VIDEO REVIEW OF CASIO EX FH20 USEFUL IN SPORTS AND SCIENCE BURST MODE CONTINUOUS SHOOTING DIGITAL CAMERAS PART TWO

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Can digital cameras capture action faster than a speeding bullet? As I discussed in the previous healty medical Blog post, many things in life and nature happen too fast for the naked eye or the naked camera lens to see. Yet there are cameras that can capture that fraction of a second when a balloon bursts or a drop splashes. The so called burst mode or continuous capture picture shoot. You've seen those pictures in magazines. If you frequently use words like "chromatic aberration" you probably know some dSLRs that can take burst mode pictures but how about a camera like that for "the rest of us"? Consumer digital cameras have not in general been able to take many shots in burst mode in a fraction of a second because of limitations of the microprocessor and memory in the digital camera. Casio had rolled out the EX F1, a digital camera that could take 60 frames a second and had a 6 megapixel larger size sensor along with the ability to shoot HD video. But alas, like many great ideas it appears that it was not ready for prime time. Now Casio is back with the Ex FH20, with a smaller sensor yet more megapixels. The FH20 can take 40 frames for second at 7.1 megapixels each.

UPDATE Watch a Video Review of the Canon SX1 IS 4 full resolution frames per
second


FIRST PART OF CASIO FH 20 VIDEO REVIEW OF THE ULTRA BURST MODE FH 20 Click the Arrow














SECOND PART OF CASIO FH 20 VIDEO REVIEW OF THE ULTRA BURST MODE FH 20 Click the Arrow






The FH20 can also take video at high speed. Why they put a smaller sensor in the FH 20 than the F1 I don't know. A bigger sensor generally means a less noisy image. To get an idea of the tricks the FH20 can do watch this video review of the Casio FH 20 from a site called Videopia.
Soon we will also discuss the Fuji S8100fd and the Fuji 2000HD which both have a continuous shooting mode but no where near as extensive as the Casio EX F1 or the Casio Ex FH20.

A Pocket Camera With Burst Mode and Good Low Light Ability

Useful in Sports and Science High Speed Continuous Shooting Burst Mode

Stories from Internship: Elephantitis Man

I'm sure Bongi would agree with me that doctors are only human - and usually have many funny stories to tell from seeing hospital patients - especially during internship. You only have to watch an episode of Scrubs. And yes. Most of the time... Scrubs is true. A lot more realistic than Gray's Anatomy.

This reminds me of a competition that our unit ran for a couple of weeks (between four of us - we left out the two religious interns).

The prize: Lunch. Paid for while you sit and eat it quietly, the rest of the unit picking up the slack of your ward work. As you can understand, a rare gift as an intern.

The Task: Which of our patients had the largest penis?

Yes, it sounds cruel comparing private vital organs, but you all do it on the Net anyway... We weren't cruel or judging. In fact, you would have been disqualified if you laughed, gasped, or in anyway let the patient know what was going on. We became very inventive at showing skin blemishes in the inguinal area on ward rounds, or asking for a second opinion on a catheter insertion.

Needless to say after two weeks we thought we had a winner. Whilst congratulating him before a morning round, one of our religious interns came to ask about the commotion. We told her about the competition and our winner (and the size of the prize penis - "huge" is a good start).

"Can it be any penis, diseased or not?" she asked.

"Anything. This is a hospital of course".

"Well then you should have included me."

Thinking that there was no way our winner could have been surpassed - and also that we couldn't imagine this small, timid girl taking note of any man's penis, we followed...

She lead us down the long corridor and we gathered around a bed.

"Mr X, we need to see how the swelling is going," she said to the patient and removed the bed sheets.

If there has ever been a time that I have had to stifle a gasp it was then.

The man had elephantitis and the timid Intern got one HELL OF A LUNCH!

USEFUL IN SPORTS AND SCIENCE BURST MODE CONTINUOUS SHOOTING DIGITAL CAMERAS FUJI S8100FD VS CASIO EX F1 VS CASIO EX FH20 PART ONE

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Is the Casio Ex FH20 the answer to my prayers? Or could it be the Fuji S8100fd or maybe the Casio Ex F1? High speed rapid succession pictures have been used in the study of medicine and science. I have been looking for a digital camera that can shoot many pictures in rapid succession, so called continuous shooting burst mode because sports and science have speed in common. My Sony DSC H5 takes nice pictures and maybe can take 4 or 5 burst mode shots in relatively high resolution. But it's a pretty slow "burst". You can drop down the resolution and get more. The picture here is from one of the most famous examples of rapid burst mode photography in history.





