Dissolving blood clots and other health facts - Alternative-medicine ...

A new approach to generating terahertz radiation will lead to new imaging and sensing applications. The low energy of the radiation means that it can pass through materials that are otherwise opaque, opening up uses in imaging and sensing -- for example, in new security scanners. In practice, however, applications have been difficult to implement.

With more than 15 million endoscope procedures done on patients each year in the U.S. alone, scientists have reported evidence that a new version of these flexible instruments for diagnosing and treating disease shows promise for helping surgeons more completely remove cancerous tumors. Their report on technology that combines the endoscope with the phenomenon responsible for the eerie blue glow in the cooling water of nuclear reactors was part of the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

New research from the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute shows that by using a CT scan (computerized tomography), doctors can predict which patients are at risk of continued bleeding in the brain after a stroke.

This vital information will allow doctors to utilize the most powerful blood clotting medications for those with the highest risk.

Dissolving blood clots by administering the drug tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) appears to improve outcomes in some patients with stroke, according to background information in the article. However, the medication is associated with a 10-fold increased risk of symptomatic brain hemorrhage (bleeding). Antiplatelet medications, such as aspirin, might further increase the risk for bleeding because these drugs impair the function of cells critical in forming blood clots.

Maarten Uyttenboogaart, M.D., and colleagues at the Medical Staffing Network University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands, studied 301 patients who received tPA following stroke between 2002 and 2006. Of those, 89 had used antiplatelet drugs prior to receiving tPA.

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Whooping cough

Last reviewed: August 2, 2011.

Pertussis is a highly contagious bacterial disease that causes uncontrollable, violent coughing.?The coughing can?make it hard to breathe.? A deep "whooping" sound?is often heard?when the patient?tries to?take a breath.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

Pertussis, or whooping cough, is an upper respiratory infection caused by the Bordetella pertussis or Bordetella parapertussis bacteria. It is a serious disease that can cause permanent disability in infants, and even death.

When an infected person sneezes or coughs, tiny droplets containing the bacteria move through the air, and the disease is easily spread from person to person.

The infection usually lasts 6 weeks.

Whooping cough can affect people of any age. Before vaccines were widely available, the disease was most common in infants and young children. Now that most children are immunized before entering school, the higher percentage of cases is seen among adolescents and adults.

Symptoms

Initial symptoms, similar to the common cold, usually develop about a week after exposure to the bacteria.

Severe episodes of coughing start about 10 to 12 days later. In children, the coughing often ends with a "whoop" noise. The sound is produced when the patient tries to take a breath. The whoop noise is rare in patients under 6 months of age and in adults.

Coughing spells may lead to vomiting or a short loss of consciousness. Pertussis should always be considered when vomiting occurs with coughing. In infants, choking spells are common.

Other pertussis symptoms include:

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