Obama on Health Care

Hopefully soon we could find Obama's stand on hiring foreign nurses to work in the US.

Barack Obama will make health insurance affordable and accessible to all:
The Obama-Biden plan provides affordable, accessible health care for all Americans, builds on the existing healthcare system, and uses existing providers, doctors and plans to implement the plan.

Obama will lower health care costs:
The Obama plan will lower health care costs by $2,500 for a typical family by investing in health information technology, prevention and care coordination.

Promote public health:
Obama and Biden will require coverage of preventive services, including cancer screenings, and will increase state and local preparedness for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

Barackobama.com

Extravasation: Prevention is the Best Treatment

Infiltration is the inadvertent infusion of non-vesicant solutions or medications into the surrounding tissue. Extravasation is the inadvertent infusion of vesicant solutions into the surrounding tissue. A vesicant is defined as a drug that is capable of causing tissue injury.

Dealing with extravasation

The best treatment for extravasation is prevention. When the extravasation occurs, commonly used antidotes may or may not work. According to the Oncology Nursing Society’s Chemotherapy and Biotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice, treatments using sodium thiosulfite and DMSO have shown very limited success. In some cases, the manufacturer has specific recommendations for treatment of an extravasation. When doxorubin extravasates, for example, the manufacturer recommends applications of cool packs to the swollen area. When vinca alkaloids extravasate, the recommendation is warm packs to the swollen area. In all cases of suspected or actual extravasation, the physician should be notified immediately and given specific information about the drug and drug concentration, as well as an accurate, detailed description of the appearance of extravasated area.Hospitals may have specific extravasation policies and procedures. It is the nurse’s responsibility to know the hospital’s policy. In some cases, the protocol may include subcutaneous steroid injections and/or application of steroid or Silvadene creams. In most cases, once the infusion has extravasated, the only thing that can be done is to monitor the site until tissue damage demarcation is complete. At this point, the site will be assessed for maximum tissue damage. In many cases, a split or full thickness skin graft may be required. In the worst case scenario, amputation above the injury may be required to remove the dead tissue or to stop the spread of the tissue damage.

Preventing extravasation

To help prevent extravasation, two myths need to be dispelled: The first is that a “new” IV device should be used for each vesicant infusion. A new IV site is not guaranteed to work better than an existing one. The second myth is that a peripheral IV catheter should be checked for a blood return prior to the infusion and during the infusion. According to Infusion Therapy in Clinical Practice, obtaining a blood return on a peripheral IV catheter is an inconclusive assessment tool and should not be relied on to determine if the IV catheter is properly seated within the vein. Obtaining a blood flash or obtaining no blood return from a peripheral IV catheter is not an indication of catheter placement within the vein.

The most reliable tests are flushing the catheter before and during the procedure with copious amounts of saline and observing the site for swelling. A complete assessment of the IV site prior to the infusion is essential. A free flowing bag of normal saline should be infusing for IV push or IV piggyback vesicant injections. The vein should be completely flushed with at least 20 mL to 30 mL of saline after the vesicant infusion is complete to prevent the vesicant from “tracking” when the IV catheter is removed. The site should be continually assessed for swelling, coolness, stinging, or burning. When in doubt, the IV device should be removed. Any patient complaint is an indicator that the catheter may be malfunctioning.

Study says fasting may reduce chemo side-effects

A few days of fasting might help protect patients from some of the unpleasant and dangerous side-effects of cancer chemotherapy.

They said mice given a high dose of chemotherapy after fasting thrived while half of a group of well-fed mice died, they reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers stressed that people should not try this on their own yet but said the findings might lead to a way to use chemotherapy to more effectively kill tumors while sparing healthy cells.

Read more.

Heart Association: Hands-only CPR works

According to the American Heart Association, CPR (rapid, deep compressions on the victim's chest until help arrives) works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in adults.
Mouth-to-mouth breathing can be skipped.

for more information, click here.

Bulging belly now could mean dementia later

People with a bulging waistline in mid-life could face a higher risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s in the senior years, a new study shows.

