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Common Cold or H1N1 Flu?

David Mittleman — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:07:00 GMT

It's late November now, and we are well into Autumn. Another, more sinister season is just beginning, however – cold and flu season. As your friends, family, coworkers, and classmates fall victim to illness, it may seem inevitable that you too will get sick.

This year, much has been spoken and written about the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu. But how can you tell if this dreaded bug is to blame for your ailments and not a simple cold virus?

Your symptoms can tell you a lot about what you're suffering from. For example, fever is generally rare with the common cold. In contrast, fever is present in about 80% of H1N1 cases, with an elevated temperature of 100 degrees or higher for three or more days being a common indicator. A mucous-producing cough and stuffy or runny nose is typical for a cold, while a dry cough and a lack of nasal congestion is more likely associated with H1N1. Headaches are fairly unusual for a cold, while up to 80% of H1N1 victims suffer from headaches. Sore throat, on the other hand, is often present with a cold and generally rare with H1N1.

Aches, chills, and fatigue can be present with both the cold and H1N1. However, individuals with H1N1 tend to experience these symptoms to a much greater degree. The major difference with regard to these symptoms is the time of onset. Cold symptoms develop slowly over a few days. H1N1 symptoms hit hard and fast, usually within 3-6 hours.

This cold and flu season, be sure to take steps to avoid getting sick. If your best efforts fail, however, be sure to monitor your symptoms closely and consult with your doctor.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Mittleman

Teen Became Sick With Guillian-Barre Syndrome After Receiving H1N1 Shot

David Mittleman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:00:00 GMT

Jordan McFarland, a 14-year-old Virginia native, is the sixth person to come down with Guillian-Barre syndrome (GBS) after receiving an H1N1 vaccination. Jordan, a high school athlete, went to Inova Fairfax Hospital in Virginia after a week of severe headaches, muscle spasms, and weakness in his legs. He is still struggling to walk and will likely need the assistance of a walker for 4-6 weeks plus intensive physical therapy. However, Jordan is expected to fully recover in time.

Jordan is one of the first people to develop Guillian-Barre after receiving an H1N1 vaccination. According to Dr. Claudia J. Vellozi, deputy director for immunization safety with the Centers for Disease Control, Jordan’s GBS is only the sixth case reported since October 6. Furthermore, officials at Inova Fairfax Hospital do not dispute that Jordan has GBS, but refuse to comment on his condition as related to the H1N1 shot because they do not want to create unnecessary fear or panic in the public.

Despite the fact that Jordan and his family believe he suffered GBS as a result of the H1N1 vaccination, Dr. Vellozi maintains that there is no clear link between the H1N1 shot and GBS. She states: “[w]e know that GBS and other illnesses occur routinely in the U.S.”. In fact, she noted that 80 to 120 cases of GBS are reported each week in the general population. Moreover, while any side effect can be devastating for an individual, the H1N1 vaccine is much less risky than the H1N1 virus itself.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Mittleman

Mersa: The Deadly Infection

David Mittleman — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:11:00 GMT

Mersa (MRSA) is a resistant form of staph bacteria that has been around for decades, but was limited mostly to outbreaks in hospital and nursing-home patients. Now the outbreak is spreading to non-hospital settings. The MRSA infection is spread by skin-to-skin contact. The spread of MRSA infection can occur in any setting where there is crowding, causing skin-to-skin contact with individuals with open skin areas (cuts, abrasions etc.), contaminated items (clothing, equipment) and surfaces, and a general lack of cleanliness. You can have contaminated surfaces or personal hygiene items that can spread the infection. These settings described above can be in schools, military barracks, gyms, households, dormitories, daycare centers and also correctional facilities.

Infections begin once the integrity of the skin is broken and the staphylococcus aureus bacteria enters. Infection begins on the skin, triggering inflammation, boils or nasty abscesses that can take weeks of treatment to stop, including surgery and hospitalization. But if it moves into the bloodstream, MRSA can cause bone infection, lung-damaging pneumonia, organ damage, even fatal toxic shock syndrome.

