Strep Throat
My son was diagnosed with strep throat last night and he still has a large egg size lymph node on the left side of his neck. Is that a normal symptom? How long should it take to go away?
Doctors Urged To Reduce Back-Pain Scans
X-rays and other imaging tests should not be ordered routinely for low back pain, new guidelines for doctors say. The tests are often not needed, and can cause harm, the report says. An X-ray or CT scan exposes people to radiation. Over time, this can increase the risk of cancer. Tests also can find things that are abnormal â for example, a bulging disc â but are not causing the pain. Sometimes people then get surgery that doesn’t help. Most back pain goes away within a month, the guidelines say. The guidelines were prepared by experts for the American College of Physicians. This is the professional group for doctors of internal medicine. The guidelines are intended to help member doctors, who provide primary care to adults. The journal Annals of Internal Medicine published the guidelines. HealthDay News wrote about them January 31.
Update From the Medical Journals: January 2011
Early Hormone Use May Increase Cancer
Taking hormones even for a short time in early menopause may increase the risk of breast cancer, a large study finds. Many women used to take estrogen plus progesterone to treat menopause symptoms. Previous research showed that this increased breast cancer risk. But most women in those studies were well past menopause or took the hormones for five years or more. Doctors now advise women to take no more than a small dose for a short time. The new study included 1 million British women as they went through menopause. Researchers looked at breast cancer rates in those who were 50 to 59 years old. Of those who had never taken hormones, 0.3% a year developed breast cancer. The rate was 0.46% a year in women who started taking hormones at least 5 years after menopause began.
Study: CRP May Not Show Need for Statin
A test for a blood protein may not help predict who needs to take statin drugs, a new study suggests. The test looks for C-reactive protein (CRP) in the blood. High levels of CRP indicate more inflammation in the body. Statin drugs lower LDL cholesterol and inflammation. Some people with normal LDL end up having heart attacks and strokes. Earlier research suggests that a CRP test could show which ones have the highest risk. The study included 20,536 adults. All of them were at high risk of having a heart attack or stroke. They were randomly assigned to receive a statin or placebo pills. After 5 years, people who took the statin were 24% less likely to die or have a heart attack, stroke or procedure than those who got the placebo. Risk was lower for those who took the statin regardless of whether they had low or high CRP or LDL cholesterol.
Hyperparathyroidism?
What is hyperparathyroidism?