Super Glue Saves an Infant's Life

Today 3 week old Ashlyn Julian received an incredibly uncommon surgery that doctors felt was the only possible means of survival. The infant had been suffering from numerous medical problems since birth and doctors finally found that they were all tied to a single aneurism in the infant’s brain. This is such an uncommon condition that the doctors had almost no prior experience or even the necessary tools to do the surgery.

Fortunately after hours of surgery and multiple in depth investigations doctors concluded that the aneurism had been taken care of and the infant’s brain was no longer in danger. Unfortunately while removing the aneurism the surgical team also inflicted some damage to the affected blood vessel, which is common in adult patients. Due to the size of the infant there was not any special medical devices available to fix the damage, fortunately the doctors had a solution. Medical grade super glue, commonly used for exterior wounds, was very carefully applied to the incredibly small hole in the blood vessel. In a matter of seconds doctors managed to seal up the blood vessel with only a few tiny drops of super glue.

In the end the infant surgery went extremely well. Doctors are incredibly happy with the results and say she should be recovering nicely in the coming weeks.

Health Council To Review Medical Marijuana

This week two different states announced that they will be sending medical marijuana to a state health council to help draft some more regulations for the drug and while it is just the first step many view it as a big step in the right direction. The two states that are leading the charge are California and Massachusetts and assuming things go well for the councils each state will likely come out of it with significant improvements.

This is especially a big step for Massachusetts because medical marijuana still is not even recognized or permitted yet, the goal is that this health council will likely lead to a public vote that could finally legalize it. If this works as planned it could bring medical marijuana to the first east coast state which will likely help spread it to other states and areas of the United States.

Obviously this is still just the first step but many proponents of medical marijuana are very hopeful that these two meetings will lead to significant increases in the number of states allowing the powerful drug. No word yet on when any other states will likely hold meetings but this is the first step on the long road towards legalization according to many activists around the country.

Walking is Just as Good as Running!

Running and other high intensity exercise has generally been considered to be the best way to stay in shape and keep yourself healthy. While it is true that running is more effective at losing weight and keeping in top shape, a number of doctors and medical researchers released a report this week that indicates that frequent walking might be all that is actually needed to promote heart health. This is absolutely great news because walking is significantly easier to do, much easier to get started in, and will still offer the healthy benefits of more strenuous workouts.

Doctors are quick to point out that simply walking slowly won’t do a lot of good, but a quick pace will do wonders to promote a healthy heart and healthy lifestyle. Doctors are continuing to recommend that patients get as much exercise as the can by this study is definitely helping motivate people to at least get out there and walk. Walking is still great exercise that can improve quality of life and lead to a longer more fulfilling life so go out side and take a walk; it might keep you strong and healthy for years to come.

Experts Predict Polio Will Be Eradicated Soon

Polio is one of the many diseases that affect people all around the world and today a group of top medical professionals announced a major plan to completely eradicate polio from the human population in as little as 5 years. The prediction is that the mission should be successful and polio will be a thing of the past by 2018 but it all depends on what sort of budget is provided for the eradication efforts.

Polio used to affect hundreds of thousands of people per year around the world but as medical research advanced it became easier and easier to treat or prevent polio outbreaks. A vaccine for polio has been available and common in much of the world for many years now as well but unfortunately there are still developing countries where polio vaccines are not common. Despite all of this the number of polio outbreaks hit a record low with only 223 last year. This is great news considering that just over 20 years ago the disease was incredibly widespread around most of the world.

Given enough funding experts say that the 2018 goal of eradication is very feasible. The plan is being proposed to the World Health Organization sometime soon and should be a big step forward for medicine all around the world.

HIV Reportedly Cured in Infant

AIDS and HIV have been the forefront of medical research for many years due to the millions of lives that are affected. For the first time in many years the world has received absolutely amazing news regarding the HIV/AIDS research going on. The news broke earlier this week that doctors had confirmed treatment and apparently cured HIV in a young girl. The girl is now 2 and a half years old and throughout her short life she’s been treated and tested in many ways, the doctors have in fact confirmed that there are no traces of HIV in her system whatsoever.

This is absolutely phenomenal news because it is the first real case of curing HIV or AIDS in a human using simple and repeatable methods. The girl was treated almost immediately after birth and kept being treated on a relatively frequent basis, but now after 2 and a half years the rewards are being seen and examined by the entire medical industry as the girl has in fact been cured of HIV.

The doctors at the core of the treatment are not only happy that the treatment was a success, they’re hopeful it will be able to spread to other patients in the future. This is a major breakthrough and doctors are currently working on making it more common around the world.

