400 of the forehead and scalp operations done and Dr Guyuron says more than half his patients report “complete elimination” of migraine symptoms.

Migraines affect one in eight men and women and lead to more sick days than any other illness - costing the economy. It is projected that nearly $13 billion is spent every year in headache treatment and loss of time from work, which no one can afford these days.

Wikipedia publishes cheat sheet to Rorschach inkblots

Psychologists are saying that Wikipedia’s publishing of the Rorschach inkblots could lower its effectiveness in diagnosing patients.

Psychologists are furious that 10 original Rorschach plates were reproduced online along with common answers for them. They say this is the same as giving out an answer sheet to the SAT for next year.

Since the series of ink blotches was developed by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach back in 1921, their U.S. copyright has expired and that is why Wikipedia was able published the full set.

In a national survey in the U.S., the Rorschach was ranked eighth among psychological tests used in outpatient mental health facilities. It is the second most widely used test by members of the Society for Personality Assessment, and it is requested in 25% of forensic assessment cases. The latest studies on the issue show that as many as 80 per cent of clinical psychologists still use the test. Some experts worry that Mr. Heilman’s decision to publish the Rorschach images and the most common responses could erode that.

“The more test materials are promulgated widely, the more possibility there is to game it,” Bruce Smith, president of the International Society of the Rorschach and Projective Methods, said in a New York Times article today on the flap. The Times noted that Smith added, “he did not mean that a coached subject could fool the person giving the test into making the wrong diagnosis, but rather ‘render the results meaningless.’”

Pregnant women at front of line for swine flu vaccine

The H1N1 a.k.a. swine flu, has been effecting pregnant women more so than other population, therefore they are expected to be among the first group advised to get a new H1N1 flu shot this fall.

At a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, they had surmised that five population groups could be given priority: pregnant women, caregivers for children under six months old; health-care workers and emergency services personnel; youth from six months old to 18 years old; and adults with certain medical conditions.

Vaccinating those five groups could mean giving doses of the vaccine to a total of 135 million people.

Pregnant women are at exceptional risk from the new strain, and immunizing them protects their newborn baby, too, Dr. Anthony Fiore of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told a meeting of vaccine advisers to his agency.

Eleven (32%) of the 34 pregnant women with swine flu were admitted to hospital. This is four times the admission rate compared to the general population at the time. Eleven of those were hospitalized for two to 15 days. Between April 15 and June 16, six of the 45 deaths attributed to swine flu, 13 percent, were pregnant women.

The H1N1 virus spreads in the same way normal seasonal flu viruses spread, primarily through the coughs and sneezes of those who are sick with the virus; however it also could be spread by touching infected objects, then touching the nose or mouth, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.

H1N1 virus is spreading fast around the world, and the health community fully anticipate a resurgence in the U.S. come fall. U.S. officials said they are hoping to have 120 million doses of a vaccine for the H1N1 flu ready in October, should the government give the go-head for a mass immunization campaign.

Pregnant women will be first to get H1N1 vaccine

The H1N1 flu virus or swine flu has been affecting pregnant women remarkably hard, putting them among the first group notified to get a new swine flu shot this fall.

The warning from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention follows an analysis of flu deaths in the United States, which indicates pregnant women comprise 13% of those who have died.

The report is supported by data collected and analyzed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC data report on the first six deaths among pregnant women with H1N1, looking at the period between April 15 and June 16, 2009.

The CDC has stated there are more than one million Americans that have been sickened by the H1N1 flu and more than 300 people have died as of July 24.

Presently, not much is known about the potential side effects of the vaccine on the fetus however, scientists say their benefits are in all likelihood to be greater than the risks.

The initial trials of the new H1N1 vaccine start in August and 160 million doses could be ready by October.

Want skin cancer? Use a tanning bed

The International Agency for Research on Cancer on Tuesday upgraded tanning beds to its highest cancer risk category, “carcinogenic to humans,” according to a new report.

