Monday, February 27, 2017
Bone and joint problems associated with diabetes
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/diabetes/art-20049314
Germs: Understand and protect against bacteria, viruses and infection
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/in-depth/germs/art-20045289
JAMA Pediatrics study that finds no benefit of preventive dental care for some kids raises questions
The conclusions of a Feb. 27 online article in JAMA Pediatrics on early preventive dental care for children may have raised more questions than the researchers answered, some dental experts say.
From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/february/jama-pediatrics-study-that-finds-no-benefit-of-preventive-dental-care-for-some-kids-raises-question
From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/february/jama-pediatrics-study-that-finds-no-benefit-of-preventive-dental-care-for-some-kids-raises-question
What Works to Help Overweight Folks Eat Healthier?
Researchers still don't know the answer, but say pamphlets couldn't hurt
From: http://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/news/20170227/what-works-best-to-help-overweight-folks-eat-healthier?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Some Health Fads May Not Be All That Healthy
Vegetable juices, coconut oil have downsides, and gluten-free makes little difference in those without the sensitivity, study finds
From: http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20170227/some-health-fads-may-not-be-all-that-healthy?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Exercise, Weight Loss May Cut Heart Failure Risk
Link was stronger for common but difficult-to-treat type of heart failure
From: http://www.webmd.com/heart/news/20170227/more-exercise-fewer-pounds-cut-your-heart-failure-risk?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Nasal Swab Shows Promise in Confirming Lung Cancer
Simple technique is based on cancer DNA and seems accurate for use after chest CT scan, researchers say
From: http://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/news/20170227/nasal-swab-shows-promise-in-confirming-lung-cancers?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Are Herbal Medicines Safe for Heart Problems?
While popular among patients, they haven't been proven safe or effective in clinical trials, study says
From: http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20170227/review-raises-questions-about-herbal-meds-for-heart-problems?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Bad bug, no drugs: The real end of antibiotics?
Follow me on Twitter @JohnRossMD
In September 2016, a woman in her 70s died of septic shock in Reno, Nevada, from an infection which was fully resistant to 26 different antibiotics. She had spent much of the previous two years in India, where she was treated for a hip fracture. The hip became infected, and after several more hospital stays, she returned to her home in Nevada.
Within weeks, she was desperately ill, and back in a hospital in Reno. A sample from her hip wound revealed a strain of the bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae which was not sensitive to any antibiotics. It was even resistant to a drug called colistin, an old-fashioned, somewhat toxic, and rarely used antibiotic that is considered the last line of defense against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Before she died, the patient was isolated and kept in a private room. There is no indication that her resistant bacteria had spread to other patients in the hospital or in the Reno area.
How these bacteria outsmart antibiotics
The Klebsiella bacteria that killed her had a powerful enzyme that breaks down antibiotics, known as New Dehli metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM), because it was first found in a patient who had travelled to that Indian city. Indian politicians have disputed the link between their capital and a deadly superbug, and the local tourism board and chamber of commerce probably aren’t too thrilled about it either. In any case, it is probably unfair to focus too much on the Indian origin of this resistant bacteria. Klebsiella bacteria with a slightly different, but equally fearsome form of antibiotic resistance known as KPC have already become entrenched in the United States, as well as in Brazil, China, Israel, Colombia, and Italy.
The vast majority of cases of resistant Klebsiella infection in the United States involve patients who have been hospitalized. But alarmingly, highly resistant bacteria have started to percolate down into the community. A recent outbreak of NDM-positive Klebsiella in Colorado involved patients without health care exposures. A woman in Pennsylvania presented to a clinic in May 2016 with a urinary tract infection with bacteria resistant to colistin, which she had probably picked up during a recent hospital stay.
Is it the end of antibiotics as we know them?
Hand-wringing about antibiotic resistance has been around almost as long as antibiotics. Newsweek somewhat prematurely proclaimed “The End of Antibiotics” in 1994, and the New England Journal of Medicine bewailed the rising tide of antibiotic resistance as early as 1960. All the way back in 1945, scientists had discovered it was relatively easy to create antibiotic-resistant bacteria by exposing them to very small amounts of antibiotics, and then gradually increasing their degree of antibiotic exposure. In retrospect, this shouldn’t be so surprising. Penicillin and cephalosporin antibiotics are derived from molds, which used these compounds for millennia to suppress competition from bacteria. So bacteria, in turn, have developed ways to neutralize and break down antibiotics. Overuse of antibiotics has favored the spread of bacteria carrying these resistance mechanisms.
Another sobering development is that the antibiotic pipeline is drying up, with dim prospects of new drugs coming along to replace the old ones that are losing potency. The economics of antibiotic discovery are bad. Many pharmaceutical corporations have gotten out of the business of developing new antibiotics altogether. The cost of bringing new drugs to market can ratchet up into the billions. The anticipated payoffs are small, as infectious diseases practitioners only use new and powerful antibiotics when absolutely necessary, in an effort to have them retain their effectiveness for as long as possible.
