Bypass better than angioplasty at times

Bypass or Angioplasty

PALO ALTO, Calif. (UPI) – The results of several clinical trials around the world has suggested heart bypass surgery is better for some patients than angioplasty, a U.S. study said.

Stanford University School of Medicine said data from about 8,000 research subjects show coronary angioplasty may be the better choice for patients with multi-vessel coronary artery disease who have diabetes or who’s ages are over 65.

Angioplasty, however, may be the best choice for patients under age 55.

“Whether you have diabetes really makes a big difference,” lead author Dr. Mark Hlatky of Stanford said in a statement. “Over several years there’s a much lower rate of death with bypass surgery. The patient’s age and fitness were other major factors that affected outcomes, and this was an interesting surprise.”

For patients with diabetes, the five-year mortality rate was 12 percent for those who had bypass surgery compared with 20 percent for those who underwent an angioplasty. For patients older than 65, the mortality rate was 11 percent for those who had bypass compared with 15 percent for those who had angioplasty.

The findings are published online in The Lancet.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 24th March 2009

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Craving a cigarette?

How about 4,000 lethal chemicals?

New poster puts smoking hazards gives you a realty check.

So you think smoking is OK. Think again. Facts now revealed.

A global information design consultancy, has created “Put It Out,” an illustrated poster showing in no uncertain terms the lethal chemicals — including arsenic, methane and formaldehyde — ingested from each cigarette and what some of the harsh health facts are surrounding smoking. The 11×17? poster can be viewed and downloaded at www.xplane.com/4000.

DO NOT SMOKE POSTER

Created by a team of world-class graphic designers, the poster is intended to educate, inform and create a dialogue amongst the general public relating to the ongoing issues associated with smoking. Released under the Creative Commons 3.0 Unported License, the poster can be downloaded and used by health organizations and other individuals wishing to spread the word about what harmfull substances go into each cigarette.

Sourced and Published by Henry Sapiecha 24th March 2009

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Princess Alexandra Hospital Brisbane Queensland Australia

CLEAN YOUR KIDNEYS AT HOME….

Patients of the hospital can now take home the world’s best technology in dialysis treatment

HOME DIALYSIS

The hospital is the first dialysis service in Australia to offer home haemodiafiltration [HDF], which is considered an optimal treatment for kidney disease.

Janine Jeffries, home dialysis nurse manager, said the new machines were widely used in hospitals, but had not been available until now for use at home.

The new, portable machines bring together the best treatmenton offer at the hospital and the fexibility  of performing dialysis in your own home,” she said.

It means our patients can dialyse where and when they like, and they feel better because they can perform the best treatment for longer and more often.

Like regular diaysis treatment, haemodisfiltration filters blood when the kidneys can no longer do so,

whilst the patient awaits a kidney transplant or continues dialysis indefinitely.

The new machines pull a greater volume of fluid across an ‘artificial kidney’ before infusing sterile water back into the dialysis blood circuit, which removes 15 % more waste products.

The turbulence created in the machine is like a river-the stronger the current the more sand is washed away from the river bed, Janine said.

Our new machines have proved to be easy to use and learn by the patients, also small and portable enough for home installation.

With the number of Australians with end stage kidney disease anticipated  to double in the next decade, it’s important that people address the risk factors including smoking, obesity and blood pressure.

Early detection can also help prevent kidney failure and the need for dialysis or transplants.

Sourced from Qld Health and published by Henry Sapiecha Feb 2009

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