More Caffeine during Pregnancy, Smaller Newborns

According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, pregnant women who consume heavy amounts of caffeine have a greater chance of giving birth to a smaller baby than women who consume less caffeine.

After following more than 7,300 women in Netherlands from the start of their pregnancy, researchers found that women who consumed the equivalent of six cups of coffee each day during any trimester had somewhat smaller newborns than women who consumed less. Heavy caffeine users comprised two to three percent of these women.

Other earlier studies have also linked caffeine intake during pregnancy with lower birth weights. The March of Dimes recommends that pregnant women get no more than 200 milligrams of caffeine each day, which is roughly equal to the amount found in 12 ounces of coffee. They also cite a new study that found that women consuming more than the recommended amount are twice as likely to have a miscarriage as women who consume no caffeine.

A low birth weight can increase the risk of birth injury. If your child has suffered a birth injury that may have been preventable, please call or e-mail Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. today. One of our experienced birth injury lawyers will evaluate your case for free. We have helped clients with Queens birth injury, Brooklyn birth injury, Bronx birth injury, Manhattan birth injury and Long Island birth injury cases.

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Increased Risk of Death for ICU Patients Lacking Insurance

According to the U.S. Census reports, an estimated 46.3 million people in our country had no health insurance in 2008. This alarming number is now an even bigger concern following the release of a report showing that the risk of death is higher for ICU patients lacking insurance coverage.

The study, conducted by U.S. researchers, analyzed records from ICU patients under age 65 in Pennsylvania between 2005 and 2006. Of the nearly 167,000 patients, about 68 percent had private insurance, 28 percent were covered by Medicaid and about 4 percent had no form of health insurance.

The research team determined that when compared to ICU patients who had private insurance, the likelihood of dying within 30 days was 21 percent higher for those with no coverage. Lead author Dr. Sarah Lyon of the University of Pennsylvania attributed this higher risk of death to less rigorous ICU treatment for patients lacking health insurance.

If you or a loved one has suffered or died due to medical malpractice that occurred in a New York hospital intensive care unit, please contact the malpractice lawyers at Silberstein Awad & Miklos, P.C. We have represented clients with Brooklyn hospital malpractice, Bronx hospital malpractice, Queens hospital malpractice, Manhattan hospital malpractice and Long Island hospital malpractice, and we can help you too.

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Patient Safety Jeopardized by Interrupted Doctors

A recent study conducted by Australian researchers and published in Quality and Safety in Health Care has found then when interrupted at work, doctors often spend less time completing the task they were performing or never go back to the original task at all.

Researchers at the University of Sydney followed 40 doctors for 210 hours, in total. On average, the doctors had almost seven interruptions each hour. Following the interruption, either less time was spent on task they were initially carrying out in an attempt to make up for lost time, researchers presume, or the task was never returned to, which occurred nearly 20 percent of the time.

Interruptions like these occur frequently in hospitals and other medical facilities, making it more likely that a doctor will make an error when writing a prescription, reviewing a chart, or performing some other crucial duty. Patient safety can be forfeited by doctors in an attempt to stay on schedule after being interrupted, possibly resulting in negligence and harm to the patient.

If you or a loved one was injured by hospital medical malpractice, please call or e-mail our medical malpractice lawyers today for a free consultation. We have helped clients with Brooklyn hospital malpractice, Bronx hospital malpractice, Queens hospital malpractice, Manhattan hospital malpractice and Long Island hospital malpractice that occurred as a result of doctor negligence.

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Lack of Knowledge Causes Missed Stroke Signs in Women

A recent online survey conducted by HealthyWomen, an organization dedicated to providing women with health information, in union with the National Stroke Association and the American College of Emergency Physicians, has found that women in the U.S. are undereducated about strokes and stroke symptoms.

The survey revealed that many women believe breast cancer occurs five times more frequently than stroke in women, although the stroke death rate is twice that of breast cancer. When asked to list stroke symptoms, only about a quarter of the 2,000 women surveyed could identify more than two primary symptoms.

Survey participants were also unaware that stroke is more common in men than women; with 40 percent responding that they were not very concerned about having a stroke.

