MRSA Resistant Organisms & Cognitive Skills

[Guest guest]

This is another post that I found in my drafts folder. My server seems to have

a problem and our electricity has been flickering and shutting down my computer.

I seriously doubt that it has been sent out previously, but if so, my apolgies

for the duplicate. I know that MRSA is a threat to all of us, having had it

myself at the same time as my husband. We are still trying to decide who gave

it to whom. LOL

The other is about cognitive skills which we have discussed on many occasions

and seems to be connected to some of the meds we have been given. I know some

of you have been tested, as have I, how it has affected your cognitive skills

and abilities. Another interesting article is about Vitamin D or lack thereof,

which we have also discussed. Some of these articles are timely and others may

be of use to you in the near future.

A rigorous environmental cleaning intervention can reduce the transmission of

methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other multidrug-resistant

organisms in hospital intensive care units (ICUs), according to a new study

released at the annual meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of

America (SHEA). Researchers found that following an enhanced cleaning protocol

reduced the spread of MRSA to patients exposed to rooms in which the prior

occupant had been colonized or infected. The multi-modal cleaning intervention

consists of three parts: a change from use of a pour bottle to bucket immersion

for applying disinfectant to cleaning cloths; an educational campaign involving

the environmental services staff at the hospital; and feedback method using

removal of intentionally-applied marks visible only under UV light.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com:80/articles/143078.php

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Researchers at the University of Bath are to be part of a 3 million Euro

Europe-wide research collaboration to pioneer research into safer, more

effective anti-bacterial plastics and coatings that can be used in items such as

food packaging, medical devices to wound dressings, and nappies. The Bath team

has developed a range of new compounds which have been shown to be highly

effective against common hospital bacterial infections such as MRSA and are

safer than existing anti-bacterials based on silver nanoparticles.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com:80/articles/143011.php

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Hand-washing, a clean environment, appropriate infection barriers and early

identification of patients at high risk of colonization with a transmissible

microorganism remain the essential measures to prevent and control infection. A

review of hospital infection control strategies in CMAJ

http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg627.pdf looks at the most effective methods and the

supporting evidence.

Risk factors associated with colonization of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms

include increasing age of patient and severity of disease, increasing length of

hospital stay, admission to an intensive care unit and proximity to patients

carrying an antimicrobial-resistant organism. Use of broad-spectrum antibiotics

and/or prolonged use of antibiotics are also risk factors. Methicillin-resistant

Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Clostridium difficile (C.difficile) and

vancomycin-resistant enterococci are the most common antimicrobial-resistant

pathogens. Resistance is more prevalent in hospital-acquired infections compared

to community-acquired infections.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com:80/articles/142543.php

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A new study indicates that some aspects of peoples' cognitive skills - such as

the ability to make rapid comparisons, remember unrelated information and detect

relationships - peak at about the age of 22, and then begin a slow decline

starting around age 27. " This research suggests that some aspects of age-related

cognitive decline begin in healthy, educated adults when they are in their 20s

and 30s, " said Salthouse, a University of Virginia professor of

psychology and the study's lead investigator. His findings appear in the current

issue of the journal Neurobiology of Aging. Salthouse and his team conducted the

study during a seven-year period, working with 2,000 healthy participants

between the ages of 18 and 60. Participants were asked to solve various puzzles,

remember words and details from stories, and identify patterns in an assortment

of letters and symbols.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com:80/articles/143104.php

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Single events account for many of our most vivid memories - a marriage proposal,

a wedding toast, a baby's birth. Until a recent UC Irvine discovery, however,

scientists knew little about what happens inside the brain that allows you to

remember such events. In a study with rats, neuroscientist Guzowski and

colleagues found that a single brief experience was as effective at activating

neurons and genes associated with memory as more repetitive activities.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com:80/articles/142924.php

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A report in the March 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine (a journal from

JAMA/Archives) indicates that in the United States from 1994 to 2004, the

average blood levels of vitamin D seem to have decreased. In the past, the most

important health conditions linked to vitamin D deficiency were poor bone

mineral content in adults and rickets in children. The report indicates those

problems were treated by fortifying food with vitamin D. Lately, the lack of

vitamin D has been linked to heart disease, cancer, infections, and poor health

in general. Data indicates that to reach optimum health, levels of 30 to 40

nanograms per milliliter may be considered necessary.

