Health And Medical Information

Health / Medical Recruiters Have New Place To Post Ads In Arizona

2008-01-21T11:54:18-08:00

A new free online classified site in Arizona popped up that allows Healthcare / Medical companies and Recruiters to post free job descriptions.

WaldosPost.com

Other cities and states to follow within the next few months.

Heart-Healthy Cholesterol-Reducing Snacks

2007-12-19T09:06:46-08:00

Corazonas Foods, Inc., has announced an exclusive licensing agreement with Brandeis University to utilize its technology in creating several new categories of heart-healthy snacks. Brandeis's innovative technology allows high levels of plant sterols to be incorporated into snack foods while retaining the product's outstanding flavor. The partnership's first venture, Corazonas Heart-Healthy Tortilla Chips, are currently the first and only snack chips clinically proven to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, a.k.a. "bad cholesterol," by up to 15 percent. The chips have been a huge hit since debuting in early 2006, further demonstrating the overwhelming consumer demand for healthful snack alternatives without sacrificing great taste.

Patented by Brandeis researchers K.C. Hayes, Daniel Perlman, and Andy Pronczuk, the cutting-edge technology has allowed the creation of foods fortified with natural (chemically unmodified) plant sterols. Found naturally in fruits, vegetables, whole-grain products and most vegetable oils, plant sterol levels are usually too low to effectively combat LDL cholesterol. The Brandeis technology makes natural plant sterols biologically available in oils at concentrations of 2 to 25 percent, enabling them to effectively block cholesterol absorption and reduce LDL levels.

A variety of scientific studies have shown that plant sterols, when appropriately added to other foods, can lower blood cholesterol and reduce risk for coronary heart disease. Brandeis University has licensed its patents exclusively in the field of snack products to Corazonas Foods, which will create additional categories of plant-sterol enhanced foods expanding beyond tortilla chips to other popular snacks including cookies, crackers and potato chips.

"Brandeis University has been a dream partner," said Ramona Cappello, Corazonas Foods chief executive officer. "We've been able to take an American favorite, tortilla chips, and produce them with healthy ingredients to create a crunchy, good-for-you and absolutely delicious snack. In the United States, half the population suffers from borderline to high cholesterol. It's very rewarding for our Corazonas team to be providing a product that we know can make a real difference in people's heart health."

"Brandeis is thrilled that Corazonas is successfully turning our basic discovery into products that have both a positive health benefit and are gaining broad acceptance by consumers," said Irene Abrams, executive director of the Office of Technology Licensing at Brandeis University. "We are confident that Corazonas will be as successful with its new line of products as they have been with the tortilla chips."

About Brandeis University

Characterized by academic excellence since its founding in 1948, Brandeis is one of the country's youngest private research universities and the only nonsectarian Jewish-sponsored college or university in the nation. Named for late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis, Brandeis combines the faculty and resources of a world-class research institution with the intimacy and personal attention of a small liberal arts college.

About Corazonas Foods

Inspired by the Spanish word for heart -- corazón -- Corazonas Foods was founded by a team of passionate entrepreneurs whose mission is to provide heart-healthy, all-natural alternatives to Americans' favorite snacks without sacrificing taste, texture or fun. Corazonas Heart-Healthy Tortilla Chips are the first and only snack chips clinically proven to lower cholesterol and are crafted with whole oats, fiber and plant sterols.

Source: Laura Gardner
Brandeis University

Originally Published Oct 2007

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Increased Risk Of Gastric Bleeding From Antidepressants And Painkiller Combination

2007-12-19T09:04:12-08:00

New research shows that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a group of drugs commonly used to treat depression, may double the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues. When the drugs are taken with aspirin and other similar pain medications, the risk is more than 600 percent higher.

"Clinicians who prescribe these medications should be aware of the potential risk and may need to consider alternatives," said Sonal Singh, M.D., senior researcher and an assistant professor of internal medicine. "In addition, regulatory authorities should consider revising existing package inserts to highlight the magnitude of the risk."

The research was reported online this month in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. Emerging evidence has shown that SSRIs may be associated with bleeding of the lining of the digestive tract including the esophagus, stomach or upper part of the small intestine, which together are called the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Upper gastrointestinal bleeding may be potentially serious and require hospitalization for blood transfusions and other treatments.

The drugs are widely used to treat depression, panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The researchers undertook the study because of a lack of information on the exact magnitude of the risk. They also looked at the effects of taking SSRIs at the same time as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which are also associated with upper GI bleeding. NSAIDs include prescription medications such as Celebrex® and over-the-counter drugs such as aspirin and Aleve®.

The researchers pooled data from four studies involving 153,000 patients, which allowed them to detect effects that might not show up in the individual studies. They found patients taking SSRIs were nearly twice as likely to develop upper GI bleeding than patients not taking the drugs. When the patients also took NSAIDs, the risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding was six times higher than in patients taking neither medication. The authors said the combined use of NSAIDs and SSRIs may have a synergistic effect, which results in the elevated risk of bleeding beyond that seen with each agent alone.

"While the risk to an individual may increase by only a small amount, the impact to the general population is likely to be substantial because of the large numbers of people who use these drugs," said Singh. He said that depressed, older adults may be most vulnerable because they are more likely to have conditions such as osteoarthritis that require the use of NSAIDs.

Based on their findings, the authors estimate that for every 411 patients over age 50 taking SSRIs, one is likely to develop upper GI bleeding requiring hospital admission. In patients taking both SSRIs and NSAIDs, one out of 82 would be expected to develop the problem.

