September 9, 2006, 6:51 AM CT
David Welch: Journey With Brain Cancer
Read the touching story of David Welch.
Diagnosed at age 38 with a lemon-sized brain tumor, David Welch has documented his journey since then -- from a Patient's Perspective. 38 Lemon is not a medical website. Rather, this is one patient's entire experience in dealing with brain cancer, from December 2004 to today.
Read a sample.01 September 2006.
Solid progress is being made using Temodar chemotherapy in the treatment of my brain cancer. Since my last update in May, here are some important updates:
1.) Neuro-oncologist Dr. Howard Fine at NIH has been able to use an innovative "co-registration" technique to measure initial signs of tumor shrinkage over the past 4 months. A slow-growing brain tumor grows, it does not shrink. Evidence of any type of shrinkage can only be attributed to my current Temodar chemotherapy treatment.
2.) My Hematology Reports (blood tests) are holding up. They essentially indicate that I am tolerating my Temodar chemotherapy medicine fairly well as I head into my 12th chemo cycle on Labor Day (9/4/06).
Thank you David Welch and all the best.
For more visit his website.........
Posted by: Sean Permalink Source
September 7, 2006, 6:36 PM CT
Bodybuilding as a sport
Bodybuilding is the process of developing muscle fibres through the combination of weight training, increased caloric intake, and rest. Someone who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. As a sport, called competitive bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their aesthetic appearance. Bodybuilding has contributed to the success of many public figures worldwide. Examples from North America include Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno.
The period of around 1940 to 1970 is often referred to as the "Golden Age" of bodybuilding because of changes in the aesthetic for more mass, as well as muscular symmetry and definition, which characterised the "early years". This was due in large part to the advent of World War II, which inspired many young men to be bigger, stronger and more aggressive in their attitudes. This was accomplished by improved training techniques, better nutrition and more effective equipment. Several important publications came into being, as well, and new contests emerged as the popularity of the sport grew.
This period of bodybuilding was typified at Muscle Beach in Santa Monica, California, US. Famous names in bodybuilding from this period included Steve Reeves (notable in his day for portraying Hercules and other sword-and-sandals heroes), Reg Park, John Grimek, Larry Scott, and Bill Pearl.........
Posted by: Jim Permalink Source
September 7, 2006, 6:06 PM CT
What Is Meant By Health?
Health is the functional and/or metabolic efficiency of an organism, at any moment in time, at both the cellular and global levels. In any organism, health is the ability to efficiently respond to challenges (stressors) and effectively restore and sustain a "state of balance," known as homeostasis. Sickness is merely the absence of health. All organisms, from the simplest to the most complex, reside on a spectrum between 100% health and 0% health.
One widely accepted definition of health is that of the World Health Organization (WHO). It states that "health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" (WHO, 1946). In more recent years, this statement has been modified to include the ability to lead a "socially and economically productive life." The WHO definition is not without criticism, as some argue that health cannot be defined as a state at all, but must be seen as a process of continuous adjustment to the changing demands of living and of the changing meanings we give to life. The WHO definition is therefore considered by many as an idealistic goal rather than a realistic proposition.
The LaLonde report suggested that there are four general determinants of health which he called "human biology", "environment", "lifestyle", and "healthcare organization"[1] Thus, health is maintained through the science and practice of medicine, but can also be improved by individual effort. Physical fitness, weight loss, healthy eating, stress management training and stopping smoking and other substance abuse are examples of steps to improve one's health. Workplace programs are recognized by an increasingly large number of companies for their value in improving health and well-being of their employees, and increasing morale, loyalty and productivity at work. A company may provide a gym with exercise equipment, start smoking cessation programs, provide nutrition, weight or stress management training. Other programs may include health risk assessments, health screenings and body mass index monitoring.........
Posted by: Sean Permalink Source
September 7, 2006, 5:17 AM CT
Thirty Percent Of Nurses Are Abused
Almost a third of the nurses who took part in a large-scale study reported that they had been subjected to both physical and verbal abuse in the last 4 working weeks and a quarter had considered resigning as a result, as per research in the latest issue of the UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing.
