Post by skytroll on Oct 5, 2007 23:08:50 GMT -5
Uric acid levels linked to mini-strokes
BALTIMORE, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers link high-normal uric acid levels to barely detectable mini-strokes that contribute to mental decline in those aging.
The study, published in Neurology, linked elevated uric acid levels to high volumes of white matter hyperintensities -- small dead areas in the brain caused by oxygen deprivation. In the future, lowering uric acid levels with diet, exercise and drugs may help reduce mini-strokes, study author David Schretlen, of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, said.
"Over a lifetime, it is common to have a small number of these mini-strokes and not even notice, but as the overall volume of white matter hyperintensities increases, the damage can seriously disrupt how quickly we think and how effectively we learn and remember information," Schretlen said in a statement.
.....more here:
tinyurl.com/2dq72f
Hope this doesn't get blood boilin, but seems they are wearing rose colored glasses, totally in some other world.
No Basis For Chronic Lyme Disease
www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews/hcu-chroniclyme-1003%2C0%2C7911818.story
By WILLIAM HATHAWAY | The Hartford Courant
5:12 PM EDT, October 3, 2007
The controversial diagnosis of chronic Lyme Disease -- used by some doctors to justify treating thousands of people with antibiotics for months or even years -- has no scientific basis, according to a review being published in tomorrow's New England Journal of Medicine.
The review contains no new scientific information, but the sweeping analysis of dozens of existing studies in a prestigious medical journal is a strong rebuke to the so-called "Lyme-literate'' doctors, whom the authors suggest treat patients for a condition they do not have.
The lead author of the review, Dr. Henry Feder Jr., of the department of pediatric and family medicine at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford, said the review was conducted to correct misinformation on Lyme Disease being spread on the Internet and other places by advocates of chronic Lyme.
Related links
Text: A Critical Appraisal of 'Chronic Lyme Disease'
Lyme Disease Rates For 2006 Multimedia
Lyme Disease Links
"I can't say there is no such thing as chronic Lyme,'' Feder said. "But the hard science says chronic Lyme does not exist.''
The authors of the study also take to task lawmakers who attempt to mandate insurance coverage for long-term antibiotic treatment for Lyme, along with Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who launched an anti-trust investigation over the recent approval of treatment guidelines that do not recommended extended courses of antibiotics.
Advocates in the long-term Lyme camp criticized the study, saying it ignores valid scientific evidence of long-term infection by the Lyme bacterium and will lead to withdrawal of effective treatments for thousands of patients.
"It is just the same old people saying the same old thing,'' said Pat Smith, president of the Lyme Disease Association. "They just choose to select one set of research and ignore other research.''
Publication of the review in such a prestigious medical journal will lead to the inability of thousands of people to get treatment for potentially debilitating symptoms such as fatigue, joint pain, cognitive difficulties and other neurological ailments, say advocates for Lyme disease patients, say some patient advocate groups.
"It's a disaster for people with chronic Lyme Disease,'' said Dr. Raphael Stricker, president of the International Lyme Disease Association. "Since it appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, everyone will take it as dogma and nobody will want to pay for treatment.''
Advocates like Smith and Stricker agree with Feder on one thing - thousands of people who show up at doctors' offices suffering from mysterious joint pain, fatigue, mental confusion or disabling neurological conditions.
But they don't agree on how many of these patients actually suffer from Lyme disease. Feder and mainstream medicine hold that the great majority of Lyme cases are easily treated with short courses of antibiotics if the disease is identified quickly.
But Stricker and Smith say existing diagnostic tests miss many Lyme cases and thousands of people end up suffering needlessly when extended courses of antibiotics can eliminate or at least neutralize the stealthy Lyme bacterium, B. burgdorferi.
But the journal's review argues that the great majority of people suffering from those symptoms do not have Lyme. Feder says that at least twice a week he gets a call from Connecticut pediatricians who say that parents of patients believe that their child has Lyme and are demanding antibiotic treatment, even in the absence of positive test for the disease.
"Ninety percent of those patients who walk in my door don't have Lyme,'' he said.
