New Breast Cancer Technology: Molecular Breast Imaging (Part 2)

Dr. Eric Winer, from Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, commented for the American Society of Clinical Oncology by saying that 10 and 15 percent of all breast cancers cannot be detected by using mammograms. Winer also told reporters, "More and more we may be getting away from one-size-fits-all in terms of screening approaches, and instead think about screening approaches that are directed more to an individual women based on her risk and on the characteristics of her breasts."

There has also been and increase in the use of costly MRI exams on some women that have more dense breast tissue or that have a high risk for getting breast cancer. Hruska said that the MBI might be the lower-cost alternative. She has estimated that it would cost around $500 to perform the scan, and expressed hope that its availability would increase over the next year.

The MBI technology uses special cameras that were developed by GE Medical Systems and privately head Gamma Medica-Ideas, stated Hruska. This study was funded in part by Bristol-Myers Squibb, which provided the radioactive agent for the scans. This radioactive agent typically exits the body within one day.

Hruska says that the MBI as it is currently be used presents a very low risk of radiation if a woman has it a few times in her lifetime, but the researchers must lower the radiation if the technology begins to be put to use as a screening test as frequent as one or two years apart.

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New Breast Cancer Technology: Molecular Breast Imaging (Part 1)

A new screening tool that is being used to detect breast cancer is shown to work three times better than mammography at finding tumors in women who have dense tissue in their breast, which can confound mammograms.

Mammography, which is an X-ray of the breasts, was shown to detect less than a third of the tumors that were found by using this new technique called molecular breast imaging, or MBI, the researchers stated in from of a breast cancer committee that is sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and other groups.
Mammography is most commonly used to screen patients for breast cancer, but only about a quarter of women have dense breast tissue, which can cause the mammogram X-rays difficulty in seeing through this to spot small tumors. The physicians are eager for other methods that could be used to perform the scans more efficiently.
This study, which involved 940 women, is the largest to date to compare the new technology MBI to mammography. The MBI is still experimental and is not readily available to women yet.

The women from the study that were considered to be at high risk for contracting breast cancer due to a family history of the disease, genetic susceptibility or other factors, underwent mammogram screenings and the new MBI screenings.

Before an MBI, the patients are first injected with radioactive agents that get absorbed by the tissue in the breast. Breast cancer cells tend to absorb more of the agent that the healthy cells, and the specialized cameras that detect the gamma rays from the agents then it can differentiate tumors from the healthy tissues.
Carrie Hruska from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and the lead researcher of the study, said, "We're certainly not advocating replacing mammography in any way. But we think it (MBI) would have a role as an additional test for those women that aren't served as well by mammography as we would like."

With using the MBI technology, the ability to see a tumor is not affected by the density of the surrounding tissue in the breast, so it offers a great promise for women whose mammograms may not provide the most accurate assessment. Among the 940 women who participated in the study, 13 tumors were found in 12 of the women. The MBI found 10 of them and the mammography found three.

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Hair Restoration Treatments: Hope or Hype? (Part 3)

Surgical hair transplantation is the fastest growing cosmetic surgery today. There are currently a few surgical procedures available: the ‘donor strip' hair transplant, ‘follicle unit extraction', and scalp reduction.

The donor strip method is the most commonly used, provides the best results and is considered the only viable surgical treatment by over 95 percent of hair restoration surgeons in the United States. The surgeon first removes a section of hair-bearing skin from the back of the head, right around the base of the skull. The removal area is sutured together, leaving a thin scar blended into the hair in the back of the head. The follicular units are extracted and placed in cool saline solution. Then, small incisions are made in the areas of thinning and loss and one-by-one the follicular units are implanted.

Follicular Unit Extraction is just that; instead of making an incision in the back of the head, each individual follicular unit is removed with a punch blade and then relocated to the areas of thinning and loss, all in one step. Unfortunately, it isn't as simple as it sounds. First of all, hair follicles do not grow straight up and down beneath the skin; they grow at angles. Not only that, but each follicle can be at a dramatically different angle than the follicle next to it. Clinical studies have shown that 25-40 percent of all follicular units being extracted are destroyed, simply cut in half. In addition, the punch blade will leave multiple scars throughout the donor area. Bottom line: follicular unit extraction procedures cost more, result in less density and compromise the donor area. This is why few surgeons employ this technique, and respected names in hair restoration caution against it.

