http://www.kentucky.com/148/index.xml News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com en-us Copyright 2008 Kentucky.com medicine 60 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:24:40 EDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's Workbench webmaster@kentucky.com http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/451750.html http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/451750.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:38 EDT
Lardy, lardy: Kentucky is the seventh-fattest state in America, according to a new analysis.

Mississippi is No. 1, according to an analysis of Centers for Disease Control data done by CalorieLab Inc. This is one instance where Kentuckians may be glad to ride Mississippi's fat-fried coattails.

The fattest states, in order of pudge, are: Mississippi, West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

The slimmest state is Colorado, followed by Hawaii. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/451068.html http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/451068.html Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:11 EDT
CHICAGO . First came the floods . now the mosquitoes. An explosion of they insects is pestering cleanup crews and just about anyone venturing outside in the waterlogged Midwest.

In some parts of Iowa there are 20 times the normal number, and in Chicago up to five times more than usual.

The good news is these are mostly floodwater mosquitoes, not the kind that usually carry West Nile virus and other diseases. But they are very hungry, and sometimes attack in swarms with a stinging bite.

Heavy rain followed by high temperatures creates ideal conditions for these insects, whose eggs hatch in the soil after heavy rains. Scientists call them nuisance mosquitoes. You could call that an understatement. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/449474.html http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/449474.html Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:52 EDT
A medical malpractice case in which an Owingsville woman accused a Lexington gynecologist of unnecessary castration . removing her healthy ovaries . without warning her of the surgery's consequences went to the jury Tuesday.

The defense argued that the doctor used sound medical judgment.

.He's done the worst thing a physician can do . he violated her trust,. said Lexington attorney Sheila Hiestand.

The plaintiff, 38 year-old Connie Grimes, wept quietly after closing arguments, leaning on her husband. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/448726.html http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/448726.html Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:08 EDT
WASHINGTON . Remember peeking through a View-Master? Scientists are using the same concept behind the classic kids' toy to try to see mammograms in 3-D.

The goal: A better way to check for breast cancer in women with breasts too dense for today's mammograms to give a clear picture.

Radiologists donning 3-D glasses isn't the only potential aid. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is testing a new kind of breast camera that might challenge the images of those far pricier MRI exams now reserved for the most high-risk women, but at a fraction of the price.

Both technologies still are experimental. But the research is being watched closely because the need is so great: Half of women younger than 50 and a third of women over 50 are estimated to have dense breasts. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/446274.html http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/446274.html Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:31 EDT
CHICAGO . Wireless systems used by many hospitals to keep track of medical equipment can cause potentially deadly breakdowns in lifesaving devices such as breathing and dialysis machines, researchers reported Tuesday in a study that warned hospitals to conduct safety tests.

Some of the microchip-based .smart. systems are touted as improving patient safety, but a Dutch study of equipment . without the patients . suggests the systems could actually cause harm.

A U.S. patient-safety expert said the study .is of urgent significance. and said hospitals should respond immediately to the .disturbing. results.

The wireless systems send out radio waves that can interfere with equipment such as respirators, external pacemakers and kidney dialysis machines, according to the study. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/446273.html http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/446273.html Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:31 EDT
NEW YORK . Health officials are trying to persuade doctors to offer HIV tests to nearly every patient in a New York City community hit harder than most by AIDS.

Under a new program announced Thursday, officials have set an ambitious goal of testing a quarter-million adults in the Bronx, one of five boroughs that make up New York City, within three years.

.We need every single individual to know their status,. said Dr. Monica Sweeney, an assistant health commissioner who specializes in HIV prevention.

Like dozens of other states, New York now requires doctors to obtain a patient's written consent and provide a brief counseling session before giving them a test for the AIDS virus, a process that can take up to 20 minutes. That's enough to deter doctors and nurses from routinely suggesting HIV tests to patients, according to the city. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/445238.html http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/445238.html Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:18 EDT
WASHINGTON . Fears of bird flu are receding and sales of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu have slumped. Now its maker is offering a deal to U.S. employers: Pay an annual fee and reserve enough to protect every worker if a new super-flu strikes.

The plan announced Thursday comes as the federal government also begins a new effort to encourage many businesses to stockpile anti-flu drugs in case of a pandemic. Those private stockpiles would supplement a national stockpile that contains enough doses to treat only a fraction of the population.

But stockpiling is a big upfront investment for a threat that might never arrive, and requires replacing supplies whenever drug doses expire. Roche Holding AG says its new plan would remove some of those barriers for companies otherwise interested in Tamiflu.

The U.S. government, in an unusual move, congratulated Roche on the program and helped to publicize it. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/444141.html http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/444141.html Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:40 EDT
In an emergency order, the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure has suspended the license of Lexington gynecologist Hamid Sheikh to practice medicine.

An investigator for the Attorney General's office reported that she found expired medications, unsanitary conditions, and missing or inoperable equipment in the office of Sheikh, who has performed abortions at his Lexington office since 1975.

In November, Sheikh was indicted in Franklin Circuit Court on four counts of defrauding Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor. Specifically, he is alleged to have submitted false billing statements to Medicaid since 2004, disguising abortions as ultrasounds for normal pregnancies and illegally charging Medicaid patients.

One Medicaid investigator, a nurse, found .medical care standards dramatically out of compliance. in Sheikh's office, according to documents that accompanied the medical board's June 5 order. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/443017.html http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/443017.html Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:05 EDT
Sleep apnea linked to heart disease

People who stop breathing during sleep are more likely to lose their expected, and beneficial, drop in nighttime blood pressure, said a new study by University of Wisconsin researchers.

This brings scientists one step closer to understanding how sleep apnea, characterized by brief pauses in breathing during sleep, contributes to the development of various cardiovascular diseases.

.We and other people have already found that sleep apnea is related to cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, strokes and heart failure. We're always looking to see what are the mechanisms by which sleep apnea causes bad cardiovascular outcomes,. said Khin Mae Hla, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and lead author of the study, which is published in the June issue of Sleep. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/443016.html http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/443016.html Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:09 EDT
WASHINGTON . Viruses aren't always the bad guys. Sure, they can cause colds, measles, AIDS and other miseries. But with some tinkering, these tiny organisms could become a new and better way to treat cancer.

In the last few years, scientists have been genetically engineering various viruses so they attack cancer cells but leave healthy cells alone. These .oncolytic. (cancer-destroying) viruses are being tested in hundreds of terminally ill patients for whom surgery, radiation and chemotherapy have failed.

Several of these experimental viruses target malignant brain tumors, like the incurable glioma that's afflicting Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

.The past two years have seen several major advances in oncolytic virotherapy,. David Kirn, the president of Jennerex Biotherapeutics Inc., a biotechnology firm in San Francisco, reported in the journal Gene Therapy in April. .A large number of clinical trials have been carried out. Safety in humans has been demonstrated in more than 800 patients.. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/452885.html http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/452885.html Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:23 EDT
LONDON . A horde of paparazzi are the least of Angelina Jolie's worries these days. It's not easy giving birth to twins.

The actress has checked into a French Riviera hospital in Nice, France, to be kept under doctors' watch and to rest before she gives birth. Doctors say that's not a bad strategy.

.The risk of nearly everything you can think of in pregnancy is increased with twins,. said Dr. Virginia Beckett, an obstetrician-gynecologist and spokeswoman for Britain's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Mothers pregnant with twins have higher chances of miscarriage, stillbirth, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Beckett characterized women expecting twins as .a particularly worrying group of patients.. ]]>