Tag Archives: sarah

Invisible blood in urine may indicate bladder cancer — ScienceDaily

Scientists at the University of Exeter Medical School found that one in 60 people over the age of 60 who had invisible blood in their urine (identified by their GP testing their urine) transpired to have bladder cancer. The figure was around half those who had visible blood in their urine — the best known indicator of bladder cancer. However, it was still higher than figures for other potential symptoms of bladder cancer that warrant further investigation. Lead author Sarah Price, a PhD student at the University of Exeter Medical School, led the first robust study to investigate whether invisible blood in urine can indicate bladder cancer…

Medicine looking deeper into vital differences between women, men

That’s hardly an earth-shattering observation, but the fact is that, aside from the most obvious physical differences between the sexes, medicine has traditionally treated women as if they were merely smaller men. “When we look closely, we tend to find differences” between men and women, said Sarah L. Berga, M.D., professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology and vice president for women’s health services at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. “But for most of the past, we never looked.” That started to change in the late 1980s, when physicians and researchers recognized that women’s health encompassed more than those conditions unique to females; that women’s experiences with gender-common conditions and the treatments for them often differed significantly from those of men…

Girl dying of cystic fibrosis to receive lung transplant

Sarah Murgnahan, the 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl dying of cystic fibrosis, is getting a brand new pair of lungs. According to a Facebook post from Sarah’s mother, Janet, the family received word this morning of new lungs that had been made available, and Sarah will be taken to the operating room within the next 30 minutes.  The operation will take many hours. Sarah has been in desperate need of a lung transplant for the past 18 months.  However, under the current guidelines for organ donation, children under the age of 12 must wait for pediatric lungs to become available.  Adult lungs cannot be offered to children under 12, until they are offered to adults and adolescents first. The Murnaghans retained a lawyer last week and filed a lawsuit to have the guidelines changed, arguing the rule keeping Sarah off the list is “discriminatory.” A federal court judge granted a temporary order on June 5 that allowed Sarah to join an adult organ transplant list. It is not clear whether Sarah’s donor is an adult or a child. This story is developing.  source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/12/girl-dying-cystic-fibrosis-to-receive-lung-transplant-today/

Judge orders second child be put on adult waiting list for donated lungs

PHILADELPHIA – & A federal judge has ordered that a second child at a Philadelphia hospital -- a New York City boy -- be put on the adult waiting list for donated lungs. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson involves 11-year-old Javier Acosta of the Bronx, who has cystic fibrosis. His mother filed a lawsuit Thursday that says he will die soon unless he gets a lung transplant. The decision comes a day after a national organ transplant network complied with Baylson's unusual order to place a dying 10-year-old girl on the list. Children under 12 are currently matched with pediatric donors, which are rare, or wait at the end of the adult list. Medical ethicists question the judge's intervention. But lawyer Stephen Harvey, who represents both families, fears that Javier and Sarah will die while the issue is reviewed.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/06/judge-orders-second-child-be-put-on-adult-waiting-list-for-donated-lungs/

Secretary Sebelius, stop hiding behind bureaucratic rules and save a child’s life

Many are calling on Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to allow Sarah Murnaghan, a 10-year-old girl dying of cystic fibrosis, to be allowed on the adult organ transplant list.  According to current federal policy, the minimum age for her to be included on the list is 12. Currently, Sarah cannot receive an adult lung transplant until the available organs are offered to adult patients first. Of course, Secretary Sebelius could always make an exception by allowing this girl to be put on the transplant list.  Exceptions to federal regulations are made every day by the Department of Health and Human Services, whether you’re talking about the use of non-FDA approved drugs to treat cancer or the use of new technical equipment for surgical therapies. In this specific case, however, we’re talking about saving a child whose only hope is to compete among other patients for a transplant.  It is a perfect example of how rules are sometimes meant to be changed – or broken completely – especially when you’re talking about saving a person’s life. Secretary Sebelius has only ordered a revision of the policy, which could take a lengthy amount of time – something Sarah does not have.  To me, this shows lack of leadership and, certainly, lack of compassion.  Doctors and nurses make instant decisions when it comes to helping others in need, and I believe that someone who is in charge of the largest health care agency on the planet should have a more proactive approach when dealing with these kinds of emergency situations. The field of medicine has changed dramatically when it comes to the surgical techniques that transplant surgeons use.  From minimally invasive therapy to partial organ transplants, new technical miracles continue to develop. Therefore, the argument that an adult organ may not be usable in a 10-year-old is no longer valid, and certainly open for discussion in our clinical community.  As reports have told us, Sarah’s surgeons do agree that in her case, an adult transplant just might work. The rule not allowing a child to be eligible for a transplant from an adult organ until the age of 12 is archaic, and it should not have taken a case like this for Secretary Sebelius – whose tenure has lasted for the past four years – to ask for a revision today. I agree with many who have said that this child is a victim of age discrimination.  But I also agree that Sarah has been ignored by our federal health leaders and has been placed in a bureaucratic Neverland.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/04/secretary-sebelius-stop-hiding-behind-bureaucratic-rules-and-save-childs-life/