Scalp reduction surgery involves removing an area of the scalp, eliminating part of the area affected by hair loss. The result can be a reduced bald spot and greater coverage by surrounding hair-bearing skin as it is pulled towards the spot where the skin was removed. However, there are risks associated with this procedure. Stretching is a likely possibility since the resulting scar has a great deal of tension on it. Another possibility is traction alopecia, which is the permanent hair loss caused by great stress on hair follicles. Also, reduction in scalp elasticity from a scalp reduction can compromise future hair transplant procedures.

The cost for hair transplant surgery? The average procedure is about $5,200, and depending upon the procedure, could rise to $10,000 or more.
If you are experiencing hair loss, only you can judge the procedure that is right for you. Be sure to do your homework and keep in mind the relative risks and benefits of each procedure.

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Incision-Free Weight Loss Surgery in Experimental Phase ( Part 2)

After the surgery, the patient is placed on a liquid diet for several weeks and warned that eating too much or too fast could cause vomiting. Nutritionists say the best time to lose weight is in the 6 to 12 months following the surgery, because the body will try to fight the surgery by absorbing more nutrients.

Over the past several years, 98 patients in Mexico and Europe have had the new weight-loss surgery. Those who have passed the one-year mark have lost about 40 percent of their excess weight, on average. But in the U.S., the procedure is strictly experimental and has been used on only a few patients as part of a study paid for by the device maker, Satiety Inc.

Satiety, Inc. was founded in 2001 through a collaboration of medical device incubators Thomas Fogarty Engineering and The Foundry, and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Other companies are also developing new devices and minimally invasive operations, but Satiety is among the first to start testing its products in people.

Karleen Perez, a 25-year-old graduate student in social work, was the second patient at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia to enter the study. Dr. Marc Bessler and Dr. Daniel Davis performed the procedure Ms. Perez, while Satiety employees advised. “It (the procedure) has a lot of promise,” Dr. Bessler said. “I deal with a lot of new technologies. This, I’m really excited about.” Dr. Bessler said that he and Dr. Davis had no financial interest in Satiety other than the company paying for their work on the study.

Dr. Philip Schauer, director of bariatric surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, called the new operation very promising and said that so far it seemed to offer “a drastic reduction in side effects and risk.” Dr. Schauer was not involved in the Toga study.

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Hair Restoration Treatments: Hope or Hype? (Part 1)

Both men and women tend to lose hair thickness and amount as they age. Inherited or "pattern baldness" affects more men than women. Approximately 25 percent of men begin to bald by the time they are 30 years old, and about two-thirds are either bald or have a balding pattern by age 60. Women, on the other hand, generally have diffuse thinning that affects all parts of the scalp. In this situation, much of the hair remains, but the thickness of the hair shaft is smaller than normal.

There are a number of treatment options available designed to re-grow hair and to replace hair that's already been lost. Currently in the United States, there are more than 2,000 topical and oral products, about five surgical procedures and several hair restoration devices, but only a few that actually work. Out of all the topical and oral treatments available, only two are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They are Propecia and Rogaine.

Propecia is an oral medication; its chemical name is Finasteride. It was developed nearly 40 years ago as a treatment for prostate hypertrophy (extended prostate). However, users found that the hair in their crown and bridge areas of their scalps was getting thicker, and they weren't losing hair at the same rate they once were. Propecia is known as a DHT-inhibitor, actually slowing or halting the conversion of testosterone into di-hydrotestosterone (DHT), a hormone that shrinks hair follicles as men age. Because DHT is known to be the primary cause of male-pattern baldness, stopping the conversion of DHT allows genetically susceptible hair follicles to remain intact, and in some cases increase in size. The side effects of Propecia are minimal and can include a reduced desire for sex (1% chance) and possible breast enlargement (less than .25% chance).

Rogaine is a topical treatment, the latest version being foam. Its active ingredient is Minoxidil, which was originally developed as a product to control blood pressure. But users found that they were growing hair in areas where hair didn't previously exist. Minoxidil comes in a number of strengths: the maximum non-prescription strength of five percent usually recommended for men, two percent formula recommended for women and prescription strength 12 ½ percent, which is seldom used.

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Hormone Therapy for Prostate Cancer: Helpful or Harmful?(Part 2)

Lu-Yao said, "The reason patients want this is they want something that will improve their quality of life or their survival. But hormone therapy has a detrimental effect on quality of life. And we cannot find any survival benefit for these men in their 70s with very early-stage cancer."

