Category Archives: Cancer

Saudi Arabia reports 3 more deaths from new SARS-like virus

Saudi Arabia has reported that three more people have died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing the total number of deaths globally to 30. The Ministry of Health said Thursday the three deceased, ranging in age from 24 to 60, had chronic diseases, including kidney failure. It says they were hospitalized a month ago. The Ministry also announced a new case of the respiratory virus called MERS, bringing to 38 the number of those infected in the kingdom. It identified the afflicted person only as a 61-year-old from the Al-Ahsa region where the outbreak in a health care facility started in April. The World Health Organization said the new germ, a respiratory infection, was first seen in the Middle East and sickened more than 49 people worldwide.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/30/saudi-arabia-reports-3-more-deaths-from-new-sars-like-virus/

Caffeine withdrawal: A made-up condition included in the DSM-5

Disorders called caffeine intoxication and caffeine withdrawal join the likes of heroin and alcohol dependence in the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)—the organization’s official list of mental disorders. According to the DSM-5, too much coffee, cola or caffeine-laced gum can cause restlessness, nervousness, a red face and rambling speech.  And stopping caffeine suddenly can cause sleepiness and depressed mood. Is that really news?  No, it isn’t.  What is news is that the DSM-5, by overreaching so dramatically to pathologize every American and make all of us ripe for psychiatric medications covered by insurance, has finally helped all of us see the disservice the American Psychiatric Association (APA) is doing to America. Medicare and Medicaid, beware.  Both insurers should refuse payment for any psychiatric service supposedly delivered for caffeine intoxication and caffeine withdrawal – and other insurers should, too. What else could we expect, though, from an organization that also just created a disorder called binge eating disorder, a scourge defined as overeating a dozen times in three months?  Now, if you also have too much coffee at the end of those meals, you can have two disorders!   Caffeine is a common dietary ingredient in sodas.  It is found in coffee and tea, and it is consumed without ill effects by, perhaps, one hundred million Americans each day.  Focusing on caffeine as a drug, like heroin, is just a land grab for more patients.  Will sugar excitement syndrome be next?  How about post-food fatigue syndrome…

Stretching, meditation eases PTSD in nurses, study shows

Nurses deal with traumatic experiences on a daily basis – a factor which puts them at higher risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder diagnosed in over 7 million U.S. adults every year. Now, researchers have discovered a simple solution to help nurses, and others with PTSD, cope with their disease: just one hour of stretching and meditation every week. In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, lead study author Sang H. Kim, of the National Institutes of Health, studied a group of 22 nurses experiencing PTSD symptoms. He chose to focus his research on nurses, in part, because his mother was a nurse. “(My mother) always used to tell me nurses need to not only take care of others – they need to take care of themselves, too,” Kim said. At the beginning of the study, Kim assessed the nurses’ PTSD symptoms using the PCL-C: PTSD checklist – civilian version, a questionnaire commonly used to diagnose PTSD. He also took blood samples from each nurse in order to analyze their levels of the stress hormone cortisol.   When people experience PTSD, their cortisol levels dip below normal – the opposite of what usually happens when people get stressed. Kim wanted to see if a meditation and stretching regimen would be able to help normalize cortisol levels. “My question was if we can reverse this, can we reverse PTSD symptoms?” Kim said. Half of the group of nurses participated in a 60-minute mind-body class once a week. The class was taught by Kim, who holds a doctorate in exercise science, and has 40 years of experience as a martial artist. During each session, the women performed meditation, stretching, balancing and deep-breathing exercising. “(It was) similar to yoga or tai chi or chi gong types of movement, but I simplified it in a way that they could do it anywhere, anytime and in any amount of time,” Kim said. “Nurses are always in demand so they sometimes only have one minute or 30 seconds.” After eight weeks of participating in the once-weekly class, the nurses experienced a 41 percent decrease in PTSD symptoms and a 67 percent increase in cortisol levels in the blood. Kim said that researchers only expected to see up to a 20 percent decrease in PTSD symptoms and were surprised – and impressed – by their results. “What we found is simple, but profound – only eight weeks of meditation relieved PTSD symptoms and normalized stress hormone levels,” Kim said.   The nurses who participated in the mind-body classes also experienced a reduction in PTSD symptoms such as flashbacks or emotional detachment – and they were able to  resume hobbies and improve their overall quality of life, according to Kim. “About four weeks in, many told me… ‘I sleep better these days and get less angry in my work and I now know if something comes up I can breathe, go to the bathroom, close the door and do this movement for one minute and come out and feel better,’” Kim said. The other half of the women in Kim’s study did not participate in the mind-body class. Comparatively, they experienced only a 4 percent decrease in PTSD symptoms and a 17 percent improvement in blood-cortisol levels during the same period of time. “The conclusion here is that mind-body practices like yoga or tai chi or chi gong - people think these things are hokey but…they are working,” Kim said. “(They are a) very effective and low-cost (way) for reducing stress even in people who suffer chronically high levels of stress, like PTSD patients.”source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/30/stretching-meditation-eases-ptsd-in-nurses-study-shows/

