Category: news-perspectives

More than 3 million patients a year acquire some sort of infection in Europe’s hospitals, a new report says. On any given day, about 1 out of 18 patients has such an infection, according to the report. The European Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control (ECDC) published the study. It was based on a survey of 1,000 hospitals. Intensive-care units had the highest rates of hospital-acquired infection. About 20% of ICU patients were affected. Infections of the lungs and bloodstream were the most common. There were also many infections of the urinary tract and at the site of surgery. Many infections were drug-resistant. That includes 40% of all infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. This type of Staph infection is often called MRSA. The ECDC urged hospitals to strengthen infection-control programs. Reuters Health news service wrote about the report.

Heiress Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Secretary of State John Kerry, was in critical but stable condition in a hospital July 8. She had shown symptoms that appeared to be some sort of seizure, a person in contact with the family told the Associated Press. Symptoms occurred July 7. Heinz Kerry, 74, and her husband had been on vacation on Nantucket Island. She was taken first to a hospital on the island. Then she was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Doctors have not released details of her condition. Heinz Kerry was treated for breast cancer in 2009. She is the widow of U.S. Sen. John Heinz, heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune. She is also chairman of the Heinz family philanthropies. Heinz died in 1991 in the collision of a helicopter and a small plane. His widow married Kerry, then a U.S. senator, in 1995.

Tracking blood pressure at home and having a pharmacist adjust medicines can improve blood pressure control, a new study finds. The study included 450 adults with blood pressure that was hard to control. They were randomly divided into 2 groups. People in 1 group received a home blood pressure monitor. They talked with a pharmacist about how to use it. They also got advice on how to lower blood pressure with diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes. Then they regularly took blood pressure readings for 6 months. The monitor transmitted results to a pharmacist, who adjusted medicines if needed. The second group just received usual care from their doctors. After 6 months, nearly 72% of those in the home testing group had their blood pressure under control, compared with 45% in the usual-care group. The program stopped, but researchers kept track of people through the 1-year mark.

A new pill works as well as standard treatment to prevent blood clots in the legs and lungs, a new study finds. The study focused on treatment of venous thromboembolism, a clot that forms in a vein. These clots are most dangerous when they travel to the lungs. The clots usually are treated first with injections of the “blood thinner” heparin. This is followed by warfarin (Coumadin), which acts more slowly and is given as a pill. It’s tricky to get the right dose of warfarin. Using too much or too little can lead to bleeding or clots. The new study compared standard treatment with a newer pill, apixaban (Eliquis). It starts acting right away, so heparin is not needed. Nearly 5,400 people with a history of clots were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group got standard treatment. The other received apixaban.

Rates of injury for children riding all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) dropped in recent years, a new study finds. In all, 361,000 children under age 16 were treated in emergency rooms for these injuries between 2001 and 2010. The injury rate peaked in 2004, at 67 per 100,000 children. It dropped to 42 per 100,000 in 2010. But more than 27,500 children were still treated in that year. Boys were twice as likely to be hurt as girls. The authors said they didn’t know why the injury rate went down. They said the recent recession could have depressed ATV sales. The authors said children should not ride adult-size ATVs. They also endorsed safety measures. They said people should wear helmets and avoid paved roads. They also should not carry passengers. The journal Pediatrics published the study July 1.

Magnetic brain stimulation may help people recover speech and language after a stroke, a small study suggests. The study included 24 people who had a recent stroke. All had aphasia, difficulty with speech or language. People were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group was given transcranial magnetic stimulation. This is a low-intensity magnetic pulse. It was applied to the head on the opposite side to the area damaged in the stroke. The stimulation temporarily “shut down” brain function in that area. The purpose was to force the damaged area to work harder. Treatment lasted 20 minutes. Right afterward, people in both groups had 45 minutes of speech and language therapy. In the second group, people received sham stimulation. It was applied to a different area and did not go deep enough to stimulate the brain. This group also got speech and language therapy.

Adding another “blood thinner” to aspirin may reduce the risk of a new stroke in people who have had a very minor or brief stroke, a study finds. The study included more than 5,000 people. All of them had either a “mini-stroke” (with only minor symptoms) or a transient ischemic attack (TIA). With a TIA, stroke symptoms last less than 24 hours. But people who had TIAs in this study also had extra factors that increased their stroke risk. People were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group took aspirin only. The other group took aspirin plus another drug to prevent clotting, clopidogrel (Plavix). In the next 90 days, 8.2% of the 2-drug group and 11.7% of the aspirin-only group had strokes. That’s a risk reduction of about one-third for those who took both drugs. They did not have any more side effects, such as excess bleeding, than the aspirin-only group.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may increase the risk of heart disease, a new study suggests. The study included 562 male twins. All were part of a health registry of veterans from the Vietnam era. The men were an average of 42 years old and did not have heart disease when the study began. In the next 13 years, about 23% of men with PTSD developed heart disease. The rate was 9% among those without PTSD. Heart disease was defined as having a heart attack, other heart-related hospital stay or a procedure to open clogged arteries. Researchers also compared twin pairs in which one had PTSD and the other did not. The twins with PTSD were twice as likely to develop heart disease. Researchers adjusted their numbers for lifestyle factors that affect heart disease risk, such as smoking and exercise patterns. The differences for those with PTSD remained.

Losing a moderate amount of weight doesn’t reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke for obese diabetics, a new study suggests. The study included more than 5,000 adults with type 2 diabetes. Their average weight was 220 pounds when the study started. People were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group went through an intensive program that included a low-calorie diet and 175 minutes of moderate exercise each week. They were given counseling to help them stay with the program. The other group got education about diet and weight loss, but no program. After a year, the first group had lost 8.6% of body weight and the second group less than 1%. By the end of 9.6 years, weight loss was 6% in the first group and 3.5% in the second. Both groups had similar rates of heart attack, stroke and related death.

Bullying by a brother or sister can cause as much psychological damage as bullying by peers, a new study suggests. The study was based on the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence. About 3,600 children took part in the study. Children ages 10 and older were interviewed themselves. Parents answered questions for younger children. Questions addressed 4 types of aggression. Physical attacks were divided into 2 types: those that used a weapon or caused injury and those that did neither. Researchers also asked about property theft and psychological attacks such as saying mean things. People were asked if any of these things had occurred in the last year and if the attack came from a peer or a sibling. Children also were asked standard questions to measure their levels of anxiety, depression and other types of psychological distress.