Previous research has shown that having an apple-shaped body increases the risk of diabetes, stroke and heart disease, but this is the first time it has been linked to dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Summer Fluids

With summer in full swing, it's important to ensure that your fluid intake is at its peak. During the summer months you may be more prone to losing body fluids because of increased perspiration from exercise and heat. According to the American Dietetic Association, on an average day, an adult will lose approximately 10 cups of water, making your daily fluid intake goal between 8 and 10 cups, depending on the season and your activity level.

click here for summer fluids tips.

Diet-Friendly Comfort Foods

Start choosing the right food. Many favorites are loaded with calories, fat and sugar.
Here's a list of common comfort foods with lower-calorie swaps.

Summer tips

It's summertime. Can you feel the prickling heat already?
Here are some tips for you to enjoy summer and at the same time stay healthy.

Protect your skin from the sun
Reducing skin cancer risk

Scientists claim skin cancer risk can be reduced by up to 78 percent if skin is protected during the first 18 years of life.
•Apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen, which provides protection from UVA and UVB rays, to all sun-exposed areas. Dermatologists recommend using a sunscreen with an SPF rating of at least 15. A sunscreen with an SPF of 30 does not provide twice the protection; it only gives you 3 percent more protection. Remember, reapply sunscreen after swimming and reapply about every hour while you are in the sun.
•Throw out last year’s sunscreen; over time it loses its ability to protect you.
•Stay out of the sun when sunlight is most intense, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
•Lips are very sensitive to skin cancers; use a lip balm with an SPF rating of at least 15.
•Babies under six months of age are too young to use sunscreen. They should be kept out of direct sunlight.

Heat and sports tips
Heat illness can affect anyone — players, coaches or spectators — but heat affects people differently. Those who are physically fit, well-hydrated, and used to being out in the sun may tolerate heat well, but children (and the elderly) do not. They can become ill from too much exposure to intense sun and heat.How to stay safe in heat and sunIt’s essential to wear sunscreen and a hat, but drinking enough fluids is probably the most important way for athletes and others to stay safe in heat and sun.Approximately 60 percent of our bodies are water.

While sweating helps athletes and others cool themselves to maintain a normal body temperature, it’s also water lost from the body. In addition, during active play, hard working lungs also give up water.
An athlete can become dehydrated when the fluid lost during active sports play isn’t replaced. Every athlete needs to have plenty of water or sports drinks available before, during, and after play.
Ice pops are a great way to replenish body fluids and get glucose for energy too. Watermelon and oranges are also great ways to replenish fluids lost during strenuous sports activities.How to tell if someone is dehydrated•Clear/light-colored urine indicates adequate hydration, but dark urine indicates the body needs more fluids.
•Dehydration may cause painful muscle spasms called heat cramps. Gentle stretching can help relieve the pain of heat cramps and drinking fluids before, during and after active play can help prevent them.

Heat exhaustion
Heat exhaustion is a common heat illness that may cause sufferers to feel dizzy and/or nauseated. Headache, irritability and excessive sweating are also indications of heat exhaustion. The skin will feel cool and clammy to the touch.

These symptoms indicate that the person is losing their ability to maintain a normal body temperature and is beginning to overheat. The best treatment is getting out of the sun immediately and cooling off.

Heat Stroke
Heat stroke is uncommon, but is very serious and may be fatal. Heat stroke causes a person’s bodily cooling system to completely shut down. Their blood pressure may drop so low that they go into shock. The person with heat stroke may be confused, have hot and/or dry skin, a faster than normal heart rate and may not be sweating at all. The heat stroke victim may even become unconscious. The treatment for heat stroke is rapid cooling and quick transportation to a hospital.

Source: Children's Hospital Oakland

Phoning it In

A New Jersey cardiology practice is using wireless technology to achieve a national goal: shorten door-to-balloon time in heart attack patients.

