It's possible to predict pneumonia risk in elderly people

Pneumonia is a life threatening illness in the elderly and so predicting who is particularly at risk is important in order to help with prevention interventions. Health in Aging Foundation reports that researchers have developed a “prediction score” which can help healthcare professionals predict which elderly people might be at the highest risk for developing pneumonia. In older adults pneumonia is a leading cause of illness and death. Approximately 40 percent of older adults suffering from pneumonia are hospitalized and confronted with high rates of complications and death. The primary risk factors for pneumonia include getting older, chronic lung disease, smoking, being underweight, and having problems functioning. This study has been published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. It is possible physicians could use a pneumonia prediction score to encourage elderly people to get the pneumococcal vaccine which protects against pneumonia. Physicians could also use this score to counsel high risk people about positive behavioral changes such as to stop smoking. It is therefore clear predicting who is at highest risk for pneumonia could save lives.

Most physicians accept Shaken Baby Syndrome & Abusive Head Trauma as valid diagnoses

Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma are very serious matters which are accepted as valid diagnoses by most physicians reports Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. There is a high degree of consensus among physicians that it is possible to produce subdural hematoma, serious retinal hemorrhage, coma or death if a young child is shaken. In this study more than 80 percent of physicians said that shaking a young child with or without impact was likely to cause subdural hematoma, while 90 percent said it was likely to cause severe retinal hemorrhage and 78 percent said this was likely to result in coma or death. Sandeep Narang, MD, JD, the lead author on the study, said the data show that it is generally accepted by physicians that shaking a young child is a very serious form of abuse. This study has been published in the Journal of Pediatrics. The empirical data from this study have confirmed that in child abuse cases Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma are considered likely causes of subdural hematoma, severe retinal hemorrhages and coma or death in child abuse cases. The only alternative theory of causation for these findings which has been generally accepted is high-velocity motor vehicle collisions.

Stroke can largely be prevented

Stroke is a very serious life threatening event. Initiatives to prevent stroke are therefore vitally important. McMaster University has reported via EurekAlert a global study has shown that stroke is often preventable. The 10 primary risk factors for stroke are the same across the world with regional variations. The authors of this study have written that stroke is a major public health priority, however the variation by region should influence what strategies are used to decrease the risk of stroke. Worldwide stroke is a leading cause of death and disability. This is particularly true in low-income and middle-income countries. 85% of strokes are ischaemic which means they are caused by blood clots. 15% of strokes are haemorrhagic stroke or bleeding into the brain.Researchers have confirmed that hypertension is the most significant modifiable risk factor for stroke in all regions.

Hypertension is therefore the primary target in decreasing the burden of stroke across the world. It has been estimated if hypertension was eliminated the number of strokes would be cut by about 48%. It people were more physically active strokes would be cut by about 36%. It people had better diets there would be about 19% fewer strokes. It smoking was eliminated the number of strokes would be cut by about 12%. With less cardiac disease there would be about 9% fewer strokes. If diabetes was better controlled there would be about 4% less strokes. If alcohol consumption was cut there would be 6% less strokes. If stress was reduced there would be about 6% less strokes. If lipid profiles were better it is estimated there would be 27% fewer strokes. 

There were regional variations found with some risk factors. Consider that the importance of hypertension ranged from about 40% in Western Europe, North America, and Australia to about 60% in Southeast Asia. Risk associated with alcohol intake was lowest in Western Europe, North America and Australia but was highest in Africa and south Asia. In China the impact of physical inactivity was highest. This study has been published in The Lancet. The findings from the study support the development of both global and region-specific programs aimed at preventing stroke. What is of most importance here is an understanding that stroke can be prevented and an awareness of the risk factors for stroke can be with prevention.

Adequate skin self-exams are rarely done by melanoma patients

As reported by the Skin Cancer Foundation melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer. Melanoma is caused primarily by intense, occasional UV exposure which frequently leads to sunburn, particularly in those who are genetically predisposed to this disease. An estimated 10,130 people in the United States are killed annually by melanoma. Yet as reported by MD News a new study has found that thorough skin self-exams are rare among patients with melanoma. Patients with melanoma often lack the knowledge or confidence to perform regular skin self-exams which are effective. Such self-exams are however important because after a diagnosis of melanoma patients are at risk of recurrence for 10 years or more and they have a ninefold greater risk of developing a primary melanoma than someone who has never been diagnosed with melanoma. Yet many patients actually lack an awareness about the need for skin self-exams. And many patients have never had adequate guidance on how to perform these self exams. It is important to encourage melanoma patients to do regular skin self exams. These self exams are vital for early detection of melanoma. There is a better prognosis with early detection and treatment. Patients should be advised routine physician visits do not decrease a patients’ need to be vigilant.

