The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced approval of a software update from Medtronic that will help detect fractures of the company's Sprint Fidelis cardiac defibrillator lead. The new software package will alert both patients and physicians of a potential lead fracture. This will enable early intervention and lower the risk of serious complications.
“This new software modification will provide Sprint Fidelis patients with the reassurance that their defibrillator is being monitored around the clock,” said Daniel Schultz, M.D., director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, FDA. “While the software doesn't fix the fracture itself, it may help identify the fracture earlier, allowing patients to see their physicians sooner.”
Implantable defibrillators are used to treat patients at risk of experiencing life-threatening heart rhythm abnormalities. Should an abnormality occur, the defibrillator delivers a pulse of energy through a lead, a thin electronic wire, shocking the heart back into normal rhythm.
The Sprint Fidelis lead, the subject of an October 2007 Medtronic recall, was prone to fracture in a small number of patients, potentially causing the lead to deliver unnecessary shocks or not operate at all. Most of the patients with the Sprint Fidelis lead still have the device implanted because of the surgical risk associated with removal, and are being monitored by their health care providers for potential fracture.
Medtronic's new software feature, called the Lead Integrity Alert, issues an audible alert once it detects signals that could indicate that the lead has fractured, and then repeats the alert every four hours until a physician can reset the defibrillator. In addition to an audible alert, the new software also modifies the device settings so the defibrillator has more time to consider whether a lead fracture or an abnormal heart rhythm has occurred, a change intended to reduce the number of inappropriate defibrillator shocks. The physician can download the Lead Integrity Alert feature onto Medtronic implantable cardioverter defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators.
Medtronic has agreed to actively monitor the performance of the new software feature in actual use, which will allow both the company and FDA to ensure that the device is protecting patients as intended.
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Thursday, September 4, 2008
FDA Approves Software Update that Identifies Potential Defibrillator Lead Fractures
Alte Biosciences Files Patent for New Inflammatory Bowel Disease Drugs
(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alte Bioscience, Inc., a development stage pharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce the filing of a provisional patent for a new class of drugs that may benefit patients with inflammatory bowel disease. This is the latest in a series of pharmaceutical inventions held by Alte Biosciences, adding to its portfolio of patents of drugs for the treatment of late onset depression and innovative systems for drug delivery, packaging, and manufacturing. The composition of matter in the new filing was discovered in collaboration with PharmaDirections, Inc.
Dr. Richard Soltero and Dr. Bruce Rehlaender of PharmaDirections are the co-inventors on the patent application entitled “A COMPOSITION AND METHOD FOR THE TREATMENT OF A GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDER.” PharmaDirections, under contract to Alte Biosciences, developed these innovative molecules to treat inflammatory bowel disease, (IBD) - a chronic syndrome that afflicts the digestive tract and is usually defined by an uncontrolled inflammatory response at the gut epithelial layer. Each molecule consists of two mutual pro-drugs that release medicines that are well known in the treatment of IBD. PharmaDirections will develop specialized formulations to deliver these molecules in ways that will improve their anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and cytoprotective properties.
“We are pleased that our research efforts resulted in the identification of new chemical entitles that have the potential to benefit patients with inflammatory bowel disease,” stated Dr. Thomas Colatsky, CSO of Alte Biosciences. “Our ability to harness the talent and skills of PharmaDirections’ scientific staff in our pipeline development efforts has paid significant dividends, as evidenced by this latest discovery.”
Inflammatory bowel disease affects nearly 2 million people worldwide, and has two recognized manifestations: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Crohn’s disease, also known as regional enteritis, can occur anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus. Most commonly, it is found in the terminal ileum/proximal colon and is characterized by distinct ulcerations that run deep into the epithelial tissue. Ulcerative colitis is only found in the colon, with the greatest majority of patients exhibiting effects in the terminal colon. The patent filed by Alte Biosciences claims separate compositions of matter for treating each of these disease states. These treatments offer the possibility of improved efficacy by targeting drug to the sites of inflammation, while reducing the prevalence of gastrointestinal side effects associated with current treatments.
