About.com ENT

New Study Shows GERD May Be an Autoimmune Disorder

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:17:08 +0000

A new study at UT Southwestern Medical Center, supported by the Dallas VA Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health and reported in the November issue of Gastroenterology shows that gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD) may actually be an autoimmune disorder. The study showed that damage to the esophagus that occurs as a result of GERD is not from stomach acid but chemicals called cytokines which are released by esophageal cells in response to GERD.

The study was performed on rats. Researchers conducted surgery on the rats where they connected the duodenum (part of the intestine) to the esophagus to create similar conditions of GERD where stomach acid and bile were frequently spilling into the esophagus. Instead of appearing immediately as you would expect if stomach acid was the culprit of esophageal damage, damage to the esophagus did not appear for a number of weeks. "That doesn't make sense if GERD is really the result of an acid burn, as we all were taught in medical school," said Dr. Stuart Spechler, professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study. "Chemical injuries develop immediately. If you spill battery acid on your hand, you don't have to wait a month to see the damage."

"In animal models of reflux esophagitis designed to mimic the human disease, researchers hadn't looked at the early events in the development of esophageal injury," Dr. Souza, staff physician at the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center and part of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UT Southwestern noted. "Most of those investigators have been interested in the long-term consequences of GERD, and we found virtually no published data about what happens later that induces gastroesophageal reflux."

Three days after the surgery researchers expected to see damage to the surface cells of the esophagus. Instead they found damage to cells deep within the tissue of the esophagus. GERD can cause sore throat, chest pain, and over time esophageal cancer. Similar studies will have to be preformed on humans to verify the results of this study. You can read more about this study on Newswise.

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New Study Shows GERD May Be an Autoimmune Disorder originally appeared on About.com ENT on Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at 16:17:08.

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Fake H1N1 Drugs Being Sold on Internet

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:06:34 +0000

According to Fox News gangs are making millions of dollars by selling fake versions of the H1N1 drugs Tamiflu and Relenza online. According to the report most of the fraudulent organizations are based in Russia. "As more and more cases of swine flu....come to light, it is essential that we all resist the panic-induced temptation to purchase Tamiflu online," said Sophos spokesman Graham Cluley. "The criminal gangs working behind the scenes at fake internet pharmacies are putting their customers' health, personal information and credit card details at risk." Cluley also said that the gangs were working under the name Canadian Pharmacy.

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Fake H1N1 Drugs Being Sold on Internet originally appeared on About.com ENT on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 21:06:34.

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Statin Drugs Used To Lower Cholesterol May Also Reduce H1N1 Related Deaths

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:52:43 +0000

Gordon Bernard, M.D., associate vice-chancellor for Research at Vanderbilt and a critical care pulmonologist is studying the role of statin drugs in H1N1 related deaths; particularly the statin drug Crestor. "We know from studying infections that it's not always the bacteria that will kill you, but your own reaction to the bacteria can deal a lethal blow. We're learning that statins have an impact on the immune system and can dampen down that deleterious component of the immune response," Bernard has been quoted as saying.

Dr. Bernard wants to conduct a study at Vanderbelt University Medical Center. He plans to enroll patients admitted to the ICU for H1N1 symptoms in the study. The patients will be divided into two groups. One group will receive Crestor and the other group will receive a placebo. "Once a person with suspected H1N1 reaches the ICU, their mortality can be 20 percent or higher. Statins offer the potential to reduce it to 10 percent. Statins, if effective, could also reduce the patient's time on a mechanical ventilator in half from a current average of 14 days," Bernard says.

The study will need approximately 3-4 million dollars of funding and will hopefully involve 2,240 patients.

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Statin Drugs Used To Lower Cholesterol May Also Reduce H1N1 Related Deaths originally appeared on About.com ENT on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 11:52:43.

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Hand Sanitizer Or Soap and Water?

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:45:12 +0000

With respiratory season in full force millions of Americans are packing hand sanitizer. Businesses are placing it by their doors, and hospitals have placed hand sanitizer strategically throughout their buildings. But, which is best? Hand sanitizer or soap and water? This is a debate that has gone on for some time now. As an RN I've watched the hospital administration teeter on this issue from the beginning. Their first philosophy: hand sanitizer is bactericidal meaning that it kills germs, while soap and water either disables germs (by scrubbing) or sends them down the drain. We were told to always use hand sanitizer unless our hands were visibly soiled or had come in contact with body fluids.

A year later the guidelines changed. Saint Joseph's University medical microbiology expert Michael McCann, Ph.D. says that you should wash with soap and water whenever possible. Use hand sanitizer only when there is no soap and water available and only use alcohol based hand sanitizers. Hand sanitizers which kill bacteria using triclosan or other similar chemicals can actually create resistant bacterial strains in the same way that antibiotics do, he says.

