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Antiseptic washes are useful against superbug infection.

Bathe with antiseptic seriously injured patients in intensive therapy reduces the risk of developing certain infections and up would control a drug-resistant bacteria, according to a new study.

Trauma patients are especially vulnerable to nosocomial infections, told Reuters Health Dr. Heather L. Evans, Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

“Many of them are admitted directly to surgery, not always with the best hygiene before surgery because the urgency is so high that they need an immediate operation,” he said.

Previous studies have shown that bathing a patient in intensive care with cloth moistened with antiseptic chlorhexidine gluconate reduced the infection of two types of bacteria resistant to drugs, Evans and colleagues wrote in the Archives of Surgery.

To investigate whether these cloths also serve in injured patients in intensive care, the team used no antiseptic, disposable cloths to bathe every day for six months and then used antiseptic wipes for another six months.

The baths with antiseptic reduced the possibility of developing bloodstream infection by use of catheters and suffering from pneumonia for the use of mechanical ventilation and caused by Staphylococcus aureus resistant to methicillin (MRSA, for its acronym in English, or superbug).

Superbug that kills 25,000 people a year in Europe and 19,000 in the United States.

Patients cleaned with antiseptic were also less likely to have MRSA or other difficult to treat bacteria called Acinetobacter, which grows in their bodies and is known medically as “colonization.”

However, when the antiseptic was not used, the risk of MRSA colonization tripled. The only adverse effect was skin rash in two patients.

Evans said that now all patients in intensive care at Harborview is the bathing with chlorhexidine cloths. In 2007, he added, there were 20 MRSA infections per 1,000 hospitalized patients, but there are currently 7.6 cases. “That’s awesome,” he said.

Still, the study design did not prove that the new panels were the cause of change, which has a higher cost of chlorhexidine cost $ 5.52 per bath, while the commonly used products cost $ 1.23 per bath .

The team felt that more studies are needed to verify that it is worth spending thousands of patients annually.

Another potential concern, said Shirin Towfigh, the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, is that the use of chlorhexidine cloths could cause drug resistance in other bacteria. However, Towfigh wrote in an editorial that the study found significant benefits.

Almost one third in the U.S. goes stale.

A study based on a poll indicates that blacks are the least sleep and Asians the most sleepy.

Almost one third in the U.S. goes stale.

30% of Americans sleep less than six hours a night, far less than the eight hours recommended by doctors as the rest they need to maintain good health.

A new survey from the National Sleep Foundation (NSF, according to its acronym in English) United States also notes that there are differences between ethnic groups, especially in the case of blacks on average 34 minutes less sleep than Asians, Hispanics or whites .

“The survey found that black Americans sleep an average of six hours and 14 minutes (per day) during the week,” said BBC reporter Jane O’Brien.

Blacks also took longer sleeping in their rituals and alongside Hispanics were more likely to lose sleep because of financial problems.

“But also needed less sleep, a little over seven hours compared with seven hours preferred by Asians, Hispanics and whites.

The experts do not yet know exactly what they are about those differences.

“Clearly we now know that genetic variants exist that allow people to sleep less and be perfectly normal, do not have a deficiency,” said Dr. Allan Pack, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania.

“There are genetic variations that determine the amount of sleep you need one person. That would be an explanation. I think the most likely explanation has to do with socioeconomic factors,” he added.

Other health problems

These changes also raise questions about other health problems.

“Will the group of people who do not sleep much has, for example, an obesity problem?” Says Dr. Meir Kryger, another researcher who worked on the survey.

“Research has shown that the less sleep are more likely to be overweight. There are many interesting questions could be answered”, added Dr. Kryger.

All ethnic groups reported missing family meetings at least once a month because they feel too tired. One third of Asians, Hispanics, American blacks and whites blamed sleep deprivation to problems with personal relationships and poor quality of life.

Asians are those who sleep better, says the study, the first to examine ethnic differences in sleep deprivation among Americans.

85% of Asians said they sleep peacefully at least several nights every week and most of them succeed without the aid of artificial substances.

Only 5% of Asians said they used sleeping pills for at least several nights during the week compared to 13% for whites, 9% for blacks and 8% for Hispanics.

Hispanics appear to be the most to lose sleep because of financial problems, employment, personal relationships and health problems, the study said.

