Breakthroughs Today

There is a difference between caution and overdiagnosis. It is the difference between healthy fear and near-pathological paranoia. And medical practitioners have the responsibility to ensure that before they write on their Rx pads to order the test, they have well-informed clinical bases for doing so. DURING March this year, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) rang the bell of caution with regard to the now-popular early detection test for cervical cancer called human papillomavirus (HPV) testing. Six studies agreed that it has a higher sensitivity to cancer indicators but lower specificity to cervical cancer compared to tissue studies. This means that it gives more positive results than it correctly should. And that’s where the concern of women patients lies. Studies have shown that such bloated counts of positive results in the past led to repeated testing and invasive procedures, such as colposcopy (using a lighted magnifying device) and cervical

As microbes start to learn defying the science behind antimicrobials, more superbugs are noted more and more. Let's look on what happens with superbug 'Streptococcus aureus.' THIS minute, “bundle of grapes-looking” bacteria naturally resides on the mucous membranes of the body and on the human skin. Staphylococcus aureus (aureus is Latin for “yellow”) is present in around a third of any human population, with 20 percent being long-term carriers of this silent menace. And it is very adaptable to antibiotic threats. Being so, it is one of the five most common causes of nosocomial infections, those diseases that we got for getting so sick and hospitalized. The first cases of resistance to penicillin, the groundbreaking discovery of Alexander Fleming in 1928, appeared in 1947 (four years after mass production started in 1943). So methicillin became the antibiotic of choice. But then reports of significant toxic effects on the kidney came out. Methicillin-resi

SO MUCH of the environment can be a factor in human behavior. The same is true with alcoholism. A study in 1993 has documented how the number of alcoholic drinks outlets in a neighborhood relates strongly to the level of diagnosed alcoholics in the same neighborhood. And it was not only alcoholism that found much influence from the neighborhood. Certain groups of crimes and diseases related to alcoholism can also be linked. Such legal offenses include fatal and injury traffic crashes, drunk driving, assaultive violence and liquor law violations. Diseases noted include cirrhosis (which eventually led to death) and sexually transmitted diseases. A 2007 study also noted the contribution of alcohol outlets in physical disorders (graffiti, liquor advertising, and trash) as well as social concerns (loitering, drug sales, prostitution, and altercations). That was more or less the American picture. The Theall study in 2011 noted that liquor stores are the... [ READ MORE

Anything can go wrong during pregancy. The fact alone that the child survives and came into the world just fine is an enduring miracle of life the many people tend to take for granted as a gift from God. IN BUSINESS, competition defines profitability. And going ahead of your competition is the name of the game. In obstetrics, however, particularly in pregnancy management, a placenta going ahead of the baby can spell trouble for both the mother and the child. The condition is called placenta previa or “preceding placenta.” It is a complication of pregnancy wherein the placenta grows in the lowest part of the womb, and in its complete form (type IV), completely covers the cervix. That sets up the mother to bleed severely in the latter part of pregnancy. The danger of placenta previa cannot be overemphasized. It increased the risk of death for both the mother and the baby before childbirth via severe vaginal bleeding. Blood transfusion is often needed. Premature deliver