Per Wikipedia "In 1872, former Governor of California Leland Stanford, a businessman and race-horse owner, had taken a position on a popularly-debated question of the day: whether all four of a horse's hooves left the ground at the same time during a gallop. Stanford sided with this assertion, called "unsupported transit", and took it upon himself to prove it scientifically". He turned to Eadweard Muybridge to answer that question. What's called burst mode or continuous shooting is the ability of cameras to take many shots rapidly. Soccer action, for example, when the player kicks the ball and scores a goal or say you are taking golf lessons and the instructor wants to analyze your swing.








Film cameras have been shooting rapid sequence shots for ages but digital cameras especially the consumer Non dSLR versions have had an uphill climb to introduce burst mode continuous shooting. So I have been looking at three models of digital camera which answer the burst mode problem. The Casio Ex F1 was a super powerful digital camera that could take an amazing 60 shots a second! (that's no typo) The Ex F1 was a 6 megapixel digital camera that retailed in the thousand dollar range. I say was because it seems that Casio has decided to offer a newer competitor in the burst mode race, the Casio EX FH20 which shoots 40 frames a second and is over 9 megapixels.



See

Video Review of the Ultra Burst Digital Camera Casio EX FH20

TLA's

TLA's (three letter acronyms) are the best. Both in clinical medicine and in the world of medical aids.

They sound intelligent. And mysterious. And that's what Doctors are, aren't they?

My favourite is FOS (full of shit - can be used in psych or gastroenterology).

I once had a patient who was well versed in TLA's and also liked to read files. After examining her and writing notes, I went off to collect some meds (this was in a polyclinic)...


She became all worried after reading her file. The acronym F.L.U stood out. What could it be? A fancy medical term? Fungating Lipo Ulcerations?

When I looked confused, she said that I had used an abbreviation and she was trying to think what it meant - it sounded serious...

I couldn't help but chuckle and tell her she had the FLU and I wasn't abbreviating.

SMELL A FART SAVE A LIFE COULD HYDROGEN SULFIDE AKA FART GAS LOWER BLOOD PRESSSURE

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It's not April so I don't think this is an April Fool's story. The late night comics are going to go bonkers over this one. Researchers at John Hopkins University, in Maryland, found that "fart" gas, that is hydrogen sulfide gas responsible for the smell of the colloquially known "fart" is "also produced in the cells lining blood vessels by an enzyme called CSE. It seems the gas is also produced by an enzyme in blood vessels where it relaxes them and lowers blood pressure". The findings in mice may lead to new treatments for high blood pressure, the Science journal reported".


Large amounts of Hydrogen Sulfide are toxic and poisonous. For example, it can be encountered during oil and gas exploration as well as around farms.

Fart Gas Hydrogen Sulfide Link to Blood Pressure

Hydrogen sulfide aids blood pressure



"Professor Amrita Ahluwalia, an expert in vascular pharmacology at Barts and The London Medical School, said: "This study shows that smelly hydrogen sulfide is also likely to have a role in regulating blood pressure and it will be a bit of an impetus for scientists to develop more specific tools to work out what's going on.
"We know hydrogen sulfide is not good for us at high levels but it seems that at the lower levels in the body it is essential.""

NOW WILL U LISTEN To YOUR MOTHER SCIENTISTS SAY FRUIT VEGETABLE DIET GOOD FOR HEART BUT FRIED SALTY FOODS EGGS MEAT INCREASE CHANCE OF HEART ATTACK

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Oh No! You better drive right out of that drive thru window if you know what's good for you. If you read healty medical Blog you know I have written over and over about the relationship between eating certain "bad" foods and heart attack and certain "good diets" that seem to protect from heart attack like the Mediterranean Diet. Like vegetables, olive oil and so forth. In the latest salvo in the food and diet wars,a report in the heart medical journal Circulation, scientists presented evidence that the food that many people in the United States and Europe eat, you know the good stuff like salty foods, fried foods, salty snacks, eggs, and meat can make you sick, literally and increase your chance of a heart attack.



People who ate a Western diet had a 35 percent greater risk of having a heart attack compared to those who ate little or no fried foods and meat. Those who followed a Prudent diet, high in fruits and vegetables had a 30 percent lower risk of heart attack compared to those who went light on fruits and vegetables.



