Saturday 19 September 2015

New Rules For The Control Of Food Safety

New Rules For The Control Of Food Safety.
A redesigned superintend to protect the nation's food supply from terrorism has been introduced by the US Food and Drug Administration, the intervention announced Friday in Dec 2013. The proposed guide would require the largest food businesses in the United States and in other nations to take steps to shelter facilities from attempts to contaminate the food supply. The FDA said it does not know of any cases where the edibles supply was intentionally tainted with the aim of inflicting widespread harm, and added that such events are distasteful to occur.

Tuesday 15 September 2015

The Link Between Antidepressants And Autism

The Link Between Antidepressants And Autism.
Despite some concerns to the contrary, children whose moms old antidepressants during pregnancy do not appear to be at increased jeopardy of autism, a large novel Danish study suggests. The results, published Dec 19, 2013 in the New England Journal of Medicine, presentation some reassurance. There have been some hints that antidepressants called picky serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) could be linked to autism. SSRIs are the "first-line" drug against depression, and allow for medications such as fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), citalopram (Celexa) and paroxetine (Paxil).

In one late-model US study, mothers' SSRI use during pregnancy was tied to a twofold increase in the edge that her child would have autism. A Swedish study saw a similar pattern, though the risk linked to the drugs was smaller. But both studies included only pint-sized numbers of children who had autism and were exposed to antidepressants in the womb. The recent study is "the largest to date" to look at the issue, using records for more than 600000 children born in Denmark, said tether researcher Anders Hviid, of the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen.

And overall, his crew found, there was no clear link between SSRI use during pregnancy and children's autism risk. Hviid cautioned that the pronouncement is still based on a small company of children who had autism and prenatal exposure to an SSRI - 52, to be exact. The researchers celebrated that it's not possible to rule out a small increase in autism risk. "At this point, I do not contemplate this potential association should feature prominently when evaluating the risks and benefits of SSRI use in pregnancy".

Commenting on the findings, Christina Chambers, foreman of the Center for the Promotion of Maternal Health and Infant Development at the University of California, San Diego, stated, "I deliberate this study is reassuring". One "important" specifics is that the researchers factored in mothers' mental health diagnoses - which ranged from the blues to eating disorders to schizophrenia. "How much of the risk is related to the medication, and how much is interconnected to the underlying condition? It's hard to tease out".

Sunday 13 September 2015

Dangerous Bacteria Live On Chicken Breasts

Dangerous Bacteria Live On Chicken Breasts.
Potentially unhealthy bacteria was found on 97 percent of chicken breasts bought at stores across the United States and tested, according to a experimental work in Dec 2013. And about half of the chicken samples had at least one breed of bacteria that was resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics, the investigators found. The tests on the 316 damp chicken breasts also found that most had bacteria - such as enterococcus and E coli - linked to fecal contamination.

About 17 percent of the E coli were a kidney that can cause urinary tract infections, according to the study, published online and in the February 2014 affair of Consumer Reports. In addition, slight more than 11 percent had two or more types of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Bacteria on the chicken were more rebellious to antibiotics used to promote chicken growth and to prevent poultry diseases than to other types of antibiotics, the retreat found.

These findings show that "consumers who buy chicken breast at their local grocery stores are very indubitably to get a sample that is contaminated and likely to get a bug that is multi-drug resistant. When people get heartsick from resistant bacteria, treatment may be getting harder to find," said Dr Urvashi Rangan, a toxicologist and directorate director of the Food Safety and Sustainability Center at Consumer Reports. The journal has been testing US chicken since 1998, and rates of contamination with salmonella have not changed much during that time, ranging from 11 percent to 16 percent of samples.

Friday 11 September 2015

Diabetes Degrades Vision

Diabetes Degrades Vision.
Less than half of adults who are losing their materialization to diabetes have been told by a medical practitioner that diabetes could damage their eyesight, a new study found. Vision trouncing is a common complication of diabetes, and is caused by damage that the chronic disease does to the blood vessels within the eye. The imbroglio can be successfully treated in nearly all cases, but Johns Hopkins researchers found that many diabetics aren't taking heed of their eyes, and aren't even aware that vision loss is a potential problem. Nearly three of every five diabetics in hazard of losing their sight told the Hopkins researchers they couldn't remember a doctor describing to them the link between diabetes and vision loss.

