July 31st, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
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A team of biomedical engineering masters students at Johns Hopkins have developed a device that they hope will be able to spot oncoming pre-term labor in pregnant women earlier than by using an external tocodynamometer.
The CervoCheck device is meant to be inserted into the vaginal canal/cervical opening where it then can measure electrical signals characteristic of contractions. Prototypes of the device are currently being tested in animals. We sympathize with those who have to insert them into pigs(?). Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
July 24th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
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The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has issued a statement that moderate caffeine consumption (<200mg/day — about a cup of coffee) does not increase a woman’s risk for miscarriage or preterm birth. The review of recent studies was published in Obstetrics and Gynecology and should reassure women about drinking coffee when pregnant.
Caffeine does cross the placenta, but there was no difference found between the moms who drank caffeine while pregnant and those who did not.
If you wonder how much caffeine is in certain drinks or foods, click here.
One fact the study did not mention is that many women have a natural aversion to coffee when they are pregnant. Maybe nature knows best.
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
April 8th, 2010 by JenniferKearneyStrouse in Better Health Network, News
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An article in the New York Times this week looks at a raft of new public health initiatives passed by Congress that are aimed at boosting disease prevention. Examples include requiring restaurants with at least 20 locations to include nutrition information on their menus and mandating employers with at least 50 employees to allow new mothers to express breast milk at work. In addition, Medicaid will now cover smoking cessation counseling for pregnant women and Medicare beneficiaries will be eligible for an annual physical. The initiatives are expected to eventually save money by decreasing the country’s chronic disease burden. (New York Times)
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University recently did a study applying physicians’ ethical codes to the conduct of the fictional doctors on “Grey’s Anatomy” and “House, M.D.” Perhaps to no one’s surprise, TV doctors are behaving very badly. As the abstract of the study states, both shows feature “egregious deviations from the norms of professionalism and contain exemplary depictions of professionalism to a much lesser degree.” (Philadelphia Inquirer, Journal of Medical Ethics)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