There are 3 key treatment regimes that are commonly used today. Those who are colonized but not infected are advised to practice good skin washing and good hygiene. And if the person is at risk and undergoing a surgical procedure anyone caring for them is key to preventing infection. Hand washing and preventing cross contaminating the patient. This means checking one persons wound then handing a box of tissues to the next patient and not washing your hands. Gloves are fine but do not protect the patient from other areas not covered or perhaps lack of integrity caused some contamination. Therefore, healthcare professionals must wash their hands to avoid spreading MRSA.

For those who have a potential or active bloodstream infection - drugs such as Vancomycin, Linezolid or Daptomycin should be used.

For those with infected wounds, special salves and preparations and such as tea tree oil are all believed to be effective in killing MRSA in a wound. Many who have the skin infections common with community acquired MRSA, simply need incision and drainage of the infected area and good hygiene while it heals. Antibiotics are not always needed.

Prevention is really the key. Good hand washing is the cure. In a hospital setting even a health care provider who is typing on a keyboard then runs off to tend to a patient’s call bell and does not wash their hands places that patient in jeopardy. You do not know who touched the keyboard prior. In the gym, wiping down equipment is key. Even in the food store hand wipes on the carriages is a good idea especially when you are handing food products. Alcohol and chlorine bleach have both proven to be effective topical sanitizers against the MRSA infection

What this basically boils down to is, Mother knows best: Wash Your Hands.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Mittleman

Outrage - I Don't Like What I'm Seeing in Health Care (Part II)

David Mittleman — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:58:53 GMT

A few days ago I wrote about my concerns about recent developments in women's health care, namely the timely detection of breast cancer. Well, I wasn't the only person who felt that way. In fact, the United States Preventive Services Task Force study released on Monday has set off a response that can only be described by one word: outrage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCNl77p1WhE

From Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to thousands of women and doctors across the country, women whose diagnostic screenings in their 40s helped save their lives after timely diagnosing them with breast cancer have one message to convey: they are people, not statistics.

As the administration distances itself from the Task Force study, one thing is clear, nobody wants the Task Force's findings to affect insurance coverage of preventive medicine. If a woman, like my wife whose baseline mammogram at age 40 detected breast cancer at an early stage, wants to utilize sound and reasonable preventive health practices, that decision should not be taken away. While our treatment for breast cancer has improved over the decades, there's no dispute over the benefit of early detection of breast cancer.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Mittleman

Accutane Acne Medication Pulled from U.S. Market

David Mittleman — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:06:34 GMT

Roche Holdings AG, the maker of the acne medication Accutane, is pulling the product from the U.S. market, citing “economic reasons”. However, juries have awarded at least $33 million in damage after consumers complained of developing inflammatory bowel disease from using Accutane. The drug has also caused birth defects and depression. In fact, the company faces as many as 5,000 personal injury claims over Accutane.

Roche began a tracking program in 2002 designed to reduce the number of pregnant woman taking the drug. However, the tracking program was largely unsuccessful. Nearly 80% of pregnancies reported by women taking Accutane during the tracking program’s first year had elective abortions because of concerns about birth defects including microphaly (small head and brain), hydrocephaly (enlargement of the fluid-filled spaces in the brain), mental retardation, heart defects, ear and eye abnormalities, cleft lip and facial abnormalities.

Moreover, Bart Stupak, a Michigan Representative, wrote a letter to Health and Human Services in 2004, pleading the agency to take the drug off of the market because of the dangerous depression symptoms it causes. Stupak’s 17-year-old son, Bart Stupak Jr., committed suicide in May 2000 after taking Accutane.

About 13 million people have used Accutane since it came onto the market in 1982. It was Roche’s second-best selling drug before the patent expired in 2002 and generic versions flooded the market. Roche says its share of the drug is below 5% now. The drug has been pulled off the market in 11 other countries, including France, Denmark, Austria, Portugal, Norway and Spain. Roche maintains that it did not pull the drug from the U.S. market because of side effects. Instead, the company says it was forced to remove the product because of the multiple lawsuits it faces and the competitive strength of the generic market.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Mittleman

