Delaine's General Health Blog

Friday, February 24, 2012

Doctors: Dutch prince may never wake

Dutch Prince Johan Friso stands with his wife Princess Mabel and Princess Marilene during the traditional Queens Day celebratons on April 29, 2006, in the Netherlands.

(Credit: Michel Porro/Getty Images)

(CBS/AP) Dutch Prince Johan Friso, who was buried by an avalanche while skiing off-trail in Austria last week, has suffered massive brain damage and may never regain consciousness, his doctors said Friday.

Pictures: Prince Johan Friso
Pictures: Royals visit Prince Johan Friso

Dr. Wolfgang Koller, head of trauma at the Innsbruck hospital where Friso is being treated, told a news conference broadcast live on Dutch national television that it took nearly 50 minutes to reanimate the prince after he was pulled from the snow. He had been buried for 25 minutes before rescuers found him.

"It is clear that the oxygen starvation has caused massive brain damage to the patient," Koller said. "At the moment, it cannot be predicted if he will ever regain consciousness."

Friso will be moved at a later date to a rehabilitation clinic for further treatment. But Koller cautioned that it may take years before he awakens from his coma, if he ever does, and any recovery from such significant brain damage is a process of "months or even years."

The accident occurred as Friso was skiing off-piste in Lech, Austria, despite avalanche warnings, with a childhood friend from the alpine village that the Dutch royal family has been visiting each winter for years.

The friend was carrying an avalanche "air bag" and escaped without serious injury. Friso was found with the help of a signaling device he was carrying and was flown by helicopter to the Innsbruck Clinic.

But "50 minutes of reanimation is extremely long. You could say too long," Koller said.

The doctor said that due to protocols for minimizing brain damage after such an accident, it had only been possible to conduct an MRI scan of Friso's brain on Thursday.

Frisco, 43, is the second of Dutch Queen Beatrix's three sons. He lived in London with his wife, Princess Mabel, and their two daughters, Luana, 6, and 5-year-old Zaria.

Members of the family, including Queen Beatrix, Friso's older brother Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, and others have traveled to and from the hospital in a steady stream amid a grim atmosphere in the week following the accident.

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsMain/~3/go_MiX6KrpQ/

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Health Highlights: Feb. 22, 2012

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Radiation From Nuclear Plant Detected Far Off Japan's Coast

Water samples collected from the Pacific Ocean in June 2011 showed that radioactive contamination from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant was present up to nearly 400 miles off the Japanese coast, scientists say.

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Some of the water samples showed readings for cesium-137 up to 1,000 times higher than prior levels, but those elevated levels are far below what is generally considered harmful to marine animals or people who eat seafood, according to Ken Buesseler of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, the Associated Press reported.

Along with the thousands of water samples collected about three months after the nuclear power plant disaster, researchers also tested fish and plankton and found cesium-137 levels well below the legal limit, Buesseler said Tuesday at the annual Ocean Sciences Meeting in Salt Lake City.

He was chief scientist for the cruise that took water samples from about 20 miles to 400 miles off the coast east of the Fukushima plant. Buesseler said concentrations of cesium-137 ranged from 10 to 1,000 times higher than normal, but were about 10 percent of the levels generally considered harmful, the AP reported.

Because swirling ocean currents created concentrations of cesium-137, the highest readings were not always from water samples taken closest to the plant, Buesseler explained. He also noted that most of the cesium-137 in the ocean came from water discharges, rather than atmospheric fallout.

Cesium-137 wasn't the only type of radioactive contamination released from the Fukushima plant, but is of particular concern because of its long persistence in the environment, Buesseler said.

Due to continued leakage from the plant, Buesseler told the AP that "we're not over the hump" yet in terms of radioactive contamination of the ocean.

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Stem Cell Transplant Helps Monkeys with Parkinson's Disease

Monkeys with Parkinson's disease showed significant improvements in movement after human embryonic stem cells were implanted in their brains, according to Japanese scientists.

Before the procedure, the four monkeys all had violent shaking in their limbs and were unable to control their bodies, Agence France-Presse reported.

Three months after the stem cell transplant, the monkeys began showing recovery of their muscle control. Within about six months, they were able to walk around in their cages.

"Clear improvements were confirmed in their movement," Jun Takahashi, an associate professor at Kyoto University, told AFP.