The upgrade puts tanning beds alongside tobacco, alcohol and asbestos.

Classified in 1992 and a “probable” cancer factor, research since then has left no question that absorbing UV rays at tanning salons drastically heightens the risks of getting the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) agency determined.

The new classification was certainly well received by cancer and skin experts who said the Government must now ban under-18s from using tanning beds.

Government health officials, who have resisted previous calls to regulate the industry, said : “Tanning beds can be dangerous – we must ensure that people who use them do so safely. If necessary we will look at new laws to protect young people.”

The new findings of around 20 studies conclude the danger of skin cancer rises by 75 percent when people begin using tanning beds before age 30. Experts also learned that all types of ultraviolet radiation caused worrying mutations in mice, proof the radiation is carcinogenic. Previously, only one type of ultraviolet radiation was thought to be lethal.

“People need to be reminded of the risks of tanning beds,” said Vincent Cogliano, one of the study’s authors. “We hope the prevailing culture will change so teens don’t think they need to use tanning beds to get a tan.”

Mischa Barton out of hospital and back to her “Beautiful Life”

Mischa Barton’s publicist Craig Schneider has confirmed that Barton is now fully ready to start shooting “The Beautiful Life,” the CW Network’s second New-York-based teen drama, on Friday. Although filming was at first scheduled to start in the Big Apple on July 22, it was held up shortly after Barton’s tip to the hospital, apparently due to set-building difficulties.

Barton was seen arriving at LAX airport just after 12 noon on Tuesday. Mischa, 23, was released from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center days ago, where she was being held under an involuntary psychiatric hold.

The news that Barton is ready to starting working again, comes after it was rumored that “The Beautiful Life” was looking to cast an indirect alternate of the actress in case she was not able to start production.

The “Beautiful Life”, scheduled to premiere Sept. 16 at 9 p.m., is a one-hour drama about the adventures of couture models in New York City. The show has been described as an attempt to synergistically parlay the CW’s America’s Next Top Model success into scripted television.

Barton was taken to the hospital on July 15 and put on a 5150 hold, or a forced psychiatric hold authorities can place on someone who is a danger to themselves or others. No particulars on the reason for the hospitalization have been confirmed.

Obesity epidemic too heavy for the health care system

Being called an epidemic, rising obesity in the U.S. is putting a significant strain on the already troubled heath care system. Obesity costs Americans $147 billion annually and makes up approximately 10 percent of the total cost of health care.

The first conference on obesity control and prevention, attended by health educators, policy analysts, epidemiologists, dietitians, etc., and sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls at a time when the ordinary American packs an extra 23 pounds and the country, collectively, is close to 4.6 billion pounds overweight.

Obesity is specified as being 20% above normal body weight. About 72 million Americans, or one third of the adult population is considered obese.

The U.S. medical system spends approximately twice as much dealing with preventable health conditions caused by obesity than it does on cancer

Obese people spend around $1,500 more annually on health care, or 41 percent, more than a person with average weight does. The main reason for this disparity is the costs of prescription drugs, with the normal-weight population prescription drug costs averaging about $700 a year, and obese people spending $1,300 a year on prescriptions, an 80-percent increase.

U.S. Congress reserved $1 billion for prevention and wellness as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus law). On Tuesday, Sebelius announced that much of the money will be spent on a prevention initiative developed by the CDC and the Office of Public Health and Science.

“We aren’t ready to officially announce this initiative, but we expect that a significant amount of the money will go to help states and communities attack obesity and other public health challenges,” Sebelius said in remarks prepared for a CDC-sponsored “Weight of the Nation” conference.

Got milk? Kids who drink milk live longer

A new study reports that kids who consume plenty of dairy products and foods high in calcium will live longer lives.

A 65-year follow up of a study of the eating habits of British families in the 1930s determined that dairy products as well as a diet high in calcium made a difference to how long people lived. It seemed that the diet protected against death, particularly from stroke, supporting provision of free milk at school.

