Health Newsletter:December 2006
Related Links:From WebHealth
Contents |
Cold Virus Lurks In Hotel Rooms
It seems to be a bit overdone to wash your hands after touching a light switch or clicking the remote control, but researchers from the University of Virginia do not think that it is such a far-fetched idea during cold and flu season.
They found that rhinovirus that was live and capable to infect, typically found in people who have a cold and a runny nose, could still be transferred to a fingertip 24 hours after a person with a cold stayed in the room. Dr. Owen Hendley and his colleagues recruited 15 adults who had just come down with a rhinovirus cold to stay overnight in a hotel room. They were not to have visitors, get all their meals from room service and do hand washing only after using the washroom. They spent five hours in the evening, the night and two hours in the morning in their room before checking out. After checkout they were asked to name the 10 to 12 objects they touched most frequently, when they were in the room. Those were door handles, the hotel pen, light switches, TV remote control and the phone. All of those were sampled for residual virus, and on average on 40% of them rhinovirus was found. In the second part of the study, a group returned to the hotel several months later, but only after researchers had placed a drop of the subjects' own stored rhinovirus-containing mucus on the sites most frequently touched. The test persons were asked to touch the contaminated sites by flipping light switches or using the phone. After each contact they rubbed their fingertip in a collecting fluid, after which they washed their hands. If the site had been contaminated 30 minutes earlier, viral transfer to the fingertip occurred 60% of the time. If the contamination was done the night before viral transfer still occurred in 33%.
It is still a step from picking up the virus on a fingertip to developing a cold: it requires self-inoculation. Dr. Hendley points out that it is as prosaic as keeping fingers away from eyes, nose or mouth and do frequent hand washing. While transmission of rhinovirus through dried nasal mucus is not efficient, it is still important to understand that the virus remains transferable at least one day.
The Medical Post, November 3, 2006, page 19
Vaccine Can Protect Against Bird Flu
To take the flu shot or not to take it becomes an issue as the northern winter and with it the flu season is approaching. It has to be stressed that the influenza vaccine not only limits flu epidemics and saves lives. It is the only reliable protection available to protect all age groups. Of course it does not offer protection against the common cold, but it is a preventative weapon against many influenza strains that cause serious illness and death.
Dr. Robert Webster, a virologist and internationally recognized influenza expert recently quoted data from his laboratory at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. He noted that the currently recommended seasonal influenza vaccines contain A/New Caledonia 20/99 that is an H1N1 virus. Its composition is very similar to the bird flu virus H5N1.
In animal experiments this immunization was given, after which the test animals were exposed to the highly lethal Vietnam 1203/04 strain of H5N1. The treated animals had a survival rate of 50%. Controls without the vaccination prior to exposure had a death rate of 100 %. There is indeed a basic cross-protection and people who take the current influenza vaccine 2006/2007 will have this partial protection against the bird flu should it suddenly become an epidemic. The bird flu (H5N1) has not made its appearance in the Americas. Dr. Webster pointed out that the greatest concern is its entry through the illegal trade of animals. After drug smuggling, the smuggling of animals is probably the greatest illegal trade in the world and at the same time the most likely way in which the virus could come into the country and spread. The other concern is the entry of the virus through migratory birds.
The Medical Post, November 3, 2006, page 19
Asthma Medication May Not Be Enough
Doctors at an asthma clinic in New York were puzzled as to why their patients were not getting better even after continued medical care. Even though the patients were compliant with their medications, they needed oral steroids and presented with more severe asthma attacks at the emergency department. Looking into the living conditions of the patient group that continued having problems provided some insight: they lived in housing units that were dilapidated. In a program in which St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital and other clinics participated, with the help of legal services of an attorney law firm the hospital was getting help for patients, who lived in substandard housing. When a patient lived in a building with dust, mold, roaches or rodents, any amount of treatment for asthma was almost futile. Even though there were letters and phone calls from social workers to landlords, unacceptable conditions in these housing units were not corrected. One letter from the New York Legal Assistance Group finally did the job. In plain English the notice to the negligent landlord said: Clean the place up or see me in court.