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Wednesday, September 3, 2008
New Research Shows Promise for Finding A Cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis
PRNewswire/ -- For the first time during its unprecedented initiative to find a cure for rheumatoid arthritis, the American College of Rheumatology Research and Education Foundation is releasing new information acquired from research funded by the Within Our Reach: Finding a Cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis campaign.
Doctors and scientists from across the nation are utilizing more than $12 million in grants awarded by the ACR REF to investigate critical issues including early detection of RA, novel treatment pathways as well as improved patient-provider interaction and patient care. While research is still underway, the REF is encouraged by the progress made thus far and is pleased to announce the new and promising knowledge which RA researchers will continue to build upon as studies continue.
"The REF is committed to funding RA research that is not being done elsewhere, and supporting scientists and doctors who are most prepared and motivated to work on finding a cure," said Dr. Leslie J. Crofford, president of the REF. "The quality and value of the studies in progress is evidence that the Within Our Reach campaign to is critical and must continue."
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Truth and Consequences and Enrollment in Clinical Trials
Knowing about financial relationships between medical researchers and the companies that sponsor their studies has little effect on most patients considering enrolling in a clinical trial, according to a new study from the Duke Clinical Research Institute.
"The patients in our study were very clear: They told us they care about these relationships and want to be fully informed about them. But at the same time, the information didn't substantially affect their decision to enter a trial," says Dr. Kevin Weinfurt, a medical psychologist at Duke and the lead author of the study.
What seemed to be more important in the decision-making process was the patients' pre-existing level of trust in medical research in general, Weinfurt says.
The findings, appearing online in American Heart Journal, reveal that patients are astute enough to draw distinctions between various types of financial arrangements, finding some reasonable, and others, less so.
Researchers from Duke University Medical Center, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and Wake Forest University conducted a telephone survey of 470 patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease who agreed to go through a consent process involving enrollment in a hypothetical clinical trial.
Investigators first assessed the patients' overall level of trust in medical research through a four-item questionnaire and then randomized them into one of three disclosure groups.
Patients who were told that the doctor leading the study also held stock in the company sponsoring the research were the least willing to participate in the study. They also spontaneously offered three times the number of negative comments about the relationship than participants in the other groups, using words like, "disingenuous," "unacceptable," and "unethical." Ten members of this group also spontaneously said they would not take part in a trial where the lead investigator held stock in the company sponsoring the trial.
Patients who were told that the sponsoring company covered the cost of the trial, including the physician's salary, were generally accepting of such a financial relationship, saying, "OK, that sounds more appropriate. So there's no payment to him, but through the university. OK, I'm good."
Participants in the study were disproportionately middle-to higher income white men, and the researchers say lower income participants from other racial groups might feel differently about financial relationships between researchers and sponsoring companies.
"We clearly live in a time of heightened sensitivity about these matters," says Jeremy Sugarman, M.D., Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professor of Bioethics and Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and senior author of the study, who says the research offers implications for health care policy. "Policy makers may want to consider more restrictive policies for equity relationships than for other financial interests in research."
The study was funded by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Other researchers from Duke who were involved in the study include Joelle Friedman, Chantelle Hardy, Alice Fortune-Greely, Janice Lawlor, Jennifer Allsbrook, Li Lin and Kevin Schulman. Mark Hall, from Wake Forest University, also contributed to the study.
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Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Study Indicates It's Never too Late for Exercise-- Even in Stroke Victims
People who walk on a treadmill even years after stroke damage can significantly improve their health and mobility, changes that reflect actual "rewiring" of their brains, according to research spearheaded at Johns Hopkins.
"This is great news for stroke survivors because results clearly demonstrate that long-term stroke damage is not immutable and that with exercise it's never too late for the brain and body to recover," says Daniel Hanley, M.D., professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
The study's results, published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, suggest that patients' brains may retain the capacity to rewire through a treadmill exercise program months or years after conventional physical therapy has ended.