The study appeared in the Dec 19, 2013 online promulgation of the journal JAMA Ophthalmology. About half of people with diabetes said they hadn't seen a health-care provider in the earlier year. And two in five hadn't received a shapely eye exam with dilated pupils, the study authors noted. "Many of them were not getting to someone to go over them for eye problems," said study leader Dr Neil Bressler, a professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

And "That's a denigration because in many of these cases you can regale this condition if you catch it in an early enough stage," added Bressler, who is also chief of the retina unit at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute. One-third of the people said they already had suffered some envisioning loss related to their diabetes, according to the report. Bressler said vision damage can be prevented or halted in 90 percent to 95 percent of cases, but only if doctors get to patients with dispatch enough.

Drugs injected into the sight can reduce swelling and lower the risk of vision loss to less than 5 percent. Laser cure has also been used to treat the condition, the researchers said. Dr Robert Ratner, key scientific and medical officer for the American Diabetes Association, called the findings "frightening" and "depressing. This tabloid is an excellent example of where the American health care delivery system has fallen down in an square where we can clearly do better".

For the study, researchers used survey data collected by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 2005 and 2008 to review article the responses of people with archetype 2 diabetes who had "diabetic macular edema". This condition occurs when high blood sugar levels associated with unsatisfactorily controlled diabetes cause damage to the small blood vessels in the retina, the light-sensitive mass lining the back wall of the eye. As the vessels leak or shrink, they can cause node in the macula - a spot near the retina's center that is responsible for your central vision.

Thursday 10 September 2015

Smoking In The US Decreases

Smoking In The US Decreases.
Total smoking bans in homes and cities greatly flourish the good chance that smokers will cut back or quit, according to a new study Dec 27, 2013. "When there's a out-and-out smoking ban in the home, we found that smokers are more qualified to reduce tobacco consumption and attempt to quit than when they're allowed to smoke in some parts of the house," Dr Wael Al-Delaimy, leader of the division of global health, department of family and precautionary medicine, University of California, San Diego, said in a university news release. "The same held unvarnished when smokers report a total smoking ban in their city or town.

Tuesday 1 September 2015

How To Carry Luggage Safely

How To Carry Luggage Safely.
Carrying and lifting oppressive baggage during the holidays can lead to neck, wrist, back and shoulder pain and injuries unless you take out-and-out safety precautions, an orthopedic surgeon says. In 2012, nearly 54000 luggage-related injuries occurred in the United States, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission Dec 2013. "Holiday socialize can be uniquely stressful and physically taxing, especially when transporting weighty and cumbersome luggage," said Dr Warner Pinchback, a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

And "To make sure that you appear at your holiday destination free from pain, it's important to know how to optimally choose, pack, bear and lift your luggage," he added in an academy news release. The academy offers the following things safety tips. When buying new luggage, prefer a sturdy, lightweight piece with wheels and a handle. Don't overpack.

Try to carry items in a few smaller bags as an alternative of one large suitcase. Keep in mind that many airlines restrict the size and incline of carry-on luggage. Bend your knees when lifting. The safe way to hoist a burdensome item such as luggage is to stand alongside of it, bend at the knees - not the waist - and use your stump muscles as you grab the handle and straighten up. Be sure to hold the bag precise to your body when lifting.

Friday 28 August 2015

Danger Of Portable Beds

Danger Of Portable Beds.
Caution is required when using pocket-sized bed rails because they put persons at risk for falling or becoming trapped, the US Food and Drug Administration warns Dec 27, 2013. Portable bed rails glue to a normal, adult-sized bed, often by sliding a sketch of the rail under the mattress or by using the floor for support. People can get trapped in or around the rail, including between the bed-rail bars, between the bar and the mattress, or between the rail and the headboard, said Joan Todd, a chief nurse-consultant at the FDA.

And "Consumers need to realize that even when bed rails are well designed and used correctly, they can propinquitous a hazard to certain individuals - particularly to people with physical limitations or who have an altered daft status, such as dementia or confusion," Todd said in an FDA news release. Between January 2003 and September 2012, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission received reports of 155 deaths and five injuries kin to pocket bed rails designed for grown-up use, according to the news release.

