http://http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/index.xml News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com en-us Copyright 2009 Kentucky.com Medicine 60 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:23:39 EST http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's Workbench interactive-ops@herald-leader.com http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1025135.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1025135.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:58 EST
About 6 million people each year go to hospitals with chest pain, but only a small fraction are truly having a heart attack. CT scans are increasingly used to diagnose problems because they give a deep, detailed view inside the body. But they put out a lot of radiation, which may raise a person's chances of developing cancer.

Whether these scans are worth that risk is unknown. The new study suggests that for ruling out heart attacks in the emergency room, they just might be.

The research involved 749 chest pain sufferers at 16 big medical centers around the country. These were people who did not have clear signs of a heart attack from blood tests or EKGs, but doctors are afraid to send them home without more tests.

Between 4 percent and 13 percent of such patients will have a missed diagnosis of a heart attack, and up to one quarter of that group will die, said the new study's leader, Dr. Kavitha Chinnaiyan, a cardiologist at William Beaumont Hospital in suburban Detroit.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1024444.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1024444.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:32 EST
So Young-Levi was confused and unnerved this week over news about new federal recommendations to scale back routine breast cancer screening. Like many women, she reacted with dismay and disbelief that the value of the one screening test she relied on had been questioned.

The new screening guidelines, issued Monday by the Preventive Services Task Force of the Department of Health and Human Services, recommend against routine screening mammography in women 40-49. They would scale back screening for women 50-74, to every other year from annually.

The recommendations question the usefulness of mammography for women 75 and older. And they counsel against teaching women to perform breast self-exams and question the usefulness of clinical breast exams.

Some cancer survivors, especially those whose cancer was discovered during a routine screening in their 40s, said the new guidelines felt like a slap in the face. They suggested national efforts to curb health costs were behind the recommendations, though the expert panel said they based them on a rigorous review of medical evidence.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1021554.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1021554.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:27 EST
In the last year, the industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9 percent, according to industry analysts. That will add more than $10 billion to the nation's drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992.

The drug trend is distinctly at odds with the direction of the Consumer Price Index, which has fallen by 1.3 percent in the past year.

Drug makers say they have valid business reasons for the price increases. Critics say the industry is trying to establish a higher price base before Congress passes legislation that tries to curb drug spending in coming years.

"When we have major legislation anticipated, we see a run-up in price increases," says Stephen W. Schondelmeyer, a professor of pharmaceutical economics at the University of Minnesota. He has analyzed drug pricing for AARP, the advocacy group for seniors that supports the House health care legislation that the drug industry opposes.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1021552.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1021552.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:21 EST
The university has launched a for-profit company, Therix Medical, Inc., that will help create and market diagnostic tools and machines not drugs dreamed up by its own clinicians. It is particularly focused on those that can be developed in less than a year.

Perhaps as importantly, it will allow UK and its entrepreneurial medical staff to patent potentially lucrative ideas rather than give them away.

"There's no sense in letting somebody in Germany build a piece of diagnostic equipment ... and then sell it back to us," said Dr. John C. Gurley, director of UK's catheterization lab at the Cardiovascular Research Center. "Why don't we build it?"

It was Gurley who suggested launching such a venture in late 2007..]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1021542.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1021542.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:46 EST
Seriously. Gum.

In what is known around the UK College of Pharmacy as "the military gum project," an anti- microbial known as KSL is infused in chewing gum. KSL is an anti-adhesive and abrasive agent that disrupts and helps dissolve plaque.

And, as every toothpaste commercial has told us for years, fighting plaque is key to good dental health.

Since World War I, thousands of American soldiers have suffered from the extreme form of gingivitis that can result in painful ulcers, infection and bleeding gums. You've probably heard it called "trench mouth."]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1018658.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1018658.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:49 EST
Dr. Garrett Adams of Louisville told conferees that a national single-payer system would be the ultimate solution, providing quality health care for all, including the millions who now lack coverage.

Adams argued that President Barack Obama should have championed a single-payer plan from the beginning, rather than being "backed into a corner defending weaker and weaker alternatives."

Meanwhile, Twila Brase, president of a market-based health care policy group out of Minnesota, said that if the reform bill passed by the U.S. House last weekend becomes law, patients' rights and privacy will suffer, and the quality of care will decline in a gradual government takeover of the health system.

Brase pictured the bill as bringing "socialized medicine and socialism to the shores of America."]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1013621.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1013621.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:49 EST
---

People looking for natural cures will be happy to know there is one. Two words explain how it works: "I believe."

It's the placebo effect - the ability of a dummy pill or a faked treatment to make people feel better, just because they expect that it will. It's the mind's ability to alter physical symptoms, such as pain, anxiety and fatigue.