The research was conducted by scientists at Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Maryland VA Medical Center at their Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC). Researchers at the GRECC, led by Richard F. Macko, M.D., and Andrew P. Goldberg, M.D., have developed treadmill therapy for stroke patients over the past decade. Investigators at all three institutions combined efforts to recruit 71 patients who had a stroke at least six months earlier, with an average time lapse of nearly four years. At the study's onset, half of the subjects could walk without assistance, while the rest used a cane, a walker or a wheelchair.
All of the subjects, separated into two random groups regardless of disability, were tested for mobility and aerobic capacity (also known as VO2 peak), a measure of cardiac fitness. Thirty-two patients drawn equally from both groups underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess brain activity linked to moving their legs in a walking motion.
One group then participated in an exercise program that principally involved walking on a treadmill three times a week for up to 40 minutes, assisted by a supporting sling and tether if needed. Physical therapists assigned to each subject increased the intensity of the workouts over time by increasing the treadmills' speed and incline, though the workouts never taxed the patients beyond a moderate level of 60 percent VO2 peak.
With the second group of patients, therapists assisted the patients in performing stretching exercises for the same period of time.
After six months, patients were again tested for walking speed and VO2 peak, and the same group who had undergone fMRI was rescanned. Walking speed for the treadmill group increased 51 percent compared to about 11 percent faster for those in the stretching group. Ground walking speed among the treadmill exercisers increased 19 percent, compared to about 8 percent for the stretchers. The treadmill exercisers also were significantly more fit at study completion, with VO2 peak increasing by about 18 percent. VO2 peak decreased slightly in the stretching group.
Hoping to find evidence that improved brain activity was responsible for the results, the investigators analyzed the brain scans and found markedly increased metabolic activity in brainstem areas associated with walking among all the treadmill exercisers. Brain scans of patients in the stretching group showed no such changes.
"This suggests that the brain is responsible for the improvement we saw in patients' walking ability. It seems to be recruiting other regions to take on the job of areas damaged by stroke," says Andreas Luft, M.D., a visiting researcher who worked with all three institutions who conducted this study. Luft is currently a stroke attending physician and professor of neurorehabilitation at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.
Those patients with the most improvement in walking showed the strongest change in brain activity, though the researchers don't yet know whether these brain changes were caused by more walking or whether participants walked better because brain activity in these key areas increased. This question will be the focus of a future study.
Hanley says stroke patients are typically told to "learn to live with" their disabilities, unlike heart attack patients and others who are often prescribed lifestyle changes and exercise programs to help recover function. Most stroke rehabilitation programs focus on short-term improvement, ending just a few months after a patient has had a stroke. Consequently, over the following years, patients' functional improvement plateaus and their fitness often wanes-a factor that could increase the chance of a second stroke.
"Many stroke survivors believe there's nothing to be gained from further rehabilitation, but our results suggest that health and functional benefits from walking on a treadmill can occur even decades out from stroke," says Macko, professor of neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, noting that one of the patients in the study had significant improvement 20 years after a stroke. "We believe exercise gives individuals a way to fight back against stroke disabilities."
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Sunday, August 31, 2008
Problems with Boniva, Actonel & Fosamax
Many are taking Fosamax, Boniva and other similar drugs designed to stave off osteoporosis. Here's two articles we encourage you to read:
Fosamax, Boniva & Actonel Linked To Jaw Bone Disorders
http://injury-law.freeadvice.com/drug-toxic_chemicals/fosamax-linked-to-jaw-bone-disorders.htm
Merck Braces for Flood of Fosamax Lawsuits
Osteoporosis Medication Can Destroy Patients' Jawbones
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/02/fosamax.html
Saturday, August 30, 2008
CDC Releases New Data on Epilepsy from Multiple States
A multi-state study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that about one out of 100 adults have active epilepsy, and more than one-third are not getting sufficient treatment. The study, which examined the prevalence of epilepsy or seizure disorder in 19 states, was published in today’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Epilepsy affects an estimated 2.7 million people in the United States and costs about $15.5 billion in medical costs and lost or reduced earnings and productivity each year.