"Diet is a major modifiable risk factor for (heart) cardiovascular disease, but it varies markedly in different regions of the world". The scientists looked at what they classified as three of the major diet patterns practiced in the world. They classified them as the Prudent Diet, the Western Diet and the Oriental Diet. The objectives of the present study were to assess the association between dietary patterns and acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) globally.The Prudent Diet, which with a name like that obviously was good for you, lowered your chance of heart attack, the Western Diet increased heart attack risk and they didn't find any association with the oriental diet.



"INTERHEART is a standardized case-control study involving participants from 52 countries. The present analysis included 5761 cases and 10 646 control subjects. We identified 3 major dietary patterns using factor analysis: Oriental (high intake of tofu and soy and other sauces), Western (high in fried foods, salty snacks, eggs, and meat), and prudent (high in fruit and vegetables). We observed an inverse association between the prudent pattern and heart attack AMI, with higher levels being protective... The Western pattern showed a U-shaped association with heart association AMI.. but the Oriental pattern demonstrated no relationship with AMI. Compared with the first quartile, the OR of a dietary risk score derived from meat, salty snacks, fried foods, fruits, green leafy vegetables, cooked vegetables, and other raw vegetables (higher score indicating a poorer diet) increased with each quartile: second quartile 1.29 (95% CI 1.17 to 1.42), third quartile 1.67 (95% CI 1.51 to 1.83), and fourth quartile 1.92 (95% CI 1.74 to 2.11; P for trend <0.001). The adjusted population-attributable risk of heart attack ..AMI for the top 3 quartiles compared with the bottom quartile of the dietary risk score was 30%".



"Conclusions: An unhealthy dietary intake, assessed by a simple dietary risk score, increases the risk of heart attack AMI globally and accounts for 30% of the population-attributable risk".

Dietary Patterns and the Risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction in 52 Countries. Results of the INTERHEART Study








"This study indicates that the same relationships that are observed in Western countries exist in different regions of the world," study senior author Salim Yusuf, a professor of medicine at McMaster University and director of the Population Health Research Institute at Hamilton Health Sciences in Ontario, said in an American Heart Association news release".

Gastronomic and Atomic Israel Research on Diets and Health

WHAT A RIP OFF SCIENTIST WHO HELPED DISCOVER GFP JELLYFISH GENE RESULTING IN NOBEL PRIZE VALUE MEDICAL DISCOVERY GETS BUPKIS

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The "scientist who provided an essential piece of the knowledge about the jellyfish gene that codes for the luminescent gfp protein (green fluorescent protein) used in medical research, the basis for the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine" now drives a van for a car dealer. An amazing, shocking and flabbergasting story about Dr. Douglas Prasher appears in the NY Times. As my colleagues on the streets outside the hallowed halls of science might say, what a rip-off!




Many sea creatures have the ability to fluoresce or shine in the dark. By figuring out how some of them do this, scientists developed a tool that has found wide uses in biomedical research. "Douglas C. Prasher, who conducted his research on the Aequorea victoria jellyfish while at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts in the early 1990s, now drives a courtesy van for a car dealer in Huntsville, Ala., earning $10 an hour. He said he was not bitter or jealous of this year’s winning chemistry Nobelists: Dr. Tsien of the University of California, San Diego, Dr. Chalfie of Columbia and Osamu Shimomura, the original discoverer of the jellyfish protein in 1961".





If you watch Nova and Discovery you may envision science as being conducted in a logical and deliberate manner by thousands of Mr. Spock like researchers. No place for emotion, vanity or just plain nastiness. Scientists formulate a hypothesis and they test the hypothesis. Or at least that's what you believe, at least if you are in third grade. The reality may be something else again. Ever hear of publish or perish? In the real world a lot of science and scientist's career advancement depends on how much money you can bring in via grants and that in turn may directly effect your chances of tenure.



"In a couple of months, Roger Y. Tsien and Martin Chalfie will head to Stockholm to collect the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and $450,000 each in prize money in recognition of their development of a revolutionary technique that lights up the inner workings of living cells. Meanwhile, the scientist who provided the essential piece that made Dr. Tsien’s and Dr. Chalfie’s work possible — a jellyfish gene" that produces a flourescent light drives a van for a car dealer".

Man Who Set Stage for a Nobel Now Lives a Life Outside Science

More About GFP from Dr. Zimmer: Green Fluorescent Protein History

Primary structure of the Aequorea victoria green-fluorescent protein.