Here’s what you can do
You can take a number of steps as a patient, a consumer, and a citizen to help keep the flood waters of antibiotic resistance from breaking through the levee.
Don’t press your doctor to prescribe antibiotics if they believe it is unnecessary. Taking antibiotics increases your risk of acquiring drug-resistant bacteria, kills off your beneficial gut bacteria, known as your “microbiome,” and exposes you to the potentially deadly bowel infection, Clostridium difficile colitis.
About 80% of the antibiotic use in the United States is in agriculture, not medicine. In particular, low doses of antibiotics are added to livestock feed in factory farms to prevent infections and promote growth. This constant, low-level antibiotic exposure is an excellent way to create drug-resistant bacteria. At least some of these bacteria probably work their way up the food chain to affect humans. You can support the responsible use of antibiotics in agriculture by only purchasing meat raised without antibiotics. And consider calling your congressperson to ask their support for greater public funding for new antibiotic discovery.
And while this sounds bleak, there are other things you can do as a consumer and as a patient to help. You can start by paying attention to the food you eat and by not pressing your doctor for unnecessary antibiotics.
Listen to Dr. Ross’s podcast on antibiotic resistance.
The post Bad bug, no drugs: The real end of antibiotics? appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.
From: John Ross, MD, FIDSA http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/bad-bug-no-drugs-real-end-antibiotics-2017022711103
Dental coalition urges House to support the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act
The Organized Dentistry Coalition on Feb. 24 expressed its "strong support" of H.R. 372, the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act.
From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/february/odc-urges-house-to-support-the-competitive-health-insurance-reform-act
From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/february/odc-urges-house-to-support-the-competitive-health-insurance-reform-act
EPA denies petition to ban adding 'fluoridation chemicals' to water supplies
The health benefits of fluoride include "having fewer cavities, less severe cavities, less need for filings and removing teeth, and less pain and suffering due to tooth decay," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Feb. 17.
From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/february/epa-denies-petition-to-ban-adding-fluoridation-chemicals-to-water-supplies
From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/february/epa-denies-petition-to-ban-adding-fluoridation-chemicals-to-water-supplies
The mental health cost of unchecked climate change
Climate change is threatening the emotional health of humans worldwide, scientists and mental health professionals warn
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/despair-mental-health-trauma-cost-unchecked-climate-change/
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/despair-mental-health-trauma-cost-unchecked-climate-change/
Infectious Diseases A-Z: When to stay home from work
From: Mayo Clinic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAgvTXI7Va8
38th Annual Practice of Internal Medicine: Menopausal Hormone Therapy
From: Mayo Clinic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnm1_vt_w88
Exercise and Diabetes: How a Trainer Can Help
Stay active with a trainer who can help manage your condition, and more tips from WebMD Magazine.
From: http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/features/diabetes-exercise-trainer?src=RSS_PUBLIC
3 Diabetes Tests You Must Have
Diagnosed with diabetes? WebMD shows how simple tests can help you manage your condition.
From: http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/features/three-medical-tests-for-diabetes-patients?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Pediatricians Revise Guidelines for Teen Victims of Sexual Assault
Physicians need to be comfortable screening for it, offering additional help if needed
From: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20170227/pediatricians-revise-guidelines-for-teen-victims-of-sexual-assault?src=RSS_PUBLIC
As Pot Legalization Advances, Pediatricians Warn of Dangers
Marijuana isn't benign, child health experts contend
From: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20170227/as-pot-legalization-advances-pediatricians-warn-of-dangers?src=RSS_PUBLIC
WHO publishes list of bacteria for which new antibiotics are urgently needed
WHO today published its first ever list of antibiotic-resistant "priority pathogens"—a catalogue of 12 families of bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health.
From: http://www.who.int/entity/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/bacteria-antibiotics-needed/en/index.html
From: http://www.who.int/entity/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/bacteria-antibiotics-needed/en/index.html
USDA Helps Expand Broadband Service in Rural Illinois and Oklahoma
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2017 – Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Roger Glendenning today announced that USDA is awarding $19.3 million in loans to provide broadband in rural portions of Illinois and Oklahoma.
From: /wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2017/02/0016.xml&contentidonly=true
From: /wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2017/02/0016.xml&contentidonly=true
Bone and joint problems associated with diabetes
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/diabetes/art-20049314
Germs: Understand and protect against bacteria, viruses and infection
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/in-depth/germs/art-20045289
Teen sexual assault screening guidelines updated
Pediatricians should be prepared to ask teens about sexual assault and help those affected, leading doctor's group advises
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/teen-sexual-assault-victims-doctors-group-revises-treatment-guidelines-recommendations/
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/teen-sexual-assault-victims-doctors-group-revises-treatment-guidelines-recommendations/
Moms or dads? Survey shows who's most sleep-deprived
Each child in the home increases a woman's odds of insufficient sleep by 50 percent, new findings reveal; but what about dads?