Source: USAToday

Lung Cancer Screening Could Save Lives

This week a new and innovative study on lung cancer screening came out and revealed some interesting information about the deadly ailment. Doing lung cancer screenings has never been very common but recently researchers have begun doing it more and more often, what they have found is that a few simple screening procedures can quickly and easily detect cancer in the early stages and help reduce deaths.

According to doctors a few simple CT scans could likely save thousands of lives or more due to lung cancer detection and they are hopeful that some day soon it will become significantly more common for the screening to take place. Researchers say that lung cancer screening is really only necessary in high risk patients such as smokers, but running them through a simple CT scan would be about 90% effective at detecting the cancer in even the earliest onset in most patients. This is absolutely great news for everyone, even non smokers, because the procedure is simple and already widespread so it should not be difficult to make it a common practice.

Doctors are expecting to begin more lung cancer screenings as soon as possible in many cases. This new push for lung cancer screening really could save thousands of lives per year.

World Health Organization Calls for Drug Safety Improvements

This week a major committee from the World Health Organization announced that they’re working on developing a number of much needed improvements for the healthcare industry. As of now there isn’t really any sort of drug quality tracking system or screening system and that could lead to large quantities of tainted or incorrect drugs making it onto the open market.

This is exactly what the World Health Organization committee plans to resolve through some sort of new system. The details are still being worked on but they are committed to getting it setup and ready to be implemented sometime in the coming year. This is great news for everyone because it will finally put a much needed safety check on the drug manufacturing and distribution system worldwide.

The world is being done largely with help from the United States Food and Drug Administration, since they already operate a very similar system in the United States. Hopefully with the FDA’s help there will be an effective and efficient worldwide system to help keep consumers safe. It is only a matter of time before the system is completed and once it is the World Health Organization plans to implement it completely to help protection billions of people worldwide.

Cancer Screening Methods Will Be Reviewed Soon

Consumer Reports is a widely respected company when it comes to reviewing any and all consumer products. Nearly everything you can imagine is reviewed by them and now it looks like they’re getting into another controversial but important market. Today Consumer Reports announced that they will officially begin testing and reviewing a number of cancer screening tests in the coming months.

The motive behind these reviews is pretty simple, early screening saves lives by detecting cancer, so Consumer Reports wants to provide a simple to understand review of exactly which tests cover what and how they work. Many tests are complicated or painful and offer almost no valuable information so consumer reports is hoping to make it possible for average people to understand exactly what they’re getting into and that is absolutely great news.

Of course doctors are a little bit leery of the results but they say more information is always good. Consumer Reports is encouraging people to always consult and listen to their doctors as a primary source of information, their reviews should only be used as a supplement. Either way it is great to see someone is finally doing some real world information gathering about these important and sometimes lifesaving tests.

Brain Implant May Help Alzheimer's Patients

Alzheimer’s is one of the many ailments that are relatively unknown to the medical world; despite millions of dollars being spent on research there haven’t been any truly major breakthroughs in a long time, at least until now. This week a medical report released shows that there might be a very promising new treatment available for Alzheimer’s patients in the near future, and it comes in the form of an implant.

The new Alzheimer’s implant is still in development and testing but preliminary reports are looking very promising. The implant was designed around a heart pacemaker and doctors say that it functions very similarly as well. Basically the implant will continue to stimulate the patient’s brain in a number of locations with various inputs that are apparently able to significantly reduce the affects of Alzheimer’s disease on the brain.

This is great news because it might be the biggest treatment breakthrough ever for Alzheimer’s patients. Doctors are working rapidly to begin more in dept testing so that hopefully soon they will be able to release this treatment and control system to the public. For the millions of people that suffer from Alzheimer’s this could be the greatest medical advancement of all time.

New Food Safety Laws Being Implemented

This week the United States Food and Drug Administration officially began implementing a wide variety of changes that were planned for 2013. The overall goal behind the FDA’s new policies and procedures is to reduce the chances of a major food borne sickness breakout from happening. This change was pushed for because of the numerous food illness outbreaks in 2012 and many experts say that these changes will surely be great news for millions of Americans that could have possibly been affected by an outbreak.

There are hundreds of other changes being implemented as well that are entirely focused on increasing food safety. This is obviously great news because it should in fact lead to better food quality and regulation while at the same time reducing risks. The FDA is planning to have consistent checkups on these changes to make sure things are being done properly and they are hopeful that by the end of the year there will be measurable improvements in food safety.

These FDA changes are great news for all Americans because in the past few years there have been thousands of deaths due to poorly regulated food sales. The FDA is dedicated to putting a stop to this and these changes are sure to be a big success according to most experts.