More than 90 percent of the deaths were caused by entrapment. Of the 155 deaths, 129 occurred in colonize aged 60 or older and 94 occurred at home. About half of the victims had a medical circumstance such as heart disease, Alzheimer's cancer or dementia. The FDA has a new website on bed-rail safety that offers information about the what it takes hazards and advice for safe use.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Preventing Infections In The Hospital

Preventing Infections In The Hospital.
Elderly woman in the street who develop infections while in an exhaustive care unit are at increased risk of dying within five years after their hospital stay, a callow study finds. "Any death from preventable infections is one too many," study superior author Patricia Stone, director of the Center for Health Policy at Columbia University School of Nursing, said in a university story release. Researchers analyzed data from more than 17500 Medicare patients admitted to comprehensive care units (ICUs) in 2002 and found that those who developed an infection while in the ICU were 35 percent more inclined to to die within five years after hospital discharge.

Overall, almost 60 percent of the patients died within five years. However, the dying rate was 75 percent for those who developed bloodstream infections due to an intravenous fringe placed in a large vein (central line). And, the extirpation rate was 77 percent for those who developed ventilator-associated pneumonia while in the ICU, according to the researchers. Central boundary infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia are among the most common types of health care-acquired infections, the swatting authors noted.

Friday 21 August 2015

Electronic Cigarettes And Risk Of Respiratory Infections

Electronic Cigarettes And Risk Of Respiratory Infections.
Vapor from electronic cigarettes may rise little ones people's risk of respiratory infections, whether or not it contains nicotine, a late laboratory study has found. Lung tissue samples from deceased children appeared to indulge damage when exposed to e-cigarette vapor in the laboratory, researchers reported in a recent issue of the magazine PLOS One. The vapor triggered a strong immune response in epithelial cells, which are cells that family the inside of the lung and protect the organ from harm, said lead writer Dr Qun Wu, a lung disease researcher at National Jewish Health in Denver. Once exposed to e-cigarette vapor, these cells also became more reachable to infection by rhinovirus, the virus that's the supreme cause of the common cold, the researchers found.

And "Epithelial cells are the first line of defense in our airways. "They watch over our bodies from anything dangerous we might inhale. Even without nicotine, this translucent can hurt your epithelial defense system and you will be more likely to get sick". The new report comes centre of a surge in the popularity of e-cigarettes, which are being promoted by manufacturers as a safer alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes and a admissible smoking-cessation aid.

Nearly 1,8 million children and teens in the United States had tried e-cigarettes by 2012, the scan authors said in background information. Less than 2 percent of American adults had tried e-cigarettes in 2010, but by stay year the number had topped 40 million, an raise of 620 percent. For the study, researchers obtained respiratory set-up tissue from children aged 8 to 10 who had passed away and donated their organs to medical science.

Researchers specifically looked for fabric from young donors because they wanted to focus on the effects of e-cigarettes on kids. The merciful cells were placed in a sterile container at one end of a machine, with an e-cigarette at the other end. The mechanism applied suction to the e-cigarette to simulate the act of using the device, with the vapors produced by that suction traveling through tubes to the container holding the lenient cells.

Wednesday 5 August 2015

The Epilepsy And Risk Of Sudden Death

The Epilepsy And Risk Of Sudden Death.
Sleeping on your corporation may lift your risk of sudden death if you have epilepsy, new research suggests. Sudden, unexpected undoing in epilepsy occurs when an otherwise healthy person dies and "the autopsy shows no clearly structural or toxicological cause of death," said Dr Daniel Friedman, assistant professor of neurology at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. This is a fine occurrence, and the con doesn't establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between sleeping position and sudden death.

Still, based on the findings, kith and kin with epilepsy should not sleep in a prone (chest down) position, said lucubrate leader Dr James Tao, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Chicago. "We found that downwards sleeping is a significant risk for sudden, unexpected death in epilepsy, particularly in younger patients under grow old 40". For people with epilepsy, brief disruptions of electrical work in the brain leads to recurrent seizures, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.

It's not clear why prone sleeping attitude is linked with a higher risk of sudden death, but Tao said the finding draws parallels to impulsive infant death syndrome (SIDS). It's thought that SIDS occurs because babies are unfit to wake up if their breathing is disrupted. In adults with epilepsy people on their stomachs may have an airway impediment and be unable to rouse themselves. For the study, Tao and his colleagues reviewed 25 in days of yore published studies that detailed 253 sudden, unexplained deaths of epilepsy patients for whom gen was available on body position at time of death.