He said these results are a world first and he wants to make the procedure more safe and effective before conducting human clinical trials.

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Nutritional Guidelines Planned for School Vending Machines

Nutritional standards for vending machine products and other foods that students can buy outside of school cafeterias are expected to be introduced by the Obama administration within the next few weeks.

White House officials say students eat 19 percent to 50 percent of their daily food at school and they want to ensure that what students eat doesn't harm their health or make them fat, The New York Times reported.

Childhood obesity in the United States has more than tripled in the past 30 years, and school vending machines stocked with items such as soft drinks, potato chips and cookies have contributed to that problem, nutritionists say.

No details of the proposed nutritional standards have been released, but are likely to focus on reduced amounts of sugar, salt and fat, according to health advocates and snack food and soft drink industry representatives, The Times reported.

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Source: http://www.medicinenet.com/guide.asp?s=rss&k=DailyHealth&a=155112

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Two New Analyses Raise Questions About Fatality Rate Of Bird Flu

Two New Analyses Raise Questions About Mortality Rate Of Bird Flu

Friday, February 24, 2012

In an analysis (.pdf) published Thursday in the online edition of the journal Science, a team led by virologist Peter Palese of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York argue the mortality rate from H5N1 bird flu is under one percent, much lower than the WHO's estimated fatality rate of 59 percent, Reuters reports. And in a paper published Friday in mBio, the journal of the American Society for Microbiology, Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota and a member of the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) and a colleague "conclude that H5N1 kills up to 80 percent of people it infects," a rate higher than WHO estimates, according to the news agency.

The studies "ad[d] fuel to the heated controversy over publication of bird flu research" in the journals Science and Nature describing how two teams created H5N1 strains that are easily transmissible among ferrets, which are used as lab models for humans, Reuters writes (Begley, 2/23). Fears that terrorists possibly could use the information prompted the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity in December to request the scientists redact some information prior to publishing their study results and investigators in January to institute a 60-day moratorium on bird flu research, USA Today's "Your Life" notes. "A WHO summit that ended this week called for full publication of the two studies and for an extended halt to such research until stronger safety measures were assured in labs," the blog writes (Vergano, 2/23).

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The Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report is published by the Kaiser Family Foundation. 2012 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved. The report summarizes the latest, most relevant information on U.S. global health policy developments and related news from hundreds of sources. Access today's full report or sign up for an email subscription to the Daily Report.

Source: http://feeds.kff.org/~r/kff/kdghpr/~3/3unF2kY_paw/GH-022412-Bird-Flu-Mortality.aspx

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Data: Hospital EHR Use Doubles


By Haydn Bush	February 24, 2012
The number of hospitals using EHRs more than doubled from 2009 to 2011.

The number of hospitals using electronic health records more than doubled in the last two years, rising from 16 percent in 2009 to 35 percent in 2011, according to a new survey conducted by the American Hospital Association and reported by the Office of the National Coordinator. In addition, 85 percent of hospitals surveyed reported that they intend to attest for meaningful use funding by 2015.

Among the other findings:

Hawaii had the largest percent of hospitals reporting adoption of at least a basic EHR, at 67 percent. The state with the lowest proportion was Oklahoma, with 14 percent of hospitals adopting a basic EHR.
The adoption by hospitals of basic EHRs without clinician notes increased from 3.5 percent to 7 percent from 2010 to 2011.
The adoption rate by hospitals of basic EHRs with clinician notes has risen from 9 percent in 2009 to 19 percent in 2011.
Hospital adoption of comprehensive EHRs tripled from 2009 to 2011, from 3-9 percent.

Click here to read the full report.

The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the policy of Health Forum Inc. or the American Hospital Association.

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Source: http://www.hhnmag.com/hhnmag/HHNDaily/HHNDailyDisplay.dhtml?id=3570007434

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Two New Analyses Raise Questions About Fatality Rate Of Bird Flu

Two New Analyses Raise Questions About Mortality Rate Of Bird Flu

Friday, February 24, 2012

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Source: http://feeds.kff.org/~r/kff/kdghpr/~3/3unF2kY_paw/GH-022412-Bird-Flu-Mortality.aspx

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Afghan Koran protesters killed by police

(AP)� Updated at 7:56 a.m. Eastern

KABUL, Afghanistan - Thousands of Afghan protesters were out on the streets in across the nation in new rallies over the burning of Korans at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.

