Gleeman’s Daily News—07/20/10

Anti-AIDS gel will help women prevent HIV infection

AIDS activists protest in the streets of Cape Town

VIENNA — Scientists on Monday reported a major stride towards a vaginal gel that can thwart HIV, a goal that would be of huge benefit to African women bearing the brunt of the AIDS pandemic.

A prototype cream tested in South Africa curbed the risk of infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by 39 percent overall, but by 54 percent among those women who used it most consistently, they said.

The study coincided with the six-day 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna, where leading campaigners responded with cheers leavened with some caution.

A wider trial has to be completed to scrutinise the gel for safety and efficacy, and several important questions must be answered.

Even so, this is a bright ray of hope, the scientists said.

Autistic children are often picky eaters, but growth unimpaired

MONDAY, July 19 (HealthDay News) -- Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) appear to have feeding-related issues starting in infancy, and eat a less-varied diet starting at a young age, although their growth and energy intake are not impaired compared with children without ASD, according to research published online July 19 in Pediatrics.

Alan Emond, M.D., of the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, and colleagues analyzed data from 79 children with ASD and 12,901 controls drawn from a longitudinal cohort study in which mothers enrolled during pregnancy. Data on the children's eating habits were collected at several points from 6 to 54 months of age.

This is an article that may help doctors work with parents of autistic children who think the child’s eating issues will lead to impaired growth, somehow parents can feed the child adequately, thanks to the addition of a hearty helping of love for their child.

IVF children may have higher cancer risk

Children conceived using in vitro fertilization (IVF) appear to have a moderately elevated risk of cancer -- although the absolute risk remains low -- according to a large population-based study from Sweden.
Among the 26,692 children studied who were conceived by IVF between 1982 and 2005, after adjusting for year of birth, the estimated odds ratio for cancer risk was 1.42 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.87, P=0.01) compared with children who were not conceived via IVF, reported Bengt Källén, MD, PhD, of the Tornblad Institute at the University of Lund, Sweden, and colleagues.

California health experts urge seniors to get whooping cough vaccine

Air is breathed in through the nasal passageways, travels through the trachea and bronchi to the lungs. Image from: https://health.google.com/health/ref/graphic/9828

In what could be the worst year for whooping cough in more than five decades, state public health officials broadened recommendations Monday for those who should be immunized against the disease to include seniors and women in their childbearing years.

As of Friday, there were 1,496 confirmed cases in California of whooping cough, the familiar name for pertussis - a fivefold increase over last year. The state has declared the outbreak an epidemic.

"Considering that immunity from pertussis vaccine or disease wears off and that most adults are susceptible to pertussis, now is the time for Californians to get immunized to protect themselves and their families," said Dr. Gilberto Chávez, the state's epidemiologist. "In particular, all family members and caregivers of infants should get the booster vaccine."

I was not aware that childhood immunity wears off in this case, and perhaps adults need a reminder that this disease is still out there and is dangerous to many people.

Illegal drug “ecstasy” may offer treatment for PTSD

During the sessions, 12 patients were given the ecstasy chemical MDMA. (Flickr: boodoo)

United States scientists say the drug ecstasy may help war veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The trial study, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, found that the drug seems to improve the effects of therapy in military veterans.

The researchers, led by Dr Rick Doblin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in California, say ecstasy could help reduce a patient's fear, enabling them to get more out of their therapy sessions.

The trial only studied 20 patients but the researchers have gained approval to complete a larger study.

I hope many veterans are helped by “ecstasy”, I personally don’t know anyone who admits to having taken this drug, but whoever named the drug had a good sense of salesmanship.

Medical records: should you read your own?

Medical records contain often personal notes by doctors. (Myung J. Chun, Los Angeles Times / July 19, 2010)

There is no question that a patient's medical records belong to the patient. Patients can ask for copies of everything health professionals enter into their files. Patient records, however, are meant to help the doctor or other health professional organization obtain information and treat the patient safely and effectively.

So what would happen if patients had much easier access to the doctors' notes? The answer to that question should become clear later this year. Researchers led by a team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Massachusetts have launched a pilot program called the OpenNotes Initiative. The program will allow about 25,000 patients in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Washington to read their doctors' notes on a secure Internet portal. The patients and doctors will then fill out questionnaires about whether the project helped or hurt.