A study in this month’s Anesthesia & Analgesics journal suggests that phantom limb pain, pain often experienced by amputees that’s perceived to be in a missing limb, can be alleviated by mirror therapy. Researchers at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego say they were able to reduce phantom pain in some soldiers via this form of therapy in which patients sit with a mirror vertically between their legs and arms so that the limbs are reflected in it. The reflection in the mirror makes it appear like the injured arm or leg is healthy and normal. The theory behind phantom limb pain is that the pain pathways in the brain and spinal cord can recall the traumatic injury, thus the missing limb somehow continues to hurt, despite not being there anymore. In performing mirror therapy, the brain and spinal cord are visually tricked into believing that all of the person’s limbs are intact and without pain, thus reducing brain activity associated with pain and modulating the pain response experienced by the amputee. [via BusinessWeek]
In an effort to curb healthcare spending, some insurance companies have tried to increase copays for outpatient visits in an effort to decrease the overall rate of visits to the doctor’s office. However, a new study from Brown University published in the Jan. 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine is showing that this strategy has some unintended consequences. After looking at some Medicare managed care plans that implemented such copay hikes between 2001 to 2006, the researchers noted an increase in hospital usage. Although these plans had 19.8 fewer annual outpatient visits per enrollee, they consequently had 2.2 additional hospital admissions and 13.4 more inpatient days per 100 enrollees. And as we all know being hospitalized is PRICEY. The authors estimate that by increasing outpatient copays in the short term Medicare plans might save $7,150 per 100 enrollees, but inpatient spending would swell by $24,000 per 100 enrollees in the year after the co-payment increase, thus not really saving any money at all. [via Medline Plus]
A new study out of the University of California, Berkeley suggests that chemicals called PBDEs may be making it difficult for women to conceive. PBDEs are chemicals with flame-retardant properties that are found in household items. In fact, nearly all Americans (97%) have PBDEs at detectable levels in their blood. After studying 223 pregnant women and the length of time it took them to conceive, researchers found that those with high levels of PBDEs were up to 50% less likely to get pregnant in a given month compared to women with lower levels. Currently, the majority of what we know about the effects of BPDEs are from studies with mice. Thus, more data is needed before a direct association with human fertility can be made. The study is published in this month’s Environmental Health Perspectives. [via U.S. News]
Two of the world’s foremost metropolitan cities have joined together to fight childhood obesity. In a report titled “A Tale of Two ObesCities” researchers from London Metropolitan University and City University of New York have found demographic similarities between obese children in both cities. Notably, both cities are characterized by high levels of income disparity with the poorest children having the highest rates of obesity. In London 36.3% of children are obese by the age of 11, compared with 40% in New York. The report demonstrates that the two cities can benefit from collaboration and learning from each other’s experiences in combating childhood obesity. The main recommendations of the report include:
- Build active design principles into building codes, housing strategies
-Promote and support urban agriculture as a sustainable and health promoting use of green spaces
-Promote access to places where people can by physically active and promote walking and cycling
-Implement a universal free school meal program with nutritional standards
-Promote research to help cities understand how the beat health inequalities
You’ll likely be hearing (if not already) juice makers and berry growers tout the benefits of blueberry juice on memory. For the first time researchers have shown that a few daily glasses of blueberry juice can boost memory in older adults with early signs of memory loss. Blueberries, like tomatoes, grapes and tea, contain polyphenols which are known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Therefore, it’s theorized that these substances can combat oxidative stresses that can lead to cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. The recent study is published in the current issue of the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. However, it must be noted that the researchers only studied a total of 18 patients – 9 were given blueberry juice and 9 given placebo – making this an extremely small study which may not necessarily extrapolate to an entire population of people. Therefore, the jury is still out on this one. Although drinking blueberry juice will likely not worsen your memory, there are other means that have been shown to slow memory loss, including keeping mentally active, exercise, cultivating a strong social network, stopping smoking, and getting plenty of sleep. [via Medical News Today]
This past week new data suggested that some people taking the anti-obesity drug Meridia (sibutramine) are at greater risk of heart attacks and strokes than people taking a placebo. It also raised blood pressure and heart rate among users. What is interesting is how two large regulatory agencies responded to this data. The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has already advised physicians and pharmacists to stop prescribing and dispensing the medication, while the U.S. FDA has urged pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories, the maker of Meridia, to place a stronger warning on the drug. The warning is to caution against the use of the drug by people who are already at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Was the EMEA too hasty in its decision or is the FDA not forceful enough? Proponents of the drug agree that it shouldn’t be given to those with cardiovascular disease or diabetes, while critics are in favor of an overall ban. In the drug’s twelve years on the market it has been linked to more than 80 deaths, including 30 people under age 50. [via New York Times]
Two new drugs that may change the lives of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are coming soon. Cladribine and fingolimod are oral medications which have been shown in recent studies to cut relapse rates by 50-60% over two years compared with placebos. Oral medications for MS is a huge breakthrough since, currently, beta interferon 1a injection is the mainstay of treatment. The UK MS Society has already called on drug companies to price the drugs reasonably in order to allow more patients access to them. MS is the most common disabling neurological disease of young adults affecting more than 2.5 million people worldwide. [via BBC]
U.S. filmmaker Dan Woolley was in Haiti shooting a documentary about poverty when the recent, devastating earthquake struck and buried him under rubble. He suffered a fracture in his leg and a cut on his head. Luckily, he had downloaded a first-aid application onto his iPhone which may have saved his life. By following instructions on his phone he was able to fashion a tourniquet for his leg and stop his head from bleeding. The application also warned him to not fall asleep if he felt he was going into shock, so he set his phone’s alarm clock to go off every 20 minutes in order to keep him awake. Sixty-five hours later, he was finally rescued and reunited with his family. [MSNBC via Wired]
Researchers from the Karolinska Institute are embarking on a new paradigm in exercise physiology after publishing a paper in this month’s British Journal of Sports Medicine. The study authors argue that prolonged periods of sitting is an entity distinct from the commonly used terminology “sedentary behavior,” which means a general lack of exercise. Rather, they contend that the use of the term “muscular inactivity” more accurately describes a state of being in which people have prolonged periods when even light physical activity is not achieved. This is important because research shows that periods of prolonged sitting and lack of whole body muscular activity is strongly associated with the development of diabetes, obesity, heart disease and cancer, regardless of whether moderate or vigorous exercise was performed. This goes to show that maintaining an intermittent level of activity that involve total body muscle movement (climbing stairs, walking to run errands, taking a walking break during sedentary work) is just as important as incorporating moderate to vigorous exercise into your routine. [via Medical News Today]
New research published in this month’s Journal of Neuroscience shows that loss of smell could be a sign of early Alzheimer’s disease. Although loss of smell is known to occur in Alzheimer’s disease, researchers are now showing that a subtle decrease could be an early indicator of the illness. By studying mice, scientists found a direct link between the development of amyloid plaques (protein deposit in the brain that can be seen in Alzheimer’s patients) and worsening sense of smell. The researchers found that the plaques first develop in the part of the mouse brain that’s devoted to the sense of smell. Even a tiny bit of the plaque was enough to affect smell. “This is a revealing finding because, unlike a brain scan, a laboratory-designed olfactory test may be an inexpensive alternative to early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s,” said study author Daniel W. Wesson of the NYU School of Medicine. [via Yahoo! News]
Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.
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Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.