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General Optical Council Consults On Welsh Language Scheme, Wales
The General Optical Council (GOC) has launched a consultation on its proposed Welsh Language Scheme. Anyone with an interest in the GOC"s work is encouraged to offer their suggestions and feedback on the draft proposals.
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A Compound Found In The Sea Provides Promising New Treatment For Neuropathic Pain
A paper just published in the British Journal of Pharmacology reports that a compound originally isolated from a soft coral (Capnella imbricate) could lead scientists to develop a new variety of treatments for neuropathic pain. This composite is collected at Green Island off Taiwan and could be a new option for treatment. Neuropathic pain is chronic and occasionally follows damage to the nervous system. Presently this type of pain is very poorly controlled by the usual analgesics: aspirin like drugs (NSAIDS) or even opioids like morphine. New treatments are urgently required.
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Blogs Comment On Pregnant Women Support Act, NYT Opinion Piece, Other Topics
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries.~ " White House Leaning Toward Pregnant Women Support Act," Dan Gilgoff, U.S. News & World Report"s "God and Country": Congressional sponsors of the Pregnant Women Support Act are "growing more optimistic about prospects for White House support," Gilgoff writes. Antiabortion-rights groups like the Southern Baptist Convention and the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops support the bill, as does Democrats for Life. According to Gilgoff, although the Planned Parenthood Federation of America has not officially come out in opposition to the bill, PPFA opposes provisions that aim to convince women to forgo abortion. The group supports informing women of options without attempting to persuade them in any way, Gilgoff writes. He continues that the White House has not publicly commented on the bill and that aides to President Obama are still working to produce a "common ground" policy related to abortion and other reproductive health issues. However, Gilgoff says that he received an e-mail from a congressional close to the bill who wrote that the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships ""reached out to our office at the staff level for information on [PWSA] to begin what would become a larger dialogue on the issue of abortion reduction."" The e-mail added that there has been continued correspondence on the issue and that a meeting is scheduled in the coming weeks with White House and congressional staff. Gilgoff writes that the also told him that the recent appointment of Alexia Kelley -- former president of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good -- to head the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships could be a sign of the White House"s potential support for the bill, as CACG showed support for PWSA under Kelley. Gilgoff concludes, "It seems more likely that the White House could incorporate less controversial parts of the bill into its own plan around abortion; I doubt President Obama would back legislation that would trigger objections from abortion-rights groups" (Gilgoff, "God and Country," U.S. News & World Report, 6/10).~ "God and Abstinence: State Funding for Religious Agendas," Kathryn Royals, RH Reality Check: None of the speakers at a Mississippi Department of Human Services" recent youth event -- called "Abstinence Works: Let"s Talk About It" -- provided any information "on what to do if abstinence fails," Royals writes. Although the speakers at the event "didn"t talk about abstinence," they "sure did chant, cheer, dance, pray and sing about it," she continues. She notes that the "constant and overzealous" Christianity references at the conference were "wrong" not only because they "ostracized anyone who didn"t prescribe to a particular brand of Christianity," they were "wrong because ... [t]axpayer and state money funded the event." She adds that she "would like to know why scientifically valuable and lifesaving information is being censored and made unavailable, and to what end," noting that speakers at the event offered misogynistic comments and medically inaccurate information but no thoughts on the "proper use of condoms or birth control." Royals also notes that Mississippi ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for teen births and has spent more than $16 million in abstinence-only sex education programs. "I tried to put myself in the place of the kids who attended the pep rally -- I mean, summit," Royals writes, concluding, "I would have walked out ... that day humming a new tune or chanting a new cheer, but my level of sexual education would not have improved. In fact, it would have been dangerously stunted" (Royals, RH Reality Check, 6/10).~ "Ross Douthat"s Abortion Solution: Don"t Let Women Have Abortions," Kathleen Reeves, RH Reality Check: New York Times columnist Ross Douthat argued in a Tuesday opinion piece that "that we should reconsider the conditions for legal abortion, and that stricter regulation of (restriction on) abortion, particularly after the
Nutrition

New Algorithm For Ruptured Aneurysms Improves Mortality Rate

Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle report that algorithms for the management of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA) with a preference for endovascular repair (EVAR), serve as surrogates for an organized approach to managing the disease process and reducing overall mortality. These findings are from a study presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery®. "The staff at Harborview Medical Center treat between 30 and 50 patients per year with rAAAs," said Benjamin W. Starnes, MD, chief in the division of vascular surgery and associate professor of surgery at the University of Washington. "In this study we sought to evaluate the effect on mortality with the implementation of an algorithm to manage these patients with a preference for EVAR when feasible." During the study period, 187 patients with rAAA underwent attempted repair at Harborview Medical Center. Thirty-day mortality ratios were calculated and compared using Chi Square and Fisher"s Exact Test where appropriate, continuous variables were compared with a Mann-Whitney U test. Before implementation of the algorithm, (between July 1, 2002 and June 30, 2007) a total of 131 patients with rAAA were managed and treated. One-hundred and twenty-eight underwent surgical treatment and the 30-day mortality rate was 58 percent. Sixty-five percent of these patients were hypotensive at presentation. A structured protocol that included early proximal control with an aortic occlusion balloon, permissive hypotension and endovascular repair when possible, was begun on July 1, 2007. Fifty-six patients with rAAA were managed and treated. Twenty-six underwent successful EVAR and 25 patients had open repair. Five patients underwent comfort care or died in the emergency department. Five patients in the EVAR group (19 percent) and 14 patients in the open group (56 percent), died during the follow-up period for an overall 30-day mortality rate of 37 percent. In the post-protocol group, 73 percent of the patients presented with hypotension and there was no difference in the incidence of hypotension between EVAR and open groups. Average transfusion requirement for those undergoing EVAR was one unit (0-13) and for open repair, five units (0-19). The difference in transfusion requirement among survivors in each group was not different. "Our algorithm reduced rAAA mortality by 36 percent (absolute risk reduction of 25 percent), said Dr. Starnes. "Further reduction in mortality is expected as improvements in endovascular techniques allow treatment of more patients with complex aortic anatomy." About the Society for Vascular Surgery® The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) is a not-for-profit society that seeks to advance excellence and innovation in vascular health through education, advocacy, research and public awareness. SVS is the national advocate for 2,800 vascular surgeons dedicated to the prevention and cure of vascular disease. Society for Vascular Surgery


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