The cardiology department at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) Medical School in Newark has teamed with emergency personnel to use a wireless network that transmits electrocardiograms (ECGs) to mobile phones with PC (personal computer) functionality.

"If the door-to-balloon time is shortened for heart attack patients, there's a decrease in death and an improvement in cardiac function," said Marc Klapholz, MD, director of UMDNJ's cardiology division. Klapholz spearheaded the wireless ECG project that went live last June.

Read the whole article here

Chicken Soup

People with colds often feel dizzy when standing up, and this condition is helped by drinking salty liquids. Bouillon and chicken soup are excellent.

Vaccine Could One Day Control High Blood Pressure

Good news for people with hypertension.
I read this article about a vaccine that blocks angiotensin II receptors. It could relax blood vessels to lower blood pressure. This vaccine may one day replace current blood pressure medications, a new study suggests.

FDA: Heparin illnesses now in Germany

WASHINGTON - Dialysis patients in Germany have gotten sick using a different brand of the blood thinner heparin than was linked to 19 American deaths, U.S. officials announced Thursday, sparking concern that the problem could be more widespread than originally believed.

Read the whole article here

New colon cancer screening guides issued: Virtual Colonoscopy, stool DNA

ATLANTA - Medical experts recommended Wednesday that a less invasive procedure known as a virtual colonoscopy and a stool DNA test join the arsenal of screenings for colon cancer in the hopes that more people would get checked out.

Find out more

Nurse shortage affecting elder care

HARTFORD — Lawmakers are grappling with the demographics of Connecticut's rapidly aging population and an acute staffing shortage among the 241 nursing homes that have about 23,000 residents.

Majority Democrats in the General Assembly want to require higher nursing ratios, but Gov. M. Jodi Rell warns that the budget that takes effect on July 1 is perilously close to the constitutional cap on spending growth. Speaker of the House James A. Amann told lawmakers last week that the recent management failures of the Middletown-based Haven Healthcare nursing homes highlight the statewide need for more staff and tougher oversight.

read the whole story here.

CDC to destroy oldest smallpox vaccine

ATLANTA - The government announced Friday that it has said goodbye to one of the world's greatest lifesavers — the oldest smallpox vaccine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this month made arrangements to dispose of the last of its 12 million doses of Dryvax, and notified other health departments and the military to do the same by Feb. 29.

Yahoo News

Drug breakthrough 'could cure diabetes'

Diabetes sufferers have been given hope of a cure after scientists regenerated cells destroyed by the disease for the first time.

Researchers have identified a cocktail of drugs that prevents the immune system malfunction that triggers Type 1 diabetes.

They found that boosting levels of a chemical produced by the body to ease inflammation led to the regeneration of insulin-producing pancreatic cells. While the effect has been demonstrated only in animals so far, the researchers are planning human trials and hope the breakthrough could lead to a cure.

Click here to read more

Parasitic Diseases

A parasitic disease is an infectious disease caused or transmitted by a parasite. Many parasites do not cause disease per se. Parasitic diseases can affect practically all living organisms, from plants to man. The study of parasitic diseases is called by parasitology.

Some parasites like Toxoplasma gondii can cause Toxoplasmosis as a parasitic disease directly caused by the protozoan. In contrast, some of the symptoms caused by parasites are due to the toxins produced by the parasites, rather than the parasites themselves.

How are parasitic diseases diagnosed?
Many kinds of lab tests are available to diagnose parasitic diseases. The kind of test(s) your health care provider will order will be based on your signs and symptoms, any other medical conditions you may have, and your travel history. Diagnosis may be difficult, so your health care provider may order more than one kind of test.

What kinds of tests are used to diagnose parasitic diseases?