Watching Life in Real Time

Glowing Gene's Discoverer Left Out Of Nobel Prize

DRUG SAFETY INFORMATION WEB SITE WHAT THE FDA KNOWS OR HAS HEARD ABOUT YOUR DRUG OR PRESCRIPTION MEDICINE LIKE WARNINGS AND ALERTS

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So you just got a prescription from the doctor or have been taking a medicine for years. Most medicines are safe for most people when you follow instructions. But many many medications have reports of problems for some people somewhere. Now instead of just wondering or hoping you happen to read a news article you can find out about any warnings or dangers of medicine you may be taking or medication that is prescribed to you, one can look at the new and improved FDA (Food and Drug Administration) web site for the answer. The FDA has a web site where you can search for information about FDA Alerts and what sort of side effects and drug interactions the FDA has heard about or warned against.

FDA Index to Drug Specific Information Web Site

A Possible New Way to Use an Old Drug Against Multiple Sclerosis
Other things the FDA has put on the site are at the site include:

Drug labeling, including patient labeling, professional labeling, and patient package inserts

Drugs that have a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) to ensure that their benefits outweigh their risks

A searchable database of postmarket studies that are required from, or agreed to by, drug companies to provide the FDA with additional information about a drug's safety, efficacy, or optimal use

Clinicaltrials.gov, a searchable database of clinical trials, including information about each trial's purpose, who may participate, locations, and useful phone numbers

Drug-specific safety information, including safety sheets with the latest information about the drug as well as related FDA press announcements, fact sheets, and drug safety podcasts

Quarterly reports that list certain drugs that are being evaluated for potential safety issues, based on a review of information in the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS)

Warning Letters, Import Alerts, Recalls, Market Withdrawals, and Safety Alerts;
Regulations and guidance documents

Consumer information about using medications safely and disposing of unused medicines

Instructions how to report problems to the FDA through its MedWatch program;
Consumer articles on drug safety

VIDEOS ABOUT BENEFIT OF VITAMIN D RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADULTS AND KIDS COULD VITAMIN D HAVE ROLE IN HEART DISEASE AND CANCER PREVENTION

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Yet another Vitamin D recommendation! This time for kids. Stories about Vitamin D recommendations for adults as well as kids have been all over the Internet for months. I have written posts in healty medical Blog previously about the seemingly accumulating evidence that Vitamin D may do a lot more than we thought. The latest tune in the D hit parade is the recommendation from the Pediatric Association that children get more Vitamin D. I have brought together here videos about Vitamin D and the recommendations about it for kids and adults. You can read the Academy of Pediatrics comments further down the page.




Video About Vitamin D and Kids Click the Arrow













In the past in healty medical Blog I've talked about the Canadian Cancer Society recommendation that many people take Vitamin D and scoped out a report that said that women with breast cancer who had low levels of Vitamin D did less well prognosis wise. Even a study that said "Low levels of 25(OH)D (Vitamin D) are associated with higher risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack) in a graded manner, even after controlling for factors known to be associated with coronary artery disease" (heart problems related to the coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle itself with blood).





According to the American Academy of Pediatrics "Adequate vitamin D throughout childhood may reduce the risk of osteoporosis. In adults, new evidence suggests that vitamin D plays a role in the immune system and may help prevent infections, autoimmune diseases, cancer and diabetes".







Vitamin D for Adults Watch A VideoClick the Arrow








"We are doubling the recommended amount of vitamin D children need each day because evidence has shown this could have life-long health benefits," said Frank Greer, MD, FAAP, chair of the AAP Committee on Nutrition and co-author of the report. “Supplementation is important because most children will not get enough vitamin D through diet alone.”





Watch this video about a possible relationship between Vitamin D and cancer Click the arrow to start









"Breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for infants. However, because of vitamin D deficiencies in the maternal diet, which affect the vitamin D in a mother’s milk, it is important that breastfed infants receive supplements of vitamin D,” said Carol Wagner, MD, FAAP, member of the AAP Section on Breastfeeding Executive Committee and co-author of the report. “Until it is determined what the vitamin D requirements of the lactating mother-infant dyad are, we must ensure that the breastfeeding infant receives an adequate supply of vitamin D through a supplement of 400 IU per day.”













"The new AAP recommendations include:

Breastfed and partially breastfed infants should be supplemented with 400 IU a day of vitamin D beginning in the first few days of life.

All non-breastfed infants, as well as older children, who are consuming less than one quart per day of vitamin D-fortified formula or milk, should receive a vitamin D supplement of 400 IU a day.

Adolescents who do not obtain 400 IU of vitamin D per day through foods should receive a supplement containing that amount.

Children with increased risk of vitamin D deficiency, such as those taking certain medications, may need higher doses of vitamin D".