Two-thirds of the 2,407 nurses who took part in the survey, led by the University of Tasmania and supported by the Australian Nursing Federation, reported some form of abuse during the period covered.
This ranged from being sworn at, slapped and spat upon to being bitten, choked and stabbed. The abused nurses, who all worked in Tasmania, reported an average of four verbal incidents and between two to three physical incidents.
Sixty-nine percent of nurses who had been physically abused had been struck with a hand, fist or elbow and 34 percent had been bitten.
A further 49 percent said they had been pushed or shoved, 48 percent had been scratched and 38 percent said that someone had spat at them.
"We also discovered that that six percent had been choked and just under one percent had been stabbed" adds lead author Professor Gerald A Farrell, now based at La Trobe University School of Nursing and Midwifery in Victoria, Australia.
Verbal abuse was most likely to take the form of rudeness, shouting, sarcasm and swearing. Two percent said that their home or family had also been threatened. Patients and visitors were the most likely people to abuse nurses, but four percent of nurses who reported physical abuse said that it was carried out by another nurse and three percent by a doctor.........
Posted by: Sean Permalink Source
September 7, 2006, 4:50 AM CT
Migraine and Women
Migraines are more common in the United States than diabetes, osteoarthritis or asthma. Of the 28 million people who experience migraines in this country, 18 million are women. Although prevention is very effective in managing this disorder, only 3 percent to 5 percent of women seek preventive therapy.
To better understand this issue and provide guidance for physicians treating female migraine patients, Mayo Clinic in Arizona Women's Health Internal Medicine physicians reviewed all the major studies on the disorder published in the past five years. They compiled study results into a concise review for clinicians, published in the August 2006 issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
"Most people with migraines first seek help from their primary care provider instead of a neurologist or a specialist. The purpose of our paper is to provide more information for primary care physicians who typically manage these cases," says Beverly Tozer, M.D., who led the review.
The review emphasized preventive therapies for migraines at different stages of a female's life. According to Dr. Tozer, strong evidence suggests that hormonal changes effect migraine development, with migraines being most prevalent during the reproductive years.
"Almost one-fourth of women in their reproductive years experience migraines," Dr. Tozer says. "During these years, women are building both their families and their careers. The predominance of this disorder in women with its associated social, functional and economic consequences makes migraine an important issue in women's health".........
Posted by: Sean Permalink Source
September 6, 2006, 9:44 PM CT
Severely Congested Sinuses
Although it's unclear why it's so, scientists at Johns Hopkins have linked a gene that allows for the chemical breakdown of the tough, protective casing that houses insects and worms to the severe congestion and polyp formation typical of chronic sinusitis.
A team of Hopkins sinus experts has found that the gene for the enzyme, acidic mammalian chitinase (AMCase), is up to 250 times more active in people with severe sinus inflammation that persists even after surgery when compared to patients in whom surgery is successful. Sinus surgery is usually the treatment of last resort for those who do not respond to drug therapy. But nearly one in 10 of those treated see symptoms return within weeks or months after surgery fails to keep open the nasal passages, scientists say.
The Hopkins report, published in the recent issue of the American Journal of Rhinology, is believed to be the first to identify the enzyme's presence in the nose and confirm its link to sinusitis.
"This finding does not mean that there are actually parasites in the nose causing sinusitis, but our study does lend support to the concept that really severe and persistent sinusitis may be a case of a misplaced immune response directed against parasites that are not really there," says study lead author Andrew Lane, M.D., an associate professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of its rhinology and sinus surgery center.........
Posted by: Sean Permalink Source
September 6, 2006, 8:14 PM CT
Cancer Survivors On Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro
Adelaide adventurer Duncan Chessell has led a team of Australian cancer survivors to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa.
Chessell and one of his guides managed to get six of the 10 climbers in his group to the summit of the 5,986 metre peak in Tanzania just before 1pm (CST) on Tuesday.
The four others were forced to return to the expedition's base camp after finding the going too tough.
Chessell's wife Jo Arnold said conditions had been reasonably kind to the group and weather on the summit was clear but cold.
"They had a few issues with wind on the way in but it's been quite fine on summit day," she said.
The expedition marks the 21st birthday of cancer support group CanTeen.