Afghan officials tell CBS News at least four protesters were killed in clashes with police in the western city of Herat.

Several hundred people also rallied in the capital Kabul on Friday, but CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark reports the crowed stayed relatively peaceful, chanting "Death to America," and there were more police on hand than protesters.

Friday's protests were expected to be the worst this week, as thousands of Muslim men flood out of mosques for Friday prayers to join the demonstrations.

On Thursday, an Afghan soldier in Eastern Afghanistan opened fire on U.S. troops in apparent anger over the Koran burnings, killing two Americans and leaving four others wounded.

Gingrich: Obama "surrendered" by apologizing to Afghans
Video: Obama apologizes for Koran burning
2 U.S. troops killed in Koran backlash

Apologies by President Obama and Afghan and U.S. officials have failed so far to quiet the Afghan people's outrage over the incident. The U.S.-led military coalition says the Korans and other Islamic texts were sent to a garbage burn pit by mistake.

Afghan police in Khost, the provincial capital of Khost province, said an estimated 4,000 protesters were marching toward the governor's compound.

And in the eastern part of Nangarhar province, thousands were shouting "Death to America!" and burning a cardboard picture of Obama.

NATO's top military commander, meanwhile, said Friday that an investigation into the Koran burnings was pushing ahead, and he called on Afghans to be patient and exercise restraint.

U.S. Gen. John Allen's call came as Afghan security forces were put on high alert to deal with the expected demonstrations around the country after Friday prayers.

"Working together with the Afghan leadership is the only way for us to correct this major error and ensure that it never happens again," Allen said in a statement.

He called on everyone around Afghanistan "to exercise patience and restraint as we continue to gather the facts."

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsMain/~3/7erTGF1bUDw/

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Antipsychotics death risk charted

23 February 2012 Last updated at 21:24 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

Dementia patient In the UK 180,000 people with dementia take antipsychotics

Some antipsychotic medication may increase the risk of death in patients with dementia more than others, according to US research.

The drugs have a powerful sedative effect so are often used when dementia patients become aggressive or distressed.

A study, published on the BMJ website, argued that antipsychotics should not be used "in the absence of clear need".

Experts said better alternatives were needed to antipsychotics.

A study in 2009, suggested 180,000 people with dementia were taking antipsychotic medication in the UK and said the drugs resulted in 1,800 additional deaths.

Data differences

Researchers at Harvard Medical School followed 75,445 people in nursing homes who had dementia and were prescribed antipsychotics.

The researchers said some drugs were associated with more than twice the risk of death than risperidone, another antipsychotic which was used as a benchmark to compare the other drugs.

The study concluded: "The data suggest that the risk of mortality with these drugs is generally increased with higher doses and seems to be highest for haloperidol and least for quetiapine."

However, the way the study was conducted meant it could not say definitively that certain drugs actually caused more deaths, merely that there was a link between the two.

The Department of Health said antipsychotic use was "resulting in as many as 1,800 unnecessary deaths per year. This is simply unacceptable."

Michael Rainford and his daughter Michelle Fraser

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Michelle Fraser says two years on antipsychotics had "horrendous" side effects on her father Michael Rainford

"That's why reducing the level of antipsychotics prescribing for people with dementia by two-thirds is one the key priorities in the National Dementia Strategy."

The Dementia Action Alliance - which includes the Alzheimer's Society, Age UK and the Department of Health - has called for all prescriptions for antipsychotics to be reviewed by the end of March 2012.

Dr Chris Fox, who researches dementia at the University of East Anglia, said: "This study provides an interesting insight into the differential harm of these medicines.

"More work is needed on alternatives to these medicines in dementia with behavioural problems.

"In addition, there is a need to consider duration of use in more acute situations such as severe distress. Is six or 12-week use safe in people with dementia?"

Alzheimer's Research UK's chief executive Rebecca Wood said the risks of antipsychotics were "well-established" yet "progress has been frustratingly slow" in reducing their use.

She said the drugs "should only be used for people with dementia where there is no alternative for dealing with challenging behaviour".

Dr Anne Corbett, research manager at Alzheimer's Society, said: "For a minority of people with dementia antipsychotics should be used, but then only for up to 12 weeks, and under the correct circumstances. For the majority, they do far more harm than good."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/health-17138683

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