So how do you wash your hands? Well, for starters you should scrub for a minimum of 15 seconds, (about as long as it takes to sing the alphabet). Scrub hard - friction damages the cell wall of bacteria which disables them. Turn off the faucet using a hand towel. Wash often, not just before you eat or after you use the bathroom. Wash when you come home from a public place, after you pet or handle pets, before holding infants, after handling money. Remember, germs are on everything and while millions of them are harmless it only takes one bad germ to cause life threatening illness.

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Hand Sanitizer Or Soap and Water? originally appeared on About.com ENT on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 22:45:12.

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Get Your PPSV Shot To Avoid Complications of H1N1

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:05:43 +0000

The pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV) vaccination helps to prevent cases of bacterial pneumonia. This may not mean a whole lot to you unless you know that one of the leading causes of death among patients infected with the flu (H1N1 and other strains) is caused by secondary infections with bacterial pneumonia. The PPSV shot should be given every five years, is recommended for all children less than 5 years old and all persons age 65 and older. It is also recommended for people aged 2-64 years with the following high risk conditions: heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, liver disease, alcoholism, cerebral spinal fluid leaks, cochlear implants, sickle cell anemia, splenectomy, and those with compromised immune systems. The PPSV can be given at the same time the 2009 H1N1 shot is administered or the seasonal flu shot. According to the CDC approximately 70 million people who qualify for this vaccine remain unvaccinated. Talk to your health provider about the PPSV shot.

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Get Your PPSV Shot To Avoid Complications of H1N1 originally appeared on About.com ENT on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 12:05:43.

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New Study Shows That Regular Neti Pot Use May Lead To More Sinus Infections

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:39:03 +0000

A new study reported at a meeting for the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology shows that patients who stopped using a neti pot had a 62 percent decrease in the occurrence of acute rhinosinusitis. The study followed 68 patients over a period of two years.

"I don't have anything against short-term nasal saline irrigation -- even aggressive nasal saline irrigation for three, four days or one week is totally fine," said Talal M. Nsouli, MD, of Watergate Allergy & Asthma Center in Washington. "But when we are doing it o on a daily basis, we are modifying the immunological biochemistry of the nose. This will lead us to a vicious cycle," Nsouli said. "More infections, more nasal saline; more nasal saline, more infections. We need to cut this cycle."

Those who stopped using the neti pot also had significantly fewer sinus infections. You can read more about this study on MedPage Today.

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New Study Shows That Regular Neti Pot Use May Lead To More Sinus Infections originally appeared on About.com ENT on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 15:39:03.

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What Does it Mean That a Cat Tested Positive For H1N1?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:16:53 +0000

Yes, it appears to be true; a 13 year old cat in Iowa tested positive for H1N1. This is most bizarre as it is fairly uncommon that flu viruses cross between different species and now H1N1 has been found in pigs, turkeys, a ferret and a cat. Occasionally flu viruses have crossed between birds and humans, or pigs and humans, but this is an unusually high number of various species for the virus to infect. So what does it mean? No one knows for sure but here are some probable theories: something sets the H1N1 virus apart from other influenza viruses we've studied, more animals have been tested since this is a full scale pandemic, there have been more opportunities for pets to become infected since this is a full scale pandemic.

Until more information is available vets are recommending that pets are treated the same way humans are regarding precautions to prevent the flu. This means isolating your pet from sick family members, covering your mouth when you cough, washing your hands and all the rest. And, take your pet to the vet if they appear sick. Basically, take care of yourself and your pets.

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What Does it Mean That a Cat Tested Positive For H1N1? originally appeared on About.com ENT on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 17:16:53.

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The Danger of Thimerosol in the H1N1 Vaccine

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:02:11 +0000

The National Institutes of Health have come out with yet another new study refuting the danger of the mercury based preservative thimerosol in vaccinations. Currently thimerosol is only being used in the multi-dose bottles of the H1N1 vaccines but fear of a connection between autism and mercury based injections have prevented plenty of parents from having their children immunized. Another study recently released shows that fear of vaccine side effects may end up making the H1N1 pandemic worse.

The study on thimerosol was conducted at Hospital Durand in Buenos Aires since thimerosol was largely removed from vaccines in the United States in 2001 and involved 72 newborn babies. The babies mercury levels were tested before and after vaccination and results showed that thimerosol was no longer present in the blood within ten days or less of vaccination.

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The Danger of Thimerosol in the H1N1 Vaccine originally appeared on About.com ENT on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 17:02:11.

