Health

Patient Harm in Medical Care

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The New England Journal of Medicine has recently published an article titled “Temporal Trends in Rates of Patient Harm Resulting from Medical Care.” This article was conducted by Christopher Landrigan and 5 other researches, appeared in the November 25, 2010, edition and you can download and view it at http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMsa1004404 The article explores a random sample of 10 hospitals located in the state of North Carolina in the U.S.  A total of 2,341 patients were looked at from this sample and 588 of them had what was identified as a harm meaning that the patient was somehow harmed as a result of medical procedures, medications, or something else that was performed or given during their care. “Of 588 harms that were identified, 245 (41.7%) were temporary harms requiring intervention…  251 (42.7%) were temporary harms requiring initial or prolonged hospitalization. An … Read more

Bone Loss from Valproate

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The drug valproate is commonly used to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and other conditions. However, valproate appears to reduce the formation of two key proteins important for bone strength. This comes a recent news as before the reason for bone less in patients taking valproate was a mystery. Glenn Morris and his fellow researchers have demonstrated that the use of valproate has grown over the years to include other diseases/disorders.  Valproate now is prescribed for mood disorders, migraine headache, and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Many SMA patients will develop weak bones as a result SMA which of course makes additional bone loss not welcome. Now the molecular explanation for the bone loss side effect of valproate is known. Valproate reduces production of collagen, the key protein that gives bone its strength, and does so by around 60%. The drug also … Read more

Hair Samples Prove Stress Causes Heart Attacks

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New research has used male hair samples to prove that chronic stress and lead to cardiovascular disease such as a heart attack. It has been known for some time now that stress such as that from a marriage, job problems, and/or financial problems can lead to an increased risk of heart attack. However, there was never really a way to directly measure this stress. Drs. Gideon Koren and Stan Van Uum from the University of Western Ontario have developed a method to measure cortisol levels in hair which can provide a measure of stress levels before a problem like a heart attack occurs. It is well known that cortisol is a stress hormone and more of it is released when someone is stressed out. Dr. Koren explains  “We know that on average, hair grows one centimetre (cm) a month, and … Read more

Large Amounts of Fluoride Consumed by Young Children Leads to Fluorosis

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A recent study looked at the role of fluoride in young children. It was found that young children who consume large amounts of fluoride through fluoridated water and beverages mixed with flouridated water as well as by swallowing toothpaste with fluoride have an increased chance of developing mild enamel fluorosis. The study noted that all of the fluorosis in the young children seen was mild and that they feel that the oral health of these young children was not adversely affected in anyway. If a child has mild enamel fluorosis there will be barely noticeable faint white lines or streaks on tooth enamel. The researchers used mothers of newborns from eight Iowa hospital postpartum wards between 1992 and 1995 which is known as the Iowa Fluoride Study. A total of 630 children were used in the study and questionnaires were … Read more

Fluoride in Water at Birth Helps Dental Health in Later Adult Life

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A new study has looked at how fluoride in water that you drink when you are a child affects your teeth when you reach middle age. The study was done by Matthew Neidell and his colleagues and has found that the when you are a child and have added fluoride in your water it will help with dental health much later in adult life. “Your fluoridation exposure at birth is affecting your tooth loss in your 40s and 50s, regardless of what your fluoridation exposure was like when you were 20 and 30 years old,” said Neidell. Neidell and his researchers used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention community health study in addition to a water census to look at the impact of drinking fluoridated water in the 1950s and 1960s on tooth loss in the 1990s. … Read more