Florida man donates 100 gallons of blood

A South Florida man has reached a rare milestone. He's donated 100 gallons of blood. The Palm Beach Post reports 84-year-old Harold Mendenhall started giving blood on July 7, 1977. Last month, he logged his 100th gallon. Mendenhall started donating blood when his wife, Frankie, was diagnosed with breast cancer. When she died seven years later, Mendenhall says he was lost. He stopped by the blood bank on his way home from work. Soon he was donating six gallons a year. He's especially coveted because he donates blood platelets. Mendenhall says giving blood helped him cope with the loss of his wife and, later, two sons. There are other benefits to blood donation -- the blood bank offers coupons for free meals at area restaurants.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/30/florida-man-donates-100-gallons-blood/

Dealing with the side effects of cancer treatment

Are the side effects of cancer treatment worse than the cancer itself? My immediate response to that question is ‘Yes.’  But for me, the reality is that I have stage 4 cancer, so I have no choice but to suck it up.  As awful as this chemo is, I have to try, try, try to focus on the fact that it is working.  I just hate the way it makes me feel. When I was admitted into this phase one clinical trial , I was elated – even more so when I was told this drug had no side effects. “This is fantastic!” I thought.  It seemed almost too good to be true.  And of course, it was. I am exhausted.  My white count, red count and platelet levels are dangerously low.  The neuropathy in my feet is getting worse, and I now have jaw necrosis – which basically involves having your gums disappear, leaving jaw bone exposed. Talk about pain! Alright, enough complaining. No one wants to read bad news, so I apologize. I am just so tired of all of it.  But, I need to focus on the fact that this drug seems to be working, and the cancer in my liver has decreased a smidgeon, which is positively awesome. I want to share with you an example of how one small group of students put thought and effort in motion to make a difference.  I received a letter this week from the principal of St. Simon the Apostle School in Indianapolis, with a check enclosed for $1,177.  Last October, the students added pink accessories – pink socks, pink nail polish, etc. – to their uniforms in an effort to raise money for breast cancer awareness and to honor relatives who have fought this disease.  They made this donation to my foundation in honor of their math teacher who is retiring after 17 years.  Wow!  I am so honored that they would think of The Noreen Fraser Foundation and trust us to spend their money wisely.  And we will! Thank you to all the young kids and teenagers who move beyond self-indulgence to think of others and show compassion to those who are struggling.Noreen Fraser is living with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. She is the Founder and CEO of the Noreen Fraser Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to funding groundbreaking women's cancer research.& To stay in touch with Noreen, please 'LIKE' The Noreen Fraser Foundation on Facebook and follow her on Twitter. & Noreen can be contacted via email at noreen@noreenfraserfoundation.org.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/30/dealing-with-side-effects-cancer-treatment/

Allergy meds can pose driving hazard, FDA says

Allergy medications may help you get through the spring and summer months, but it's important to know that the drugs could affect your ability to drive, the Food and Drug Administration is reminding consumers. These medications, which contain antihistamines, can sometimes cause drowsiness and slower reaction times, the FDA said. Consumers should read the drug facts label on their medication to see whether drowsiness is a side effect. If an allergy medication causes drowsiness, people need to be cautious about deciding to drive or operate machinery, the FDA says. People should avoid using alcohol, sedatives (sleep medications) and tranquilizers when taking allergy medication because these substances may increase drowsiness. [See Will Allergies Be Worse in 2013?] Those who switch to a new antihistamine drug should not assume they can take the same dose as they did with the older drug, the FDA says. Different allergy medications may be dosed differently, and people may need to alter the dose they take. People should not take more than the recommended dose. If the correct dosage isnt providing you the relief you expect, dont simply keep taking more and more of that product, FDA pharmacist Ayana Rowley said in a statement. Instead, people should consult a health care professional, Rowley said. Allergy sufferers should be aware that some allergy medications take longer to work than others. In addition, the drowsiness you feel after taking the medication may last some time, including into the next day, the FDA said. Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/29/allergy-meds-can-pose-driving-hazard-fda-says/