According to research, women wait longer to receive medical attention following a stroke than men, which may be a result of this lack of knowledge about warning signs. Stroke symptoms in women include:

• Sudden difficulty with speech (speaking and understanding)
• Confusion
• Sudden headache
• Sudden numbness or weakness on one side of the face
• Sudden vision problems (one or both eyes)
• Sudden limb weakness or numbness (especially on one side)
• Sudden dizziness, problems with balance or difficulty walking

The failure to properly diagnose and timely treat a stroke is a leading medical malpractice mistake in our country. If you or a loved one has been the victim of stroke malpractice, please call or email the medical malpractice attorneys at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. today for your free consultation. We have helped clients with Queens stroke malpractice, Brooklyn stroke malpractice, Bronx stroke malpractice, Manhattan stroke malpractice and Long Island stroke malpractice cases.

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Prenatal Stress Response Different in Boys, Girls

According to a recent study conducted by researchers out of Australia, each gender responds differently in utero to a mother’s stress. Male and female babies seem to react differently when their mother is in poor health or is experiencing other forms of stress.

Researchers found that when a mother is stressed, male babies continue to grow, disregarding the mother’s condition. For females, growth rates are reduced somewhat when a mother is experiencing stress.

When a mother experiences some other stress or that same stress again, male babies have a greater risk of pre-term delivery, growth problems and fetal death than female babies. Females tend to continue growing at their regular pace when a second stress occurs.

Lead author Vicki Clifton, an associate professor at Robinson Institute at the University of Adelaide, and her team are continuing to look at what occurrences cause these growth changes in male and female fetuses and how they can improve results.

Birth injuries can be the result of a number of different causes. If your child has suffered a birth injury that may have been preventable, please call or e-mail Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. today. One of our experienced birth injury lawyers will evaluate your case for free. We have handled Queens birth injury, Bronx birth injury, Brooklyn birth injury, Manhattan birth injury and Long Island birth injury cases.

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Proper Treatment for Indeterminate Breast Lesions

A recent study conducted by Dr. Martin Korzeniowski of McMaster University and colleagues has found that indeterminate breast lesions found on MRIs require further evaluation in high risk women. Indeterminate breast lesions are lesions that doctors cannot categorize as either benign or malignant.

For the study, Korzeniowski and his team examined 59 indeterminate lesions in 55 women. In follow-up testing, they found that 22 percent of these lesions were malignant, meaning they were cancerous and could spread to other parts of the body.

The findings suggest that these indeterminate breast lesions should be adamantly evaluated by doctors, especially in women with a high risk of breast cancer. Women considered at high risk include those with a family history of breast cancer or those who currently have or had breast cancer in the past. By performing a follow-up ultrasound, MRI, or mammography, doctors can spot cancerous lesions and begin treatment sooner than later.

The value of an early diagnosis in cancer cases cannot be overstated. If you or a loved one has breast cancer medical malpractice questions, please call or email the cancer malpractice attorneys of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. today. Our office has handled numerous cases of delays in diagnosing breast cancer throughout New York City, including Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Long Island.

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Studies Find New Risks for Colon Cancer

At this year’s annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Washington, D.C., two new studies will be presented, each suggesting new risk factors for colon cancer.

In the first study, researchers determined that people with higher levels of C-reactive protein in the blood have a greater risk of colon cancer. This type of protein is an indication of inflammation somewhere in the body.

The researchers analyzed more than 300 records of women with colorectal cancer and compared them with 450 cancer-free women. For women with the highest protein levels, the risk of developing colon cancer was two and a half times higher than those with the lowest levels.

The second study found that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which infects the stomach or first part of the small intestine, increases the risk of colorectal polyps in African Americans. These polyps often become cancerous if left untreated.

Researchers found that colorectal polyps were 50 percent more common in patients with H. pylori after reviewing medical records of about 1,260 African American patients.

The earlier the treatment, the better the prognosis for people with cancer. If you or a loved one have questions about cancer negligence or the quality of care received, please call or email our cancer malpractice lawyers at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. today. We have helped clients throughout New York City, including those with Brooklyn cancer malpractice, Bronx cancer malpractice, Queens cancer malpractice, Manhattan cancer malpractice and Long Island cancer malpractice cases.

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