RedScrubs
The Resource for Medical Professionals

About 1 in every 57 women in the United States will develop some type of gynecologic cancer. Most cases occur in women over the age of 50, but this disease can also affect younger women. Dr. Steven Plaxe discusses rmethods of diagnosis and treatment.

CNN’s John Vause reports more dairy products have tested positive for the toxic chemical melamine.

According to a new study, a physician’s attitudes and personality traits may affect the tendency to diagnose mood swings or depression. Some physicians apparently are sensitive to certain topics such as depression or suicide and are reluctant to discuss these issues with patients regardless of need.

According to Dr. Duberstein, co-author of the study, depression is frequently not diagnosed and suicidal tendencies are not explored even went quite evident. Physicians should reflect on the possibility that their personal traits might taint their diagnosis – or lack thereof – in mental health situations.

Byetta is an injectable drug that has been prescribed mostly for type 2 diabetics with a weight problem. Because it can be taken along with a sulfonylurea or a thiazolidinedione, Byetta can be added to an existing drug regimen as needed. Not only does Byetta regulate insulin and glucose production, but it also slows the emptying of the stomach (so you feel fuller longer), and it reduces your appetite causing you to eat less. People taking Byetta have good luck with weight loss and better blood glucose control.
Unfortunately, there have been many cases of pancreatitis reported with the use of Byetta, as well as reported deaths, and as a result, the FDA is considering a black box warning for its label.
Folks, it looks like this drug is headed for the trash can. Well, overweight type 2 diabetics could always use exercise and a stringent diet to shed those life-sucking pounds. How many times does it need to be said: Proper diet and regular exercise are critical for a long and healthy life. The short-cuts just don’t work.

An early communication was released from the U.S. Food and Drug (FDA) administration regarding a study of the safety of Vytorin ( a combination of simvastin and ezetimibe). Vytorin is used to decrease LDL cholesterol – each by a different mechanism and affecting different pathways of cholesterol absorption and metabolism. FDA is currently investigating the report from the SEAS trial (Simvastin and Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis) to see if there is a possible association between the use of Vytorin and increased incidences of cancer.

Do you have good posture? If you answer “no,” you’re not alone. Look around, and you’ll see that I’m right. Most people have a sort of hunched over posture. The head hangs forward and the shoulders are curved to the front. This is the result of years and years of slouching. Chronic slouching allows the pectoral muscles to tighten and the muscles of the upper back to weaken. These changes make it incredible difficult, if not impossible, to stand up straight.

According to the report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Foundations 2008 report, adult obesity rates have increased in 37 states this past year. Rates rose in 24 states for two consecutive years and for a third consecutive year in 19 states. No state saw a decrease.

This report shows that the preventive programs that are being adopted are either not being utilized, implemented properly or are just plain not working. The report calls for the federal government to partner with state and local governments, businesses, communities and schools to create and implement a realistic comprehensive National Strategy to Combat Obesity.

You would think that anyone could have guessed that children who play video games that involve jogging, swinging, and kickboxing would burn more calories than those children who played games while seated. Well, it took a real-life research study to prove that those active video games that require kids to move around help them to exercise and to burn calories.
In this study, lead researcher Alison M. McManus from the University of Hong Kong’s Institute of Human Performance counted the calories burned by kids playing a variety of video games, and found that kids can burn up to 451 percent more calories per minute playing action and running games. That’s a significant amount of calories that would not have been expended had the child sat in front of the television screen. In addition, playing video games while seated also gives children the opportunity to snack on greasy chips and drink sugar-laden soda. That’s hard to do when you’re jumping around.
Despite these findings, parents need to have rules about how many hours a day children can play video games and watch television. Just because you give a kid an active video game set-up, he or she still needs to socialize, to do homework, to read, to go to public events, to eat healthful foods, and to sleep in order to grow into a positive contributor to our society.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is caused by pauses in breathing while sleeping. Although obesity can be a complication with OSA, about 40% of people with sleep apnea are not obese. It has been thought, and previous studies have shown, that OSA will get better if people who are obese lose weight.

A recent study published in the Journal of Sleep Medicine states that OSA often persists even after surgery for weight loss, or bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery, often reserved for morbidly obese individuals, has been used to help treat OSA. This study looked at 24 severely obese adults with OSA before surgery and one year later. The weight loss surgery trimmed down the study group from an average of a 51 BMI to an average of a 32 BMI. Even with this reduction in weight, symptoms still persisted and only one of the patients no longer had OSA.