Motorcycle injuries worsen with weaker helmet law

The average medical claim from a motorcycle crash rose by more than one-fifth last year in Michigan after the state stopped requiring all riders to wear helmets, according to an insurance industry study. Across the nation, motorcyclists opposed to mandatory helmet use have been chipping away at state helmet laws for years while crash deaths have been on the rise. For more than 40 years, Michigan required all motorcycle riders to wear helmets. State legislators changed the law last year so that only riders younger than 21 must wear helmets. The average insurance payment on a motorcycle injury claim was $5,410 in the two years before the law was changed, and $7,257 after it was changed — an increase of 34 percent, the study by the Highway Loss Data Institute found. After adjusting for the age and type of motorcycle, rider age, gender, marital status, weather and other factors, the actual increase was about 22 percent relative to a group of four comparative states, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, the study found. “The cost per injury claim is significantly higher after the law changed than before, which is consistent with other research that shows riding without a helmet leads to more head injuries,” said David Zuby, chief research officer for the data institute and an affiliated organization, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The data institute publishes insurance loss statistics on most car, SUV, pickup truck and motorcycle models on U.S. roads. While other studies have shown an increase motorcycle deaths after states eliminate or weaken mandatory helmet requirements, the industry study is the first to look specifically at the effect of repealing helmet requirements on the severity of injuries as measured by medical insurance claims, Zuby said. Some states have sought to mitigate the repeal or loosening of mandatory helmet laws by setting minimum medical insurance requirements, but “that doesn't even come close to covering the lifelong care of somebody who is severely brain-injured and who cannot work and who is going to be on Medicaid and a ward of the state,” said Jackie Gillan, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which backs mandatory helmet requirements for all riders. Jeff Hennie, vice president of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, dismissed the study, saying the insurance industry views helmets as “the silver bullet that's going to change the landscape of motorcycle safety.” He said insurers are upset because “life has gotten more expensive for them and they have to pay out more.” “The fact is our highways are bloody,” Hennie said. “This (the Michigan helmet law change) doesn't make helmets illegal. ... No one is forcing anyone to ride without a helmet.” Vince Consiglio, president of American Bikers Aimed Toward Education of Michigan, blamed the increase in the severity of injuries on bikers who don't take safety courses required to obtain a special motorcycle license. He said bikers without motorcycle licenses have made up an increasingly larger share of fatalities and injuries in recent years. But Gillan said the study “clearly shows there is no such thing as a free ride, and the public is paying the cost for this.” There's no way to know how many of the Michigan claims involved motorcyclists not wearing helmets, the study said. But another recent study by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute found a significant increase in motorcyclists involved in crashes who weren't wearing helmets after the law changed. From April 13, 2012, the first full day after the change took effect, through the end of the year, 74 percent of motorcyclists involved in crashes were wearing helmets, compared with 98 percent in the same period for the previous four years, the study found. Nationally, motorcycle deaths have risen in 14 of the past 15 years, and appear to have reached an all-time high of more than 5,000, according to an analysis by the Governors Highway Safety Association of preliminary 2012 data. Currently, 19 states and the District of Columbia require all motorcyclists to wear a helmet, 28 states require only some motorcyclists — usually younger or novice riders — to wear a helmet, and three states have no helmet use law. States have been gradually repealing or weakening mandatory helmet laws for nearly two decades. In 1967, to increase motorcycle helmet use, the federal government required that states enact helmet laws in order to qualify for certain federal safety programs and highway construction aid. The federal incentive worked. By the early 1970s, almost all states had motorcycle helmet laws that covered all riders. In 1976, Congress stopped the Transportation Department from assessing financial penalties on states without helmet laws, and state lawmakers began repealing the statutes. In 1991, Congress created new incentives for states to enact helmet and seat belt laws, but reversed itself four years later. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which sent observers to states last year to count how many motorcyclists wore helmets, found that 97 percent of motorcyclists in states with universal helmet laws were wearing helmets compared with 58 percent of motorcyclists in states without such coverage.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/30/motorcycle-injuries-worsen-with-weaker-helmet-law/