No rigorous study has found patients who had been clearly infected with Lyme benefit from long-term courses of antibiotics more than they would from a placebo. Also, many subjects suffered adverse side effects from antibiotic treatment.
"And worse, doctors tend to miss real underlying conditions,'' when making diagnosis of chronic Lyme, Feder said.
Feder does acknowledges he and other doctors sometimes simply do not know what is making patients so sick. And those patients are particularly susceptible to doctors who claim they have a cure for their symptoms.
"I have to tell them that I can't help you by giving you more (intravenous antibiotics), Feder said. "As a doctor, that really hurts me. If I don't give it to them, I am bad guy.''
But advocates for Lyme patients say that is exactly what doctors are doing – hurting patients.
"Doctors will tell them they do not know what is wrong with them,'' Smith said. "They are punishing patients by taking away the only treatment that is working for them.''
Smith and other patient advocates are irked that some of the authors on the study are the same being investigated by Blumenthal.
For instance, the senior author is Dr. Gary Wormser of New York Medical College. Wormser also helped write Lyme
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Existence of "Chronic Lyme Disease" Questioned
www.dentalplans.com/articles/26045/
Updated: 10/4/2007 5:07:04 PM
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - New Haven, Conn. - There is no evidence that "chronic Lyme disease" exists and if it does, the risks of prolonged antibiotic treatment outweigh any benefits, according to a review article by researchers at Yale and other institutions in the October 4 New England Journal of Medicine.
Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne infection in the Northern hemisphere. The disease is caused by bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi (B. burgdorferi), and typically manifests as a rash, while later-less common-symptoms may include meningitis, facial nerve palsy and arthritis. All of these conditions typically respond well to conventional antibiotic treatment, but a minority of patients subsequently complain of fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, and difficulty with concentration or short-term memory. These symptoms are usually mild and self-limited and are referred to as "post-Lyme disease symptoms." If they last longer than six months, they are called "post-Lyme disease syndrome."
The review article, written by Eugene D. Shapiro, M.D., of Yale and colleagues from other institutions, focused on what the authors refer to as the "imprecisely defined" condition "chronic Lyme disease." The authors note that this term is used by a small number of physicians to describe patients they claim have persistent B. burgdorferi infection, a condition that they say requires long-term antibiotic treatment and may be incurable.
"Although 'chronic Lyme disease' clearly encompasses post-Lyme disease syndrome, it also includes a broad array of illnesses or symptom complexes for which there is no reproducible or convincing scientific evidence of any relationship to B. burgdorferi infection," said Shapiro, who is professor of pediatrics, epidemiology and public and investigative medicine at Yale School of Medicine.
The article advises clinicians to tell their patients that there is no scientific evidence of "chronic Lyme disease," and to inform patients of the risks of unnecessary antibiotic therapy. The authors say that patients should also be thoroughly evaluated for medical conditions that could explain the symptoms.
"Explaining that there is no medication, such as an antibiotic, to cure the condition is one of the most difficult aspects of caring for such patients," said Shapiro. "Failure to do so leaves the patient susceptible to those who would offer unproven and potentially dangerous therapies."
Shapiro and his colleagues maintain that "chronic Lyme disease" is a misnomer, and the use of prolonged, dangerous, and expensive antibiotic treatments is not warranted.
Other authors on the study included Henry M. Fender, Jr., M.D., Barbara J.B. Johnson, Susan O'Connell, M.D., Allen C. Steere, M.D., Gary P. Wormser, M.D. and the Ad Hoc International Lyme Disease Group.
Citation: N. Engl J Med, Vol. 357, No. 14 (October 4, 2007)
www.HealthNewsDigest.com
Have they ever really seen any patients? ....such hatred for sick people.........makes you wonder.....
Seems Pres. Bush had this, didn't he?........
........
What Are You Eating?
Codex Committee On Food Additives - P. 8 thru 19 - LISTS 1521 FOOD ADDITIVES PUT IN YOUR DAILY DIET! Maybe this will help some of you understand why we say ''Be careful of prepared foods' - Start from scratch and buy wisely!
ftp.fao.org/codex/ccfa39/fa39_15e.pdf
just some updates, keeping us aware.......