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Hospitals Reach Capacity With Flood of H1N1 Patients

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:42:09 +0000

President Obama has declared a state of emergency due to several hospitals across the U.S. loaded over capacity with patients infected with H1N1 USA Today reported yesterday. The hospitals cited in the article are in Baltimore, Denver, Seattle, San Diego and Duluth. Meanwhile, as I reported yesterday, vaccine remains in short supply with some individuals waiting hours to get their shot if they're lucky enough to get one at all.

Even at facilities who have the rooms to accommodate H1N1 patients staffing has been a problem due to health professionals who are sick with the flu themselves or are home taking care of sick family members. Many hospitals are already chronically understaffed due to the nationwide nursing shortage. One John Hopkins hospital reported that on October 11, 2009 they were receiving on average 20 patients per hour. No one knows if this trend will continue throughout the season or let up. The CDC has stated that they expect more vaccine to be available in the weeks to come.

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Hospitals Reach Capacity With Flood of H1N1 Patients originally appeared on About.com ENT on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 13:42:09.

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Swine Flu Vaccine Catastrophe

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:25:05 +0000

A fellow About.com guide, Shawn Watson, writes today, "I waited for 5 hrs today [to get the swine flu vaccine] with my two children, and we were there first thing in the morning! I must say, this is the first time I have been disappointed in our health care system. We had four R.N.'s vaccinating for H1N1 and seasonal flu, in a town of 15,000. People in the major city that I live near had a 6+ hour wait time, with only 4 clinics to service over one million people." Shawn is from Canada but I must say that I don't feel the situation in the United States is much better.

First of all, as a journalist who has been covering the pandemic for quite some time now I'm pretty disappointed. Many health officials have spent the last few months trying to identify the "high risk population", those individuals who are most in need of the vaccine, but are those people getting the vaccine? It seems more like the vaccine is being distributed on a first come first serve basis. My husband and I are both R.N.'s and are therefore included in the high risk community, however, neither of us has been vaccinated. This is pretty ironic as I have picked up extra shifts at the hospital to cover other nurses who are sick with the swine flu, the same nurses who should have been first to be immunized.

I had my children vaccinated for the seasonal flu with the FluMist. The doctor was relieved I requested the mist instead of the shot as they were already almost out of the injectable version. The problem is that children who receive the FluMist need two doses a month apart. I was not aware of this, my doctor did not mention it, (Did he know? Did he purposely neglect telling me because he knew the second dose would not be available?), and now I am scrambling to figure out how to get them their second dose.

Back in September the New England Journal of Medicine reported a study which showed that one dose of H1N1 was sufficient for adequate immunity. This was good news since it meant the vaccine would go twice as far and a surplus was actually anticipated. Now the study, showing that only one dose of the vaccine is enough seems to have fallen by the wayside and we are inadequately prepared to immunize the millions of people who need the vaccine.

In a press conference yesterday Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said, "This is a challenging time, we wish we had more vaccine available." An article from Atlanta Health Diet and Fitness reports that the vaccine is being made by growing the virus in eggs, the same method currently used to make all flu vaccines and a process that takes 6-9 months. But, let's rewind back to August of this year when I wrote a blog which stated that the United States Government had ordered 12.5 million doses of the vaccine. Even then I commented on the fact that the number seemed woefully inadequate. "If we had H1N1 earlier in the season we would have most likely included it in the seasonal flu vaccine. So it would have been part of the regular flu vaccination program, as it will be for the Southern Hemisphere in [their] coming flu season," Friedan said. But, even if it had been included as part of the regular flu vaccine officials still would have grossly underestimated the amount of vaccine needed.

Of course the media is to blame for this as well. Swine flu is a strain of influenza the likes of which most of us have never seen. It targets young people and ignores the boundaries of the other influenza viruses which typically circulate from October to March by showing up in April and continuing to infect throughout the summer. The comparison of H1N1 to the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918, (there are many similarities between the two pandemics) has created some hysteria and honestly people are banging down the doors of the Health Department trying to get the vaccine. The pandemic of 1918 occurred in three deadly waves. Last Friday Friedan said that this pandemic was also likely to occur in waves but that, "We can't predict how high, how far or long the wave will go, or when the next will come."

The good news is that while there have been 31 strains of the virus reported as resistant to Tamiflu this is a very small number considering the number of virus samples that have been obtained. Overall this virus really hasn't mutated at all, which means that current technology used to treat the disease is still effective. But, if you want the vaccine before regular flu season kicks in you'll have to be prepared to wait for it. That said, Dr. Friedan did note that, "We are beginning to see significant increases in vaccine production, vaccine distribution and we do think it will get easier to find vaccine in the weeks that come."

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Swine Flu Vaccine Catastrophe originally appeared on About.com ENT on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 11:25:05.

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