Middle-Aged and Older Men Should Check for Melanomas

According to the Mayo Clinic, melanomas can develop anywhere on your body, but most often develop in areas that have had exposure to the sun, such as your back, legs, arms and face. This year in the United States there will be more than 62,000 newly diagnosed cases of melanoma and about 8,420 people will die from this type of skin cancer, as estimated by the National Cancer Institute. Of those melanoma-caused deaths, 50 percent will be of white men over age 50. These statistics prompted Dr. Susan M. Swetter of Stanford University and her team to conduct research using data from 227 men age 40 and older who had been diagnosed with melanoma within three months of the study. About one fourth of the study participants had tumors that were greater than two millimeters thick, which is almost too large to be treated effectively. From the data, senior research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health Alan C. Geller and his group found that 46 percent of melanomas detected by a physician were on the back and tended to be in older men.

Melanoma, which is the only cancer in the U.S. that does not have a falling mortality rate, can be removed completely if found at an early stage. However, doctors currently have no effective treatment for late-stage melanomas, so it is extremely important for middle-aged and older men to inspect their own backs or ask for assistance from a loved one. Moles with color variation, border irregularity or ones larger than six millimeters in diameter should be watched carefully and reported to a doctor if any changes occur. Middle-aged and older men should also have areas prone to melanomas checked by their physician or a dermatologist to allow for early diagnosis if skin cancer is found. People with early-stage melanomas have a 90 percent survival rate, while those with melanomas found at a later stage experience only a 20 percent survival rate. So, finding melanomas when they are still thin can mean the difference between life and death for these men. If you or someone you love has been harmed by a delay in diagnosis or treatment of cancer, our cancer malpractice attorneys can help. Your initial consultation is FREE and there is NO FEE to you unless we recover money. Call Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. today, or submit an instant inquiry now and we will respond within 24 hours. Our experienced attorneys serve clients with Bronx cancer malpractice, Brooklyn cancer malpractice, Queens cancer malpractice, Nassau cancer malpractice and Suffolk cancer malpractice cases.

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Risk of Cleft Lip Increases with Coffee Consumption During Pregnancy

According to a recent study out of Norway, women who consume coffee early on in their pregnancy are at a higher risk of giving birth to a baby with cleft lip, a birth defect where there is a narrow opening or gap in the skin of the upper lip that extends all the way to the base of the nose. Dr. Allen J. Wilcox of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/National Institutes of Health in North Carolina worked with colleagues out of Norway, a country which has a rather high prevalence of cleft lip and cleft palate. Wilcox and his team chose to use Norwegian women for their study, since people from Norway tend to drink large amounts of coffee. Researchers looked at 573 women who had given birth to a baby with cleft lip with or without cleft palate, or cleft palate alone. Those women were then compared to 763 women who gave birth to a child with no orofacial clefts, which include cleft lip and cleft palate. Wilcox and his colleagues found that pregnant women who drank up to three cups of coffee each day during the first trimester were 1.39 times more likely to give birth to a baby with cleft lip with or without cleft palate. Pregnant women who drank three or more cups of coffee daily had a 1.59 times higher risk than non-coffee drinkers.

With the study findings, which were published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, Wilcox noted that having an immediate relative with cleft lip and/or cleft palate increases that person’s risk of developing an orofacial cleft by 50 times. Wilcox and his research team found no association between pregnant women's consumption of coffee and cleft palate alone. However, they did find that pregnant women who drank tea reduced their risk of having a child with this type of birth defect, which suggests that it is not the caffeine in coffee that causes an increased risk of orofacial clefts. Treatment for this birth defect involves a series of surgeries, with the first usually taking place during the baby’s first year to begin closing the lip and/or palate. In most cases, the cause of cleft lip and cleft palate are unknown and cannot be prevented, however, some drugs are believed to cause cleft lip and cleft palate. If your child has suffered an injury during birth that may have been preventable, please call or e-mail us today. Our experienced attorneys have helped clients with Manhattan birth injury, Bronx birth injury, Brooklyn birth injury, Queens birth injury, Nassau birth injury and Suffolk birth injury cases. Call or send an instant inquiry today and we will evaluate your case for FREE.

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Automated Phone System Helps People with Hypertension

Recent research published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes and conducted by Dr. Pavel Hamet and colleagues has found that by using an automated calling system, people can lower their blood pressure and be more aware of their condition. The research team led by Hamet, a professor of medicine, physiology and nutrition at the University of Montreal, looked at 223 patients from 8 primary care centers located in the vicinity of Montreal. Each of the patients was asked to wear a portable blood pressure monitor that took readings 24 hours a day. Researchers gave about half of the study participants an educational booklet, while the other half received the booklet, a digital blood pressure monitor to use in their home and a book to log their readings in. Each participant in that half of the group was also called at least once a week for their most recent reading by a computer-based telephone system that they were connected to. Those blood pressure readings received by the phone system were also sent to the patient’s pharmacist and primary care physician, in case changes in treatment were necessary. Study participants who only received the educational booklet were not connected to this calling system and were monitored as they ordinarily would be.