1. A fecal (stool) exam, also called an ova and parasite test (O&P)
This test is used to find parasites that cause diarrhea, loose or watery stools, cramping, flatulence (gas) and other abdominal illness. CDC recommends that three or more stool samples, collected on separate days, be examined.
Your health care provider may request that the lab use special stains to look for parasites not routinely screened for.
This test is done by collection of a stool specimen. Your health care provider may ask you to put your stool specimen into a special container with preservative fluid. Specimens not collected in a preservative fluid should be refrigerated, but not frozen, until delivered to the lab or the health care provider’s office.
This test looks for ova (eggs) or the parasite.
Example: pork tapeworm (Taenia solium) and beef tapeworm (Taenia saginata)

2. Endoscopy
Endoscopy is used to find parasites that cause diarrhea, loose or watery stools, cramping, flatulence (gas) and other abdominal illness.
This test is used when stool exams do not reveal the cause of your diarrhea.
This test is a procedure in which a tube is inserted into the mouth or rectum so that the doctor, usually a gastroenterologist, can examine the intestines.
This test looks for the parasite.
Example: Physaloptera (a nematode)

3. Blood tests
Some, but not all, parasites can be found by testing your blood. Blood tests look for a specific parasite infection; there is no blood test that will look for all parasitic infections. There are two general kinds of blood tests that your doctor may order:

a. Serology
This test is used to look for antibodies or for parasite antigens produced when the body is infected with a parasite and the immune system is trying to fight off the invader.
This test is done by your health care provider taking a blood sample and sending it to a lab.
This test is able to detect antibodies produced by the body or antigen from the parasite found in your blood.

b. Blood smear
This test is used to look for parasites that are found in the blood. By looking at a blood smear under a microscope, parasitic diseases such as malaria, filariasis, or babesiosis, can be diagnosed.
This test is done by placing a drop of blood on a microscope slide. The slide is then looked at under a microscope.

4. X-ray, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan, Computerized Axial Tomography scan (CAT)
These tests are used to look for some parasitic diseases that may cause swelling of internal organs or abnormal scarring.


source: wikipedia; Center for disease control and prevention (CDC)

Stimulating Thymus to Produce New T-cells for HIV

HIV infection destroys T-cells which leads to the collapse of the immune system, and eventually, sever infection. Since the thymus gland functions only in the early part of life, it would be impossible to produce new T-cells.

Fortunately, a new study by researchers at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), showed that therapy can help boost thymus function in adults.

The two-year study involved 22 HIV-infected adults. It revealed that treatment with growth hormone (GH) increased thymus mass and more than doubled the number of newly made T-cells. With this, it is possible to rebuild the immune system.


Improved T-cell production may be helpful in HIV and bone marrow transplantation. However, much more research is needed to determine if this actually offers a health benefit.

Optimal band imaging detects early gastric cancer

A new study has shown that a technique designed to enhance images obtained during endoscopy could help to diagnose early gastric (stomach) cancer.

Survival rates for gastric cancer increase by nearly 90 per cent if the disease is caught early on, highlighting the importance of early diagnosis.

Scientists at the Jichi Medical University in Japan have found that optimal band imaging (OBI) - which was developed to enhance the patterns of lesions in endoscopic images - can be used to clearly identify a form of the disease called 'depressed-type' early gastric cancer, which is particularly difficult to spot as it appears as subtle changes in colour and shape.

Researchers used OBI on 27 patients who had been diagnosed with depressed-type early gastric cancer.

The ample light intensity of the technique allowed the scientists to observe the entire stomach without magnification and easily enabled them to identify 26 of the 27 cases of gastric cancer.

The images showed a clear contrast between the reddish cancerous areas and the yellowish areas of healthy stomach lining, and even medical students without much endoscopy experience were able to identify the edges of cancerous lesions.

Lead author Dr Hiroyuki Osawa said that the study, which is published in the journal Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, is the first to report optimal band images for early gastric cancer.

He confirmed: "In our comparative study, the optimal band imaging system with endoscopy showed contrasting images that could delineate the depressed-type early gastric cancers more easily than conventional endoscopy."


Source: Cancer Research UK

Embryonic Stem Cells To Make Insulin-Secreting Cells In Mice

Scientists at a US biotechnology company implanted immature beta-cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hES cells) into mice and showed that they generated insulin-secreting cells that responded to raised blood sugar.

click here to read the whole article