Wyeth Paid Ghostwriters to Promote Hormone Replacement Therapy Drugs

David Mittleman — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:50:51 GMT

26 “scientific articles”, backing the use of hormone replacement therapy in women, were published in medical journals between 1998 and 2005. The articles are part of a series of a newly unveiled court documents that indicate that pharmaceutical-paid ghostwriters played a major role in pushing female hormone replacement therapy for various maladies such as aging skin, heart disease and dementia. The ghostwriters specifically emphasized the benefits, while deemphasizing the risks of taking hormone replacement drugs. Overall, the medical consensus published in the articles benefited Wyeth, the pharmaceutical company that paid a medical communications firm, Premarin and Prempro, to draft the articles. As a result of the positive consensus on hormone replacement therapy, sales of hormone drugs shot to nearly $2 billion in 2001.

However, the seeming consensus on the benefits of hormone replacement therapy fell apart in 2002 when a federal study on hormone therapy found that menopausal women who took certain hormones had an increased risk of invasive breast cancer, heart disease and stroke. Furthermore, a later study found that hormones also increased the risk of dementia in older patients. A judge ordered Wyeth to unseal their internal files as part of lawsuits over their hormone replacement drugs: the drug maker faces claims from nearly 10,000 women who say the medicines caused their breast cancer.

A majority of the ghostwritten papers were review articles, in which an article weighs a large body of medical reviews and offers a final conclusion based on the previous medical research. The articles appeared in 18 medical journals, including The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and The International Journal of Cardiology. The articles did not disclose Wyeth’s role in paying for the work and Elsevier, the publisher of some of the articles, stated that it was disturbed by the allegations of ghostwriting and plans to do an investigation of its own. Moreover, a spokesman for Wyeth alleges that the articles were scientifically accurate and that it is neither an uncommon or illegitimate practice for pharmaceutical companies to routinely hire medical writing companies to assist in drafting manuscripts.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Mittleman

Great American Smokeout: Many Reasons to Kick the Habit

David Mittleman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:35:35 GMT

Maybe we can blame the bad economy, but no matter whatever or whoever is at fault, the fact is that more Americans are smoking cigarettes. In fact, a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control found that after years of declining, the number of American smokers is back up again.

There are many good reasons to quit, but many smokers struggle to kick the habit for good. Indeed, according to the American Cancer Society, there are at least 12 important reasons to quit smoking. For example:

1. Smoking fogs the mind: a 2008 study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that smoking during middle age is linked to memory problems and lessened reasoning abilities.
2. It may bring on diabetes: according to a 2007 analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, current smokers have a 44% greater chance of developing Type 2 diabetes.
3. It invites infections: the CDC argues that there is strong data to suggest that smokers are more susceptible to pneumonia-causing bacteria than nonsmokers because smoking causes damage to the mucous membranes, making it easier for infectious organisms to latch on.
4. It may affect your sex life: simply stated, smokers are more likely to experience erectile dysfunction than nonsmokers. Furthermore, the severity of this problem increases as the number of cigarettes smoked per day also increases.
5. It may lead to wrinkles, and not just on your face but also on other areas such as the arms.
6. It may hasten menopause: according to a 2001 Surgeon General’s report, women smokers experience natural menopause at an earlier age than nonsmokers. Furthermore, a 2004 report indicated that women smokers also faced increased infertility when compared with nonsmokers.
7. It can dull vision: according to several studies in the medical journal Eye, active smokers face a 2 to 3 times greater risk of developing macular degeneration.
8. It hurts bones: smoking weakens the skeleton and can lead to increased incidence of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Furthermore, smokers of both sexes experience more hip fractures than nonsmokers.
9. It can damage the internal organs: specifically, cigarettes can damage the digestive system, leading to heartburn, peptic ulcers, and gallstones.
10. It may contribute to a poor night’s sleep: according to a study in the medical journal, Chest, smokers are four times as likely to experience nonrestorative sleep than nonsmokers, leading to that feeling of grogginess in the morning.
11. It shaves years, and quality, off of life: male smokers live, on average, 10 years less than their nonsmoking counterparts. Moreover, the nonsmokers experienced a better quality of life than the smokers.
12. Smoking causes cancer: in 2004, the CDC released a report linking cigarettes to more than 2 million diagnoses of cancer between 2001 and 2004 in the U.S.