The authors say, " Vitamin D supplementation appears to mitigate the incidence

and adverse outcomes of these diseases and may reduce all-cause mortality. "

Still, the present recommendations for supplement levels concentrate mostly on

gaining bone health, with 200 international units per day from birth to age

fifty, 400 international units per day from age fifty one to seventy and 600

international units from age seventy one and up. Moreover, less outdoor

activities and campaigns urging to reduce sun exposure have lead to vitamin D

deficiency, given that sunlight exposure is an important determinant of vitamin

D in humans.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com:80/articles/143341.php

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Rep. Eshoo (D-Calif.), House Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member

Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) on Tuesday introduced

legislation that would allow FDA to approve generic versions of biologic drugs,

CongressDaily reports. The bill would give brand-name biologic drugmakers a

12-year period of exclusivity for their products before generic competition can

be introduced. The measure also would require data from generic companies. The

legislation competes with a bill (HR 1427) introduced last week by Energy and

Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Health Subcommittee ranking

member Deal (R-Ga.) that would give brand-name companies five years of

exclusivity and provide FDA with more flexibility in determining data required

for generic approval (CongressDaily, 3/18).

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com:80/articles/142860.php

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CANADA NEWS

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, federal Minister of Health, and the Honourable

, Minister of Health for New Brunswick, today announced further

progress on the Patient Wait Times Guarantee with support being provided for a

pilot project in New Brunswick aimed at reducing wait times for radiation

therapy. " The project we are announcing today will help New Brunswickers

receive more efficient, timely access to radiation therapy, " said Minister

Aglukkaq. " For New Brunswick, it marks a significant step towards cutting wait

times and providing patients with the quality health care they need when they

need it. The lessons learned from this project will be applied across the

country and across a range of clinical areas. " The project, which began in March

2008, uses a patient-centred approach involving both of the province's cancer

centres and the New Brunswick Cancer Network which will help meet individual

needs and circumstances. It uses information technology to better track

patients' progress and to facilitate them receiving radiation therapy in a

timely manner.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com:80/articles/142982.php

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UK NEWS

Commenting in response to the Healthcare Commission's investigation into

emergency care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, The King's Fund's

Chief Executive Niall Dickson said: 'This is a damning indictment of the quality

of emergency care provided to patients in Mid Staffordshire and raises

fundamental questions about how the hospital has been managed and why the right

numbers of skilled doctors and nurses were not in place. This is not to say that

care in other parts of the hospital was poor, but it does reveal there has been

a fundamental breakdown in the systems and standards patients have a right to

expect. 'The Healthcare Commission's investigation points out that the Trust

Board was too focused on money, targets and achieving foundation trust status.

While it would be wrong to make a scapegoat out of targets, meeting them should

never come at the expense of delivering high quality, safe care. Running an

efficient hospital within budget and offering high quality services are not

mutually exclusive - hundreds of NHS Trusts are doing just that.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com:80/articles/142728.php

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Breathing during sleep is often impaired in patients with atrial fibrillation.

In the current edition of Deutsches Arzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int

2009; 106(10): 164 - 70), Bitter and his coauthors from the Ruhr

University in Bochum investigate how often sleep-disordered breathing occurs in

this form of cardiac arrythmia and what the different types are. The authors

used cardiorespiratory polygraphy to investigate whether 150 patients (110 men

and 40 women) with atrial fibrillation suffered from sleep-disordered breathing.

To avoid statistical bias, they only included patients with normal systolic left

ventricular function. The mean age of the patients was around 65 years.

Breathing during sleep was impaired in 74% of the patients. 43% of the group

suffered from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This means that the upper

respiratory tract is constricted during the night, leading to oxygen deficiency.

The authors found that 31% of patients suffered from central sleep apnea (CSA).

This type of disorder is characterized by periodic decreases and increases in

the respiratory depth and rate. Breathing becomes flatter and flatter, until it

is interrupted for an interval. Awareness of OSA already plays an important role

in the primary and secondary prevention of atrial fibrillation. According to the

authors, the results indicate that central sleep apnea is also relevant.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com:80/articles/143187.php