Researchers found that after one year, study participants who had their blood pressure monitored 24 hours a day and were called by the automated system had an average decrease in systolic pressure of 11.9 mm Hg and an average decrease in diastolic pressure of 6.6 mm Hg. The group that was not monitored by the telephone system had an average reduction of 7.1 mm Hg in systolic pressure and an average reduction of 4.5 mm Hg in diastolic pressure. When blood pressure was monitored in a doctor’s office, the group that had been called saw average reductions of 18.7 mm Hg systolic and 9.1 mm Hg diastolic, while the control group had average reductions of 13.8 mm Hg systolic and 5.6 mm Hg diastolic. Patients connected to the automated telephone system were more likely to be placed on additional medications or prescribed higher doses by their physicians when compared with the control group. Hamet and his team believe that if it proved to be cost-effective, this type of automated calling system to monitor high blood pressure could become an option for patients being treated for hypertension. To learn more about ways to lower the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease, visit the American Heart Association website. If you or a loved one has experienced a serious injury or death as a result of a delay in diagnosis or treatment of heart disease, call or e-mail the attorneys at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. We serve clients with Brooklyn medical malpractice, Bronx medical malpractice, Manhattan medical malpratice, Queens medical malpracitce and Long Island medical malpractice cases. We also serve clients located in Staten Island and Westchester County.

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Coronary Artery Disease Detected Using Urine Test

German researchers recently conducted a trial using a urine test that looks for fragments of collagen, a protein that plays a significant role in blocking the arteries of the heart. For the trial, researchers performed the urine test for 67 people that showed signs of coronary artery disease. Lead study author Dr. Constantin von zur Muehlen of the University Hospital Freiberg, along with colleagues, used mass spectrometry and capillary electrophoresis to detect protein fragments in the urine associated with hardening of the arteries. Trial participants also received an X-ray exam known as a coronary angiography, which is standard technique for detecting hardening of the arteries. The research group then compared the results of the urine tests with the X-rays of each participant and found that the accuracy of the urine test was 84 percent.

The study, which was presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association, is not the first to try and detect coronary artery disease using a urine test. A study out of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston in 2007 found that people with stable cardiovascular disease that had the protein albumin present in their urine had an increased risk of death. The leakage of albumin, which is normally found in the blood, into the urine was indicative of blood vessel damage in the kidneys, which led to a higher risk of cardiovascular death. Researchers involved in the study using this more recent collagen-detecting urine test believe the technique is going to require more research and development before it can be used clinically. Coronary artery disease is the leading killer of both men and women in the U.S. According to the Mayo Clinic, factors that affect a person’s chances of developing coronary artery disease include age, gender, family history, smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, physical inactivity and stress. Men have a higher risk of developing the disease than women, although the risk for women does increase after menopause. If you or a loved one has experienced a delay in diagnosis or treatment of a heart attack or other heart-related problem, call or e-mail the attorneys at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. We serve clients with medical malpractice cases in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. We also serve clients located in Staten Island and Westchester County.

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Risk of Clots Reduced by Cholesterol Drugs

This past November, researchers conducting the Jupiter study found that statins lowered the risk of heart attack, stroke, angioplasty, bypass surgery and death. More recent results from the study suggest that these statins, which are usually used to lower cholesterol, may reduce the risk of blood clots. Clots frequently develop in the veins of the legs and can make their way to the lungs, blocking blood vessels and causing pulmonary embolism, which can lead to difficulty breathing and even death, depending on the size of the blockage. The Jupiter study, which was led by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston, looked at the effect of statins on 17,802 people that did not have high cholesterol or a history of heart disease. Male participants were age 50 and older, while female participants were age 60 and older. Researchers, led by Dr. Paul M. Ridker of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease at BWH, randomly administered either a potent statin or a placebo to each of the participants. While only 94 study participants developed a clot, 60 of those were in the placebo group and only 34 were in the group taking the statin. These rather healthy people taking the cholesterol drug had a 43 percent lower risk of developing a blood clot than those taking the placebo, making it apparent that statins can improve more than just cholesterol levels.