In just the past few weeks, the placebo effect has demonstrated its healing powers. In tests of a new drug to relieve lupus symptoms, about a third of patients felt better when they got dummy pills instead of the drug.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1016983.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1016983.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:33 EST
State health officials announced Thursday that much of the seasonal influenza vaccine manufactured for this year has been distributed.

"In many cases, seasonal flu vaccine was given as soon as the vaccine arrived, in the months of September and October," said Dr. William Hacker, the state's Public Health Commissioner.

"We currently have a very limited supply left at the health department and will likely be completely out by the end of the week," said Kevin Hall, spokesman for the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department.

Some 6,624 shots have been given out in Fayette County so far. A small number of additional doses is coming, he said, but's unclear when. Hall said seasonal flu shots are usually available through his department until March.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1015547.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1015547.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:10 EST
The National Kidney Foundation estimates more than 250,000 Americans have narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the kidneys. It's usually caused by a buildup of fatty plaque, mostly in folks 50 or older, and can result in high blood pressure and, sometimes, kidney failure. Each year, about one in six patients with the condition dies.

About 16 percent of patients with newly diagnosed blockages in kidney blood vessels undergo angioplasty or, occasionally, more-invasive artery bypass surgery. But rushing to get blood vessels cleaned out could be a dangerous mistake, according to a British study and some experts.

Doctors at several British hospitals and universities compared patients with severe kidney artery blockages who were treated just with medicines with a group that got the same drugs and underwent angioplasty, in which a catheter is threaded through an artery to clear out blockages. The angioplasty group fared no better - and some of those patients suffered serious complications, including deaths and amputations.

"There really was no benefit," said Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist and health outcomes researcher at Yale University. "What's remarkable is that this procedure got so popular and adopted into widespread use before a study like this was conducted to show us what its value might be."]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1014515.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1014515.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:29 EST
To many people, shoring up the body's defensive shield is a logical way to get through the cold and flu season, especially with the H1N1 virus lurking. But despite what marketers promise, there's little evidence herbal cocktails, vitamins, minerals and even specific foods have a beneficial effect on the immune system.

Some nutrients might raise the number of cells that fight infection in the body or increase their activity, but experts say that doesn't necessarily translate to enhanced immunity.

"It's really impossible to boost your immune system instantly by taking a pill," said Dr. Renee Scola, a primary care doctor at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "What keeps it healthy are the common-sense things you do on a daily basis: Eating a well-balanced diet, sleeping, exercising and de-stressing yourself."

Immunity, or protection from disease-causing germs, is often seen as the holy grail of health. The global retail market for products related to "digestive health and immunity" is projected to exceed $22 billion by 2013, according to the market research firm Packaged Facts.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1011682.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1011682.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:29 EST
It sounds simple. So why don't more of us do it?

Probably because it isn't so simple. Getting healthy and staying that way often means waging a battle against our genes, our physical and social environments, and a lifetime of bad habits.

For example: Humans are genetically predisposed to be sedentary during adulthood. We favor fatty, calorie-laden foods because that's where our energy comes from. Our caveman bodies strive to store energy for hunting and scavenging food and to fend off now-extinct predators.

But we live in homes, workplaces and neighborhoods that limit physical activity. We have to go out of our way to break a sweat. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1008137.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1008137.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:29 EST
In recent years, this once obscure diagnosis, given to more than four times as many boys as girls, has become increasingly common.

Much of the growing prevalence of autism, which now affects about 1 percent of American children, according to federal data, can be attributed to Asperger's and other mild forms of the disorder. And Asperger's has exploded into popular culture through books and films depicting it as the realm of brilliant nerds and savantlike geniuses.

But no sooner has Asperger consciousness awakened than the disorder seems headed for psychiatric obsolescence. Though it became an official part of the medical lexicon only in 1994, the experts who are revising psychiatry's diagnostic manual have proposed to eliminate it from the new edition, due out in 2012.

If these experts have their way, Asperger's syndrome and another mild form of autism, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS for short), will be folded into a single broad diagnosis: autism spectrum disorder, a category that encompasses autism's entire range, or spectrum, from high-functioning to profoundly disabling.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1008122.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1008122.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:29 EST
But scientists say gene therapy might be on the edge of a resurgence. There were three recent, though small, successes one involving children with a fatal brain disease, one with an eye disease that causes blindness and one with children who have a disease that destroys the immune system.

"We are ready to move," said Dr. Luigi Naldini of the Institute for Gene Therapy at Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan.

"It's exciting," added Dr. Kenneth Cornetta, a gene therapy researcher at Indiana University and president of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. "The science gets better every year."