“Despite having recent seizures, more than one out of three adults reported not seeing a neurologist or epilepsy specialist in the past year,” said Dr. David Thurman, one of the study’s authors and a neurologist in CDC’s Division of Adult and Community Health. “These findings suggest that adults with uncontrolled seizures may not be receiving the optimal medical treatment they need and may face substantial impairments in their daily activities.”
The study found that nearly half (44 percent) of adults with active epilepsy reported having recent seizures. Of those, 65 percent said they had more than one seizure in the past three months. Inadequate medical treatment for epilepsy greatly increases a person’s risk for subsequent seizures, disability, injuries sustained during a seizure, and, in rare cases, death. However, many people with epilepsy lead normal productive lives.
The study, which is based on state-specific data from the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, collected data from more than 120,000 adults 18 and older.
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological condition that occurs when recurrent abnormal electrical activity in the brain causes involuntary changes involving body movement or function, sensation, awareness, or behavior.
Adults with epilepsy experience significantly worse health-related quality of life than those without epilepsy. The report found that adults with epilepsy were more likely to be unemployed, face limitations in their normal activities such as socializing with friends, and experience other health risks such as cigarette smoking and physical inactivity.
"While epilepsy is one of the most common neurological conditions, most people know very little about this disorder, or how to support those with epilepsy,” said Janet Collins, Ph.D., director, CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. “We hope this report, which provides the largest and most comprehensive data on epilepsy in the United States, can help states and public health agencies better understand the prevalence of epilepsy, as well as epilepsy-associated conditions and limitations.”
For more information about CDC’s work on epilepsy, visit http://www.cdc.gov/epilepsy/.
CDC also works in partnership with the Epilepsy Foundation
(http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/) to support educational programs for schools, police and emergency responders, employers, and the general public that raise awareness about epilepsy and reduce stigma associated with the condition.
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Iraqi Forces Struggle to Find Physicians for Medical System
Though Iraq's military medical system has gained significant capability over the past five years, recruiting qualified physicians remains a challenge, the coalition's top advisor to the Iraqi surgeon general said.
Only 160 out of 800 available positions for physicians in the Iraqi military medical system have been filled, U.S. Army Col. (Dr.) John Powell, director of health affairs for Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, told bloggers and online journalists in a teleconference Aug. 26.
"The biggest piece right now," Powell said, "is personnel ... who have medical capabilities, who can do what's necessary to diagnose people and take care of them."
Powell said the Iraqi government hopes to entice physicians, who fled Iraq to neighboring countries, to return now that Iraq is more secure. The Iraqi Defense Ministry has a pending law offering special incentives to physicians who serve the military medical system, he said.
"They're working hard to get the people to come back who are trained and outside," Powell said. "And, mostly, those are senior folks that can come in and teach and help get things back on what we would call a direct road for taking care of folks."
However, he said, limits to the salaries Iraq's government can offer returning physicians may become an issue. "Right now, it's a matter of 'Can you pay what I can make someplace else?' and, probably, the answer is 'No,'" He acknowledged. "But that said, there's a lot of these people who want to come home."
Iraq also is growing its own new generation of physicians, Powell said, through its "very capable" medical school in Baghdad, though courses are taught in English, which makes it difficult for native-Arabic speakers.
"I find it kind of interesting how difficult they have [it], as far as getting through school goes, and learning everything and trying to put it back and forth into Arabic," Powell said. "But, they are growing their own physicians, and they're good physicians."
Despite the persistent challenge finding doctors, Powell said, the Iraqi military medical system has grown significantly in other areas since he was last in Iraq five years ago.
Iraqi army Brig. Gen. Samir A. Hassan, the surgeon general of Iraq's armed forces, had almost no capabilities and only a couple staff members five years ago, Powell recalled. Today, he said, Hassan has 70 staff members with expertise in multiple areas including logistics, training, and long-term teaching and capabilities.
