Peace of mind is only skin deep
NEW YORK — Given how much mental anguish a simple pimple can cause, it should come as no surprise that eczema sufferers spend a lot of time worrying about their skin. A study, presented February 22 at the American Academy of Dermatology's annual meeting in New Orleans, found that 80% of 147 atopic dermatitis sufferers viewed effective eczema control as the single most important improvement possible in their life, but only 24% of them felt able to manage their condition.

Time to force-feed the masses?
ATLANTA — Quit smoking, eat your veggies, get up off the couch and get some exercise. Sometimes governments seem like nagging parents — and the populace can be just as slow to listen as any sulky teenager. A study published in the February 18 British Medical Journal found that government recommendations regarding increasing folic acid intake had little or no effect on rates of neural tube defects in 10 countries. The study's authors recommend fortifying food with folic acid, instead of merely issuing more recommendations that will likely fall on deaf ears.

Net closes in on testicular cancer
COPENHAGEN — Danish researchers have come up with a way to detect pre-invasive testicular carcinoma in situ (CIS) in semen samples, paving the way for a simple screening test. Currently, a biopsy of the testis is the only way to make a diagnosis. The scientists detailed their findings in a study published in the March issue of Human Reproduction. The authors tell of how in the course of their 104-patient trial, which looked for AP-2gamma positive cells in the samples, they detected the earliest stages of CIS in one of the controls. The 23-year-old man had been seeking treatment for infertility. The patient was subsequently cured. Even more good news — he managed to get his wife pregnant.

Guidelines, schmidelines
OKLAHOMA CITY — Sometimes clinical guidelines seem a bit like unwanted Christmas presents gathering dust in the closet — a lot of thought and effort goes into picking them out, but they end up largely ignored and unused. A look at the records of a random sample of 34,133 Medicare patients undergoing surgery found that antimicrobials designed to prevent surgical site infections were properly administered only 55.7% of the time, though they were given to 92.6% of patients. The data comes from a study published in the February issue of the Archives of Surgery.

Docs calls for safe drinking sites
SYDNEY — An increasing number of Australian MDs and academic researchers are calling for 'wet centres'— the alcoholic equivalent of safe injection sites. The plan is to keep Australia's homeless alcoholics off the streets and allow them to drink in safer confines. Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, the Australian Medical Association's federal vice-president, told the Sydney Morning Herald that "a harm minimization strategy such as this offers the drinker counselling and ongoing medical care."

Miss HIV: a positive role model
GARDONE, BOTSWANA — From the looks of it the recent beauty pageant held in Botswana is like any other. It has the typical tacky dance routine, a few turns on the catwalk and the cynical panel of judges. But the Miss HIV Stigma Free pageant has one catch — all contestants are HIV positive and they aren't out to win fame and fortune but rather raise awareness and fight the stigma. Botswana is often held up as a model to other African countries. They're the only African nation that offers free anti-retroviral therapy and also fights discrimination with events like the pageant.

With a little help from my friends
GAINESVILLE, FL — A few good heart-to-hearts may benefit women's cardiovascular health. At the very least, women with larger social circles are less likely to die from heart disease. This tidbit comes courtesy of a study in the January/February issue of Psychosomatic Medicine that tracked the health of women with suspected heart disease for two to four years, and had them fill out questionnaires regarding their social life. Though only 30 of the over 500 patients died in the course of the study, those with fewer social contacts were 2.4 times more likely to die.

Heartening tamoxifen news
BOSTON — Not so long ago, tamoxifen was being wrongly vilified as a clotting agent. Now we've come full circle and the breast cancer drug is reported to benefit cardiovascular health. The news comes from a study in an edition of Cancer that came out appropriately enough on Valentine's Day. The study looked at 7,263 female cancer patients, of whom 3,030 had breast cancer. The researchers found that the breast cancer group was less likely to develop myocardial infarction or angina than the other women, leading them to conclude that tamoxifen was behind this positive result.

Exposing bladder cancer
HOUSTON — A study in the February 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association describes a non-invasive method for detecting bladder cancer. Not surprisingly, this method involves urine, specifically testing tinkle for the presence of a protein called NMP22. Out of the 1,331 study subjects, all of whom were considered at high risk of bladder cancer, 79 were diagnosed with bladder cancer. Fifty-six percent of the diagnosed patients had NMP22 in their urine and 16% had positive cytology test results.

 

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