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ACOG Issues New Guidelines On Fetal Monitoring To Resolve Inconsistencies In Interpretation
The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recently published new guidelines on electronic fetal monitoring in an attempt to increase consistency in the way physicians interpret and act on the results, the New York Times reports. Electronic fetal monitoring, which was introduced in the 1970s, is used during labor for more than 85% of the four million infants born alive in the U.S. annually, the Times reports. According to the Times, use of fetal monitors became standard obstetrical practice before it was known if the benefits outweighed the risks. The new guidelines refine the meaning of various readings from fetal monitors and could help doctors make better decisions about whether to intervene during labor.According to experts, the widespread adoption of fetal monitoring has produced both negative and positive consequences, including significant increases in caesarean deliveries and the use of forceps during vaginal deliveries. Monitoring has not been found to reduce the risk of either cerebral palsy or fetal death resulting from inadequate oxygen to the fetal brain, as it was intended to do. Furthermore, lawyers commonly use monitoring results to support malpractice cases that might have little merit, which in turn has driven rising malpractice insurance costs and prompted some obstetricians to stop delivering infants.The new guidelines divide monitor readings into three categories to help doctors interpret readings more consistently. The old guidelines had two categories -- reassuring and non-reassuring -- and it was up to the obstetrician to determine whether a non-reassuring reading required intervention. Under the new guidelines, the first category applies when tracings of the fetal heart rate are normal and no specific action is required. The second category is for indeterminate tracings that require evaluation, continuous surveillance and re-evaluation. Obstetricians treating patients in this category should consider other clinical factors that could affect the fetus and whether the patient could be safely moved to category one, according to Catherine Spong of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which produced recommendations on which the guidelines are based. The final category is for abnormal tracings that require immediate evaluation and efforts to reverse the abnormal heart rate. The Times reports that more refinements to the guidelines are expected to be released in 2010 (Brody, New York Times, 7/7).

Stirling Products Limited (ASX:STI) Gets Approval For TB And HIV Treatment "Immunoxel" In South Africa
Australian healthcare company Stirling Products Limited (ASX:STI) is pleased to announce another milestone in the expansion of the licensed (pending joint venture approval) botanical products to markets outside of Ukraine. Immunoxel (Dzherelo) has been granted approval in South Africa. This approval will allow immediate sales of the phytoconcentrate as an immune adjuvant for TB and HIV treatment.
News of the day
Des Moines Register Examines Planned Parenthood Of Greater Iowa 75 Years After Founding
The Des Moines Register on Friday profiled Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, which marks its 75th anniversary this year. Established in 1934 as the Iowa Maternal Health League, PPGI now includes 17 clinics offering a range of reproductive health services, as well as an education and re center. The organization originally was founded by four women with a mission of providing birth control for low-income married women. Over the years, it frequently "has been on the forefront of advances in reproductive history," according to the Register. For example, in the early 1960s, PPGI became the first provider in the Midwest to offer the oral contraceptive Ortho-Novum, leading to a more than 350% increase in its number of patients.Although antiabortion-rights advocates often discuss Planned Parenthood in relation to abortion services, the vast majority of its services are not abortion-related. Jill June, president and CEO of PPGI, said that although the organization"s services have greatly expanded since its founding, the "needs people have for the services we provide and the challenges we face in meeting those needs haven"t changed." She added, "People still face unintended pregnancies despite great technological advances in birth control and efforts to make contraception more available and to normalize contraception use" (Challender, Des Moines Register, 5/22).
Cardiovascular

$940,000 In Stimulus Funds Won By UTSA Biologists To Advance Research: 2 Studies Will Focus On Food Safety And Disease Prevention

San Antonio ò€¦ Robert Renthal, professor of biochemistry in the College of Sciences" Department of Biology at The University of Texas at San Antonio and JosÓ© Lopez-Ribot, professor of microbiology in UTSA"s Department of Biology and a member of the university"s South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, have received a combined $940,000 in stimulus funding from the National Institutes of Health to further their research over the next two years. Renthal, an expert in insect sensory perception, received UTSA"s first stimulus funding award - $390,000 to study the purpose and function of four different parts of an insect pheromone receptor"s structure. Pheromone receptors detect the chemical communication signals insects use to attract a mate, signal danger or identify a food trail. Renthal expects his research to give scientists a better understanding of how to use pheromones to attract beneficial insects or repel harmful insects to protect the nation"s food supply and to control insect-borne diseases. Renthal has served on UTSA"s faculty since 1975 and credits the South Texas Technology Management (STTM) Proof of Concept: Roadrunner (POCrr) grant he received in April 2008 with helping him to obtain stimulus funding. The $25,000 STTM grant funded Renthal"s background studies on the insect pheromone receptor, giving him preliminary data to include in his proposal to the NIH. Learn more about STTM"s Proof of Concept program here. Lopez-Ribot, a medical mycologist specializing in the fungus Candida albicans, has been awarded a $550,000 grant to study biofilms formed by the fungus, which causes infections called candidiasis. Candidiasis can be life-threatening in immunosuppressed patients and is the third most frequent infection in hospitals both in the United States and abroad. Biofilms are microbial communities attached to surfaces and help an infection progress by providing microorganisms a safe place from which they can invade tissue, start new infection sites and resist treatment efforts. These surfaces can include medical equipment, such as catheters and other types of implanted biomaterials. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 is an economic recovery package adopted to help states stabilize budgets and stimulate economic growth. Stimulus funding will be allocated, in part, to modernize health care, improve schools, modernize infrastructure and invest in the clean energy technologies of the future. Christi Fish University of Texas at San Antonio


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