In the field, he continued, Iraq's military medical system now employs around 100 nurses and about 2,000 employees in support positions, such as administrators, phlebotomists and ambulance drivers.
Along with the 160 physicians, Powell explained, these individuals run clinics located throughout Iraq, where active-duty Iraqi military and police are treated.
Powell assured that Hassan has a clear direction for Iraq's military medical system. However, he said, more physicians are needed before some of the surgeon general's loftier goals – such as extending care to military family members and widespread immunizations – can be realized.
Author Kristen Noel works for the New Media directorate of the Defense Media Activity.
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Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Piedmont Hospital Joins Spirit of Women
Piedmont Hospital announced today that it has joined Spirit of Women, a partnership of hospitals and healthcare systems across the country that provide educational health opportunities in an environment that is fun for women.
"Spirit of Women enables Piedmont Hospital to continue its focus on improving the health of its community while adding the strength and support of a national health and wellness network," says Tanya Abreu, president of Spirit of Women. "Piedmont can now choose from established, measurable programs that are based on a comprehensive set of performance guidelines that target the leading cause of illness and death in women.”
Spirit of Women guidelines are updated annually and guided by national standards, including Healthy People 2010. Because women make up to 85 percent of household healthcare decisions, the educational and motivational efforts of Spirit of Women positively impact the well-being of the entire family and community as a whole.
Piedmont Hospital will provide a wide variety of Spirit of Women inspired events that not only include the education, screenings and support groups that will reach women in all stages of their lives but also fun activities like mini-spa treatments for stress relief, dance lessons to get the heart pumping and Ask-the-Doctor social hours.
Women in the Atlanta community can become a lifetime Spirit of Women Rewards Member for free through September 19 by visiting www.piedmonthospital.org/spiritofwomen. After September 19, the cost will be $10 for a lifetime membership. Rewards members will enjoy discounts and benefits from program partners including: Natural Body Spa and Shoppe, Chick-fil-A, Bette Care (professional home care), the Welch Experience (personal training, self-defense, etc.), the TaylorMade Performance Lab at Reynolds Plantation, the Atlanta Ballet, the Fox Theatre, the Atlanta Opera, the WNBA Atlanta Dream and Atlanta Braves.
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FDA Clears Test to Help Doctors Manage Heart Transplant Patients
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced it has cleared for marketing a non-invasive test that uses molecular expression techniques to assist doctors in managing heart transplant patients post-surgery for potential organ rejection.
"AlloMap can help contribute to an appropriate treatment plan by identifying those patients not experiencing post-operative heart transplant rejection," said Daniel G. Schultz, M.D., director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. "It is an example of how advancements in science and technology are leading to new medical care diagnostics."
AlloMap measures genetic information contained in the white blood cells (cells of the immune system that defend the body against invading viruses, bacteria or other foreign material) from a patient's blood sample.
Specifically the test measures gene expression—or how DNA transcribes its genetic instructions to RNA, the nucleic acid that translates and carries out those instructions—of 20 different genes, resulting in a score that indicates whether a heart transplant patient is unlikely to be rejecting the new organ.
Nearly every cell of the body contains a full set of chromosomes and identical genes but only a fraction of these genes are turned on or expressed in any given cell. Gene expression occurs when certain molecular information contained within DNA is transcribed to create molecules known as RNA. These molecules in turn make the proteins that perform most of the critical functions of cells.
Following a heart transplant, physicians regularly monitor patients for transplant rejection, a significant risk to patient survival. Rejection occurs when the patient's immune system fails to accept the new organ and begins to attack it. Successful heart transplants depend on a balanced immune system response—a response that is suppressed enough to accept the new organ but strong enough to protect the patient from infections.
Clinicians often rely on heart biopsy to gauge whether a patient is rejecting the transplanted heart. However, biopsies are difficult to perform and can be risky for the patient.