So now we have to ask, why do so many men choose to undergo this unproven treatment that now seems to do more harm than it does good?
Otis Brawley, M.D. and chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society says that it is because it is just an American phenomenon. One of the problems is that when a man finds out that he has early stages of prostate cancer, both he and his physician feel it is necessary to do something. Unfortunately, the result in the end is that the number of men that should get conservative therapy end up getting some kind of intervention.

Brawley and Lu-Yao both suggest that these elderly men would have done just as well if their cancer had never been found. Brawley also notes that many of these men would have likely underwent continued prostate cancer screenings with PSA tests. The other men probably had possible prostate abnormalities that would have been detected by a urologist.
No matter how they got to their conclusions about their cancers, all of these men must have agreed to undergo prostate biopsies. Also, they may have not have been fully informed and could have come to the wrong decision, says the head of urology at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Simon Hall, MD.

"You have to have a discussion with an older man before he has a prostate biopsy. You have to ask them, 'Do you really want to open Pandora's Box?' Most patients with localized prostate cancer are not going to die from their disease in the first 10 years anyway. It is a legitimate question whether to screen patients this old, and whether urologists should biopsy older patients based on just a knee-jerk reaction."
Hall also noted that he would only treat a very few men with hormone therapy alone. A lot of the elderly men are at a very low risk and really don't need any treatment at all. It seems that the hormone therapy would make no difference so why put these men through the side effects or cost?
All of these experts have noted that the finding of the current study do not apply to the younger men who might receive androgen-deprivation therapy in combination with radiation or surgery. These such men may actually benefit from this type of hormone therapy.

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Blood Test Detects Down Syndrome (and More) with No Risk to Fetus (Part 2)

According to the researchers, the accuracy of the new test was demonstrated in a small study of 18 women and a single male donor where the nine women having a Down syndrome pregnancy were correctly identified. In addition, the test identified two of the women as carrying fetuses with Edward syndrome and one carrying a fetus with Patau syndrome. The test detected every genetic defect and was able to identify every normal pregnancy as well as the male donor.

According to Quake in a telephone interview, “It's the first universal, noninvasive test for Down syndrome. So this should be the first step in putting an end to invasive testing procedures like amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling.”

Although there are some other noninvasive prenatal tests available, such as the ultrasound, and blood tests like the alpha-fetoprotein test that can find potential signs of a chromosomal disorder such as Down syndrome, they cannot diagnose with certainty. Quake said that these tests are “indirect and weak predictors of what's going on.”

Quake said the next step is to perform a much larger study and that the new test could be widely available in two or three years, possibly becoming a routine prenatal test of a baby's health. Currently, the test would cost about $700. But that cost would drop considerably if it were widely used. The study can be found in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Hormone Therapy for Prostate Cancer: Helpful or Harmful? (Part 1)

If you have prostate cancer and you are an elderly man you may want to consider other options other than hormone therapy. A study has shown the one in four U.S. men with early prostate cancer will undergo hormone therapy, but it more likely to more harmful to them than helpful.

The surgery to remove the prostate, radical prostatectomy, is a little too risky for men that are in their 70s and 80s. When these men are found to have the early stages of prostate cancer, they will have three options to choose from.

The first option is they can wait to see whether this usually slow-moving cancer will become a problem. This type of observation is called conservative therapy or watchful waiting. The second option is to undergo radiation therapy and suffer its side effects. The third option is to undergo androgen-deprivation therapy: hormonal drugs such as Lupron, Eligard, Viduar, and Zoladex, or undergo surgery (orchiectomy) that will cut off the production of the male hormones.

Older men that are in the United States often opt for stand-alone hormone therapy, even thought there is really no proof that it is really helpful. One of the hormone therapy's most obvious side effects is sexual dysfunction. According to recent studies, the greater concern now with hormone therapy is linking the androgen deprivation therapies to heart disease, diabetes, bone fractures, and a reduction in muscle mass.

The most recent study on the hormone therapy strongly suggests that this type of therapy offer elderly men no benefit to justify these serious risks. Grace L. Lu- Yao Ph.D., MPH, which is from the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, and her colleagues collected data from more than 19,000 mean that have been diagnosed with the early stages of prostate cancer at the average age of 77. Out of these men, none of them underwent surgery or radiation treatment for the early prostate cancer. Nearly 8,000 of the men, however, did decide to go with androgen deprivation therapy.