But given the history of gene therapy, some, like Dr. Mark Kay, a gene therapy researcher at Stanford, were careful to avoid promising too much.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1003009.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1003009.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:23 EST
To alleviate flu traffic in the emergency room, Pikeville Medical Center opened a regional flu clinic Monday. Doctors had seen dozens of patients by the close of business. The clinic offers complete testing, X-ray and lab services.

Patricia Harrison of Cowpen in Pike County took daughter Candace, 10, to their family doctor when Candace first got sick about a month ago. She didn't have the flu then, but her aches, pains and cough have lingered. So an after-hours clinic recommended chest X-rays, which the flu clinic provided. Blood work and swab tests were to determine within a couple of hours whether Candace had the flu.

"It seems every time she goes outside she gets sick," Harrison said. Even though it wasn't the flu before, "the doctor told us it can change very quickly."

The building that houses the regional flu center, about five minutes from the main hospital on North Mayo Trail, was already used by the hospital for clinics. But a five-day renovation created a new registration area and six exam rooms, said Jerry Johnson, the hospital's chief operating officer. Additional staff was hired to allow the flu clinic to operate around the clock. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1000325.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/1000325.html Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:48 EST
"I kept checking with the doctor's office, but they said they wouldn't be getting flu vaccine anytime soon," Castorena said. "So, here we are. We were just lucky to be the first ones in line."

People were lined up well before nurses began administering shots just before 9 a.m. Some said they came as early as 6:30 a.m. for Lexington's first big, public H1N1 flu vaccine clinic.

Tavito, 10, said he was a little nervous about getting a needle in his arm. But he said he wasn't complaining too much because he didn't want to get swine flu. Tavito has asthma, which puts him in the high-risk category for the illness.

Fayette health officials said they vaccinated about 1,500 patients by the time the clinic ended at 3 p.m.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/998551.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/998551.html Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:20 EDT
The 230-bed psychiatric hospital is tentatively scheduled to open in 2012.

State, city and university leaders unveiled architectural plans for the $129 million, 300,000-square-foot facility, which will replace the existing campus at Fourth Street and Newtown Pike.

The new hospital will include additional beds for forensic care psychiatric care for those charged with crimes and geriatric nursing facility beds for older patients who need more intensive medical care, said Janie Miller, Secretary for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Three personal care homes a less-restrictive environment for patients who are trying to move back into the community will sit nearby.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/994320.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/994320.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:23 EST
About 3,000 doses of vaccine will be available at the clinic. Long lines have formed at clinics in some parts of the country. Kevin Hall, health department spokesman, said it's hard to predict how many people will show up.

"We could have 2,000, we could have 6,000," he said.

The clinic was set up to serve children with chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, neurological disorders and severe asthma who are at high risk for catching H1N1.

"If you don't fall into this category don't show up expecting a shot," said Hall. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/988471.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/988471.html Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:57 EDT
Dr. Watts, a Woodford County native and a 1945 graduate of the University of Louisville dental school, returned home to practice dentistry in 1947 after spending two years as a Navy lieutenant commander, a position in which he also worked on people's teeth.

He was instrumental in bringing fluoride to Woodford County's water system, and he served as president of the Kentucky Dental Association before his retirement in 1993.

He ran for county judge-executive after retiring, and was in that post from 1994 until 1999. The judge-executive job wasn't his first foray into politics. From about 1962 to 1970, he was a member and chairman of the Woodford County school board.

He was also a long-time member of the Woodford County Board of Health, and a room in the local health department is named for him.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/985969.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/985969.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:23 EST
University of Kentucky health officials said Wednesday they are temporarily excluding visitors under age 18 from hospital rooms and patient-care areas to help protect patients and health care workers from the flu.

One exception: parents or guardians under age 18 can visit their children in the hospital.

There also are restrictions on the number of adult visitors patients can have at one time.

UK's policy applies to all UK HealthCare clinic and hospital operations, including the University of Kentucky Hospital, UK HealthCare Good Samaritan Hospital and all Kentucky Clinic locations.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/981131.html http://www.kentucky.com/medicine/story/981131.html Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:44 EDT
The man died at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Somerset. Health officials did not release his name or details about his hospitalization.

The man had no apparent underlying medical conditions, according to a news release from Lake Cumberland District Health Department.

"We are truly saddened that the flu has taken the life of this young man," Sheryl Glasscock, chief nursing officer at the hospital, said in a news release.

The Somerset hospital had moved to limit visitation just a week ago in an effort to limit exposure of patients, staff and visitors. No one younger than 18 is allowed to enter the hospital unless seeking care, and people entering the emergency room with flu-like symptoms are kept apart from other patients.]]>