"Given the growing evidence that adequate vitamin D status during pregnancy is important for fetal development, the AAP also recommends that providers who care for pregnant women consider measuring vitamin D levels in this population".

NEW GUIDELINES DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF RECOMMENDED VITAMIN D

Another Study Asks About Association Between Low Vitamin D and Heart Attack

HOW ACCURATE ARE X RAY CT SCANS AND MRI MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING SHOULD YOU GET A SECOND OPINION

You're no spring chicken. In your efforts to prove your vim and vigor you're out jogging when you fall and hit your elbow or hurt your knee. You go to the doctor or urgent care clinic. The doctor examines you and then they do an X ray. They may also order a CT scan or an MRI of the knee or leg. After examining the X ray they tell you they don't see anything broken. Is that it? Usually not. Often X rays are sent for an over read. That is they are sent to a radiologist for a second opinion. Why? Because findings such as fractures seen on X rays can be missed. Even the more sophisticated ct scans and mri, magnetic resonance imaging can be misinterpreted or findings simply missed.















Video of MRI of the Lower Back and the Lumbar Spine Click the Arrow








MRI uses magnetic fields to get a picture of the body. CT scans and X rays use X rays. Each has it's advantages and one technique may be better at illuminating details of a particular medical problem.











Gina Kolata writes "I found out about magnetic resonance imaging tests when I injured my forefoot running. All of a sudden, halfway through a run, my foot hurt so much that I had to stop. But an M.R.I. at a local radiology center found nothing wrong"."That, of course, was what I wanted to hear. So I spent five days waiting for it to feel better, taking the anti-inflammatory drugs ibuprofen and naproxen, using an elliptical cross-trainer, and riding my road bike with its clip less pedals that attach themselves to my bicycling shoes. By then, my foot hurt so much I had to walk on my heel. I was beginning to doubt that scan: it was hard to believe nothing was wrong".



So she went for a second opinion and had another mri. "It showed a serious stress fracture, a hairline crack in a metatarsal bone in my forefoot. It was so serious, in fact, that Dr. Kennedy warned that I risked surgery if I continued activities like cycling and the elliptical cross-trainer, which make such injuries worse".




"Magnetic resonance machines, though, vary enormously, and not just in the strength of their magnets. Even more important, radiologists say, is the quality of the imaging coils they put around the body part being scanned and the computer programs they use to control the imaging and to analyze the images. And there is a huge variability in skill among the technicians doing the scans".





"At the very least, patients should go to radiology centers accredited by the American College of Radiology. But he added that accreditation does not tell you whether your scan will be done with a machine that is several generations removed from the best available today; whether the scanning is programmed to pick up your particular problem; or whether the receiving coil that picks up signals from the magnet is sufficiently sensitive".

The MRI Scan that Didn't

HOW TO DO A BREAST SELF EXAM FOR CANCER AND WHY IT IS STILL RELEVANT

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Breast Self Exam Good Idea and a Video

According to a small study of breast cancer detection that was published in 2007, "Conclusions: Most breast cancers (75%) were found by self-examination, even among women who had regular mammography". Could this actually be the case? It sounds hard to believe. I do think however, that self exam is definitely a wise step. Anyway, Dr. Ramona Bates, a surgeon, has an excellent medical blog. In a recent post she lists 5 steps of breast self exam in her post.

Read about a Pap Smear Test for Breast Cancer

Scientists Get Jewish Women to Spit in Breast Cancer Study



"If you find any breast changes, lumps, or nipple discharge, then call your physician..

Begin by looking at your breasts in the mirror with your shoulders straight and your arms on your hips. Look for any changes in the size, shape, and color. Look for any dimpling, puckering, or bulging of the skin. Has the nipple changed position or become inverted? Is there redness, soreness, a rash, or swelling?


Now, raise your arms and look for the same changes. While you're at the mirror, gently squeeze each nipple between your finger and thumb and check for nipple discharge (this could be a milky or yellow fluid or blood).


Next, feel your breasts while lying down, using your right hand to feel your left breast and then your left hand to feel your right breast. Use a firm, smooth touch with the first few fingers of your hand, keeping the fingers flat and together. Cover the entire breast from top to bottom, side to side—from your collarbone to the top of your abdomen, and from your armpit to your cleavage. Follow a regular grid pattern, so that no areas are missed.Begin examining each area with a very soft touch, and then increase pressure so that you can feel the deeper tissue, down to your ribcage.