The climbing group included many people who were celebrating five years of being cancer free.........
Posted by: Sean Permalink Source
September 6, 2006, 4:50 AM CT
Poor Neighborhoods Have Higher Cardic Arrest Rates
A team of Oregon Health & Science University scientists have observed that the occurence rate of sudden cardiac arrest, one of the nation's most lethal public health problems, was 30 percent to 80 percent higher in the lowest socioeconomic-status neighborhoods in a large urban community than in the high-status areas in that community during the two-year period reviewed. The disparity was most acute for those younger than 65.
The findings were based on a study of 714 cases of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in Multnomah County, Ore., reported between February 2002 and January 2004 by the county emergency medical services system, the county medical examiner and 16 area hospitals. At the outset of the study the county had a population of more than 660,000 people. The findings, the most recent to come from OHSU's ongoing Oregon Sudden Unexpected Death Study (Ore-SUDS) group, are being published recently in Resuscitation, a monthly interdisciplinary journal of clinical and basic science research relating to acute care medicine and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Ninety-eight percent, or 697, of the SCA cases surveyed had residential addresses in one of the county's 170 census tracts. The tracts were divided into quartiles for each of four measures: median household income, percent of population below the federal poverty level, median home value and percent of population older than 25 with at least a bachelor's degree. For each of the four measures, SCA incidence rates were lowest in the highest socioeconomic status quartiles. Annual occurence rate of SCAs in census tracts in the lowest versus highest quartiles of median home value was 60.5 versus 35.1 per 100,000. The differential was much more exaggerated for the median home value measure in the younger than 65 population, where it was 34.5 versus 15.1 per 100,000.........
Posted by: Sean Permalink Source
September 5, 2006, 10:07 PM CT
Seeds of obesity start in early childhood
A new research study of children's growth, reported in the recent issue of Pediatrics, can help parents and pediatricians determine the risk that a child will be overweight at age 12 by examining the child's earlier growth. The study demonstrates that children who are overweight at any stage of their growth before age 12 are more likely to be overweight by the time they are 12, and the more times a child is measured as overweight during these growth years, the greater the chance that by 12 the child will be overweight.
For example, the scientists discovered that preschool-age children who were medically determined to be overweight at one of three points of measurement before age 5 were more than five times as likely to be overweight at age 12 than those who were below the 85th percentile for body mass index (BMI) during the same period. BMI is a standard measure calculated from a person's height and weight.
Philip R. Nader, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, is primary author of the study, with co-authors from 10 different institutions around the nation. He said the group pursued the study because obesity is a major public health problem in the United States.
As per Center for Disease Control growth standards developed before the obesity epidemic, children are considered to be overweight if their BMI is over the 85th percentile, or falls in the top 15% of children of the same height and gender. The Institute of Medicine considers these children obese if their BMI is over the 95tth percentile or the top 5%. The rate of obesity among adults and children in the U.S. has nearly tripled over the time that the children in the study were growing up.........
Posted by: Sean Permalink Source
September 5, 2006, 7:54 PM CT
Epilepsy Breakthrough In the horizon
Researchers at MIT are developing a device that could detect and prevent epileptic seizures before they become debilitating.
Epilepsy affects about 50 million people worldwide, and while anticonvulsant medications can reduce the frequency of seizures, the drugs are ineffective for as many as one in three patients.
The new treatment builds on an existing treatment for epilepsy, the Cyberonics Inc. vagus nerve stimulator (VNS), which is often used in patients who do not respond to drugs. A defibrillator typically implanted under the patient's collar bone stimulates the left vagus nerve about every five minutes, which has been shown to help reduce the frequency and severity of seizures in many patients.
The MIT researchers and colleagues at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) seek to improve the treatment by combining it with a detector that measures brain activity to predict when a seizure is about to occur. The new device would sense the oncoming seizure and then activate the VNS, in principle halting the seizure before it becomes manifest.
"Our contribution is the software that decides when to turn the stimulator on," said John Guttag, MIT's Dugald C. Jackson Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Guttag developed the system along with Ali Shoeb, a graduate student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.........
Posted by: Sean Permalink Source
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