(HealthDay News) -- Many doctors ask their patients to provide a blood sample to test for a specific disease or condition, or to help gauge the patient's overall health.
Modern blood tests are very safe procedures, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation says. You are at no risk of catching a disease, such as AIDS or hepatitis, or getting an infection from having your blood drawn. The people who draw your blood should always wear gloves and use one-time, disposable needles.
Side effects from having blood drawn typically are quite minor, and may include:
Bruising or minor swelling at the site of the injection. These symptoms can be soothed with an ice pack.
Light-headedness or dizziness from watching someone draw your blood.
People who take blood-thinning medications such as Coumadin may require a pressure bandage.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
New Devices Shine a Light on Blood Sugar Control
(HealthDay News) --Two new devices that use light to measure diabetics' blood sugar levels show promise, according to studies to be presented Saturday in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association.
Dr. Robert Gabbay of the Penn State University Medical Center in Hershey, Pa., and colleagues tested an "optical coherence tomography device" -- GlucoLight -- on 27 type 1 and type 2 diabetics. The device, which focuses a beam of light on the patient's skin, was accurate in measuring blood sugar levels, the team found.
"The device maintained calibration over four days with no adverse side effects," Gabbay and his colleagues concluded. "Future efforts will evaluate the accuracy of the system in the hypoglycemic range."
Also at the meeting, a team led by Orna Amir, of OrSense Ltd. In Rehovot, Israel, was slated to present data on another device, the NBM-100, that uses red near-infrared light to measure blood sugar. Their study, involving seven diabetics, found the device also delivered accurate readings.
More information
There's more on diabetes at the American Diabetes Association.
Dr. Robert Gabbay of the Penn State University Medical Center in Hershey, Pa., and colleagues tested an "optical coherence tomography device" -- GlucoLight -- on 27 type 1 and type 2 diabetics. The device, which focuses a beam of light on the patient's skin, was accurate in measuring blood sugar levels, the team found.
"The device maintained calibration over four days with no adverse side effects," Gabbay and his colleagues concluded. "Future efforts will evaluate the accuracy of the system in the hypoglycemic range."
Also at the meeting, a team led by Orna Amir, of OrSense Ltd. In Rehovot, Israel, was slated to present data on another device, the NBM-100, that uses red near-infrared light to measure blood sugar. Their study, involving seven diabetics, found the device also delivered accurate readings.
More information
There's more on diabetes at the American Diabetes Association.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Health Tip: Creating a Healthy Body Image
(HealthDay News) -- Eating disorders can lead to unhealthy eating habits, and in extreme, can trigger a dangerous drop in weight.
Cultivating a healthy body image in your teen can be key to preventing an eating disorder. Here are suggestions, courtesy of the Center for Young Women's Health:
Teach your child to respect herself -- both her physical and non-physical attributes.
Talk to your child about the importance of being herself, and why it's unrealistic to look like models pictured in magazines.
Don't focus on food, calories and weight. Make sure your child doesn't obsess over it either.
Try to teach her the importance of a healthy lifestyle and good nutrition, not dieting.
Make meals a positive experience, and focus on the physical and mental benefits of a healthy diet.
Teach your child not to deal with stress or emotions by using food.
Cultivating a healthy body image in your teen can be key to preventing an eating disorder. Here are suggestions, courtesy of the Center for Young Women's Health:
Teach your child to respect herself -- both her physical and non-physical attributes.
Talk to your child about the importance of being herself, and why it's unrealistic to look like models pictured in magazines.
Don't focus on food, calories and weight. Make sure your child doesn't obsess over it either.
Try to teach her the importance of a healthy lifestyle and good nutrition, not dieting.
Make meals a positive experience, and focus on the physical and mental benefits of a healthy diet.
Teach your child not to deal with stress or emotions by using food.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Handshakes, Sensitivity Boost Doctor-Patient Rapport
(HealthDay News) -- Most patients want a personal relationship with their doctor, evidenced through simple actions such as shaking hands and having the doctor greet them by their first name, a new study finds.
"The first few moments of a medical encounter are critical to establishing a rapport, making the patient feel comfortable and setting the tone of the interview," wrote a team at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
They surveyed 415 adults about their expectations and preferences for being greeted by doctors and found:
Just over 78 percent wanted doctors to shake their hands, while about 18 percent did not.
More than half (50.4 percent) wanted their first names used during greetings, about 17 percent preferred their last name was used, and nearly a quarter (23.6 percent) wanted doctors to use both their first and last names.