Scientists Get Jewish Women to Spit in Breast Cancer Study



Video of a Woman Who Found Lump on Breast Self Exam Click the Arrow

Why Women Hate Pelvic Exams


Finally, feel your breasts while you are standing or sitting. Many women find that the easiest way to feel their breasts is when their skin is wet and slippery, so they like to do this step in the shower. Cover your entire breast, using the same hand movements described previously".



Watch a Video Explaining Mammogram How Mammogram works Click the Arrow to Start

Breast Self Exam

Self Exam Breast Exam Study

A LAB USING POSSIBLE NEW OVARIAN CANCER TEST GETS A WARNING FROM THE FDA AND PROBLEMS DEVELOPING DIAGNOSTIC TEST TO DETECT OVARIAN CANCER

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An FDA Warning to a Testing Lab and What Tests are Available to Detect Ovarian Cancer and Concerns about Ovarian Cancer Tests

A problem with ovarian cancer is that it may not be detected until an advanced stage. I have written in healty medical Blog about the search for better tests to detect ovarian cancer at an earlier stage. I had discussed a blood test called Ovasure. The NY Times reports that a testing lab, such as where doctors send blood for analysis has gotten a letter from the FDA about the ovarian cancer blood test called Ovasure.



"The Food and Drug Administration has told the Laboratory Corporation of America that it is illegally marketing a blood test to detect ovarian cancer, according to a warning letter posted Wednesday on the F.D.A.’s Web site. In its new letter, which was sent Sept. 29, the F.D.A. said the test, called OvaSure, required agency approval before it could be marketed".

Scientists Get Jewish Women to Spit in Breast Cancer Study



In the letter the FDA says "Our review indicates that this product is a device under section 201(h) of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA or Act), 21 U.S.C. 321(h), because it is intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, treatment, prevention, or mitigation of disease. The Act requires that manufacturers of devices that are not exempt obtain marketing approval or clearance for their products from the FDA before they may offer them for sale".











"Based on the information collected, FDA has determined that the OvaSure™ is a test that was designed, developed, and validated by investigators at Yale University and not LabCorp. Instructions for use and performance characteristics appear to have been developed by Yale investigators. In addition, the materials being used to produce this test including [(b)(4)] and [(b)(4)] are manufactured by [(b)(4)] based on specifications by the workers at Yale. This device is not within the scope of laboratory developed tests over which the agency has traditionally exercised enforcement discretion".

FDA Warning Letter to LabCorp about Ovasure Test



"The test, introduced in June, has raised hopes among women and their doctors because it promises to detect ovarian cancer at an early stage, when it is still treatable. But some outside experts, including the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, have said the test had not been proved accurate and might cause women to have unnecessary surgeries to remove their ovaries. The F.D.A. itself, in a previous letter to LabCorp, said the test “may harm the public health.”"





The NY Times earlier reported some concerns about the new test to detect ovarian cancer originally developed at Yale University called Ovasure. I had also previously written about another new test designed to sample the urine for signs of ovarian cancer. That test was from the University of South Florida. In general, the earlier a cancer is detected the easier it is to treat. Early detection is especially important for ovarian cancer. Although many people have heard of the well established CA 125 as a test for ovarian cancer detection, it has not been enough to detect it early. CA 125 is more often used as a test to follow the progress of treatment. So the search has been on for ways to detect ovarian cancer at an early stage.




According to the Times,the test from Yale, "OvaSure measures the level of six proteins in a sample of blood, some produced by a tumor and some produced by the body in reaction to a tumor. It then calculates a probability that the woman has ovarian cancer. One of the six proteins is CA-125, which is used by itself as a test to monitor disease progression in women who already have ovarian cancer but is not good at picking up early disease".

FDA Says Cancer Test Failed to Get Its Approval

The Ovasure Ovarian Cancer Test Cancer Test for Women Raises Hope, and Concern

What are Scientists at University of South Florida Studying for Ovarian Cancer?

Scientists at the University of South Florida have been evaluating a urine test for a protein called Bcl-2 in urine as a method to detect ovarian cancer at an early stage. Bcl-2 is a chemical, a protein that may appear in greater quantities with many cancers but the USF scientists were looking at Bcl-2 in urine and it's association with ovarian cancer. Geo Pharma, a pharmaceutical company has licensed the rights to use the University of South Florida work as an early stage diagnostic urine test for ovarian cancer.