Skytroll
BALTIMORE, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers link high-normal uric acid levels to barely detectable mini-strokes that contribute to mental decline in those aging.
The study, published in Neurology, linked elevated uric acid levels to high volumes of white matter hyperintensities -- small dead areas in the brain caused by oxygen deprivation. In the future, lowering uric acid levels with diet, exercise and drugs may help reduce mini-strokes, study author David Schretlen, of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, said.
"Over a lifetime, it is common to have a small number of these mini-strokes and not even notice, but as the overall volume of white matter hyperintensities increases, the damage can seriously disrupt how quickly we think and how effectively we learn and remember information," Schretlen said in a statement.
.....more here:
tinyurl.com/2dq72f
Hope this doesn't get blood boilin, but seems they are wearing rose colored glasses, totally in some other world.
No Basis For Chronic Lyme Disease
www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews/hcu-chroniclyme-1003%2C0%2C7911818.story
By WILLIAM HATHAWAY | The Hartford Courant
5:12 PM EDT, October 3, 2007
The controversial diagnosis of chronic Lyme Disease -- used by some doctors to justify treating thousands of people with antibiotics for months or even years -- has no scientific basis, according to a review being published in tomorrow's New England Journal of Medicine.
The review contains no new scientific information, but the sweeping analysis of dozens of existing studies in a prestigious medical journal is a strong rebuke to the so-called "Lyme-literate'' doctors, whom the authors suggest treat patients for a condition they do not have.
The lead author of the review, Dr. Henry Feder Jr., of the department of pediatric and family medicine at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford, said the review was conducted to correct misinformation on Lyme Disease being spread on the Internet and other places by advocates of chronic Lyme.
Related links
Text: A Critical Appraisal of 'Chronic Lyme Disease'
Lyme Disease Rates For 2006 Multimedia
Lyme Disease Links
"I can't say there is no such thing as chronic Lyme,'' Feder said. "But the hard science says chronic Lyme does not exist.''
The authors of the study also take to task lawmakers who attempt to mandate insurance coverage for long-term antibiotic treatment for Lyme, along with Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who launched an anti-trust investigation over the recent approval of treatment guidelines that do not recommended extended courses of antibiotics.
Advocates in the long-term Lyme camp criticized the study, saying it ignores valid scientific evidence of long-term infection by the Lyme bacterium and will lead to withdrawal of effective treatments for thousands of patients.
"It is just the same old people saying the same old thing,'' said Pat Smith, president of the Lyme Disease Association. "They just choose to select one set of research and ignore other research.''
Publication of the review in such a prestigious medical journal will lead to the inability of thousands of people to get treatment for potentially debilitating symptoms such as fatigue, joint pain, cognitive difficulties and other neurological ailments, say advocates for Lyme disease patients, say some patient advocate groups.
"It's a disaster for people with chronic Lyme Disease,'' said Dr. Raphael Stricker, president of the International Lyme Disease Association. "Since it appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, everyone will take it as dogma and nobody will want to pay for treatment.''
Advocates like Smith and Stricker agree with Feder on one thing - thousands of people who show up at doctors' offices suffering from mysterious joint pain, fatigue, mental confusion or disabling neurological conditions.
But they don't agree on how many of these patients actually suffer from Lyme disease. Feder and mainstream medicine hold that the great majority of Lyme cases are easily treated with short courses of antibiotics if the disease is identified quickly.
But Stricker and Smith say existing diagnostic tests miss many Lyme cases and thousands of people end up suffering needlessly when extended courses of antibiotics can eliminate or at least neutralize the stealthy Lyme bacterium, B. burgdorferi.
But the journal's review argues that the great majority of people suffering from those symptoms do not have Lyme. Feder says that at least twice a week he gets a call from Connecticut pediatricians who say that parents of patients believe that their child has Lyme and are demanding antibiotic treatment, even in the absence of positive test for the disease.
"Ninety percent of those patients who walk in my door don't have Lyme,'' he said.
