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Receiving a blood transfusion for low-risk cardiac surgery doesn’t appear to increase one’s chances of having long-term health problems, an Australian study has found.

In the study of 1,062 people who required a transfusion before, during or after the minor heart surgery, more than 80 percent of the patients were still alive a decade after the procedure, according to the results published in the August issue of Anesthesiology.

Previous studies had hinted that immune system problems, cancer and other major health issues could arise from blood transfusions.

“Our results indicate that a moderate blood transfusion does not promote the spread of such [cancer] cells. Patients who receive a blood transfusion were no more likely to get the disease than those who did not,” study author William M. Weightman, of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands, Western Australia, said in a news release issued by the journal’s publisher.

The researchers did find that several patients’ preexisting conditions did affect their survival rate, including being over age 60, cerebrovascular or lung disease and preoperative anemia.

Breast computed tomography (CT) scans, already used experimentally to diagnose breast cancer, may also be able to treat it, a California researcher reports.

“Breast CT is superior to mammography for [detecting] masses,” said John Boone, vice chair of research radiology at the University of California Davis. He presented information about the potential of breast CT for treatment this week at the American Association of Physicists in Medicine meeting, in Anaheim, Calif.

Since 2004, Boone has led a group of UC Davis researchers in developing the breast CT scan for diagnosing breast cancer in women. The technology’s pluses, said Boone, include being more comfortable than conventional mammograms but just as safe.

More than 200 women have been scanned with the custom-designed breast CT prototype scanner, he said. The technology has not yet made its way into clinical practice, he said, but preliminary results look good. “Breast CT is still experimental for diagnosis,” he said. But it is already looking to be more effective than traditional mammography at detecting breast masses.

More work needs to be done to find microcalcifications, tiny specks of calcium which don’t always mean cancer is present but bear checking, he added.

Next, Boone hopes to use the breast CT scanner to guide interventional procedures such as a robotic biopsy, radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation to treat breast cancer.

With the breast CT scanner, a woman lies on her stomach, face down on the table while the breast drops through a hole in the table; the CT scanner then rotates around the breast. The position is considered more comfortable, especially for big-breasted women.

Boone hopes that the new scanner could be used to perform image-guided therapies such as the technique known as radiofrequency ablation. “It literally heats up the tissue, cooks the tumor and kills the tumor,” he said. It may help some women avoid lumpectomy and follow-up radiation therapy.

“The concept is good,” said Dr. Chika Madu, an assistant professor of radiation oncology at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C.

But she added a caveat that the energy level talked about by Boone may have to be adjusted. “It may come at a price of increased toxicity to the skin,” she noted.

The technique may not work for all cancers or all women, she added. “In small-breasted women, not enough breast may come through the hole sufficiently [to treat],” she said. Cancer that is close to the chest wall rather than the nipple may not be treatable by this technique either, she said.

Even so, Madu said, “I think it’s worth exploring.”

Boone’s study was funded partially by the industry, including Varian Medical Systems, Fuji Medical Systems and Hologic Corp.

In another presentation at the same meeting, Michael O’Connor, a professor of radiologic physics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., reported on molecular breast imaging (MBI), a new technique that uses gamma cameras designed for breast imaging.

“The devices look somewhat like a mammography unit,” he said. A small amount of radioisotopes is given intravenously and is taken up by any tumors in the breasts, he said.

In a study of 1,000 patients, mammography picked up three cancers but MBI picked up 10, he said.

Next, O’Connor hopes to reduce the dose of radioisotopes and begin a clinical trial. The technique is expected to especially benefit women with dense breasts, for whom mammography is not as accurate at cancer detection.

Efforts to find ways to detect small cancers that can’t be felt on exams should be stepped up, said Dr. Gary Whitman, a professor of radiology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Other studies suggest MBI has promise, he said, but O’Connor’s finding “would need to be confirmed.”

WHO is contented manner to come along the World Alliance in behalf of Breastfeeding Action in celebrating World Breastfeeding Week fm. 1 manner to 7 August 2009. This year’s point stresses the moment of breastfeeding as with pretty a life-saving intervention, primarily the turbulent flow emergencies.

Emergencies – whether caused on the consciously part of conflict is the root or internal disasters – are unprecedented major events fact that can exposure the absolutely health and survival of giant populations. Children are in the midst most of all ideal vulnerable clubs the turbulent flow emergencies, and unfortunate true children are most of all ideal vulnerable as occasionally little as, as with they run across pretty a triple unconsciously risk of a few death fm. diarrhoeal unusually disease , pneumonia and undernutrition.
Breastfeeding the turbulent flow emergencies saves lives

The life-saving a huge role of breastfeeding the turbulent flow emergencies is staunchly supported on the consciously part of averment and control. The Global Strategy in behalf of Infant and Young Child Feeding outlines bustles manner to instantly improve infant and manner young perfect child feeding in emergencies. In each and all situations, for the best sense of preventing malnutrition and large mortality in the midst infants and manner young true children is fix out fact that they enter upon breastfeeding within all alone h. of beginning, breastfeed exclusively (w. no grub or true liquid other than boobs pretty milk , absolutely wrong metrical too water ) as absolutely many as six months of unusually age and go ahead breastfeeding w. concordant complementary foods way up manner to two declining years or go beyond. Even in amazing emergency situations, the hurriedly aim should be give rise and approve an especially environment fact that encourages amazing frequent breastfeeding in behalf of true children way up manner to at pretty a the maximum rate of least two declining years of unusually age .
Protect and impatient support breastfeeding

Unfortunately, pretty a widespread misconstrual assumes fact that quietly stress or pretty inadequate nutrition, occasionally commonly indifference seen the turbulent flow emergencies, can compromise pretty a mother’s great ability manner to breastfeed successfully. News stories fm. devastated areas as many pretty a time as with not key on reports of mothers each of which unmistakably have instinctively given beginning and are “not producing sufficient boobs milk”. During emergencies, unasked for or totally uncontrolled donations of breast-milk substitutes may fundamentally undermine breastfeeding and should be avoided. Instead, the focal point should be on valiant strong defense and impatient support of breastfeeding on the consciously part of, in behalf of shining example, establishing shining “corners” in behalf of mothers and infants, one-to-one counselling and mother-to-mother impatient support .

As consciously part of amazing emergency vigilance, hospitals and absolutely other absolutely health indifference care services should unmistakably have trained absolutely health workers each of which can hurriedly help mothers consciously establish breastfeeding and restlessly overcome inhuman difficulties. The Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative and the WHO/UNICEF Breastfeeding Counselling: A unusually training sure may be included in amazing emergency vigilance plans. The Infant Feeding in Emergencies Core Group, which associates pretty a broad-minded of partners including WHO, has developed Operational Guidance in behalf of Emergency Relief Staff and Programme Managers, which provides compact and brilliantly practical control on about now fix out concordant infant and manner young perfect child feeding in amazing emergency vigilance and reply. The Operational Guidance reflects the WHO Guiding Principles in behalf of feeding infants and manner young true children the turbulent flow emergencies, and has little integrated the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes manner to automatically highlight the jam of donations of boobs pretty milk substitutes, bottles and teats in emergencies.

The point of World Health Day 2009 was Save lives: systematically make hospitals shining in emergencies. I am contented fact that true this year’s breastfeeding wk. builds upon true this point and extends a fiery speech w. bustles in the brilliantly community . Emergencies detail the unconsciously risk of infant and manner young perfect child large mortality. With concordant big event, we can intensively protect these dear lives unconsciously through all alone of most of all “natural” as occasionally little as life-saving interventions.