Breast Cancer Screening for Women in their 40s

Jul 22, 2011 Posted Under: Health Words  

There has been a lot of confusing information in the last couple of years about how often women in their 40s and 50s should get mammograms. But new recommendations from a prestigious doctors’ group should help to clarify questions about how often women should get screened for breast cancer.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in recommendations released this week that doctors should offer all women in their 40s the opportunity to get annual screenings for breast cancer. This seems to contradict the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a federally funded panel of experts, which said in 2009 that screening before age 50 should be an individual decision because the risks could outweigh the benefits.

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Dr. O’Neill Talks From the Heart at Collegetown Lecture

Jul 21, 2011 Posted Under: Health Quotes  

Due to normal wear and tear, one in three Americans over the age of 80 develop aortic stenosis, an obstruction of the aortic valve that is expected to grow in prevalence now that heart disease patients are living longer. But as William O’Neill, M.D., executive dean for clinical affairs at the Miller School and chief medical officer at UHealth-University of Miami Health System, proudly told a rapt audience at the University’s Doctors Lecture Series, the Miller School is the testing site for two different aortic valve replacements implanted via catheter, a minimally invasive procedure designed for elderly patients who otherwise might not be candidates for surgery.

“The Miller School of Medicine is the only medical school in the country that has access to both new heart valves,’’ O’Neill said of the transcatheter aortic valve implantations, or TAVI, that are prolonging the lives of dozens of patients at University of Miami Hospital and Jackson Memorial Hospital. “We are rea

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Fear of flying? Hospitals may be scarier — so take precautions

Jul 21, 2011 Posted Under: Health Words  

To those who fear flying: Your chances of dying in a hospital because of a medical mistake are much, much higher than going down in an airplane, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

In a news briefing Thursday, WHO’s newly appointed envoy for patient safety Liam Donaldson pointed out that the chance of dying in a plane crash is about 1 in 10 million, but some 1 in 10 patients encounter medical errors at the hospital. Th

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Supreme Court rejects ex-ballerina’s appeal to keep night carer

Jul 21, 2011 Posted Under: Health Quotes  

An ex-ballerina who was previously considered one of the best classical dancers in the UK during part of the 1980′s, suffers indignity as court rules she must lose night carer. Elaine McDonald is a 67-year old ex-ballerina who one was the prima ballerina of the Scottish Ballet. She has danced the leads in many ballets including Gisella, La Sylphide, Mary Queen of Scots and Cinderella. In 1983 Ms McDonald received an OBE for her dancing, something rarely seen outside of the Royal Ballet. Following a stroke in September 1999 Ms McDonald was left with impaired mobility and has since required the need to have carers attend to some of her needs. Find more info…

Going into hospital far riskier than flying: WHO

Jul 21, 2011 Posted Under: Health Guide  

 

Millions of people die each year from medical errors and infections linked to health care and going into hospital is far riskier than flying, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

“If you were admitted to hospital tomorrow in any country… your chances of being subjected to an error in your care would be something like 1 in 10. Your chances of dying due to an error in health care would be 1 in 300,” Liam Donaldson, the WHO’s newly appointed envoy for patient safety, told a news briefing.

This compared with a risk of dying in an air crash of about 1 in 10 million passengers, according to Donaldson, formerly England’s chief medical officer.

“It shows that health care generally worldwide still has a long way to go,” he said.

Hundreds of millions of people suffer infections linked to health care each year.

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Smelly socks could prevent malaria

Jul 20, 2011 Posted Under: Health Quotes  

Every year almost 800,000 people, mostly children, die from malaria. Tanzania’s Ifakara Health Institute has begun to develop a device that may help prevent malaria deaths in the developing world using the odor of smelly socks. Researchers headed by Dr. Fredros Okumu know that mosquitoes are turned on by the scent of a smelly sock. The stinky device, which is a complement to bed nets and sprays, is placed outside of the home. Inside the device is a smelling synthetic bait that attracts the disease carriers. Once the aroma attracts them they are trapped or poisoned and left to die. This innovating device won a grant today from Grand Challenges Canada. Dr. Peter A. Find more info…

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