According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, half of all possible rejections happen during the first six weeks after surgery and 25 percent of patients have signs of possible rejection at least once during the first year following a transplant.
XDx Inc. developed AlloMap using blood and biopsy samples and other information collected from heart transplant recipients at nine U.S. heart transplants centers participating in the Cardiac Allograft Rejection Gene expression Observational study (CARGO). CARGO provided data from 153 patients on 300 medical visits at various times after heart transplant study.
According to the American Heart Association, there were more than 2,000 heart transplants performed in the United States during 2006.
AlloMap is the third in vitro diagnostic multivariate index assay (IVDMIA) cleared by the FDA. IVDMIAs are medical devices that combine the values of multiple variables to yield a single, patient-specific result.
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Saturday, August 23, 2008
Measle Scare
Jump in US measles cases linked to vaccine fears
By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer Thu Aug 21, 6:34 PM ET
ATLANTA - Measles cases in the U.S. are at the highest level in more than a decade, with nearly half of those involving children whose parents rejected vaccination, health officials reported Thursday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080821/ap_on_he_me/med_measles_outbreaks
Friday, August 22, 2008
FDA Approves First Bone Marrow Stimulator to Treat Immune-Related Low Platelet Counts
HHH Note: Congrats to Amgen on this achievement. ITP patients have been waiting a long time. If memory serves correctly, this is the first advancement since the PROSORBA protein A column was introduced some 20 years ago.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Nplate (romiplostim), the first product that directly stimulates the bone marrow to produce needed platelets in patients with a rare blood disorder that can lead to serious bleeding.
The condition, which usually develops in adults, is known as chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a disease that results in a low number of platelets, the blood components that help with clotting. In patients with chronic ITP, the immune system is believed to destroy platelets and the patient's bone marrow is often unable to compensate for this loss.
"This product is important in that it offers a new approach to the treatment of patients with an uncommon blood disorder who are often very ill," said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA.
The estimated 140,000 people with chronic ITP are prone to bruising and at risk for life-threatening bleeding. Current medical treatment includes corticosteroids and immunoglobulin. Surgery to remove the spleen, a procedure known as a splenectomy, may help some patients. Nplate is approved only for patients with chronic ITP who do not respond sufficiently to current treatments.
FDA based its approval on two randomized clinical trials of about 125 patients who had received at least one prior ITP treatment. One study enrolled patients who still had their spleen, the other enrolled patients who did not.
During six months of treatment, patients who received Nplate had significantly higher platelet counts and maintained those higher counts compared to those who did not receive the drug. The response to Nplate was higher in those patients who still had their spleen than in those patients who had undergone a splenectomy. In those patients who did not receive Nplate, only one experienced a sustained increase in platelet counts.
Safety concerns with Nplate include fibrous deposits in the bone marrow and the possibility that once Nplate is stopped, platelet counts could drop below what they were before beginning treatment.
Additional risks include blood clots due to excessive increases in platelets and, if Nplate were given to patients with an abnormal blood condition known as myelodysplasia, a risk for a form of blood cancer known as acute leukemia. Myelodysplasia, which is associated with low platelet counts, predisposes some patients to leukemia. In a study of 44 patients who had myelodysplasia and received Nplate, four patients developed leukemia. Further clinical trials in patients with predisposing conditions for leukemia will be needed to determine whether the development of leukemia may relate to the use of Nplate. Nplate is approved only for use among patients with chronic ITP.
A Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) has been developed to address the risks of Nplate therapy. Under the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007, FDA has determined that a REMS is necessary for the benefits of Nplate to outweigh the risks of the product. The REMS will include a Medication Guide for patients and requires that all prescribers and patients enroll in a special program to track the long term safety of Nplate therapy.
Nplate is manufactured by Amgen, Inc. of Thousand Oaks, Calif.
