OB GYN News articles from December 15 2008

OB GYN News archives from December 15 2008

High BMI may up risk of miscarriage.(News)
December 15, 2008... San Francisco -- The risk of miscarriage of a genetically normal fetus is significantly increased in overweight women, compared with normal weight women, the findings of a retrospective case-control study of 204 miscarriages suggest. The...

Projected U.S. health expenditures.(VITAL SIGNS)
December 15, 2008... Projected U.S. Health Expenditures (in trillions of dollars) Note: Based on 2006 National Health Expenditures data. Source: Centers for Medicare and Medical Services

Added folic acid lowers congenital heart defects risk periconceptual supplementation backed.(News)
December 15, 2008... New Orleans -- Periconceptual folic acid supplementation appears to reduce by close to 20% the overall risk of congenital heart defects, a Dutch case-control study has shown. This finding has important public health implications in light of...

Metabolic syndrome hikes risk of symptomatic PAD.(News)(Clinical report)
December 15, 2008... New Orleans -- Women with metabolic syndrome have an increased risk of developing symptomatic peripheral artery disease, mediated mainly by the syndrome's associated inflammation and endothelial activation, according to a prospective study of...

In utero sodium valproate exposure linked to higher risk of autism.(News)
December 15, 2008... Exposure to sodium valproate early in pregnancy may increase a child's risk for developing an autism spectrum disorder, judging by preliminary results from an ongoing study on the effects of in utero exposure to antiepileptic drugs. In the...

Watch for long-term issues after gyn. cancer.(EDITORIAL)
December 15, 2008... Increasingly, the clinical cancer research community is recognizing the importance of unique issues associated with long-term survival following successful treatment of a malignancy. It has been well known for many years that late effects of...

Imaging costs should be made public.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 15, 2008... I appreciate Dr. N.S. Damle's take on controlling medical imaging costs, but one aspect that he didn't discuss is the lack of public information on the exact costs of individual tests ("Paying for Advanced Medical Imaging," Guest Editorial,...

What is normal, really?(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
December 15, 2008... Dr. Rhoda H. Cobin's editorial ("What Is Normal Thyroid Function, Really?" Guest Editorial, Aug. 15, 2008, p. 9) prompts me to write. I have diagnosed and treated hundreds of patients, particularly in pregnancy when they demonstrate classic...

Pain relievers.(Cartoon)
December 15, 2008... "Raise the reimbursement rate?! Don't be misled by the Santa outfit.

Rapid PCR could cut intrapartum antibiotic use.(Obstetrics)
December 15, 2008... Washington -- Use of real-time polymerase chain reaction to screen for group B Streptococcus in the delivery room could reduce the use of intrapartum antibiotics by more than half, compared with antenatal screening alone, the findings of a...

Infant S. aureus colonization rises after birth in cases of maternal nasal carriage.(Obstetrics)
December 15, 2008... Washington -- Staphylococcus aureus colonization increases significantly in the first 2 months of life and appears to be positively associated with maternal carriage, based on a study of 200 mother-neonate pairs. At delivery, S. aureus...

History of preeclampsia multiplies CVD risks.(Obstetrics)
December 15, 2008... Washington -- Women with a history of preeclampsia or eclampsia had more than twice the risk of developing cardiovascular disease than that of women with uncomplicated pregnancies, based on results of a meta-analysis that included more than...

Think Behcet's for recurrent aphthous ulcers.(Gynecology)
December 15, 2008... LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA -- The diagnosis of Behcet's disease must be considered in any patient with recurrent oral and vulvar aphthous ulcers, even if the deep, full-thickness ulcers in the mouth and vulva develop at different times. ...

At age 30-plus, IBD spurs primordial follicles' loss.(Gynecology)(Clinical report)
December 15, 2008... San Francisco -- Inflammatory bowel disease does not severely alter ovarian reserve but may accelerate loss of primordial follicles in those aged 30 years and older, results from a clinical study showed. The investigators measured...

Endometrial ablation methods for menorrhagia found equally good.(Gynecology)
December 15, 2008... Las Vegas -- Bipolar radiofrequency ablation and thermal balloon ablation are equally effective for the treatment of menorrhagia, a population-based cohort study showed. However, women who underwent radiofrequency ablation (RFA, or...

Hibiscus tea lowers blood pressure in trial.(Clinical Rounds)
December 15, 2008... New Orleans -- Quaffing three cups of hibiscus tea daily for 6 weeks resulted in a mean 7.2-mm Hg reduction in systolic blood pressure in mildly hypertensive or prehypertensive adults in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. ...

C. difficile infections in hospitals may far exceed estimates.(Clinical Rounds)
December 15, 2008... The prevalence of Clostridium difficile infections among hospitalized patients in the United States may be far higher than previously estimated, according to a survey of approximately 12,000 members of the Association for Professionals in...

Physician looks to the stars.(THE REST OF YOUR LIFE)
December 15, 2008... During summers as a grade school student in Woodland Hills, Calif., Dr. Steven Reeder and his brothers would set up cots in their backyard and sleep beneath the stars, gazing at the cosmos. "We'd fall asleep gazing upward, using binoculars...

Democrats try to block regs.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
December 15, 2008... Senate Democrats are setting up roadblocks to try to keep the Bush administration from finalizing a regulation that would tighten protections for health care providers who object to providing abortion services. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and...

Poor care behind most paid claims.(POLICY & PRACTICE)(Brief article)
December 15, 2008... Most perinatal malpractice claims that are paid are the result of substandard care that results in injury, according to a study published in the December issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Researchers reviewed 189 perinatal care claims paid by a...

Screen more for substance abuse.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
December 15, 2008... Ob.gyns. should screen for substance abuse in as many patients as possible, followed by brief intervention and referral if necessary, according to a new ACOG policy statement. While there are many barriers to universal screening--from lack of...

Unspecified chest pain in women.(POLICY & PRACTICE)(Report)(Brief article)
December 15, 2008... Women are diagnosed and hospitalized for unspecified chest pain more often than men, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In 2006, 379,000 men were admitted for unspecified chest pain, while 477,000 women got the same...

Off-label study needed.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
December 15, 2008... Fourteen widely prescribed medications urgently require additional study to determine their off-label safety and efficacy, researchers report in the journal Pharmacotherapy. Antidepressants and antipsychotics were the top drug classes on the...

Special Medicare Advantage plans.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
December 15, 2008... Medicare officials have identified 15 chronic conditions that would make individuals eligible for enrollment in a Chronic Care Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plan. The conditions are certain neurologic disorders, stroke, chronic alcohol and...

Health insurers dangle guarantee as mandate bait.(Practice Trends)
December 15, 2008... As a new administration prepares to tackle health care reform, the health insurance industry is offering a few suggestions. America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), which represents about 1,300 companies covering more than 200 million...

Survey: many primary care physicians are disgruntled.(Practice Trends)
December 15, 2008... About half of primary care physicians responding to a survey by The Physicians' Foundation said they plan to reduce the number of patients they see or stop practicing entirely over the next 3 years. In addition, 94% said the time they...

MacGyveresque solutions.(CLINICAL PEARLS)
December 15, 2008... The year 2008 has been a tough one for some of us. Many companies are in financial trouble and the stock market has lost al most 50% of its value in the past year. Some of our colleagues have lost a large portion of their life savings. But as...