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Common Cause of Male Infertility Successfully Treated Without Surgery (Part 2)

Of all the potential pre-treatment predictors of pregnancy such as varicocele severity, hormone levels, ultrasound findings, and other semen parameters, the researchers found that the only significant predictor was sperm movement.

In follow-up data on pregnancy in partners for 173 of the men, 45 couples or 26 percent, reported a pregnancy with five of them assisted by intrauterine insemination.

The study findings indicate that RVE does improve semen quality, resulting in pregnancy about one-third of the time, which prompted the authors to conclude that fertility benefits seen with this procedure are "similar to those reported after surgical repair," and refer to the treatment as a "useful adjunct to in vitro fertilization therapy."

The authors acknowledged several limitations of the study which included the absence of a control group, the lack of further assessment and grading of female infertility in women without proven infertility, and the relatively short observation period for treatment success. The study and its findings appear in the August issue of Radiology.

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Common Cause of Male Infertility Successfully Treated Without Surgery (Part 1)

According to new research, many men who suffer from infertility due to a problem with varicoceles can now be effectively treated with a minimally invasive procedure called retrograde venous embolization.

Varicoceles are abnormally enlarged veins in the scrotum. The condition can cause testicles to shrink and soften. As many as 16 percent of men have this type of varicose vein, which is a common cause of low sperm count. In fact, about 40 percent of men who are infertile have varicoceles, with the traditional treatment being surgery. Why the condition can cause fertility problems in men remains unknown.

Retrograde venous embolization (RVE) is a procedure done with a tiny catheter that works by blocking excessive blood flow into the veins and allowing them to shrink back to their normal size. During the procedure, a radiologist inserts a small catheter through a small incision in the groin and uses an imaging tool to guide it to the affected right or left-sided varicocele. There is a minimal recovery time and according to researchers, most patients can return to work the next day.

Dr. Sebastian Flacke from the University of Bonn Medical School in Germany led the study of infertile men aged 18-50 with at least one varicocele. All of the men had healthy partners who were trying to become pregnant. There was a total of 228 varicoceles in the 223 men who underwent the RVE procedure. Of them, 226 varicoceles were successfully treated while clinical and ultrasound testing revealed that the varicocele was totally resolved in 92.4 percent of patients (206 participants). The procedure significantly improved both sperm count and their ability to move spontaneously and actively (motility), yet the averages were still abnormally low according to the World Health Organization guidelines.

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Calling all men who want to become fathers! Soy products may reduce a man's sperm count. Based on a recent study, men who consume soy products may have lower sperm counts than those who don't. The study was based on a small group of men who visited the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center from 2000 to 2006.

Even though the study found that some of the men who ate soy products on a regular basis had lower sperm counts, the researchers conducting the study are not saying that soy products were the cause of the lower sperm concentrations. The men who had soy products in their diets recorded lower sperm counts than those that didn't, but their counts were still within the normal range.

Researchers don't deny that during the study men who consumed soy products had lower sperm counts, but they want people to realize there are other factors other than soy products that may have played a role in the lower sperm counts, such as being overweight or obese. Also, some researchers say the 99 men that were involved in the study may not be a good representation of the average population.

During the study, semen samples were taken from the men and they completed a questionnaire, asking how often they consumed specific soy products and the amounts of the products containing soy they ate. Based on the questionnaire, where the men presented their eating habits over the past three months, almost 40 of the men had no soy products in their diets, 18 had eaten soy products less than a couple times, 22 said they ate soy products between a couple times a month and a couple times a week, and 20 ate soy products at least a couple times a week.

The study, led by Jorge Chavarro with The Harvard School of Public Health, can be seen in the journal Human Reproduction. The researchers state that the clinical significance of their findings still need to be determined, but Chavarro said isoflavones in the soy—hormones that have similar effects to estrogen—could be affecting the sperm counts. The study didn't find that those who ate soy products were outside of the normal range, but they were lower than those men who didn't eat soy products at all and were especially lower in those men who were overweight or obese and ate soy products.

More research seems to be needed to draw more certain conclusions, in regards to sperm count and soy products, but if you already have a lower sperm count you may want to consider removing soy products from your.

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The Road to Surviving Prostate Cancer (Part 2)

This study shows that radiation therapy for recurrent prostate cancer significantly prolongs survival, "What this new study tells us is that even men with aggressive disease that has recurred after surgery appear to benefit from radiation therapy. It also means that we may be able to give radiation selectively to those who are really likely to benefit from it," said Trock.