"We estimate that roughly 18,000 additional cases of upper GI bleeding occurred in the United States and United Kingdom in 2003 as a result of taking SSRIs," said Singh.

In addition to the clinical studies, the researchers analyzed 101 reports on adverse effects submitted to the Canadian Adverse Events Database and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Adverse Event Reporting System. They found that bleeding associated with SSRI use occurred after a median of 25 weeks on the drugs. About 67 percent of those patients were also taking NSAIDs. The adverse reaction was not limited to the elderly, with 38 percent of cases occurring in patients below the age of 60.

"These findings emphasize the importance of clinicians taking a detailed gastrointestinal history from patients and targeting the use of SSRIs to patients who are at relatively low risk for upper GI bleeding," said Singh.

The research did not distinguish between specific drugs and whether one was associated with more bleeding than another. However, previous studies have shown that paroxetine (Paxil®), sertraline (Zoloft®) and fluoxetine (Prozac®) are most often associated with abnormal bleeding. Singh said future research should address the question of which specific drugs and combinations of drugs are associated with the highest risk. Singh's co-researchers were Apurva Trivedi, M.D., with Wake Forest, and Yoon K. Loke, M.D., lead author, with the University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom.

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university's School of Medicine. The system comprises 1,187 acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of "America' s Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report".

http://www.wfubmc.edu

Originally Published Oct 2007

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Pandemic Flu Prep Necessary, "Daunting," Texas Medicine Reports

2007-12-19T09:01:55-08:00

Pandemic flu is waiting to strike. Even though public health organizations are preparing, others need to prepare now as well, according to the October Texas Medicine magazine. Physicians fear that because little new information is being reported about the potential pandemic outbreak of the avian flu, people will become complacent, and not be prepared for its strike.

The October edition of the official publication of the Texas Medical Association (TMA) examines several aspects of the potential pandemic outbreak, including a primer on pandemic flu, triaging patients before they're hospitalized, and caring for children in a pandemic situation. "This special issue on pandemic influenza demonstrates the continued need for pandemic planning in local communities," said, John T. Carlo, MD, MSE, medical director/health authority of the Dallas County Health and Human Services. "For local health officials in the United States, the task of preparing local communities is daunting," said Dr. Carlo.

A pandemic is different from an epidemic. Pandemics are larger and more widespread - the illness occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally large population. By contrast, epidemics are limited to one general area and affect a smaller segment of people.

Dr. Carlo reports communities are working to prepare for the day when human-to-human spread of avian flu virus occurs easily, including securing funding for technology, preparedness plans, health surveillance, and vaccines. Vaccine manufacturers are researching ways to get shots to every man, woman, and child in the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first avian flu virus vaccine in April. The organization has begun to stockpile the vaccine.

Yet planning and preparing does not stop with the work hospitals and physicians' offices are doing, according to Dr. Carlo. He expresses fear that the general public will become complacent because no significant avian flu news has emerged recently. To combat this, he suggests private industry should educate employees and institute pandemic planning, and ordinary citizens must educate themselves and stockpile necessary items at home.

TMA is the largest state medical society in the nation, representing more than 42,000 physician and medical student members. It is located in Austin and has 120 component county medical societies around the state. TMA's key objective since 1853 is to improve the health of all Texans.

http://www.texmed.org

Originally Published Oct 2007

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Differences Observed Between Black And White Women In Use Of Breast Cancer Therap

2007-12-19T08:57:50-08:00

A new study finds treatment for breast cancer differs between African-American women and white women, though the differences are partly dependent on insurance type. The study appears in the November 15, 2007 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Dr. Mousumi Banerjee of the University of Michigan and co-investigators Dr. Kendra Schwartz from Wayne State University and Dr. William Hryniuk from the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada reviewed and analyzed demographic, socioeconomic and medical data from 651 women diagnosed with breast cancer in the early to mid 1990's. Their objective was to evaluate the role of race in breast cancer treatment after accounting for such significant confounders as comorbidities, socioeconomic status, and health insurance status.

The study found that, among patients with breast cancer that had spread to the lymph nodes, African-Americans were less likely to have adjuvant cancer therapy than white women. In this clinical group, white women were almost five times more likely to take Tamoxifen, a widely-used cancer therapy medication, and over three times more likely to have chemotherapy. Women with early stage breast cancer who had government health insurance were less likely to have combination breast conserving cancer surgery and radiation, and more likely to have mastectomy without radiation than patients enrolled in non-governmental plans.

Racial differences in the diagnosis and outcome of breast cancer have been readily apparent since the 1980s, when new screening and treatment tools became available. Breast cancer is diagnosed at a more advanced, poor prognostic stage among African-American women than white American women. Studies also suggest that, stage-for-stage, African-American women have higher cancer mortality rates. Differences in access to screening and treatment infrastructure, rather than tumor biology, may account for differences in clinical course.

One conclusion from this study is to target educational interventions in a culturally sensitive way to improve use of adjuvant therapies among African-American women with regional stage disease.

Article: "Disentangling the Effects of Race on Breast Cancer Treatment," Mousumi Banerjee, Julie George, Cecilia Yee, William Hryniuk, Kendra Schwartz, CANCER; Published Online: October 8, 2007 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.23026); Print Issue Date: November 15, 2007.

American Cancer Society

Originally Published Oct 2007

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