Daily health Tip: health Tip: Pets Can Harbor Germs
Practice good hygiene after contact with your furry friends

Tuberculosis of the Breast in an Adolescent Girl: A Rare Presentation
Tuberculosis (TB) of the breast is a rare condition and usually affects women in the reproductive age group. Its further rarity in children, even in India, where TB is rampant, poses challenges in its diagnosis. Histopathology plays an important role in the diagnosis of this condition. We report a case of TB of the breast in a 15-year-old girl proven by histopathological study.

Daily health Tip: Misconceptions Linger Around Irritable Bowel Syndrome
It’s not ‘in people’s heads’ and its severity varies widely, expert says

Platelet adhesion onto immobilized fibrinogen under arterial and venous in-vitro flow conditions does not significantly differ between men and women
Background: Gender-related differences in incidence of arterial thrombosis have been a focus of interest for years. The platelet integrin aIIbb3 is primarily responsible for the interaction between platelets and fibrinogen and consecutive thrombus growth. In this study, we evaluated platelet adhesion onto immobilized fibrinogen under venous and arterial flow conditions in men and women. Methods: Platelets in whole anticoagulated blood were labelled with the fluorescence dye Mepacrine and perfused through the rectangular flow chamber over glass cover slips coated with fibrinogen (shear rates of 50 s-1, 500 s-1 and 1500 s-1). A fluorescence laser-scan microscope was used for visualisation and quantification of platelet adhesion at 15 seconds, 1 and 5 minutes after the start of perfusion. Results: During perfusion, the platelet adhesion linearly increased in regard to exposition time and shear rate. After five minutes of perfusion the platelet adhesion onto immobilized fibrinogen showed no significant gender related difference, neither at 50 s-1 nor at 500 s-1 and 1500s-1 (p>0.05), respectively. No significant difference in platelet adhesion onto immobilized fibrinogen, in regard to the menopausal status, was either observed (p>0.05). Conclusions: In our in vitro experimental system, hormonal differences between men and women did not influence platelet adhesion onto immobilized fibrinogen, neither under venous nor under arterial rheological conditions.

Outcomes of thromboprophylaxis with enoxaparin vs. unfractionated heparin in medical inpatients
Background: Clinical trials have shown low-molecular weight heparin (LMWH) to be at least as safe and efficacious as unfractionated heparin (UFH) for preventing venous thromboembolism (VTE) in acutely-ill medical inpatients.ObjectiveTo compare clinical and economic outcomes among acutely-ill medical inpatients receiving the LMWH enoxaparin versus UFH prophylaxis in clinical practice. Methods: Using a large, multi-hospital, US database, we identified persons aged 40 years hospitalized for 6 days for an acute medical condition (including circulatory disorders, respiratory disorders, infectious diseases, or neoplasms) from Q4 1999 to Q1 2002. From these patients, those who received thromboprophylaxis with either enoxaparin or UFH were identified. Surgical patients and those requiring or ineligible for anticoagulation were excluded. We compared the incidence of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), and all VTE (i.e., DVT and/or PE). Secondary outcomes were occurrence of side-effects, length of hospital stay and total costs. RESULTS: 479 patients received enoxaparin prophylaxis and 2,837 received UFH. The incidence of VTE was 1.7% with enoxaparin prophylaxis versus 6.3% with UFH (RR = 0.26; p < 0.001). Occurrence of side effects, length of stay (10.00 days with enoxaparin vs. 10.26 days with UFH; p = 0.348) and total costs ($18,777 vs. $17,602; p = 0.463) were similar in the 2 groups. Conclusion: We observed a 74% lower risk of VTE among patients receiving enoxaparin prophylaxis versus UFH prophylaxis. There was no significant difference in side effects or economic outcomes. These results provide evidence that the LMWH enoxaparin is more effective than UFH in reducing the risk of VTE in current clinical practice.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 27th, 2007 at 9:37 am and is filed under Vitamins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.