On a lighter side of a dark subject, approximately 30 to 40 percent of men that have prostate cancer surgery for removal of high-0risk tumors experience no recurrence of cancer. The study was designed to determine the optimal timing for therapy and if it would improve survival rates for men with recurrent prostate cancer. The probability of a 10-year survival rate was 86 percent for men that had received radiotherapy vs. 62 percent for those that did not have radiation.

"This review suggests that even patients with aggressive cancer at the time of surgery not only benefit from salvage radiation therapy, but also actually live longer without a second prostate cancer recurrence," says Theodore L. DeWeese, M.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences. "This is the most important news for this group of patients in a long time."

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The Road to Surviving Prostate Cancer (Part 1)

Prostate cancer, which usually occurs in older men and has a higher incidence in African American men, ranks second in cancer-related deaths for males. It is estimated that there will be over 180,000 new cases and over 28,000 deaths in the United States this year alone, even though the survival rate has dramatically increased since the advent and approval of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing.
As reported in the recent Journal of the American Medical Association, a new study has found that in cases of recurring prostrate cancer where there has been surgical removal of the prostate, that men may benefit from early radiation therapy. In a statement to Reuters Health, Dr. Bruce T. Trock said, "Our study provides the first evidence that salvage radiotherapy can improve survival."

In the study, 397 men, with rapidly rising PSA levels, were not given any salvage treatment, while 160 received radiotherapy, and 78 had radiation and hormone therapy. After the recurrence of cancer, the mortality rates from prostate cancer in the three groups listed were: 22 percent, 11 percent, and 12 percent based on a six-year study. Men that have had prostate cancer surgery stand a significantly better rate of surviving the disease long term if they have radiotherapy within two years of the recurrence. One of the most surprising facts in a ‘look-back' study found that in 635 men, the survival benefits were best where new tumors were growing fastest.

In men with a slower rising PSA, Dr. Trock explained, "They had a better prognosis already-their survival at 10 years was 75 percent without any salvage treatment-so adding salvage radiation didn't improve their survival much." Trock also added, "Our results suggest that salvage radiation may be appropriate for those men with rapidly growing tumors who previously may not have been considered for such therapy."

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Free Drug Samples May Be a Health Risk for Children (Part 2)

Also among the most widely distributed free samples were broad-spectrum antibiotics that are not used in the first line of treatment. Cutrona said that overuse of such drugs could contribute to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. She noted that previous research has shown that free samples lead doctors to prescribe drugs that might not be the best choice. She went on to explain, “New medications are frequently released before their safety profile is fully understood, and samples tend to be newer medications. Free samples encourage the casual use of medications in our children before enough is known about potential harm.”

Although the prescription drug industry maintains that free samples fill an important role for poor or uninsured patients, the study found that these patients rarely receive the samples, as they do not have access to the doctors who distribute them. Of the children who received free samples, only 16 percent were uninsured for part or all of 2004, with less than one-third having low family incomes, which is defined as less than $38,000 for a family of four.

Ken Johnson, senior vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry group, responded to the study in a statement and said that free samples offer doctors “valuable firsthand experience with new treatment options and can also play a valuable role in fostering the appropriate use of medicines.” He also noted, “While it is true that poor and uninsured patients are not the only recipients of drug samples, a patient's financial situation is a factor physicians often consider when distributing such samples.”

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Free Drug Samples May Be a Health Risk for Children (Part 1)

A group of researchers from Cambridge Health Alliance and Hasbro Children's Hospital found that 1 in 20 U.S. residents under the age of 18 received at least one free drug sample in 2004. Additionally, when counting just those who were prescribed medication, 1 in 10 received at least one free sample.

In the study, the researchers analyzed data on 10,295 U.S. residents under the age of 18 to examine the use of free drug samples in pediatric patients. The data was taken from a 2004 national survey regarding medical spending.

According to lead author Sarah Cutrona, an internist at Cambridge Health Alliance in Massachusetts, giving out free samples “encourages a casual attitude toward medications.” Cutrona also said that in distributing free samples, important safety checks done by pharmacists are bypassed and that samples do not include childproof caps or instructions regarding children’s doses and procedures for an accidental overdose.

The researchers also found that out of the 15 most commonly distributed free samples, 2 are medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These medications, Strattera and Adderall, are controlled and monitored by the Drug Enforcement Agency due to high potential for abuse. Both drugs also carry the strongest possible safety warnings required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, called “black box” on their labels, as do two of the other commonly sampled medications known as Elidel, used for atopic dermatitis, and Advair, for asthma.

