Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
prolong ejaculation.
Popular Articles

Test For Strep Bacteria In Pregnant Women Misses More Cases Than Expected, Study Shows
A federal recommendation that all pregnant women undergo testing for Group B strep bacteria has helped increase the number of screenings but also has produced a high level of false negatives, according to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the AP/Newark Star-Ledger reports. Group B strep is a common bacteria in the intestines or lower genital tract. Although it poses no harm to most adults, during delivery it can be spread to infants, who can develop blood infections, pneumonia, meningitis, mental retardation, hearing and vision loss, or death. Problems occur in fewer than one in 3,000 births, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2002 issued a recommendation that all pregnant women be tested because of the potential for serious complications. The study is the first research to examine the screening program. The researchers examined data on Group B strep cases in 10 states, finding that 250 infants out of nearly 7,700 were born with the infection. They compared the results with a similar study that was conducted before the CDC recommendations were in place, finding that the screening rate rose from 48% to 85% of pregnant women. The study also found that infant infections from Group B strep declined by 27%.Researchers predicted there would be between 44 and 86 false negatives in full-term infants, based on data from previous studies. However, their results showed about 60% of infected infants -- 116 cases -- were born to women who had tested negative for Group B strep. Researchers noted that the timing of a Group B test might play a role because the infection can come quickly, and tests could have been performed before the bacteria appeared. CDC recommends that pregnant women be screened between 35 and 37 weeks" gestation. CDC researcher Stephanie Schrag, who co-authored the study, said, "Maybe it was a true negative test, and the mother later became colonized" with the bacteria before delivery (Stobbe, AP/Newark Star-Ledger, 6/17).
generic viagra
Climate Change, Hunger, Economy G8 Summit Top Priorities; France's First Lady Calls On G8 To Expand On Global Health 'Achievements'
President Barack Obama joined world leaders in Italy on Wednesday for "three days of intense talks on threats to global security and stability" at a G8 summit "where climate change, the continuing global economy crisis and world hunger got top billing," AP/Google.com reports (Babington, 7/8).
News of the day
Insurers Open Storefronts, Raise Rates To Adjust To New Reality
"Buying health insurance has become such a complex decision that Blue Cross and Blue Shield Florida is trying a new sales tactic: storefronts near big malls," the St. Petersburg Times reports. "By year"s end, the Jacksonville insurer will open two 4,000-square-foot Florida Blue stores in Tampa and Orlando." Successful pilot stores "draw about 100 people a day in Jacksonville and Pembroke Pines. "With more options than ever and Obamacare on the horizon with the promise of open competition from a new government plan, some experts think the direct sales will be a competitive necessity as more employers let employees fend for themselves. So far Blue Cross affiliates in two states have copied the Florida test." The stores are supposed to work "like Apple Stores. A concierge greets you and self-serve kiosks are there for do-it-yourselfers. Or you may seek private cubicles stocked with salespeople. The stores also have a kids" play area, a juice bar and space for wellness programs. Each store has a registered nurse waiting to help sort out information on pending treatment decisions," (Albright, 7/7).
Endocrinology

Swearing Appears To Lessen Effects Of Pain

A new UK study found that swearing appeared to lessen the effects of pain, perhaps because it invokes a similar response as that which occurs in fight or flight when it breaks the link between fear of pain and the perception of pain, concluded the researchers. The study was the work of psychologists Richard Stephens, John Atkins and Andrew Kingston at Keele University in Staffordshire, and was recently published in the journal NeuroReport. Although swearing is a common response to pain, whether it actually alters our experience of it is somewhat of a mystery. According to a Reuters news agency report, Stephens said: "Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon." "Our research shows one potential reason why swearing developed and why it persists," he added. Stephens said it appears to arise in the right brain, whereas most language tends to arise in the left cerebral hemisphere. For this study, the researchers investigated the extent to which swearing altered the ability of 64 volunteers to withstand immersing their hand in water (cold-pressor pain tolerance). They also measured pain perception and heart rate. The researchers asked the volunteers to repeat a swear word while they immersed their hand in water. And then they asked them do the experiment again, except this time they repeated a neutral word that described a table. Stephens and colleagues also examined sex differences, the role of pain catastrophizing, fear of pain and trait anxiety. They found that compared with not swearing, swearing increased pain tolerance and heart rate, and decreased perception of pain. However, "swearing did not increase pain tolerance in males with a tendency to catastrophise," they wrote. They concluded that: "The observed pain-lessening (hypoalgesic) effect may occur because swearing induces a fight-or-flight response and nullifies the link between fear of pain and pain perception." Stephens told the press that while they did not establish the link with fight or flight, they think perhaps swearing increases aggression. "What is clear is that swearing triggers not only an emotional response, but a physical one too", he added, explaining that perhaps this is why the practice of swearing has survived for centuries. "Swearing as a response to pain." Stephens, Richard; Atkins, John; Kingston, Andrew. NeuroReport, post author corrections, 24 June 2009. doi: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e32832e64b1 Additional s: Reuters. Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009