Nearly four in 10 Hispanics (38%) and a third of blacks said they lost sleep several nights a week because of these concerns compared to only a quarter of whites or Asians.
Source:online pharmacy

Scientists were able to distinguish the thoughts and memories of healthy volunteers using a brain scan.
British scientists say they managed to “read” the thoughts of healthy volunteers using a brain scan.

Researchers at the University of London showed participants several short films and later were able to predict which of them were thinking the volunteers.

The study, published in the journal Current Biology, offers new information on how memories are recorded.

And we are getting closer, say experts, to create some sort of device to detect that a person is thinking by watching his patterns of brain activity.

For long term research also could help develop treatments for memory loss, say the authors.

Studies in the past had shown that brain scans can predict simple thought processes as distinguishing between colors, objects or places.

But remember past events is a more complex process, researchers say.

More complex

With brain scans scientists at the University of London and had managed to tell where a person was located in a virtual reality room.

The new study was based on that finding, but went much further. The scientists analyzed what is called episodic memory.

“In our previous experiment were analyzing basic memories, as the location of a person in an environment,” explains Dr. Eleanor Maguire, of the Wellcome Trust Center for Neuroimaging, University of London, who led the study.

“But it’s much more interesting to analyze the” episodic memory “, memory processes that are far more complex experiences people including information on where we were, what we were doing and how we felt about it,” he adds.

In the experiment the researchers asked 10 volunteers they looked three short films of people engaged in activities of daily living, such as depositing a letter in the mail or littering in a basket.

Afterwards the volunteers were asked to recall each of the short while undergoing a brain scan of functional magnetic resonance imaging to record changes in brain activity.

With the help of a computer algorithm and based only on readings from the scanner, the scientists could predict which of the three short films each volunteer was thinking.

According to scientists, is the first time you use a brain scan to distinguish between memories of past events.

As the BBC said Dr. Maguire, the study shows that our memories are “recorded” in a regular pattern in a brain region called the hippocampus.

“We were able to decode information in brain areas that are adjacent to the hippocampus, but in fact the most accurate decoding was obtained with the activity of the hippocampus,” says the researcher.

“This tells us that the hippocampus contributes very special to episodic memory.

As said Dr. Maguire, this technique is not designed to read people’s minds without their consent.

The research, he says, is focused on helping patients with memory problems.

If we can obtain more detailed information on how we store our memories can better understand how this process is affected over time with aging and brain damage.
Source: health news

Study in monkeys may help in developing an effective anti-AIDS vaccine.
Washington, March 10 (EFE) .- The immune diversification helps control the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), says a study by an international group of scientists that publishes the journal Science Translational Medicine health news.

According to French and U.S. investigators, a similar diversification in humans could be key in developing an effective vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS.

A vaccine tested in Thailand last year and created high expectations proved to be only temporary effects, according to its discoverers.

Now Dr. Shelby O’Connor, American University of Wisconsin-Madison, and colleagues used African monkeys Mauritius infected with the same strain of SIV to test whether a more diverse immune response helps control the disease.

Scientists recalled that some studies had established that AIDS can be slowed when more parts of the virus recognized by T cells of the immune system.

In recognition that MHC genes are crucial (English Major Histocompatibility Complex) molecules that form the T cells health news.

According to scientists, macaque monkeys have a low MHC genetic diversity, allowing identification of homozygous animals (two identical copies of a gene) and compared with heterozygotes (with two different copies).

According to research results, MZ apes have a greater amount of MHC genes.

In examining the sequences of these viruses that multiply in these animals, scientists managed to establish a detailed reaction of the immune system to the VIS.

The data suggest that animals with an immune reaction generated more diverse T cells and therefore had greater ability to prevent virus replication and to keep the disease, the report said.

According to scientists, the study confirms the advantages that people with more diverse MHC genes.

It supports the idea that vaccines should be developed to generate the largest cellular immune response to HIV, researchers say.
Source:health news

Recommend that athletes take better care of your feet and ankles.

Athletes and all persons performing physical activity, may suffer bodily harm. In this situation not all react the best way. In fact, some do not recognize they need medical attention and that is why their situation worse. U.S. specialists warned of the importance of initiating medical treatment in time and mentioned some of the foot and ankle injuries that often go unnoticed until too late.
Practitioners Surgeons American College of Foot and Ankle stressed that consultation with a professional as soon detected the problem is essential because the correct diagnosis allows therapy achieved a complete cure and rehabilitation.