A diet high in calcium may cut the possibility of dying from stroke by as much as 60 per cent, they claim.

“Children whose family diet in the 1930s was high in calcium were at reduced risk of death from stroke,” they conclude. “Furthermore, childhood diets rich in dairy or calcium were associated with lower all-cause mortality in adulthood.”

Risk factors for heart disease begin in childhood, however there is little evidence of the effect dairy foods have on these risks. Some dairy products, like whole milk, butter and cheese, have a lot of saturated fat and cholesterol. Studies have also say that consuming these foods in adulthood leads to heart disease, researchers say.

While warning that other factors may play a part, for example socioeconomic differences, they concluded: “Children whose family diet in the 1930s was high in calcium were at reduced risk of death from stroke.

The research team advise that three servings of dairy foods - for instance, 200ml glass of milk, a pot of yogurt and a small piece of cheese can give all the calcium most people need every day.

Health spending related to obesity soars to $147 billion

According to new research published this week, health spending for ailments related to obesity has soared to $147 billion, twice that of a decade ago.

The study was conducted by researchers at RTI International, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is published in the 27 July issue of the health policy journal Health Affairs.

Obesity currently accounts for 9 percent of the countries total health care costs, compared to 6.5 percent in 1998. 90 percent of that gain was due to the climb in U.S. obesity rates, researcher said. More than 25 percent of Americans are obese, up from 18.3 percent in 1998.

“Obesity and with it diabetes are the only major health problems that are getting worse in this country, and they’re getting worse rapidly,” Thomas Frieden, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention new director said, The Wall Street Journal reports.
In an effort to relieve the epidemic, the agency published a strategy last week which included a proposal to increase healthy foods and drinks in schools. The encouragement of breast-feeding and the building of supermarkets in less fortunate areas are also mentioned as measures necessary to fight America’s growing obesity epidemic.

In his speech Monday, Dr. Frieden said measures that had worked to control tobacco, like taxes and reducing exposure, should help control obesity, as well. Those could include a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. A 10% price increase on sugared beverages could reduce consumption 7.8%, he said.

America — Home of the Free, the Brave and the Obese

More than 25 percent of Americans are obese. Obesity-related illnesses currently cost $147 billion per year, according to a new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is hosting the first ever “Weight of the Nation” conference.

The report specifies being obese as having a body mass index of 30 or greater. A 5-foot-7 person with a BMI of 30 weighs 192 pounds.

Per capita medical spending during 2006 was 42% higher for obese people when compared with “regular” weight people. The per capita percentage increase in costs due to obesity during 2006 was approximately 36% for Medicare, 47% for Medicaid as well as 58% for private payers.

Prescription drugs for obesity-related illness answered for most of the rise in spending. For instance, Medicare spends almost $600 more per year on prescription medications on an obese patient than for a normal-weight patient.

President Barack Obama has stated he and his administration would like to control the climbing cost of health care in part by preventive medicine programs, for example those to help people lose weight or stop smoking. Medicare, the government run program for the elderly and disabled, spent $7 billion on obesity-related prescriptions drugs, like those to treat diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure, the report said.

The CDC says the U.S. needs to bring down the obesity rate to cut health care costs. It recommends that communities fight obesity by marketing healthier eating and physical activity.

One solution is to tax sugar drinks. If sugary drinks were taxed at $.01 per ounce, the U.S. Would make $100 billion to $200 billion over the next decade, Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, told public health workers and antiobesity advocates at the CDC’s “Weight of the Nation” conference

Dr. Frieden said the average American takes in almost 250 more calories per day than a decade ago. Of that, approximately 120 calories are from soda pop and other sugar sweetened drinks, he said.

“Obesity, and with it diabetes, are the only major health problems that are getting worse in this country, and they are getting worse rapidly,” Frieden said. “The average American is now 23 pounds overweight.”