As Dr. Kruk of the University of South Florida said in an interview in 2006 "BCL-2 is a protein that normally prevents cell death. In your normal cells, there is constantly a homeostasis between cells that have to die or survive depending upon how much damage or trauma they might have experienced. For cancer cells, there are unique characteristics. Obviously cancer cells have a tendency to be able to survive in situations where a normal cell would not. As a result, the protein that we have been looking at, called BCL-2, is normally a protein that prevents cell death. We have found in a lot of other people that this protein, BCL-2, is over expressed in a lot of cancers, not just ovarian cancer, but our study has focused on ovarian cancer. Where we have found BCL-2 is expressed in high levels in the urine with women with ovarian cancer".

How is Ovarian Cancer Detected and Diagnosed?

If a woman or her doctor suspects ovarian cancer, diagnosis begins with a medical history of the patient, review of her symptoms, and complete physical examination, including a pelvic exam, in which the physician feels the vagina, ovaries, fallopian tubes, bladder, and rectum to check for any growths. A Pap test may also be done because, even though it cannot reliably detect ovarian cancer, it may detect cancer cells that have migrated to the uterine cervix from the ovaries.

Click for healty medical A Video About Ovarian Cancer



Blood and urine tests may also be done, as well other procedures, depending on the woman's symptoms and results of her physical exam. Procedures that might be done in the search for ovarian cancer include:

abdominal or transvaginal ultrasound--helps distinguish fluid-filled cysts from a solid tumor

CT scan--produces x-ray images of cross-sections of body tissues

lower GI series (barium enema)--visualizes the bowel on x-ray to detect abnormal areas that may be caused by ovarian cancer

intravenous pyelogram (IVP)--produces x-ray pictures of the kidneys, bladder and ureters (tubes carrying urine from the kidneys to the bladder). Often, ovarian cysts or tumors can cause pressure on these organs, which may show up on an IVP.

See this video at healty medical about detecting another form of cancer breast cancer




The only sure way to diagnose ovarian cancer, however, is through microscopic examination by a pathologist of abnormal-looking fluid or tissue. While fluid can sometimes be obtained by needle aspiration or other techniques, more commonly a laparatomy or laparoscopy is done. Laparotomy is an exploratory operation in which the surgeon examines the abdomen thoroughly and removes fluid or tissue for examination. In laparascopy, a flexible, lighted tube is passed through a small incision in the abdomen, allowing the surgeon to examine the area and extract tissue for a biopsy.

New Ovarian Cancer Screening

Ovarian Cancer

GeoPharma Acquires Rights for an Early Stage Diagnostic Urine Test for Ovarian Cancer

DOCTOR SAYS NOT TREATING VARICOSE VEINS CAUSING PROBLEMS COMPLICATIONS BEYOND COSMETIC APPEARANCE WHAT IS SCLEROTHERAPY LASER AND RADIOWAVE TREATMENT

Not having varicose vein surgery might harm your health resulting in complications such as leg ulcers. You might think that varicose vein surgery is cosmetic surgery. That people have varicose vein and spider vein medical procedures for their appearance. That's probably true in many cases but it turns out that symptoms like leg pain can worsen if the veins are not treated. A surgeon in Britain says that the British National Health Service practice of rationing and frequent denial of varicose vein surgery is leading to serious problems for patients. Veins have one-way valves composed of two leaflets that close together when filled with blood.





Varicosities frequently occur on the leg. The closed valve prevents blood from flowing back into the leg. If these valves become damaged and fail to function properly (become incompetent) blood can become static in the leg. If the valve is not closing properly blood falls back down and causes pressure sideways. Resulting in varicose veins. Spider veins are similar to varicose veins, but they are smaller. They are often red or blue and are closer to the surface of the skin than varicose veins. They can look like tree branches or spider webs with their short jagged lines. Spider veins can be found on the legs and face.

Videos Explaining What Cause Spider Veins and Varicose Veins




Sclerotherapy is the most common treatment for both spider veins and varicose veins. Other methods use everything from lasers to radio waves. I have written and posted videos here in healty medical Blog about the various methods of correcting spider veins and varicose veins. "John Scurr, a former NHS surgeon who now practices privately, said most NHS patients were denied surgery. This caused numbers of complications such as ulcers to increase. The problem was that varicose veins were seen as a "cosmetic problem".

Like many areas of medicine doctors differ in their opinions. Some other physicians said Dr. Scurr was perhaps over emphasizing the severity of the problem. The secretary of the (British) Vascular Society, Dr. Jonathan Earnshaw, himself a consultant vascular surgeon, said that the rules for treatment did vary from area to area, and that treatment for "uncomplicated" varicose veins had been restricted in many areas. "For the majority of people with varicose veins, they will never go on to develop more serious problems such as ulcers, so it is not right to say that denying someone an operation for uncomplicated varicose veins means they will definitely develop them."

