Screening Protocol for Inhaled Anthrax
Physician-scientists in the Department of Public Health at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center have identified key symptoms that may help distinguish inhaled anthrax from the flu and other common respiratory conditions, according to one study. Both present with fever and cough, but neurological symptoms of loss of consciousness, dizziness and confusion, and gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and vomiting, plus the presence of shortness of breath, were all much more common in patients with inhaled anthrax. Conversely, sore throat and runny nose more often indicated viral infection than bacterial anthrax.-NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center, September 2, 2003
Seeing Through Jesus' Eyes
We cannot continue to create pretend worlds that allow us to live as if life were not a fragile thing. No one has the right to live unaffected by the sorrow of the world.--M. Craig Barnes in Yearnings
Warning Signs
According to the Alzheimer's Association (USA), behaviors to watch for are: 1) Memory loss that affects job skills. 2) Difficulty performing familiar tasks. 3) Problems with language. 4) Disorientation as to time and place. 5) Poor or decreased judgment. 6) Problems with abstract thinking. 7) Misplacing things. 8) Changes in mood or behavior. 9) Changes in personality. 10) Loss of initiative.
Does Health Insurance Matter?
Most Americans say they believe that medical help for the uninsured is readily available from hospital ERs and MDs willing to take patients who can't pay. Not so, according to the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. Their report shows that 18,000, out of 30 million uninsured adults aged 18 to 64, die prematurely each year because they do not get timely or adequate diagnoses or medical treatment. The health care system fails those without insurance every step of the way from not screening for disease, to giving much delayed diagnoses, to inadequately monitoring and treating people when they get sick.- Chicago Tribune, May 22, 2002
What Will They Think of Next?
* Stethoscope Sweater: Invented by an RN from North Wilkesboro, NC, this item is designed to protect a patient's skin from the discomfort of a cold stethoscope bell.
Check it out at http://www.isc-online.com or e-mail [email protected].
* Ear Ease:This sturdy plastic unit, when filled with hot tap water and placed over a painful ear, within minutes will reduce and relieve ear pain caused by sinus pressure, altitude changes on airplanes, allergies, swimming and ear infections. Invented by a physician, Ear Ease is said to be safe for children and http://adults.Visithttp://www.gadjits.com or call (800) GADJITS.
* AED Tester:The Delta 1500 has been released by the Netech Corporation for verifying the performance of automatic external defibril-lators (AEDs), devices that deliver small electric shocks to a patient's heart upon sensing a life-threatening arrhythmia. The handheld, microcontroller-based Delta 1500 allows the user to select from several simulated heart attack waveforms for the AED to detect and analyze. Powered by a 9-volt battery, the Delta comes with a carrying case, an instruction manual, test cable connectors to adapt to any AED, a certificate of calibration, and a 2-year warranty. Since people's lives may depend on the AED, the Delta 1500 can make sure the devices are up to task.
Check the website, http://www.gonetech.com or call Ron Shepard at (516) 433-7400, ext. 17.
Way to Go, Biola!!
Biola University's (La Mirada, California) Department of Baccalaureate Nursing was presented with the AACN Model of Excellence award for infusing geriatrics in nursing curriculum. The award was from the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing. Dr. Rebecca Fleeger is chair of the department of nursing. Dr. Cheryl Zukerberg may be contacted at [email protected] about the project.
What Makes Patients Satisfied?
A survey of nearly two million patients across the US suggests that patient satisfaction doesn't depend so much on hospital room temperature and food quality as it does on the skill and demeanor of the hospital staff. The item most closely related to the patient's perceived likelihood of recommending the hospital was coordination of care, followed by overall cheerfulness of the hospital. Other related items were staff response to patient concerns, amount of attention paid to patient needs, staff sensitivity to the inconveniences of health problems and hospitalization, how well the nurse keeps the patient informed, staff effort to include the patient in treatment decisions, nurse attitude toward patient requests, nurse skill and nurse courtesy. Satisfaction decreased with longer hospital stays and differed by patient age.-The Press Ganey Satisfaction Report, http://www.pressganey.com
Stent Alert
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning about blood clots and other side effects associated with Johnson & Johnson's newest heart device, which has been linked to more than 60 deaths. The drug-coated Cypher stent, a tiny wire-mesh device used to prop open surgically cleared arteries and deliver medicine to keep them open resulted in more than 290 cases of blood clots among patients 30 days after receiving the device. The cause of the problems hasn't been determined, the FDA said, stressing that it doesn't know whether the Cypher is riskier than a bare-metal stent. In studies that led to the Cypher's approval, it proved no more likely to cause blood clots than competing stents.-Chicago Tribune, October 30, 2003
Achoo!! Common Cold Mystery
The mystery virus-called the metapneu-movirus-infects most humans by the time they are five years old, then several more times after http://that.The immune system doesn't seem to remember respiratory viruses and fails to create antibodies that fight against the germ.
As a result, the metapneumovirus keeps coming back. Scientists from Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands discovered the virus in 2001, by using DNA testing.
Researchers are developing a test to detect the bug and a vaccine to defeat it.-AARP Bulletin, November 2003
-Pulse Beats compiled by MelodeeYohe, consulting editor