Bicycle helmet laws linked to fewer child deaths

U.S. states that require children and teenagers to wear helmets report fewer deaths involving bicycles and cars, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed the number of U.S. bicycle deaths between 1999 and 2010 and found that states with bicycle helmet laws reported about 20 percent fewer bike-related fatalities among people younger than 16 years old. “The impetus is that when you make it a law, parents realize it's important and parents get their kids to do it,” said Dr. William Meehan, the study's lead author from Boston Children's Hospital. About 900 people die as a result of bicycle crashes every year in the U.S. and about three quarters of those are from head injuries, according to Meehan and his colleagues. Previous research has found that wearing a helmet may reduce a person's risk of a head or brain injury by up to 88 percent, but few studies have looked at the effect of helmet laws on national injury and fatality rates. Using a national database that tracks the number of traffic-related deaths in the U.S., the researchers compared the number of children and teenagers killed while riding their bicycles in the 16 states that enacted helmet laws around the start of the study in 1999 to states without helmet laws. In 1999, only 16 states had helmet laws and the overall rate of bicycle-related child deaths in the U.S. was 4 per million. Between January 1999 and December 2010, there were 1,612 bicycle-related deaths among children younger than 16 years old, the researchers found. During that time, states with helmet laws had 2 bicycle-related deaths for every 1 million children younger than 16 years old. That compares to 2.5 deaths for every 1 million children in states without helmet laws. After adjusting for other state characteristics known to be associated with traffic-related deaths - such as household income, and drunk or elderly driving laws - the states with helmet laws still had fewer reported deaths in that age group. “We would recommend that any state that doesn't have a mandatory bicycle helmet law for children consider one or institute one,” Meehan said. Dr. Frederick Rivara, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital, said it's nice that the new study shows states with helmet laws report fewer deaths, but he said it's important to remember that helmets can also prevent serious injuries. “Bicycle fatalities represent only the very tip of the iceberg,” said Rivara, who has studied bicycle helmet safety but was not involved with the new research. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends that children wear a helmet approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission every time they ride a bicycle. “Helmets are very effective. They're cheap, they're light, they're comfortable and they work,” Rivara said.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/30/bicycle-helmet-laws-linked-to-fewer-child-deaths/

ADHD medications not tied to drug, alcohol abuse

Taking Ritalin and other drugs for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) doesn't affect a child's chances of trying or abusing alcohol and drugs later in life, a new review suggests. Researchers pooled data from 15 studies that included a total of 2,600 kids and teenagers with ADHD who were or were not medicated with stimulants and were followed for anywhere from 3 to 28 years. They found no clear difference in how many participants started using or abusing alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana or cocaine, based on how their ADHD was managed. “The scientific evidence suggests that the risk for alcohol and substance problems later in development, in adolescence or adulthood, doesn't seem to be strongly tied to whether or not children were previously… treated with stimulant medication,” said psychologist Steve Lee, who worked on the new study. That means parents should focus on discussing more immediate effects of stimulants with their child's doctor, such as sleep or appetite problems, he added. Kids with ADHD are known to be at higher risk of developing substance problems than those without the disorder. One analysis from 2003 suggested kids treated with stimulants were less likely to develop alcohol and drug problems than their peers with ADHD. Lee and his colleagues from the University of California, Los Angeles, wanted to see how that picture looked once more recent studies were taken into account. The researchers analyzed data related to substance use or abuse of each drug separately. For every category they looked at - alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, cocaine and other drugs - Ritalin and similar stimulants weren't tied to a clear increase or decrease in future use or abuse. That finding isn't the end of the story, the study team said. For example, it's not clear whether the effects of stimulants are different for boys and girls. And because kids in these studies were not randomly assigned to take stimulants or not, it's possible they varied in other ways that may have affected future drug and alcohol use, such as ADHD severity, the researchers write in JAMA Psychiatry. “What I say to parents when I'm talking to them about medication is, the medication is unlikely to have any adverse effects on substance use as far as we know right now,” said William Pelham, head of the Center for Children and Families at Florida International University in Miami, who wasn't involved in the new study. But, he said, “We don't have a lot of studies going into the full range of years when people (are most at risk for) substance abuse.” According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, parent reports suggest that close to one in 10 kids and teens in the U.S. has ever been diagnosed with ADHD, and two-thirds of those with a current diagnosis are treated with medication such as stimulants. Those drugs can come with short-term side effects, including appetite loss and stomach aches. Because of that, “psychosocial, parent-management types of strategies probably ought to be the first line of treatment,” rather than medication, Lee said. In general, stimulants haven't been shown to have long-term side effects in the years after kids stop taking them, Pelham said - but they also don't seem to have long-term benefits. He agreed with Lee that parents should be looking to non-drug ways to improve the outlook for children with ADHD, including working closely with teachers as kids grow up. And because those youth are at higher risk of drug and alcohol problems due to their ADHD, they should have access to programs to improve decision-making skills and peer relationships, Pelham said.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/30/adhd-medications-not-tied-to-drug-alcohol-abuse/