Psychiatrists are largely to blame for much of the violence in the USA

There have been an unusually large number of mass shootings in the United States in recent years. The American Sociological Association reported via Newswise in an article that the United States has 5 percent of world’s population however the country had 31 percent of the public mass shooters in the world between the years 1966 and 2012. The United States has been the attack site for a disproportionate percent of public mass shooters across the world over the years. There are greater than 200 million more firearms in circulation in the United States than any other country. It is therefore not surprising public mass shooters in the United States are more likely to arm themselves with multiple weapons than foreign mass shooters. Mass shooters in the United States have been observed to be more likely to attack in schools, office buildings, and factories/warehouses than mass shooters in other countries. It seems the United States could probably decrease its number of school shootings, workplace shootings, and public mass shootings in other places if it lowered the number of guns which are in circulation. 

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International has reported that an unusually large number of mass shooters have been under the influence of psychiatric drugs. There have been a minimum of 35 school shootings and/or school associated acts of violence which have been committed by people taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs. Furthermore, there have been scores of people wounded and killed by people taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs. Nevertheless the criminally insane quack psychiatrists continue to carelessly and dangerously use their trendy labels such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder without any scientific basis at all for these diagnoses. The trash psychiatrists are also continuing to carelessly prescribe their poisonous arsenal of psychiatric drugs often with the help of their personal likewise trash judges to enforce their so called treatments even though as the Citizens Commission on Human Rights reports 22 international drug regulatory agency warnings have cited side effects from these drugs which include mania, violence, psychosis and even homicidal ideation. Clearly the psychiatrists are right at the heart of the tragic problem of dramatically increased violence in the United States and worldwide.

There is likely to be an artificial pancreas by 2018

The concept of the development of an artificial pancreas to control diabetes is intriguing. Diabetologia has reported via EurekAlert that it is likely we will have an artificial pancreas by 2018. An artificial pancreas is a device which can be used for patients with type 1 diabetes to have their insulin monitored and automatically adjusted. Technology which is presently available allows insulin pumps to deliver insulin to people who have diabetes after a reading or readings are taken from glucose meters, however these two components are separate. Authors Dr Roman Hovorka and Dr Hood Thabit of the University of Cambridge say it is the joining together of both parts into a 'closed loop' which makes an artificial pancreas. Users are positive about this concept with feelings it offers them time off from constantly monitoring their blood glucose levels. Improvements in technology have made the alternatives of both whole pancreas transplantation and of transplants of just the beta cells from the pancreas which produce insulin possible. 

However people who have these transplants need drugs to suppress their immune systems just as with other organ transplants. Furthermore with whole pancreas transplantation, major surgery is needed; and in beta cell islet transplantation, the body's immune system may still attack the cells which are transplanted and kill off a significant proportion of them. With the use of an artificial pancreas the need for major surgery and immunosuppressant drugs is avoided. 

This study has been published in the journal Diabetologia. The unmet clinical need for improved glucose control while lowering the burden of diabetes self-care in people suffering from type 1 diabetes is addressed by the artificial pancreas. It should be really exciting to watch continued milestones being made towards moving the artificial pancreas from the lab to free-living unsupervised home settings. The successful development of the artificial pancreas should make life significantly better for people afflicted with type 1 diabetes.

Kids brains are at risk from many common chemicals

The developing brains of children are very fragile and extremely sensitive to toxic agents. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has reported that the development of the brains of children is at risk from many common chemicals. Many scientists, health practitioners and children’s health advocates have been calling for renewed attention to the increasing evidence that neurodevelopment in fetuses and children of all ages is at risk from many common and widely available chemicals. Chemicals which are of the greatest concern include lead and mercury; organophosphate pesticides used in agriculture and home gardens; phthalates, which are used in pharmaceuticals, plastics and personal care products; flame retardants which are known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers; and air pollutants which are produced by the combustion of wood and fossil fuels. Polychlorinated biphenyls which were once used as coolants in electrical equipment, also are of great concern. In 1977 PCBs were banned in the U.S. but they can persist in the environment for decades. 

 This study has been published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. University of Illinois comparative biosciences professor Susan Schantz says that aside from being pervasive in air and water these chemicals are also present in everyday consumer products which we use on our bodies and in our homes. It is urgent to decrease exposures to toxic chemicals in order to protect our kids. There is no doubt that kids in America today are at an unusually high risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders which affect the brain and nervous system including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, intellectual disabilities, and other learning and behavioral disabilities. There are multiple causes to these complex disorders including social, environmental, and genetic.

It is possible to prevent the contribution of toxic chemicals to these disorders. At this time the system used in the United States to evaluate scientific evidence and make health-based decisions about environmental chemicals is terribly flawed. Chemicals are often introduced into the lives of people without adequate review of their effects on fetal and child health. Schantz says we often don't even know what many chemicals are doing to the neurodevelopmental development of children since they simply haven't been studied. This is shocking and unacceptable. There must be more aggressive initiatives to protect the developing brains of kids from potentially toxic chemicals.