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Thursday, August 21, 2008
Nation's High School Students Showing Overall Improvements in Health-Related Behaviors
However, Hispanic Students Not Showing Progress in Some Key Areas
Today's high school students are less likely to engage in many health risk behaviors than high school students in the early 1990s, according to the 2007 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), released in June by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Although the study documents substantial improvements over time in many health risk behaviors among all high school students, Hispanic students remain at greater risk for certain health related behaviors and have not matched the progress made over time by black students and white students in reducing some sexual risk behaviors.
"We are pleased that more high school students today are doing things that will help them stay healthy and avoiding things that put their health in danger. Unfortunately we are not seeing that same progress among Hispanic teens for certain risk factors," said Howell Wechsler, Ed.D., MPH, director of CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health.
An analysis of trends from YRBS on sexual risk behaviors found the following:
* Significant decreases occurred overall in the percentage of black students who had ever had sexual intercourse (66 percent in 2007; 82 percent in 1991); and who had sex with four or more people during their lifetime (28 percent in 2007; 43 percent in 1991.) * Significant decreases also occurred in the percentage of white students who had ever had sexual intercourse - 44 percent in 2007; 50 percent in 1991; and who had sex with four or more people during their lifetime - 12 percent in 2007; 15 percent in 1991.
* No significant change occurred in the percentage of Hispanic high school students who had ever had sexual intercourse (52 percent in 2007; 53 percent in 1991); and who had sex with four or more persons during their life (17 percent in both 2007 and 1991)
* The percentage of high school students who were taught about HIV/AIDS in school did not change significantly among Hispanics (85 percent in 2007; 82 percent in 1991), but did increase during 1991-2007 among black students (90 percent in 2007: 84 percent in 1991) and white students (91 percent in 2007; 83 percent in 1991.)
The 2007 National YRBS found that Hispanic students were more likely than either black students or white students to attempt suicide, use cocaine, heroin or ecstasy, ride with a driver who had been drinking alcohol, or go 24 hours or more without eating in an effort to lose weight. Hispanic students were also more likely than both black students and white students to say they did not go to school on occasion because of safety concerns, were offered or sold illegal drugs on school property or drank alcohol on school property.
There were, however, some positive findings concerning Hispanic students. Compared with Hispanic high school students in the 1990s, Hispanic students in 2007 were more likely to wear a seat belt at least some of the time and to use condoms during their most recent sexual intercourse and less likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, use drugs such as marijuana and methamphetamines, or ride with a driver who had been drinking alcohol.
National, state and local YRBS studies are conducted every two years among high school students throughout the United States. These surveys monitor health risk behaviors that lead to unintentional injuries and violence; tobacco, alcohol and other drug use; and sexual behaviors that can lead to unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection. The surveys also monitor high school students' dietary behaviors, physical inactivity, and the prevalence of obesity and asthma.
More than 14,000 U.S. high school students participated in the 2007 National YRBS. Data are presented only for black, Hispanic and white students because the sample size of students from other racial/ethnic populations was too small for a meaningful analysis. Parental permission was obtained for students to participate in the survey. Student participation was voluntary, and responses were anonymous. States and cities could modify the questionnaire to meet their needs. The 2007 report includes national data and data from surveys conducted in 39 states and 22 large urban school districts.
The National YRBS is one of three HHS-sponsored surveys that provide data on substance abuse among youth. The others are the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and a primary source of statistics on substance use among Americans age 12 and over (www.oas.samhsa.gov/nhsda.htm), and the Monitoring the Future (MTF) Study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (http://monitoringthefuture.org). MTF tracks substance use among students in the 8th, 10th and 12th grades.
The 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data are available at www.cdc.gov/yrbs.
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Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Autism 101 Seminar and Resource Fair for Newly Diagnosed Families
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Northstar Church
3413 Blue Springs Road
Kennesaw, Georgia 30144
“Autism 101” is a seminar and resource fair sponsored by the Autism Society of America - Greater Georgia Chapter for families of newly diagnosed children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The seminar provides information that educates, enables and empowers these families as they begin the journey of caring for, planning for, and treating their child. Additionally, there is a resource fair for families to meet and interact with local providers of autism related goods and services.
