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Burdock Root

President Honored For Contributions, Leadership In Gastroenterology
Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, president of UT Southwestern Medical Center, has received the American Gastroenterological Association"s 2009 Julius Friedenwald Medal for Distinguished Service for his lifelong contributions to the field of gastroenterology.
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Births To Unmarried Women Increasing In U.S., Driven By Women In 20s, 30s, Report Shows
Almost 40% of U.S. births in 2007 occurred among unmarried women, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"s National Center for Health Statistics, the Washington Post reports. About 1.7 million infants were born to unmarried women in 2007, representing a 26% increase over the 1.4 million in 2002 and more than double the number in 1980. Unmarried women accounted for 39.7% of all U.S. births in 2007, up from 34% in 2002 and more than double the percentage in 1980, according to the report, which studied birth certificates nationwide.Women in their 20s and 30s are the biggest drivers of the trend, with out-of-wedlock births in this age group increasing from a rate of 13% to 34% between 2002 and 2006, according to the report (Stein/St. George, Washington Post, 5/14). For example, the birthrate for unmarried women ages 30 to 34 rose by 34% in 2007 compared with 2002 (Harris, New York Times, 5/14). Sixty percent of births to women ages 20 to 24 were to unmarried women, compared to 52% in 2002. In addition, 32% of births to women 25 to 29 were to unmarried women, compared to 25% in 2002, the report shows (Jayson, USA Today, 5/14). Overall, women in their 20s made up 60% of U.S. unmarried births in 2007, while teens accounted for 23% and women ages 30 and older accounted for 17% (New York Times, 5/13). Unmarried Hispanic women gave birth at a rate of 106 births per 1,000 unmarried women. The rate was 72 per 1,000 for blacks, 32 per 1,000 for whites and 26 per 1,000 for Asians. The rates for blacks and Hispanics rose the fastest, according to the report (Washington Post, 5/14). Compared with other countries, the U.S. rate of unmarried births was near the middle of the 14 countries included in the report (USA Today, 5/14).Although researchers did research the reasons for the trend, they cited several factors that in combination likely affected the rate, including a decrease in the social stigma surrounding out-of-wedlock births, an increasing number of couples putting off or forgoing marriage, and growing numbers of financially independent, older or single women who choose to have children on their own (Washington Post, 5/14). Researchers noted that most of the increase in these births was among parents who live together but are not married (New York Times, 5/13)."I think this is the tipping point," Rosanna Hertz of Wellesley College said, adding, "This is becoming increasingly the norm. The old adage that "first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage" just no longer holds true." Hertz added, "Women can have children on their own, and it"s not going to destroy your employment, and it"s not going to mean that you"ll be made a pariah by the community. It"s much more socially acceptable." Sarah Brown of the National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy said, "I look at this and say, maybe this trend is what young adults want or stumble into, but it"s not in the best interest of children" (Washington Post, 5/14).
News of the day
State News: Overrides, Cuts And Fraud
The Connecticut legislature used its override in both chambers to undo seven vetoes by the governor, including one to cover most Connecticut residents, called SustiNet, The Hartford Courant reports: "Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney said that healthcare, "in many ways, has become a cloud of worry"" over much of society. SustiNet"s nine-member board of directors will study the issue (covering people and cost) for 17 months before giving its recommendations to the legislature in January 2011" (Keating, 7/20).
Mental Health

New Approach To Treating Heart Attacks Reduces Risk Of Life-Threatening Complications

Transferring heart attack patients to specialized hospitals to undergo angioplasty within six hours after receiving clot-busting drugs reduces the risk of life-threatening complications including repeat heart attacks, according to a new study from St. Michael"s Hospital and Southlake Regional Hospital. The findings, published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that routine early transfer of patients after clot-busting drugs are administered results in significantly better outcomes than the current traditional practice of transferring patients only when the clot-busting drugs fail. The study - which is the largest randomized trial of its kind to date -- followed 1,059 heart attack patients who were treated with clot-busting drugs at community hospital emergency departments in Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec. Researchers compared a strategy of transferring heart attack patients to hospitals with on-site angioplasty facilities to undergo angioplasty within six hours after administration of clot-busting drugs, as opposed to the traditional approach of transferring only those patients when clot-busting drug treatments are unsuccessful. "When treating patients with heart attacks, timing is everything, " said Dr. Shaun Goodman, the study"s chairman and associate head of cardiology at St. Michael"s Hospital, "A patient"s chances of recovery are significantly improved if care is provided in a setting where angioplasty can be done soon after clot-busting therapy is given." All patients in the study initially sought treatment at a hospital without angioplasty capability and were treated with a newer clot-busting drug (tenecteplase). Patients were then randomly assigned to one of two groups: urgent transfer for angioplasty within six hours, or standard care (no transfer for angioplasty within the first 24 hours unless the clot-busting medication failed to restore blood flow in the blocked artery). Patients who received standard care often underwent angioplasty 24-72 hours after the heart attack. Overall the research showed: * 17 per cent of patients receiving standard care had serious cardiac complications within 30 days, compared with 11 per cent of those transferred immediately for angioplasty. That represents a 36 per cent reduction in potentially life-threatening complications, including repeat heart attacks, with no difference in major bleeding complications between the two groups. * Patients who received the earlier angioplasty had lower rates of experiening chest pain (0.2 per cent as compared to 2.1 percent) * These same patients had fewer episodes of second heart attacks (3.4 per cent v 5.7 per cent) Angioplasty - which uses a combination of catheter-mounted balloons and stents to open a completely blocked coronary artery and restore blood flow to the heart - is accepted as the best initial treatment for heart attacks when performed within 90 minutes of arrival at a hospital. "The challenge, though, is that this is a goal that few hospitals in the world can achieve unless they have angioplasty facilities on site," explained the study"s primary author Dr. Warren Cantor of Southlake Regional Health Centre, adding that less than 25 per cent of hospitals in North America have these res. Until now, physicians have been reluctant to transfer patients to another hospital to undergo angioplasty soon after administering clot-busting medication as a result of earlier studies that revealed excess bleeding and no benefit with this approach. The results of the TRANSFER AMI trial are currently under review by international cardiology guideline committees and it is hoped that the strategy of an early transfer for angioplasty following clot-busting therapy will be strongly recommended as part of routine practice in the near future. The research is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and coordinated by the Canadian Heart Research Centre. Gail Bergman St. Michael"s Hospital


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