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Not All Pets and Children Are Compatible (Part 2)

The risks of having these pets are real. In 2003, there was an outbreak human monkey pox that was traced back to imported African Gambian rats that had infected many prairie dogs and were sold as pets. Small turtles that were kept as house pets were responsible for approximately 103 cases of salmonella during the second half of last year, mostly in young children. In just last week, an Iraqi dog was shipped to the United States as part of an international rescue effort for animals and was found to have rabies. Twenty-four other animals were in this shipment and had already been distributed to 16 states. According to the October 3rd issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that these other animals were also potentially exposed to the rabies.

The new review by AAP details a number of the diseases that could be potentially transmitted by these more unusual house pets. The reptiles have a very high rate of carrying different strains of salmonella, as do turtles, baby poultry (including chicks), and our friendly hamsters. Plague is a disease which is carried by wild rodents and is transmitted to human that are handling infected animals. This group also includes the common house cat that has been bitten by fleas. The herpes B virus has been said to be carried by the macaque monkey. These animals don’t have to be in a household to pose a risk. More than 55 outbreaks of the diseases in humans, including the infection with E. coli bacteria, have involved animals that were in public settings between 1991 and 2005.

The report is recommending that we wash our hand frequently to help minimize these risks. Children that are under the age of 5 are at particular risk, in part because their immune systems are still developing. Adults that have weakened immune systems, including women who are pregnant and the elderly, are also at a greater risk.

Dr. Jonathan Field, emeritus director of the pediatric allergy and asthma clinic at the New York University/Bellvue Medical Center, stated that our normal allergies are typically associated with dogs and cats than with nontraditional pets. The real problem seem to lie with the people who have weakened immune systems and are exposed to a virus form or a bacteria from one of these pets.

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When we were young we enjoyed our furry companions, but in today’s society exposing your children to the joys of owning their own pet, in some cases, may also mean exposing them to injuries and infections. Parents need to be very aware of the dangers—which include salmonella infection and even monkey pox—of owning a nontraditional pet such as rodents, reptiles, monkeys, and more.

The most recent report on this subject was published in October by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in the most recent issue of Pediatrics. The study’s co-author Dr. Robert Frenck, a pediatrics professor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and a member of the AAP committee of infectious diseases, said that this report is the first comprehensive statement on this particular topic. “Nontraditional pets are becoming more traditional, and nontraditional pets can expose kids to disease they otherwise might not be exposed to…. If parents are thinking about having these nontraditional pets, they may want to talk to a veterinarian and/or pediatrician first to see if there is any real concern.”

The number of exotic animals that are in the United States has nearly doubled since 2002. For example, approximately 40,000 households in America now harbor hedgehogs, while 4.4 million homes have reptiles, according to the new report. A professor of the pediatric infectious diseases at the University Of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Dr. Charles Miller, added that from the standpoint of public education and from the standpoint of both family practitioners and pediatricians, this subject of owning exotic pets is very important.

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Simple Air Circulation Could Help to Prevent SIDS (Part 2)

The AAP has made several recommendations for preventing SIDS. They are listed below and further information in regards to SIDS prevention can be found on their website at www.healthychildcare.org.
1. Healthy babies should always sleep on their backs. Side sleeping is not as safe as back sleeping and is not advised.
2. Get a physician's note for non-back sleepers that explains why the baby should not use a back-sleeping position.
3. Use safety-approved cribs and firm mattresses (cradles and bassinets may provide safe sleeping enclosures, but safety standards have not been established for these items).
4. Keep cribs free of toys, stuffed animals, and extra bedding.
5. Place the child's feet to the foot of the crib and tuck in a light blanket along the sides and foot of the mattress. The blanket should not come up higher than the infant's chest. Another option is to use sleep clothing and nothing else in the infant's crib.
6. Keep the room at a temperature that is comfortable for a lightly clothed adult.
7. Visually check on sleeping babies often.
8. No smoking around babies. Make sure babies are being watched when you go outside to smoke. Child care providers who smoke should do so outside, with an overcoat on. The overcoat will be removed when they return to work. Never allow smoking in a room where babies sleep, as exposure to smoke in a room where babies sleep, as exposure to smoke is linked to an increased risk of SIDS.
9. Have supervised "tummy time" for awake babies. This will help babies strengthen their muscles and develop normally.
10. Sleep only 1 baby per crib.

