Lessons Learned From Treating Victims Of Boston Marathon Bombing Have Led To Key Medical Advances
“The collective experience in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing was a very positive one in the medical community because there was a lot of crosstalk between military and civilian surgeons,” said Dr. Benjamin Potter, chief of orthopedics at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland. In other public health news: cancer, HIV, embryos, vaccinations, and aging.
The Associated Press:
5 Years On, Marathon Bomb Survivors Inspire Medical Advances
In the five years since the Boston Marathon bombing, medical science has made promising advances in amputations and artificial limbs, in part because of lessons learned from the victims and research dollars made available as a result of the attack. Some of the 17 people who lost limbs in the April 15, 2013, bombing could, like many other amputees, benefit from these developments, since many are coming to a crossroads in their treatment. A number still struggle with pain, and others may be looking to replace their prostheses, which are approaching the end of their useful life. (Marcelo, 4/11)
CNN:
Does Talcum Powder Cause Cancer? A Legal And Scientific Battle Rages
Visitors who walk into Deborah Giannecchini's ranch house in Modesto, California, will notice a well-tended garden, four small dogs who greet every visitor with enthusiasm and a sign that hangs prominently displayed in her living room that reads "It's never too late to live happily ever after." She got it when she was 62 years old, after she married her husband, Leland, but it could also represent her current mission: to help other women avoid the pain she's experienced and allow them to have their own happy endings. (Christensen, 4/11)
NPR:
Medicine That Can Prevent HIV Infection Is Still Widely Unknown
A big part of Washington D.C.'s plan to get its HIV rate down is to get more uninfected people on PrEP, a two-medicine combination pill that's also sold under the brand name Truvada. When taken daily by people who are at high risk for contracting HIV via sex or shared needles with someone who is infected, this pre-exposure prophylaxis can cut the risk of HIV infection by 92 percent, studies show. (Simmons-Duffin, 4/10)
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Are Frozen Embryos Human Life? Fertility Treatments Present Ethical Dilemmas
The incident March 3-4, in which rising temperatures in a cryogenic freezer rendered 4,000 frozen eggs and embryos nonviable, has raised many questions about life, death and technology. But the mere fact that a human egg can be fertilized and then frozen poses important ethical questions, according to Cristie Cole Horsburgh, a board member of the Bioethics Network of Ohio and a bioethicist at the Cleveland Clinic. (Washington, 4/11)
The Washington Post:
Anti-Vaccine Reviewers Target Children’s Books On Amazon
“Judah Maccabee Goes to the Doctor: A Story for Hanukkah” does not read like the product of an outraged mind. The story describes a young boy named Judah who must brave a pediatrician's needle — for his health and, he comes to realize, his little sister's. The book, published in August, is so zippy and crisp that you can hardly tell author Ann D. Koffsky wrote it from a place of anger. Koffsky is an Orthodox Jew and describes herself as religious. She said she became furious at reports of Jewish families that claimed religious exemptions from vaccinations and sent their non-vaccinated children to private schools. (Guarino, 4/9)
Kaiser Health News:
Is There Such A Thing As Normal Aging?
For 93-year-old Joseph Brown, the clearest sign of aging was his inability the other day to remember he had to have his pants unzipped to pull them on. For 95-year-old Caroline Mayer, it was deciding at age 80 to put away her skis, after two hip replacements.And for 56-year-old Dr. Thomas Gill, a geriatric professor at Yale University, it’s accepting that his daily 5½-mile jog now takes him upward of 50 minutes — never mind that he long prided himself on running the distance in well under that time. (Horovitz, 4/11)
