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Unique OCD Conference Specifically For Family Members
Experts from the Institute of Psychiatry will tell attendees of a unique conference on the 25th July in Reading that health professionals often fail to correctly identify when someone suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). As a consequence, the burden of this very disabling and distressing condition tends to fall on family members.
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Lobbyists Swarm Around Health Reform Activity
NPR began a series of reports on the health care lobbyists who attend Congressional sessions as part of their campaign. Richard Miller, a "longtime lobbyist for the American Chiropractic Association, says it"s important that the chiropractors keep on top of the health care overhaul legislation - and also take pains to make sure that senators and staff see them doing that, because the chiropractors are small dogs in a big fight." President Barack Obama "certainly sees Washington"s lobbyists as an obstacle to change. He"s tried limiting their access to the executive branch, but that runs into the constitutional question." Lobbying is on the rise: "Between 1998 and 2008, the number of registered lobbyists on health care more than doubled, to 3,627, according to the Center for Responsive Politics." Spending also increased: "Organizations lobbying on health care spent $484.4 million in 2008, more than two and a half times the spending in 1998." The project includes an interactive panoramic photo of lobbyists in the Senate HELP Committee hearing room and asks readers to help identify the players (Overby and Seabrook, 6/25).
News of the day
Massachusetts' Individual Mandates, Insurance Exchanges Are Examples For National Plan
"Three years into its experiment with near-universal health care, Massachusetts has some "dos and don"ts" for the nation as it grapples with the best way to cover tens of millions of uninsured Americans," the Associated Press reports. "Do require that virtually everyone have health insurance, the overriding goal in Massachusetts. Don"t ignore rising costs, the single greatest threat to the law"s long-term affordability."
Diagnostics

Babies With Mild Facial Paralysis From Forceps Typically Do Not Need Treatment

Mild facial nerve paralysis caused by the use of forceps during birth generally resolves on its own and does not require treatment, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Facial nerve palsy (inability to move some facial muscles) occurs in approximately 0.8 to 7.5 of 1,000 births overall and 8.8 of every 1,000 births in which forceps are used, according to background information in the article. "Previous observations indicate that while most cases of facial nerve palsy caused by birth trauma implicate the use of forceps, up to 33 percent occur in spontaneous vaginal delivery without instrumentation," the authors write. The injury is caused when the forceps blade or a bone in the mothers" pelvis puts pressure on the baby"s head in the area of the facial nerve. Melanie Duval, M.D., of McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and Sam J. Daniel, M.D., M.Sc., F.R.C.S.C., of McGill University and Montreal Children"s Hospital, reviewed the medical records of 28 babies with facial nerve palsy caused by forceps use between 1989 and 2005. In all 28 cases, the palsy was classified as mild to moderate. "Except in one neonate, no treatment was initiated in any of the patients," the authors write; one child received a 14-day course of oral prednisone, a corticosteroid. "All 21 neonates with adequate long-term follow-up recovered fully after an average period of 24 days." "There is discrepancy in the literature on the investigations and/or treatment options to be undertaken in facial palsy owing to birth trauma," the authors conclude. Some authors recommend surgery to explore the nerve, whereas most consider observation to be sufficient in uncomplicated cases. The current results add to evidence that the recovery rate is high without treatment. "This confirms that corticosteroid treatment or surgery should be withheld in neonates presenting with uncomplicated facial nerve palsy resulting from forceps trauma." Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2009;135[7]:634-636. Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery


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