No rigorous study has found patients who had been clearly infected with Lyme benefit from long-term courses of antibiotics more than they would from a placebo. Also, many subjects suffered adverse side effects from antibiotic treatment.
"And worse, doctors tend to miss real underlying conditions,'' when making diagnosis of chronic Lyme, Feder said.
Feder does acknowledges he and other doctors sometimes simply do not know what is making patients so sick. And those patients are particularly susceptible to doctors who claim they have a cure for their symptoms.
"I have to tell them that I can't help you by giving you more (intravenous antibiotics), Feder said. "As a doctor, that really hurts me. If I don't give it to them, I am bad guy.''
But advocates for Lyme patients say that is exactly what doctors are doing – hurting patients.
"Doctors will tell them they do not know what is wrong with them,'' Smith said. "They are punishing patients by taking away the only treatment that is working for them.''
Smith and other patient advocates are irked that some of the authors on the study are the same being investigated by Blumenthal.
For instance, the senior author is Dr. Gary Wormser of New York Medical College. Wormser also helped write Lyme
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Existence of "Chronic Lyme Disease" Questioned
www.dentalplans.com/articles/26045/
Updated: 10/4/2007 5:07:04 PM
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - New Haven, Conn. - There is no evidence that "chronic Lyme disease" exists and if it does, the risks of prolonged antibiotic treatment outweigh any benefits, according to a review article by researchers at Yale and other institutions in the October 4 New England Journal of Medicine.
Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne infection in the Northern hemisphere. The disease is caused by bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi (B. burgdorferi), and typically manifests as a rash, while later-less common-symptoms may include meningitis, facial nerve palsy and arthritis. All of these conditions typically respond well to conventional antibiotic treatment, but a minority of patients subsequently complain of fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, and difficulty with concentration or short-term memory. These symptoms are usually mild and self-limited and are referred to as "post-Lyme disease symptoms." If they last longer than six months, they are called "post-Lyme disease syndrome."
The review article, written by Eugene D. Shapiro, M.D., of Yale and colleagues from other institutions, focused on what the authors refer to as the "imprecisely defined" condition "chronic Lyme disease." The authors note that this term is used by a small number of physicians to describe patients they claim have persistent B. burgdorferi infection, a condition that they say requires long-term antibiotic treatment and may be incurable.
"Although 'chronic Lyme disease' clearly encompasses post-Lyme disease syndrome, it also includes a broad array of illnesses or symptom complexes for which there is no reproducible or convincing scientific evidence of any relationship to B. burgdorferi infection," said Shapiro, who is professor of pediatrics, epidemiology and public and investigative medicine at Yale School of Medicine.
The article advises clinicians to tell their patients that there is no scientific evidence of "chronic Lyme disease," and to inform patients of the risks of unnecessary antibiotic therapy. The authors say that patients should also be thoroughly evaluated for medical conditions that could explain the symptoms.
"Explaining that there is no medication, such as an antibiotic, to cure the condition is one of the most difficult aspects of caring for such patients," said Shapiro. "Failure to do so leaves the patient susceptible to those who would offer unproven and potentially dangerous therapies."
Shapiro and his colleagues maintain that "chronic Lyme disease" is a misnomer, and the use of prolonged, dangerous, and expensive antibiotic treatments is not warranted.
Other authors on the study included Henry M. Fender, Jr., M.D., Barbara J.B. Johnson, Susan O'Connell, M.D., Allen C. Steere, M.D., Gary P. Wormser, M.D. and the Ad Hoc International Lyme Disease Group.
Citation: N. Engl J Med, Vol. 357, No. 14 (October 4, 2007)
www.HealthNewsDigest.com
Have they ever really seen any patients? ....such hatred for sick people.........makes you wonder.....
Seems Pres. Bush had this, didn't he?........
........
What Are You Eating?
Codex Committee On Food Additives - P. 8 thru 19 - LISTS 1521 FOOD ADDITIVES PUT IN YOUR DAILY DIET! Maybe this will help some of you understand why we say ''Be careful of prepared foods' - Start from scratch and buy wisely!
ftp.fao.org/codex/ccfa39/fa39_15e.pdf
just some updates, keeping us aware.......
Skytroll