The results of the Juniper study, which was presented at an American College of Cardiology convention and is published on The New England Journal of Medicine website, should have a strong influence in the decision of national medical panels to broaden their recommendations on who should be prescribed a statin. Crestor, the statin used in the study, is the most potent on the market and does come with side effects, including kidney problems and muscle deterioration. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year nearly 600,000 people get venous clots and at least 100,000 die from those clots in the U.S. A person’s risk of developing one of these clots increases as they get older and is higher for people that are overweight, inactive or have genetic abnormalities. If you or a loved one has been harmed as a result of a missed diagnosis or failure to treat a blood clot, call or e-mail the experienced attorneys at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. today for your free consultation. We serve clients with Bronx medical malpractice, Queens medical malpractice, Brooklyn medical malpractice, Long Island medical malpractice and Manhattan medical malpractice cases.

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More Aggressive Thyroid Cancer in Patients Exposed to Radiation

According to a recent study published in the Archives of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, thyroid cancer patients who have been exposed to radiation in the past experience worse clinical outcomes and more aggressive cancer than patients who have not. Dr. Raewyn M. Seaberg along with colleagues at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto looked at 125 thyroid cancer patients who had been exposed to radiation at least 3 years before their thyroid cancer surgery through the environment, work, treatment of some benign condition, or some other way. Researchers followed the group for an average of 10.6 years after they were diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The average age of diagnosis for these study participants was 28.7 years after their time of exposure, which was at an average age of 19.4 years. Seaberg and colleagues reported that over the course of the study, 16 percent experienced a recurrence of their thyroid cancer, while 9 percent of the patients had cancer that metastasized, meaning the cancer spread to distant areas of the body. When researchers conducted a final follow-up, they found that 86 percent of the participants had beat their thyroid cancer (were cancer-free), 4 percent had recurrent thyroid cancer, 4 percent experienced distant metastases, 4 percent had died as a result of their cancer, and 2 percent had died of causes unrelated to their thyroid cancer.

The researchers, led by Seaberg, then compared those 125 patients with a group of 574 thyroid cancer patients who had not been previously exposed to radiation. They found that 83 percent of the patients that had been exposed to radiation underwent total or near-total removal of the thyroid, compared with 38 percent of those who had not been exposed. Patients in the radiation exposure group were also more likely to require additional surgery. About 16 percent of the patients that had been exposed to radiation had stage IV disease, while only about 5 percent of the non-exposure group fell into that category. Patients exposed to radiation were also more likely to have distant metastases and thyroid cancer at follow-up, and a higher percentage of the radiation exposure group died of their cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, about 37,000 people are diagnosed with thyroid cancer each year in the U.S. If you or someone you love has been harmed by a delay in diagnosis or treatment of cancer, our cancer malpractice attorneys can help. Your initial consultation is FREE and there is NO FEE to you unless we recover money. Call Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. today, or submit an instant inquiry now and we will respond within 24 hours. Our experienced attorneys serve clients with Bronx cancer malpractice, Brooklyn cancer malpractice, Queens cancer malpractice, Nassau cancer malpractice and Suffolk cancer malpractice cases.

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Patients with Abnormal Heartbeat After Bypass at Higher Risk of Death

Almost 50 percent of patients who undergo bypass surgery on their heart develop atrial fibrillation, a disorder in which the heart's two small upper chambers (the atria) quiver instead of beating effectively, allowing blood clots to form, according to the American Heart Association. This abnormality in the heartbeat of many bypass patients has long been thought of as a brief problem that surgeons usually disregard. However, a new study conducted by Dr. Giovanni Filardo, director of the department of epidemiology at the Baylor University Medical Center Institute for Health Care Research and Improvement, along with colleagues, has found that patients that develop atrial fibrillation after bypass surgery are at a greater long-term risk of death. Researchers looked at data on nearly 7,000 patients who underwent bypass surgery between 1997 and 2006 at Baylor. After reviewing the collected data, researchers reported a 29 percent higher death rate for patients that did not have atrial fibrillation before their surgery but subsequently developed the disorder. Those patients that did develop this type of heartbeat abnormality had a 10-year mortality rate of 47.7 percent, which is significantly higher than the rate of 30.6 percent for patients that did not develop the disorder.

Researchers involved in the study reported that it is still unclear whether atrial fibrillation is the direct cause for this increased risk of death, or whether it is indicative of some other problem. However, Filardo and his team are already planning their next study, which will focus on determining whether an increased risk of death after heart bypass surgery is caused by this heartbeat abnormality. For this new study, which they hope to start early next year, the participant group will only consist of patients who did not have atrial fibrillation before they underwent bypass surgery. As with any procedure, mistakes are possible during heart bypass surgery, especially if a doctor is negligent during the operation. If you or a loved one was injured by surgical malpractice in New York City or Long Island, please call or e-mail our surgery malpractice lawyers today for a free consultation with our experienced surgical malpractice attorneys. Our firm serves clients with Bronx surgical malpractice, Brooklyn surgical malpractice, Queens surgical malpractice, Long Island surgical malpractice and Manhattan surgical malpractice cases.

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