August 11th, 2011 by Linda Burke-Galloway, M.D. in Health Tips, News
Tags: addiction, Brain, Breast Milk, Breastfeeding, California, Death, Dr. Linda Burke-Galloway, High Concentration, infant, Maggie Jean Wortman, Methamphetamine, Murder, National Library of Science, Nervous System, Newborn, Stimulant, Substance Abuse
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Could breastfeeding kill a newborn? That is the question a California district attorney will ask a jury at the trial of a breastfeeding mother. Most women do not intend to harm their children but substance abuse and addiction comes with a heavy price. Such was the case of Maggie Jean Wortman, who has been charged with second degree murder after medical tests revealed that her newborn son died from methamphetamine intoxication obtained through her breast milk. Wortman’s 19-month-old daughter also tested positive for methamphetamine and was placed in protective custody. How could this happen?
The transfer of drugs from the mother’s blood to human milk depends on the chemical composition of the drug. Antibiotics such as penicillin will remain in the mother’s blood for long periods of time whereas certain types of blood pressure and heart medications will remain in the milk. During the first three days after birth, higher concentrations of medicine remain in breast milk. Wortman’s attorney is attempting to argue that methamphetamine in breast milk could not kill a baby but here’s why he’s wrong: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Linda Burke-Galloway*
August 6th, 2011 by Medgadget in News, Research
Tags: AIDS, Blood Test, Cheap Medical Test, Columbia University, Developing World, Diagnostics, ELISA Test, HIV, Infectious Diseases, mChip, Medical Technology, Medicine, Microfluids, Nature Medicine, Pathology, Public Health, Research, Rwanda, STD Testing, STI Testing, Syphillis, Washington Post
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Researchers from Columbia University have developed a “lab on a chip” HIV and syphilis test, and are now reporting the first results from tests in the field conducted in Rwanda. The mChip, as it is called, is the size of a credit card and replicates all steps of an ELISA test, at a lower total material cost and within 20 minutes. After application of a blood sample, the chip is inserted into a $100 battery-powered handheld analyzer. It needs only 1 μl of unprocessed whole blood and does not require any user interpretation of the signal, providing a clear-cut yes or no result.
Right now, HIV testing in developing countries either relies on expensive laboratory testing taking a long time, or uses cheaper methods based on lateral flow, which, although very rapid, do not provide very reliable results. The mChip combines Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
August 6th, 2011 by Felasfa Wodajo, M.D. in News
Tags: Android, AO Surgery Reference, App Store, Apps, Campbell's Orthopedics, Current Diagnosis and Treatment Surgery, Featured, Heart Surgery Risk, iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTraycer, Journal of Surgical Radiology, Medical Apps, Medical Technology, Medscape App, Muller AO Classification of Fractures, Orthopedic Surgery, Orthopedics, Patient Education, PreOpEval, ShoulderDecide MD, Specialty, SurgAware, Surgery, Textbooks, Zollinger
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The explosive growth of medical applications for smartphones, launched by the debut of the innovative Apple iTunes App store in 2008, promises to fundamentally change the physician’s tool set. While many specialties have always been heavily dependent on technology, such as radiology and cardiology, the ubiquity of these small, interconnected computers means that every physician will soon have access to a broad array of software and hardware to help them perform their daily work.
At iMedicalApps.com, we have been reviewing the most interesting medical apps on the market today as well as watching for trends in mobile medical technology. The most popular categories thus far have been clinical reference and utility apps. Some of the largest download numbers have been for apps that provide drug and disease reference information, such as the encyclopedic Medscape app, or medical calculators.
However, more targeted apps that are specialty specific are slowly coming on the market. Some early ones, not surprisingly, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at iMedicalApps*
August 6th, 2011 by Peggy Polaneczky, M.D. in Medical Art, News
Tags: Cards, Deck of Cards, DNA, Helix, Mike Essl, MOMA, Museum of Modern Art, Saliva, Strategy, Talk to Me Exhibit
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If your DNA determines who you are, and defines both your strengths and limitations, then you could say we all live our lives with a pre-dealt deck of cards.
That’s the premise of a new card game on display as part of the Talk to Me exhibit which opened at MOMA this week.
Players send in swabs of saliva; the designers send it out to be analyzed and then generate a customized 50-card deck from each player’s specific DNA…The deck allows players to become shadow versions of themselves, with all their genetic cards on the table, and in the game, as in reality, life depends on how the cards are played, not on which cards are dealt. The effects of any trait depend Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Blog That Ate Manhattan*
August 4th, 2011 by ChristopherChangMD in News, Research
Tags: Brain/Spine Cancer, Breast Cancer, Cancer, Colon Cancer, Endometrial Cancer, Female, Five Feet Tall, Height, Hormone, Kidney Cancer, Leukemia, melanoma, Models, Mutations, New York Times, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, NYT, Ovarian Cancer, Rectal Cancer, Research, Risk, Tall, Validity, Women
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Female models may be tall and beautiful, but they are also at markedly increased risk of developing cancer. The New York Times reported on a fascinating research article regarding height of a women and risk of cancer.
Specifically, for every four-inch increase in height over 5 feet 1 inch, the risk that a woman would develop cancer increased by about 16 percent, especially for:
• Colon Cancer (RR per 10 cm increase in height 1.25, 95% CI 1.19—1.30)
• Rectal Cancer (1.14, 1.07—1.22)
• Malignant Melanoma Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Fauquier ENT Blog*
Could breastfeeding kill a newborn? That is the question a California district attorney will ask a jury at the trial of a breastfeeding mother. Most women do not intend to harm their children but substance abuse and addiction comes with a heavy price. Such was the case of Maggie Jean Wortman, who has been charged with second degree murder after medical tests revealed that her newborn son died from methamphetamine intoxication obtained through her breast milk. Wortman’s 19-month-old daughter also tested positive for methamphetamine and was placed in protective custody. How could this happen?