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Simple Air Circulation Could Help to Prevent SIDS (Part I )

When preparing the nursery for your new arrival, adding a fan to the list of necessities may be beneficial. A fan could help to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the number one killer of infants from one month to one year old. When placing a box fan in both of my boy’s rooms, to help drown out background noise, I didn’t realize I was helping to prevent SIDS, but thank goodness, it may have aided in the prevention of the very scary infant killer.

Researchers with Kaiser Permanente in California recently reported on their study, which involved interviews with mothers of 185 babies who died from SIDS, and 312 other infants, from 11 counties around California. According to the study, recently published in the latest issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, babies who slept with a fan in their room reduced their chances of dying from SIDS by 72 percent. Researchers feel fans may help to circulate fresh air and prevent babies from suffocating by re-breathing exhaled carbon dioxide, one of the culprits many doctors feel causes SIDS. The fans seemed to provide greater protection for babies who slept in warmer environments, over 69 degrees. Opening a window and allowing fresh air to circulate around a baby’s room may also help to prevent SIDS, but it could be just coincidence, according to the study.

Since the early 1990s, infant deaths from SIDS have been cut in half, mostly due to the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations of babies being placed to sleep on their backs rather than their bellies, a firm mattress be used, and to avoid loose bedding in a babies crib. For many years, parents were told to place their babies to sleep on their tummies, but after extensive monitoring and research, doctors and researchers feel it is better to place babies to sleep on their backs, which helps prevent babies from suffocating with their faces being pressed into the mattress. Pacifiers also seem to aid in preventing SIDS, due to the handle keeping infants faces from pressing against their mattress.

Dr. De-Kun Li, the lead researcher of the study and a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist with Kaiser Permanente's research division, explained that young babies have weak neck muscles, which limits their ability to turn their heads and sometimes may prevent them from breathing fresh air. Even though the key step in preventing SIDS is still placing a baby on their back to sleep, extra steps such as using a fan in a baby’s room to prevent SIDS, and several other steps should be followed.

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Hormones May Help Women with Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia usually affects more men than women, and women usually develop symptoms around five years later than men. Thus far, the treatment for both men and women has been the same.
During her psychiatric training, Jayashri Kulkami, MBBS, PhD, spoke with many schizophrenic women who kept telling her "It's my hormones, Doc." They also told her "No one takes any notice when I say it's to do with my hormones." Dr. Kulkami took notice and she and her colleagues have now completed a series of small studies which shows that estrogen can have a noticeable effect in reducing symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, and disordered thinking. The findings were from a four-week study of 102 women of childbearing age with diagnosed schizophrenia.

Kulkami and her colleagues at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia used a patch containing estradiol, the most common form of estrogen, for half of the women. They continued to take the normal medications prescribed for their illness. The other half also had a patch, but it contained no active medication.
During the 28 days of the study, the symptoms and feelings of the study subjects were recorded on a weekly basis, and those on estrogen reported less negative changes in their condition.
More than a century ago it was recognized that there was a link between estrogen and mental illness, but it was only recently considered as a possible treatment. The exact affect of hormones on schizophrenia isn't understood, but the researchers said that it might have a swift effect on blood flow in the brain, or the way sugar is used as fuel for the brain. There is also the possibility that the way brain cells communicate with each other was affected. They said that there was a possibility that the hormone might have uses in other mental illnesses in women.

Estrogen has effects throughout the body, including promotion of hormone sensitive breast and cervical cancers. This means that continuing research using estrogen must be done with some caution. Kulkami's team is exploring the use of drugs called selective estrogen receptor modulators or SERMs. They want to see if these drugs exert the same antipsychotic effect as estrogen without the side effects.

The researchers did a brief study treating schizophrenic men with estrogen, and the therapy also seemed to reduce their acute symptoms. Though men do have some natural estrogen introducing too much would bring out effeminate characteristics. The researchers plan a larger study using SERMs in men. SERM trials on women are also planned. At present, Kulkami is focusing on a three-site study of estrogen patches in women of childbearing age with schizophrenia. This study is designed to ensure that the findings of the previous study were not a fluke.

Kulkami said she treats women with estrogen therapy but insures their continued health with Pap smears, breast exams, and blood pressure checks.
Other professionals warn that estrogen therapy appears useful, but much more work is needed before it can be considered safe and effective.

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