Health

Childhood Exposure to Anesthesia linked to Learning Disabilities

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Mayo Clinic researchers have found that children undergo multiple surgeries with anesthesia during their first three years of life are at higher risk of developing learning disabilities. Using data from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, researchers studied the medical records of over 5,000 children fromwho were born between 1976 and 1982. The research team, led by Robert Wilder, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist, found that although one exposure to anesthesia was not harmful, more than one almost doubled the risk that a child would be identified as having a learning disability before age 19. The risk also increased with longer durations of anesthesia. Even so it is unclear whether the anesthetic, the physiological stress of surgery, or the medical problems that required surgery necessary are responsible for the increased risk of learning disabilities. The general anesthesia chemicals in use during … Read more

Dentists Fight Review Sites

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A new article by the ADA was published a few days ago about dentists fighting online websites where some seek to damage their name. The article can be found at http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/pubs/adanews/adanewsarticle.asp?articleid=3529. The article focuses on the review site Yelp and how one doctor found terrible ratings of herself online. The doctor went so far as to have her attorney sue the person who posted the rating on the site for libel. The doctor’s attorney states that “The parameters of the First Amendment weren’t intended to protect defamatory speech. If there were no limits whatsoever, we could charge anyone with anything. We can’t use speech in a way that is intended to hurt someone.” I personally believe that free speech protects our interests in giving our reviews of doctors, dentists, businesses, whatever you name it. I’m sure if we were to … Read more

Wellsphere Health Blogger Scam

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Back in September 2008, I received an email which is at the bottom of this post. It was the most convincing email I have ever received that actually was a scam. It wanted me to join Wellsphere and become a blogger using the content I have already published on this blog. As it turned out several months ago, I somehow missed this, anyone who signed up for Wellsphere turned over full rights to their published work. I encourage you to read the following posts for more detailed information. I am really quite upset that an MD would defraud thousands of health bloggers. I never was tricked into signing up with Wellsphere, but I did think about it as the email was very hard to turn down. http://www.getbetterhealth.com/how-the-health-blogosphere-was-scammed/2009.01.28 http://www.chronicbabe.com/articles/797/ ——- Sept 25, 2008 Hi , I was searching online for the … Read more

The American Dental Society

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I just wanted to let everyone know about an event that is upcoming.  “The Evidence Based Approach to Anxiety and Pain Control: Why We Do What We Do,” is the theme for this years American Dental Society of Anesthesiology’s annual meeting. It will be happening April 23-25 at the Marriott Hotel in Chicago. The keynote speaker this year is  Dr. Mark Drangsholt who is an epidemiologist and assistant professor of oral medicine at the  University of Washington.His talk will be about Finding, Evaluating and Applying Clinical Information in a Google-Dominated World. To find out more and obtain registration you will want to visit http://www.adsahome.org/annual.html Even so the official website seems to be a bit spare on containing information about the event. Therefore you should visit the ADA over at http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/pubs/adanews/adanewsarticle.asp?articleid=3507

Gene Therapy for Gum Disease

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Scientists at the University of Michigan have shown that gene therapy can be used to successfully stop the development of periodontal disease. The U-M group is the first known to use the gene delivery approach to show potential in treating chronic conditions such as periodontal disease, said William Giannobile, professor at the U-M School of Dentistry. “Gene therapy has not been used in non-life threatening disease. (Periodontal disease) is more disabling than life threatening,” said Giannobile, who also directs the Michigan Center for Oral Health Research and has an appointment in the U-M College of Engineering. “This is so important because the next wave of improving medical therapeutics goes beyond saving life, and moves forward to improving the quality of life.” The preclinical study offers was a collaboration with the Seattle-based biotechnology company Targeted Genetics. In July, Targeted Genetics released … Read more