Encouraging news for rheumatoid arthritis patients

For the more than 2.1 million Americans affected by rheumatoid arthritis, there is encouraging news about how antibiotic therapy can be a safe, low-cost way to manage many of the symptoms of the disease.

Rheumatoid arthritis causes pain, stiffness, warmth, redness and swelling, affecting many different joints.

A recent survey of nearly 200 people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or scleroderma, another disabling rheumatic condition, revealed that by taking antibiotic therapy for their disease, they experienced a number of positive benefits over traditional prescription medications. These patients reported a reduction in pain and improved quality of life, and their overall condition was reported to be less severe.

These survey results suggest antibiotics such as minocycline may offer an effective option for patients newly diagnosed or patients who either fail with or cannot tolerate conventional medications commonly prescribed for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Minocycline is a low-cost and commonly prescribed antibiotic with minimal side effects. The study was conducted by Harris Interactive.

"We know that a growing number of RA and other rheumatic patients are turning to antibiotic therapy to successfully manage their disease. These results suggest that others, too, could possibly benefit from this type of treatment," said David Trentham, M. D., a noted rheumatologist and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Medical Director for the Road Back Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing support and education to people suffering from rheumatic diseases.

Patients responding to the survey who were on antibiotic therapy and had also taken traditional prescription medication were asked to compare the two types of treatments. They overwhelmingly reported improvements in slowing the progression of the disease, decreased levels of pain, and reduced stiffness, swelling and fatigue, all commonly reported symptoms. Patients also found that antibiotic treatment improved their overall quality of life and was better tolerated than traditional therapies.

The Road Back Foundation encourages patients to talk with their doctors about their treatment and, if appropriate or needed, discuss the use of antibiotic therapy in the management of their disease.

Bird flu diagnosis

Central to the problem of dealing with bird flu is diagnosis. A number of upper respiratory infections have similar symptoms—at least at the onset of the illness, including the common cold, seasonal influenza, and bird flu. Seasonal flu and bird flu have almost identical symptoms—including fever, cough, malaise (feeling unwell), nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. This is, needless to say, a gigantic problem in accurately diagnosing bird flu—which is critical to beginning appropriate treatment as well as initiating infection control procedures and public health measures.

Currently, accurate testing for bird flu and other vial infections that can cause similar symptoms is difficult and requires specialized testing. This testing is time consuming and only available in specialized reference laboratories, which are few and far between. Fortunately, this may change in the near future.

According to Richard Janeczko, Ph. D., executive vice-president and chief scientific officer, Tm Bioscience, located In Toronto, Canada, is feverishly working to complete the final stage of development of an amazing test—not only for bird flu, but for more than 15 other viral infections (including severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS), many of which can mimic the symptoms of bird flu (personal communication). (Tm Bioscience is a DNA-based diagnostics company developing a suite of genetic tests. Tm Bioscience’s product pipeline includes tests for genetic disorders, drug metabolism, and infectious diseases. Additional information about Tm Bioscience can be found at tmbioscience. com.)

The test, called the Multiplexed Respiratory Test, discriminates influenza A from influenza B and identifies the H5-subtype of influenza A (bird flu is “H5N1”) from all other H subtypes. In addition, it can identify almost all the other common—and some uncommon—viruses that cause influenza-like illnesses. This is extremely important in managing patients, communities and economic issues. Other tests have lower clinical sensitivities and specificities which can lead to both false positives and false negatives.

By incorrectly identifying an outbreak as due to H5N1, patients could be treated with anti-virals unnecessarily (thus raising the chances of selecting for drug-resistant strains), unneeded vaccination programs in asymptomatic individuals could be initiated, and damage to local and national economies—through such measures as culling of commercial poultry operations—could occur. Conversely a false-negative test result could lead to catastrophic outcomes, including a pandemic.

The assay utilizes swab specimens taken from the nose and takes less than 5 hours to perform. It was developed for use as a diagnostic tool and for infection control in hospitals. The assay has been slated for expedited review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and TM Bioscience is hoping to have an FDA-cleared test available by the end of January 2006. If this assay delivers what it claims, it will have huge applicability on a global basis and save many lives.

Bradford Frank, M. D., M. P.H., M. B.A.

The Frank Group

P. O. Box 138

Lakewood, NY 14750

AvoidBirdFlu. com

Heart diseases heart attack the most common heart disease ii

A heart attack, which is the most common consequence of a heart disease, can be recognized not only by three symptoms in the previous article mentioned, but also be recognized by other warning signs, such as unusual chest, stomach or abdominal pain, nausea or dizziness, cold sweat or paleness, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, weakness or fatigue, palpitations, and unexplained anxiety.

It is very important to be calm when a relative, friend or person has a heart attack, since you will have to know what to do if something like this happens. The first thing is to call an ambulance immediately. Then, according to experts, check whether the patient is conscious or not and place them flat on their back, kneel beside them and put one hand on their forehead and the other on their chin.

After doing these, tilt back their head. And lift their chin until their teeth almost touch. You will have to look and listen for signs of breathing. Pinch their nose and cover their mouth with yours, if the person is not breathing normally. Give two full breaths. The person's chest should rise as a consequence.

You may check the person's pulse by putting your fingers on their neck, next to their Adam's apple and windpipe, which is the tube through which air passes from mouth to lungs. Put your hands on the centre of the person's chest at the height of their nipples, if there is no pulse. Then put one hand on top of the other. Push down two inches on their chest 15 times. Continue with the two breaths and 15 pumps until an ambulance arrives.

Countries unite against bird flu

The people of the world are so scared right now of the threat of the H5N1 strain. The focus of the world seems to have transferred from terrorism to bird flu.

If the H5N1 strain mutates and joins with a human virus, the situation will become worse. This is because the transmission rate from one person to another will become a possibility. Then the spread rate will become faster and causing a whole lot of people to get infected.

The severe effects of the virus will eventually lead the victim to have lung damage. The affected person will have lungs filled with water and causing complications with breathing problems. Eventually, death follows. This all happens within the span of a few days.

That scary situation has been a major concern and has caused bird flu experts to meet in Beijing. They are worried about the 80 deaths that have occurred since 2003. They are also worried about the spread of the disease on Europe, Middle East and currently Africa. They have a great concern about the disease in Africa, because the experts feel the outbreak might start at Africa.

The World Bank is hoping that the meeting held would be able to raise at least $1.2 billion dollars. This money is to be used for health improvement and added veterinary services for developing countries struggling with the virus. The budget also aims to help surveillance of countries that have potential to develop the virus.

The disease started out at East Asia but is concern is growing because it is going westward.

The $1.2-1.4 billion dollars will be just enough to prepare in case an outbreak occurs. That money still does not include the money needed for human vaccines. The money needed for vaccines will be handled by WHO separately.

The meeting will be attended by 89 countries. People who will attend include donors and also delegates of more than 20 international organizations.

The creator of the tamiflu vaccine, Roche, has pledged a second donation of Tamiflu. They already made a donation of 3 million pills and plan to donate 2 million more. The donation is for preparation in case a pandemic does occur.

It has been estimated that a year long pandemic of bird flu will cost the global economy $800 billion. The World Bank itself has helped, approving $500 million to help reach the $1.2 billion goal.

This threat may or may not materialize. But we should just be thankful for the people who gives a concern of the potential threat this virus has. It does not only affect us in terms of mortality rate but you can see how much expensive it is for the world.

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