Just over 56 percent of patients wanted doctors to introduce themselves using first and last names, 32.5 percent wanted doctors to use their last name, and about 7 percent wanted doctors to use their first name.
The researchers also videotaped 123 new patient visits with 19 different doctors. They found that:
Doctors and patients shook hands about 83 percent of the time.
In 50.4 percent of visits, doctors did not mention patients' names at all.
Doctors used their first and last names when introducing themselves in 58.5 percent of the meetings, and did not introduce themselves at all in about 11 percent of the visits.
"Physicians should be encouraged to shake hands with patients but remain sensitive to nonverbal cues that might indicate whether patients are open to this behavior," the study authors wrote. "Given the diversity of opinion regarding the use of names, coupled with national patient safety recommendations concerning patient identification, we suggest that physicians initially use patient's first and last names and introduce themselves using their own first and last names."
The study is published in the June 11 issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians offers advice on choosing a family doctor.
"The first few moments of a medical encounter are critical to establishing a rapport, making the patient feel comfortable and setting the tone of the interview," wrote a team at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
They surveyed 415 adults about their expectations and preferences for being greeted by doctors and found:
Just over 78 percent wanted doctors to shake their hands, while about 18 percent did not.
More than half (50.4 percent) wanted their first names used during greetings, about 17 percent preferred their last name was used, and nearly a quarter (23.6 percent) wanted doctors to use both their first and last names.
Just over 56 percent of patients wanted doctors to introduce themselves using first and last names, 32.5 percent wanted doctors to use their last name, and about 7 percent wanted doctors to use their first name.
The researchers also videotaped 123 new patient visits with 19 different doctors. They found that:
Doctors and patients shook hands about 83 percent of the time.
In 50.4 percent of visits, doctors did not mention patients' names at all.
Doctors used their first and last names when introducing themselves in 58.5 percent of the meetings, and did not introduce themselves at all in about 11 percent of the visits.
"Physicians should be encouraged to shake hands with patients but remain sensitive to nonverbal cues that might indicate whether patients are open to this behavior," the study authors wrote. "Given the diversity of opinion regarding the use of names, coupled with national patient safety recommendations concerning patient identification, we suggest that physicians initially use patient's first and last names and introduce themselves using their own first and last names."
The study is published in the June 11 issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians offers advice on choosing a family doctor.
Friday, June 08, 2007
New Imaging Techniques Hold Promise for Variety of Diseases
(HealthDay News) -- New ways of imaging the heart, the brain and the pelvis could lead to better diagnosis and treatment of illnesses such as heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and ovarian cancer.
That's the assessment of a series of studies presented this week at the Society for Nuclear Medicine's annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
In one study, Dr. James H. Rudd, a cardiologist and scientist with the Imaging Sciences Laboratory at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues showed that using two imaging techniques -- multidetector computed tomography (CT) and imaging positron emission tomography (PET) -- along with N1177, a contrast agent that highlights plaques, provided imaging that was able to determine the amount of inflammation within atherosclerotic plaque and estimate the chances of plaque causing a future heart attack or stroke.
"The idea behind the project was to get an earlier diagnosis of atherosclerosis," Rudd said. "If we can detect these things earlier, then we can start effective therapy earlier and prevent the development of heart attacks and strokes."
Using both imaging techniques together in rabbits gave more information than using them separately, the researchers say. CT imaging helped determine the size of plaque, whether it was causing narrowing of the arteries and whether any inflammatory cells were involved.
The PET scan told the researchers whether the plaques were dangerous and whether they could lead to problems for patients. Using both techniques, they could see not only on the structure of plaque but also the underlying biology of the disease, which could guide and help monitor treatments.
In another study, researchers led by Dr. Cesar A. Santana, an assistant professor of radiology at Emory University, unveiled a new molecular imaging technique that gives a three-dimensional image of the heart, and could significantly improve the diagnosis of heart disease.
Doctors could use this three-dimensional color display to improve the accuracy of diagnosing heart disease and guide treatment, the researchers said.
Another highlight at the meeting was the presentation of the first combined positron emission tomography (PET) images and magnetic resonance (MR) images of the human brain. This technique of taking both images simultaneously represents a leap forward in imaging capabilities, said Dr. Bernd J. Pichler, head of the Laboratory for Preclinical Imaging and Imaging Technology at the University of Tuebingen's Department of Radiology, in Germany.
This type of brain imaging could potentially be the best choice for neurological studies, certain forms of cancer, stroke and the emerging study of stem cell therapy. In addition, PET/MR brain scanning will aid in understanding the pathologies and progression of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, depression and schizophrenia, the researchers said.