Dr. Luis Chug at St. Luke followed up on the patients one year later. Patients who needed 18 courses of oral steroids could reduce the treatment to just 2 the year after the cleanup. Patients who had made 14 trips to the emergency department because of asthma attacks the year before made only 2 after the conditions were corrected. The overall asthma of the patients also improved. Ten patients were afraid to go to a lawyer to seek help. A year later their living conditions predictably had remained the same. Their asthma had not improved either. The legal action was cost effective, reported Dr. Chug. Each emergency visit cost the hospital about $470 in services, and each course of prednisone cost about $345. The patients do not pay legal fees. Instead the service is funded by grants from participating hospitals. The study shows very clearly how practical public health measures can be used to correct health problems. The legal processes available in New York City are not unique in North America, as many local and regional governments have statutes requiring proper building maintenance.
The results are also relevant to asthma patients who are not struggling with substandard housing. Patients with asthma simply cannot get better, when they live among irritants and allergy causing substances. Dust, cigarette smoke, perfumes, home fragrances, vapors from household cleansers, animal dander from house pets or feathers from a seemingly cozy down comforter can be the culprits for patients with asthma that does not improve despite treatment.
The Medical Post, November 14, 2006, page 23 and 25
Cinnamon And Multivitamins May Boost Fertility
Prenatal vitamin supplements are the norm, as folic acid has been known to play a role in the prevention of neural tube defect. Generally they are taken once pregnancy has been confirmed.
Dr Jorge Chavarro from the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston pointed out, that multivitamin supplementation has its place earlier than just after the pregnancy test has become positive. In one of the largest studies involving 18,000 married pre-menopausal women, regular use of multivitamin supplements were associated with a decrease of infertility. The key is in the regular use. Women who took two multivitamin tablets per week had similar infertility rates as women who did not take supplements at all. Those who took 6 or more multivitamins had a 40% lower risk of anovultation, a condition where no eggs are released by the ovaries. Most of the women were Caucasian between the ages 24 and 42.
The importance of nutrition is coming increasingly into the forefront in reproductive medicine. One condition known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is often a reason for infertility. It is one of the red flags that point to the condition of insulin resistance, and it manifests itself in menstrual irregularity and higher levels of androgens, often showing as increased facial hair. As the metabolism is headed for trouble, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease would tend to develop.
Researchers at Columbia University in New York conducted a pilot study to see if insulin sensitivity in women with PCOS could be improved. Cinnamon, a well-known spice, has been known to have a favorable effect on the insulin response of the body. Researchers found that eight weeks of treatment with cinnamon extract significantly decreased fasting glucose and insulin resistance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Dr. Jeff Wang who conducted the study reported that no side effects or adverse reactions were reported throughout the study period. If large-scale prospective studies confirm these findings, then recommending cinnamon as a dietary factor may be a simple, inexpensive lifestyle change that can be easily followed. Reducing insulin resistance is a key to improve the overall health status in patients with PCOS, and it ties in with reproductive health benefits as well.
The Medical Post, November 14, 2006, page 32
Rotigotine Patch For Parkinson's Also Helps Restless Leg Syndrome
One of the difficulties in curative medicine is compliance. There are various aspects: patients dislike the feeling of dependency on medications. In some cases there is a dislike for swallowing that pill, and if medications have to be taken several times per day, it can present even more of a challenge. People are busy with their daily routines, they may forget the one or the other dose, and it may very well compromise the effectiveness of a medication.
Various medications can now be administered through a transdermal patch. For sufferers of Parkinson's disease a new transdermal treatment with the dopamine agonist rotigotine (brand name Neupro®) has been tested. It can become the first line of defense and ease the symptoms. The transdermal patch was generally safe, and as it was well tolerated, patients did not discontinue the treatment. The treatment with rotigotine can help postpone the commonly used medication levodopa, which tends to lose effectiveness over the years.
Another study with the rogitotine patch showed effectiveness for individuals suffering from restless leg syndrome. This disorder makes sleep difficult, and as a result the patient turns sleepy during wakeful hours. Dr. Karin Stiasny-Kolster, a neurologist at Phillips University in Marburg, Germany reported on favorable results with 340 patients suffering of restless leg syndrome. In a controlled study, those patients who were wearing the rotigotine patch were showing improvement. Again, the transdermal system was well tolerated and safe and there was no problem with fluctuating dopamine levels as shown here. Placebo-treated patients did not respond. The product has been released in European countries and the FDA is investigating for release in the US soon.
The Medical Post, November 3, 2006, page 57-58