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/moms-more-sleep-deprived-survey-shows/
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/moms-more-sleep-deprived-survey-shows/
U.N. issues list of 12 most worrying bacteria
The report warns that doctors are fast running out of treatment options for dangerous bugs
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/un-list-12-most-worrying-bacteria-antibiotic-resistant-superbugs/
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/un-list-12-most-worrying-bacteria-antibiotic-resistant-superbugs/
Mayo Clinic Minute: Heart matters for millennials
From: Mayo Clinic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXaDbmS6ZtQ
Intensive insulin therapy: Tight blood sugar control
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/intensive-insulin-therapy/art-20043866
Family planning: Get the facts about pregnancy spacing
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-depth/family-planning/art-20044072
Healthy breakfast: Quick, flexible options
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/food-and-nutrition/art-20048294
Bleeding during pregnancy
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/symptoms/bleeding-during-pregnancy/basics/definition/sym-20050636
Burn safety: Protect your child from burns
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/in-depth/child-safety/art-20044027
Bone and joint problems associated with diabetes
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/diabetes/art-20049314
Germs: Understand and protect against bacteria, viruses and infection
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/in-depth/germs/art-20045289
Surgeon donates kidney to save sick colleague
Doctor who donated organ says, “I didn’t want his daughter to grow up without a dad"
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/surgeon-doctor-donates-kidney-saves-life-of-sick-colleague/
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/surgeon-doctor-donates-kidney-saves-life-of-sick-colleague/
Healthy breakfast: Quick, flexible options
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/food-and-nutrition/art-20048294
Bleeding during pregnancy
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/bleeding-during-pregnancy/basics/definition/sym-20050636
Family planning: Get the facts about pregnancy spacing
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-depth/family-planning/art-20044072
Intensive insulin therapy: Tight blood sugar control
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/intensive-insulin-therapy/art-20043866
Burn safety: Protect your child from burns
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/in-depth/child-safety/art-20044027
Bone and joint problems associated with diabetes
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/diabetes/art-20049314
Germs: Understand and protect against bacteria, viruses and infection
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/in-depth/germs/art-20045289
Mothers face greater sleep challenges than fathers, study says
New research shows how mothers struggle with sleep deprivation. Sixty-two percent of women aged 45 and younger who don't have children report getting at least seven hours of sleep per night, but that number drops to 48 percent for mothers. Dr. Carol Ash, director of sleep medicine a Meridian Health in New Jersey, joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss the findings.
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/mothers-face-greater-sleep-challenges-than-fathers-study-says/
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/mothers-face-greater-sleep-challenges-than-fathers-study-says/
Bad bug, no drugs: The real end of antibiotics?
Follow me on Twitter @JohnRossMD
In September 2016, a woman in her 70s died of septic shock in Reno, Nevada, from an infection which was fully resistant to 26 different antibiotics. She had spent much of the previous two years in India, where she was treated for a hip fracture. The hip became infected, and after several more hospital stays, she returned to her home in Nevada.
Within weeks, she was desperately ill, and back in a hospital in Reno. A sample from her hip wound revealed a strain of the bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae which was not sensitive to any antibiotics. It was even resistant to a drug called colistin, an old-fashioned, somewhat toxic, and rarely used antibiotic that is considered the last line of defense against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Before she died, the patient was isolated and kept in a private room. There is no indication that her resistant bacteria had spread to other patients in the hospital or in the Reno area.
How these bacteria outsmart antibiotics
The Klebsiella bacteria that killed her had a powerful enzyme that breaks down antibiotics, known as New Dehli metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM), because it was first found in a patient who had travelled to that Indian city. Indian politicians have disputed the link between their capital and a deadly superbug, and the local tourism board and chamber of commerce probably aren’t too thrilled about it either. In any case, it is probably unfair to focus too much on the Indian origin of this resistant bacteria. Klebsiella bacteria with a slightly different, but equally fearsome form of antibiotic resistance known as KPC have already become entrenched in the United States, as well as in Brazil, China, Israel, Colombia, and Italy.
The vast majority of cases of resistant Klebsiella infection in the United States involve patients who have been hospitalized. But alarmingly, highly resistant bacteria have started to percolate down into the community. A recent outbreak of NDM-positive Klebsiella in Colorado involved patients without health care exposures. A woman in Pennsylvania presented to a clinic in May 2016 with a urinary tract infection with bacteria resistant to colistin, which she had probably picked up during a recent hospital stay.
