December 25th, 2011 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Health Tips
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Severe osteoarthritis of the hands
One of my patients came to see me today with severe right knee pain. This is not a new problem, and in fact, we have been dealing with flare ups of her osteoarthritis for years. It mainly affects her knees and hands and today her right knee was swollen and felt like the “bone was rubbing together” with each step. She could hardly walk because of the pain.
Osteoarthritis is also known as degenerative arthritis and it is one of the most common maladies of aging joints, affecting millions of people. The cartilage in joints wears down and inflammation causes the bones to build up spurs and small micro tears. It affects women more than men and the cause is unknown. There are likely genetic factors as it tends to run in families. Arthritis can occur in any joint but the most common are the fingers, wrists, hips, neck and spine and knees. Stiffness (especially in the morning) and pain are the main symptoms that limit mobility.
You can see Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
November 2nd, 2011 by ChristopherChangMD in Opinion, Research
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I read with astonishment that a class of cancer drugs known as VEGF Inhibitors (ie, Avastin and Erbitux) used to treat colorectal, lung, breast, and kidney cancers can also be used to potentially treat a type of chronic ear infection known as glue ear… at least in theory and in mice. Glue ear is when an individual suffers from repetitive ear infections or upper respiratory infections to the point where the fluid in the ear turns into a maple syrup consistency. It’s thick, sticky and tough to get rid of with standard antibiotic medications. Standard treatment to address glue ear is placement of ear tubes to allow ventilation and drainage of the ear as well as antibiotic/steroid ear drops.
British researchers using the mouse model have determined that Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Fauquier ENT Blog*
October 4th, 2011 by HarvardHealth in Better Health Network
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At one time or another, almost everyone experiences a ringing in their ears. It’s common after sitting through a loud concert or an exuberant football game, or after taking aspirin or an antibiotic for a while. But as many as 50 million Americans have chronic tinnitus (pronounced tih-NITE-us or TIN-ih-tus)—a constant ringing, whistling, buzzing, chirping, hissing, humming, roaring, or even shrieking. (If you don’t have tinnitus, you can get an idea of what people with the condition hear at the American Tinnitus Association’s Web site.)
Chronic tinnitus can be caused by a variety of things, from impacted ear wax to medications that damage nerves in the ear, middle ear infection, and even aging. Damage to hair cells in the ear’s cochlea (see the illustration below) are suspected as a common pathway for these causes. As I write in the September issue of the Harvard Women’s Health Watch, chronic tinnitus can also be a symptom of Ménière’s disease, a disorder of the balance mechanism in the inner ear. (You can read the full article here.)
Managing tinnitus
When chronic tinnitus is caused by a definable problem, like Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