Pre-registration Required
$10 per person
Please visit the ASA-GGC website at www.asaga.com or call (770)904-4474 to register or for additional information.
Vendor space available
Autism 101 Schedule
8:00am-8:30am
Check in and receive materials
8:30am-9:00am
What is autism and how is it diagnosed?
Dr. Steve Hobbs, Pediatric Psychology Associates
9:00am-9:30am
Services, Funding, and Advocacy
Stacey Ramirez, University Center on Excellence in Developmental Disabilities
9:30am-10:00am
The Basics of Applied Behavioral Analysis
Drs. Coby & Janet Lund, Integrated Behavioral Solutions
10:00am-10:30am
The Sensory Connection
Margaret Kuneyl, OTR/L, Peach State Pediatric Therapy
10:30am-11:00am
Behavior Strategies and Positive Behavior Supports
Dr. Robert Montgomery, Reinforcement Unlimited
11:00am-11:30am
Promoting Language Skills
Charlie Coleman, Emory Autism Center
11:30am-Noon
Enhancing Social and Play Skills
Charlie Coleman, Emory Autism Center
Noon-1:30pm
Lunch and Resource Fair
1:30pm-2:00pm
Sleeping, Feeding, and Toileting Issues
Jason Cavin, Marcus Institute
2:00pm-2:30pm
Using Visual Supports
Karen Barineau, Dekalb County Schools
2:30pm-3:00pm
Biomedical and Diet Interventions
Stefanie Smith, Eating Away Autism
3:00pm-3:30pm
Music & Autism: Therapeutic Possibilities
Beth Hampshire-Coyle, NMT, MT-BC,
Music Therapy Services of Greater Atlanta
3:30pm-4:00pm
Accessing Educational Services
Mary O’Connell & Nan Britt, SPECTRUM
4:00pm-5:00pm
Autism’s impact on the family
Elizabeth Newman, Living the Mosaic
5pm-6pm
Resource Fair
Topics and/or presenters subject to change without notice.
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Fearsome-Smelling Gas Could Have Beneficial Uses in Medicine
A single breath of hydrogen sulfide, a gas best known for its rotten-egg smell, can kill. But at low concentrations, hydrogen sulfide could protect vital organs during surgery, research conducted by a new Emory University School of Medicine professor suggests.
David Lefer, PhD, professor of surgery, came to Emory this summer from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Lefer and his co-workers recently showed that delivering hydrogen sulfide to the liver can reduce damage caused by loss and restoration of blood flow in a mouse model of liver surgery. The results are published in the August issue of the American Journal of Physiology, Heart and Circulatory Physiology.
"As a gas, hydrogen sulfide has a number of advantages," Lefer says. "It diffuses across cell membranes, it can be delivered quickly and it protects cells via several basic biochemical pathways."
The authors show that hydrogen sulfide reduces inflammation and oxidative stress when blood flow to the liver is cut off. In the study, hydrogen sulfide is given intravenously, but Lefer says it may be possible to deliver it via inhalation or orally.
Lefer says liver surgery is just one example of a situation where hydrogen sulfide may be beneficial. He and colleagues at Albert Einstein previously showed that hydrogen sulfide can limit scarring and inflammation in the heart muscles of mice after a simulated heart attack. It appears to do so by protecting the mitochondria, the cell's mini-power plants, from structural damage.
Lefer notes that hydrogen sulfide resembles another poisonous gas that has attracted considerable scientific attention over the last decade, nitric oxide. Both gases regulate blood pressure and play key roles in controlling oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress means an abundance of reactive oxygen species, harmful oxygen-containing molecules that interfere with relaxation of blood vessels and trigger the formation of lesions leading to heart attack and stroke.
Lefer says he came to Emory because of opportunities to collaborate with several scientists who work on oxidative stress.
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Diabetes Association and a research grant from the biotechnology firm Ikaria Holdings. Lefer is a paid consultant for Ikaria, which is developing technology for hydrogen sulfide delivery.
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