Is it the end of antibiotics as we know them?
Hand-wringing about antibiotic resistance has been around almost as long as antibiotics. Newsweek somewhat prematurely proclaimed “The End of Antibiotics” in 1994, and the New England Journal of Medicine bewailed the rising tide of antibiotic resistance as early as 1960. All the way back in 1945, scientists had discovered it was relatively easy to create antibiotic-resistant bacteria by exposing them to very small amounts of antibiotics, and then gradually increasing their degree of antibiotic exposure. In retrospect, this shouldn’t be so surprising. Penicillin and cephalosporin antibiotics are derived from molds, which used these compounds for millennia to suppress competition from bacteria. So bacteria, in turn, have developed ways to neutralize and break down antibiotics. Overuse of antibiotics has favored the spread of bacteria carrying these resistance mechanisms.
Another sobering development is that the antibiotic pipeline is drying up, with dim prospects of new drugs coming along to replace the old ones that are losing potency. The economics of antibiotic discovery are bad. Many pharmaceutical corporations have gotten out of the business of developing new antibiotics altogether. The cost of bringing new drugs to market can ratchet up into the billions. The anticipated payoffs are small, as infectious diseases practitioners only use new and powerful antibiotics when absolutely necessary, in an effort to have them retain their effectiveness for as long as possible.
Here’s what you can do
You can take a number of steps as a patient, a consumer, and a citizen to help keep the flood waters of antibiotic resistance from breaking through the levee.
Don’t press your doctor to prescribe antibiotics if they believe it is unnecessary. Taking antibiotics increases your risk of acquiring drug-resistant bacteria, kills off your beneficial gut bacteria, known as your “microbiome,” and exposes you to the potentially deadly bowel infection, Clostridium difficile colitis.
About 80% of the antibiotic use in the United States is in agriculture, not medicine. In particular, low doses of antibiotics are added to livestock feed in factory farms to prevent infections and promote growth. This constant, low-level antibiotic exposure is an excellent way to create drug-resistant bacteria. At least some of these bacteria probably work their way up the food chain to affect humans. You can support the responsible use of antibiotics in agriculture by only purchasing meat raised without antibiotics. And consider calling your congressperson to ask their support for greater public funding for new antibiotic discovery.
And while this sounds bleak, there are other things you can do as a consumer and as a patient to help. You can start by paying attention to the food you eat and by not pressing your doctor for unnecessary antibiotics.
Listen to Dr. Ross’s podcast on antibiotic resistance.
The post Bad bug, no drugs: The real end of antibiotics? appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.
From: John Ross, MD, FIDSA http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/bad-bug-no-drugs-real-end-antibiotics-2017022711103
Bleeding during pregnancy
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/symptoms/bleeding-during-pregnancy/basics/definition/sym-20050636
Healthy breakfast: Quick, flexible options
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/food-and-nutrition/art-20048294
Burn safety: Protect your child from burns
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/in-depth/child-safety/art-20044027
Intensive insulin therapy: Tight blood sugar control
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/intensive-insulin-therapy/art-20043866
Family planning: Get the facts about pregnancy spacing
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-depth/family-planning/art-20044072
Bone and joint problems associated with diabetes
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/diabetes/art-20049314
Germs: Understand and protect against bacteria, viruses and infection
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/in-depth/germs/art-20045289
Pediatricians step up warnings about marijuana use by teens
American Academy of Pediatrics says growing number of states allowing pot use by adults for medical, recreational purposes could mislead parents
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pediatricians-step-up-warnings-about-marijuana-use-by-teens/
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pediatricians-step-up-warnings-about-marijuana-use-by-teens/
Intensive insulin therapy: Tight blood sugar control
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/intensive-insulin-therapy/art-20043866
Bleeding during pregnancy
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/bleeding-during-pregnancy/basics/definition/sym-20050636
Family planning: Get the facts about pregnancy spacing
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-depth/family-planning/art-20044072
Burn safety: Protect your child from burns
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/in-depth/child-safety/art-20044027
Healthy breakfast: Quick, flexible options
From: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/food-and-nutrition/art-20048294
Bone and joint problems associated with diabetes
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/diabetes/art-20049314
Germs: Understand and protect against bacteria, viruses and infection
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/in-depth/germs/art-20045289
Intensive insulin therapy: Tight blood sugar control
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/intensive-insulin-therapy/art-20043866
Bleeding during pregnancy
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/symptoms/bleeding-during-pregnancy/basics/definition/sym-20050636
Family planning: Get the facts about pregnancy spacing
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-depth/family-planning/art-20044072
Burn safety: Protect your child from burns
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/in-depth/child-safety/art-20044027
Healthy breakfast: Quick, flexible options
From: http://www.mayoclinic.com/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/food-and-nutrition/art-20048294
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