Today is the American Cancer Society’s 34^th annual Great American Smokeout, and in an effort to get more Americans to stop smoking, they offer the following resources: visit the ACS webpage for tips on how to quit for good, or call the ACS Quitline at (800) 227-2345. According to Tom Glynn, director of cancer science and trends at ACS, phone counseling can double the chances of a smoker’s quitting success.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Mittleman

Proctor & Gamble Recalls Vicks Sinex Nasal Spray

David Mittleman — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:00:00 GMT

Proctor & Gamble has recalled approximately 120,000 bottles of Vicks Sinex nasal spray after the company discovered bacteria in some test samples of the product. The specific bacteria, B. cepacia, can be harmful to individuals with chronic lung problems or weakened immune systems.

Three lots of the nasal spray were sent to the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Thus far, bacteria was only discovered in the batch sent to U.S. stores, however the company is also testing samples from the German and U.K. batches since the spray was produced from the same raw material mixture as the U.S. batch.

Company spokesman Tom Millikin described the recall as voluntary and also reported that no illnesses have been reported in relation to the bacteria in the nasal spray. However, P & G states that consumers should not use the spray and should call the company for a replacement coupon. The company has also notified The Centers for Disease Control.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Mittleman

Deer Involved in Lansing 2 Car Crash

Devon Glass — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:39:28 GMT

With deer hunting season officially open in Michigan for nearly 2 weeks, most of the talk about deer has to do with how big a buck you shot or taking your children for their first hunt. I'm pretty sure that opening day for deer hunting is one of the biggest holidays in Michigan. Sometimes, however, the deer are out to get you and not the other way around.

Just this morning a car near Jolly and Waverly in Lansing hit another car after a deer came onto the road. According to the police, just after 6 am the driver of a Chevy Impala was either hit by a deer or swerved to miss hitting a deer and crashed into a van. The driver of the Impala was ejected from her car during the crash. Both drivers and one passenger were transported to the hospital for treatment.

Here are some tips from the Michigan State Police to keep you safe if you encounter a deer and how to avoid them. Have a safe and happy holiday.

Michigan State Police Troopers remind you to Don't Wreck Your Life! Keep your eyes on the road, never drink and drive, always wear your safety belt, and consider the following tips to help you avoid a car-deer collision:

Use special caution in those areas marked with deer crossing signs.

If you see one deer, expect there will be others. Slow down and be alert.

Do not swerve your vehicle to avoid striking a deer. It is better to strike a deer than another vehicle or a fixed object.

Continually scan the fields and area adjacent to the roadway for deer. Often you can see them approaching the roadway and can slow down.

During hours of darkness use your bright lights when no traffic is approaching. The high beams will illuminate the eyes of deer on the roadway or approaching the roadway much sooner, allowing a greater reaction time.

Always drive at a safe and prudent speed.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Devon Glass

Drug Makers Raise Prices Despite Promises of Cost Reform

David Mittleman — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:39:28 GMT

Drug makers pledged to help cut down healthcare costs by $8 billion a year, but now it doesn’t look like they are making good on that promise. Instead, in the last year alone, the pharmaceutical industry has raised their wholesale prescription drug prices by 9%. Instead of cutting down on costs, that raises the nation’s drug-related healthcare costs by $10 billion, and represents the highest annual rate of inflation on drug prices since 1992.

Originally, drug makers had touted their agreement with the White House and the Senate Finance Agreement chairman to trim $8 billion a year from the nation’s drug costs, or $80 billion over 10 years, by giving rebates to older Americans and the government. However, the recent increase in prices would essentially cancel out the savings for at least the first year of the plan, if not the entire 10 years.

Nevertheless, drug makers argue that there are valid business reasons for raising prices. Specifically, they argue that they are forced to raise their prices in order to invest in future research and development of new drugs, especially as patents expire on previous drugs. While drug makers claim their “reasons” for raising their prices, many Americans who do have drug insurance will be forced to pay out-of-pocket for the leftover cost of overpriced drugs that insurance won’t entirely cover.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Mittleman