Robert Duggan, a member of this institution, he regretted that the opposite often happens: the athletes return to training without the healing is complete and will end up hurting even more. Athletes often make the mistake of ignoring a sore foot and ankle that seems to be lower, since they can walk without problems. However, serious injury may exist even when the foot and ankle continue to accept weight or pressure, he said.

Pains have

Duggan said that problems in the Lisfranc joint are common. This joint is between the bones of the arch and are connected to the fingers. When there is an injury to this region you can walk, but if not treated quickly can lead to damage to the surrounding soft tissues and cause chronic problems like arthritis.

The specialist also explained that certain fractures of small bones of the foot may go unnoticed. He cited injuries in the fifth metatarsal, which is located on the outside of the foot, since it is difficult to heal and hurt worse if the person continues to do physical activity.

Continue doing physical activity with pain is never a good strategy. Doctors can determine the best treatment for athletes to compete again as soon as possible, said Duggan.
Source:online pharmacy

From Israel comes project to promote organ donation.
Israel is making an innovative experiment to encourage organ donation: Those who sign a card that will undertake to give preference to receive a transplant in case of need.

The new law is the first of its kind in the world, and international medical authorities await with interest to see if this boosts the availability of organs for transplantation. But it has also generated criticism from Jewish ultra-Orthodox minority.

These opponents say the law discriminates against them because of their religious beliefs prohibit the donation of his organs. Although hardly can reverse the law, do have political power to delay its implementation.

Only 10% of Israeli adults have an organ donor card, compared with 30% in most Western countries. The current proportion of families who donate organs of a deceased is 45%, but in other countries up to 70%, according to Jacob Love, director of the cardiac transplant unit at Sheba Medical Center of Israel.

The low rates of organ donation would result in part from religious beliefs. Most rabbis regarded as appropriate to carry out transplants save lives, but many object to the benefit of the unnecessary mutilation of corpses.

But Rabbi Yosef Sholom Elyashiv, 99 years, thinks differently, and is one of the most influential ultra-Orthodox leaders. He claims to have 100,000 followers among the 6 million Jews in the country.

Elyashiv forbids organ donation prior to cardiac death there, but allows his followers to receive donations for their lives.

Wash, the doctor who helped draft the bill, hopes that a larger pool of organs ultimately benefit the entire population. But he acknowledges that one of its motivations is to foster a sense of reciprocity.

“It’s the first time that the criterion unrelated to the medical considerations in the allocation of organs,” he said. “This will rectify an unfair situation in which those who are unwilling to give hope in the same row as the people themselves are willing.”

The move opens a new dimension in the global search for ways to combat the shortage of organs for transplantation. One solution _the órganos_ legalized market, raises ethical concerns. Another is to consider that any person not expressly reject the possibility that his organs be donated is considered a donor.

Spain, France, Austria and Belgium have adopted the latest model and are among the leading European nations in percentage of donations, according to a UN study. But experts say that this method would be more difficult to approve in the Israeli parliament.

The number of British medical journal The Lancet for December, Dr. Paolo Bruzzone, Sapienza University of Rome, said that the Israeli initiative is more interesting.

“Certainly, giving the donor card holders receive priority for organ sounds more acceptable than coercion or offering financial incentives for donation,” he wrote.

Luc Noel, coordinator of clinical procedures at the World Health Organization in Geneva, praised the Israeli law for its educational value and promote a “community spirit” in the field of organ donations.

“This boils down to do with others what you would like others to do for one, and that is where the community has a role to play,” he told The Associated Press.

Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, said the Israeli action has ethical coherence. He considered that highlights the value of “reciprocal altruism” that benefit society in general.

However, he expressed doubts that those who sign donor cards have a significant advantage, because their line would become much longer.

The only place a limited version of the Israeli action has been tried before is Singapore, whose law of 1987 provided incentives for donors, such as exemptions in the payment of hospital care and partial cover funeral expenses.

The Israeli parliament approved the legislation more inclusive in 2008, by a wide margin, including the votes of Shas, the ultra-Orthodox party primary. Take effect after a public campaign to explain the new rules and its complicated points-based system.

But the unstable system of coalition government in Israel has led to uncertainty about implementation. One member is an ultra-Orthodox party formed by supporters of Elyashiv. Its lawmakers are Yaakov Litzman, deputy health minister (the post of head of the unit is vacant).

Another is Moshe Gafni, who says the law is “undemocratic”.

“If I can not provide organs for my religious beliefs, the state should not be allowed to harm me,” he told the AP.