More About Spider Veins and Varicose Veins Treatments and Procedures

Video Varicose Veins Click the Arrow

An Expert Blasts the Health Service on Varicose Vein Surgery Denial

One of Newer Methods for Varicose Vein Treatment

FOWL PLAY A VIDEO AND IF YOU MICROWAVE FROZEN CHICKEN YOUR GOOSE MIGHT BE COOKED HEATING IN OVEN AND PREVENTING SALMONELLA

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Is it "fowl" play? How safe is microwave "cooked" chicken? Apparently if you eat chicken prepared in a microwave your goose might very well be cooked. According to the NYT "This week, the federal government announced that 32 people in 12 states were sickened with salmonella poisoning after eating precooked, frozen chicken dinners. The problem? Many of the people who got sick apparently did not follow the instructions for preparing the meal, which called for heating it in an oven. Those who got sick popped their meals in microwaves instead".




In 2006 there were reports that a type of salmonella, salmonella enteritidis, a bacteria which had been a problem in eggs had been found more frequently in chicken meat. Eggs and chicken meat both had more salmonella. Salmonella is notorious for causing stomach problems and diarrhea. It is a potentially fatal illness especially in elderly and very young and weakened people.

NYT Shoots Down Copacetic Image of Hamburger

“The issue is that people think it’s cooked and it just needs to be heated up,” Carlota Medus, an epidemiologist with the Minnesota Department of Health, told the New York Times last year. “Microwave cooking for something that has to be cooked isn’t always a good idea.”.."For starters, it’s best to stick to ovens when heating frozen chicken. Also be sure that the meat has reached a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit — the temperature at which any foodborne bacteria will be killed off — and use a food thermometer to be certain. A good one might cost as much as $18 or more, but it beats coping with the symptoms of salmonellosis: diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and nausea that can last as long as seven days".











Video Symptoms of Salmonella Click the Arrow

Microwave Chicken Not Cooked Chicken

COMBINATION OF SURGERY LOVE OF HIS GIRLFRIEND AND DIET AND THE FATTEST MAN IN THE WORLD LOSES HUNDREDS OF POUNDS HEARS WEDDING BELLS

I had written in healty medical Blog not long ago about the world's fattest man who without a gastric bypass or lap band surgery managed to lose hundreds of pounds. He did have other surgery to remove a tumor and some fat. He has managed to keep the affection of his girlfriend, Claudia Solis, throughout, which probably aided his weight loss quest. Now he has won her heart and they are getting married. I am fascinated or at least very interested in weight loss gastric bypass surgery. I know two teenagers who have recently had gastric bypass surgery and have lost a lot of weight and are happy with the results. Even so, any surgery including gastric bypass surgery has significant risks and these must be considered.

Video of World's Heaviest Man Out With His Girlfriend Click the arrow






"Uribe said he would wed Claudia Solis on Oct. 26, 2008 in Monterrey, Mexico. The two, who met in 2004, will marry in a civil ceremony at a location yet to be decided. Uribe is unable to leave his bed and any outing involves hoisting it onto the back of a truck". Uribe, who was known as the world's fattest man dropped a lot of weight through a combination of surgery and a diet. It's quite an inspiration to read his story. Apparently his romance is a big part of his motivation to lose weight. One of his goal's is to stand at his wedding. And of course it helps when you have people, like his girlfriend, who care about you and are there for you.



Uribe "dubbed the world's fattest by the Guinness Book of World Records has dropped 570 pounds, nearly half his body weight, according to a report from the French news agency". Uribe had surgery but it was not gastric bypass weight surgery rather it was surgery to remove a tumor and some tissue. The surgery did remove more than a hundred pounds of fat and tissue. He has however with the help of doctors lost an additional hundreds of pounds of weight.











"Manuel Uribe, 42, weighed 1,257 pounds at his heaviest. He was bed-ridden for five years and doctors from the United States, Italy and Mexico have been helping Uribe lose weight through dieting and exercise for the past two years, it is reported". According to the Wikipedia entry "Uribe was halfway to a picnic near his Monterrey-area home on March 9, 2008, to celebrate his girlfriend's birthday, when one of the posts holding a tarpaulin over his bed to shield him from the sun hit an overpass, so he had to return home for health reasons. His weight loss efforts continue.

Click to see expert physicians discuss pros and cons of gastric bypass