JHM HEALTH NEWS
An e-news service from Johns Hopkins Medicine
June 2007
NOTE TO EDITORS/REPORTERS: Welcome to the June 2007 edition of JHM Health News. As always, Hopkins welcomes comments and suggestions for improving this means of sending you monthly health and medicine story ideas for your direct use or follow up. Contact John Lazarou at mednews@jhmi.edu to set up interviews, to localize a story with patients in your area, and to arrange for photographs or other services.
For details of stories in this month’s news, click on the accompanying hyperlink. Some Internet links may not appear on a single line. If a hyperlink fails, check for continuation of the address on the next line.
Requests to be added to or deleted from the distribution list can also be sent to mednews@jhmi.edu. To view other news from Johns Hopkins Medicine, go to http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/index.html
IN THIS ISSUE:
- TIPS TO PREVENT EYE INJURIES THIS FOURTH OF JULY HOLIDAY
- CRUSHING HEADACHES
- Q&A WITH GASTROENTEROLOGIST MARY L. HARRIS, M.D., ON A “DISCOURAGING CONDITION”
- RANDOM HEARTS
- SOFT SHOULDERS
- NEUROSURGERY ON THE PANCREAS
TIPS TO PREVENT EYE INJURIES THIS FOURTH OF JULY HOLIDAY
Fireworks are a Fourth of July tradition to celebrate Independence Day, but unfortunately so are the injuries they cause. More than 50 percent of all fireworks-related eye injuries occur around the Fourth of July holiday, and approximately 12,000 Americans are admitted to emergency rooms every year for fireworks-related injuries, according to the United States Eye Injury Registry (USEIR). Michael Grant, M.D., Ph.D., an ophthalmologist and director of the Ocular Trauma Service at The Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, offers suggestions on how to protect your eyes and what to do in a case of an injury.
CRUSHING HEADACHES
Headaches have more causes than there are pain remedies on the druggist’s shelf. Some can be caused by, say, simple exertion; others, by rare but serious underlying conditions like aneurysms or brain tumors. And don’t be surprised if this article gives you a headache. As Jason Rosenberg, M.D., an assistant professor of neurology, founder and director of the Headache Center at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, points out, even the mere suggestion of head pain can bring it on.
Q&A WITH GASTROENTEROLOGIST MARY L. HARRIS, M.D., ON A “DISCOURAGING CONDITION”
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) typically strikes before the age of 30—prime child-bearing years. The ensuing inflammation of the lower intestines combines with the growth of ulcers to spawn a host of challenges to the quality of any couple’s intimacy. Gastroenterologist Mary L. Harris uses candor and data to help sufferers work through the issues and talks about ways patients can handle intimacy issues and IBD.
RANDOM HEARTS
Is it time to tailor treatment for heart failure? David A. Kass, cardiologist and professor of medicine, says all failing hearts aren’t created equal and physicians may want to adjust their remedies. Half of America’s 5 million cases stem from “systolic” heart failure, which leaves patients feeling perpetually fatigued. Cardiologists typically prescribe beta blockers, which reduce the toxic effects of the neurohormones that tax the heart muscle. Patients with the lesser-known “nonsystolic” heart failure also typically get beta blockers, but for a different reason. Cardiologists hope that by slowing their hearts, the organ’s chambers will have time to fill with more blood before pumping it out to the rest of the body.
SOFT SHOULDERS
A brachial plexus injury can be repaired—but see an expert and act fast. Denise McCreery came to in the front seat of her car, which was pressed against a guard rail on I-95 in Maryland. She was covered in fine bits of blue glass, with the chill March wind blowing easily through the jagged space where her windshield used to be. The engine was still humming, the radio still on. Noticing that she couldn’t move her left side, she dialed 911 with her right hand.
NEUROSURGERY ON THE PANCREAS
Unconvinced that the swelling in his patient’s foot had a vascular origin, Michael Fox’s physician ordered a CT scan to see if a lymph node abnormality might be the culprit. The lymph nodes appeared to be fine. But to the consternation of both doctors—Fox is a Colorado Springs radiologist—the imaging showed a 4-centimeter mass on the head of his pancreas. Everyone agreed the tumor looked benign. And with a single exception, his colleagues said his sole treatment possibility was the Whipple procedure. Dana Andersen M.D., chief of surgery at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, understands why most physicians hear pancreatic lesion and immediately think Whipple. Although less drastic operations are available for benign and premalignant tumors in the pancreas, they’re rarely performed in the United States. Andersen believes that should change.
For previous issues of JHM Health News go to:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/mediaII/MNU/index.html
-JHM-