Another study showed that beta-amyloid plaque, which has been linked to Alzheimer's disease, is also associated with brain dysfunction in normal elderly people. This finding provides further evidence that beta-amyloid is related to the fundamental cause of Alzheimer's disease, the Australian researchers say.
Dr. Christopher Rowe, director of the nuclear medicine department and Centre for PET at Austin Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria, found that PET scans could detect the early pathological changes of Alzheimer's disease long before the development of dementia.
There are trials of anti-amyloid drugs under way. If these prove successful, amyloid imaging could have a vital role in identifying people in need of treatment to prevent the development of Alzheimer's, the researchers said.
Another study showed that advanced combined PET and CT imaging can be used to guide the treatment of women with ovarian cancer. Imaging detected more sites of disease and identified women whose disease was likely to progress, Australian researchers reported.
PET/CT imaging influenced treatment decisions in 59 percent of the 90 women by identifying those whose disease was more likely to progress within 12 months, the researchers found. These findings suggest that replacing routine CT scans of the abdomen and pelvis with PET/CT imaging could reduce costs and providing better care for patients, said Dr. Michael J. Fulham, head of the Department of PET and Nuclear Medicine at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.
More information
For more information on CT and PET scans, visit Radiology Info.
That's the assessment of a series of studies presented this week at the Society for Nuclear Medicine's annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
In one study, Dr. James H. Rudd, a cardiologist and scientist with the Imaging Sciences Laboratory at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues showed that using two imaging techniques -- multidetector computed tomography (CT) and imaging positron emission tomography (PET) -- along with N1177, a contrast agent that highlights plaques, provided imaging that was able to determine the amount of inflammation within atherosclerotic plaque and estimate the chances of plaque causing a future heart attack or stroke.
"The idea behind the project was to get an earlier diagnosis of atherosclerosis," Rudd said. "If we can detect these things earlier, then we can start effective therapy earlier and prevent the development of heart attacks and strokes."
Using both imaging techniques together in rabbits gave more information than using them separately, the researchers say. CT imaging helped determine the size of plaque, whether it was causing narrowing of the arteries and whether any inflammatory cells were involved.
The PET scan told the researchers whether the plaques were dangerous and whether they could lead to problems for patients. Using both techniques, they could see not only on the structure of plaque but also the underlying biology of the disease, which could guide and help monitor treatments.
In another study, researchers led by Dr. Cesar A. Santana, an assistant professor of radiology at Emory University, unveiled a new molecular imaging technique that gives a three-dimensional image of the heart, and could significantly improve the diagnosis of heart disease.
Doctors could use this three-dimensional color display to improve the accuracy of diagnosing heart disease and guide treatment, the researchers said.
Another highlight at the meeting was the presentation of the first combined positron emission tomography (PET) images and magnetic resonance (MR) images of the human brain. This technique of taking both images simultaneously represents a leap forward in imaging capabilities, said Dr. Bernd J. Pichler, head of the Laboratory for Preclinical Imaging and Imaging Technology at the University of Tuebingen's Department of Radiology, in Germany.
This type of brain imaging could potentially be the best choice for neurological studies, certain forms of cancer, stroke and the emerging study of stem cell therapy. In addition, PET/MR brain scanning will aid in understanding the pathologies and progression of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, depression and schizophrenia, the researchers said.
Another study showed that beta-amyloid plaque, which has been linked to Alzheimer's disease, is also associated with brain dysfunction in normal elderly people. This finding provides further evidence that beta-amyloid is related to the fundamental cause of Alzheimer's disease, the Australian researchers say.
Dr. Christopher Rowe, director of the nuclear medicine department and Centre for PET at Austin Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria, found that PET scans could detect the early pathological changes of Alzheimer's disease long before the development of dementia.
There are trials of anti-amyloid drugs under way. If these prove successful, amyloid imaging could have a vital role in identifying people in need of treatment to prevent the development of Alzheimer's, the researchers said.
Another study showed that advanced combined PET and CT imaging can be used to guide the treatment of women with ovarian cancer. Imaging detected more sites of disease and identified women whose disease was likely to progress, Australian researchers reported.
PET/CT imaging influenced treatment decisions in 59 percent of the 90 women by identifying those whose disease was more likely to progress within 12 months, the researchers found. These findings suggest that replacing routine CT scans of the abdomen and pelvis with PET/CT imaging could reduce costs and providing better care for patients, said Dr. Michael J. Fulham, head of the Department of PET and Nuclear Medicine at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.
More information
For more information on CT and PET scans, visit Radiology Info.
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