Wednesday's news

I love Wednesdays for news because so many stories come out on Tuesdays. There is so much to choose from. I try to pick things that are not as clinical as interesting as they may be, but what I think my readers may find applicable and interesting.

Blood test predicts onset of Alzheimer's is interesting because Alzheimer’s is such a devastating disease. Of course, detecting it doesn’t mean that there is a cure, but it is a good step in that direction. Plus, researchers are finding ways to slow down the progress of the disease, so early detection would be a great plus.

Canada approves first new HIV drug in 10 years and Study examines AIDS patients in Africa seem ironic, to me, that they show up in the same week. It’s known how difficult it is for people in so-called Third World countries to get HIV medications and now we learn (although it’s not surprising) that many don’t take them as they should. Very sad.

This story A low prevalence of H pylori in HIV-positive patients was just interesting to me.

Now, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised with this story: Severely mentally ill at high risk for cardiovascular disease. I’m thinking of it from the point of view that a psychiatric illness must be stressful on the body – that was always my amateur take on this type of thing. I believe that psychiatric illnesses have a much greater impact on the physical body than the medical community has realized.

Potentially deadly staph superbug spreading faster than ever is an important story. We hear a lot about some problems that may never affect us, but this is a biggie. We need to be more aware of this. Interestingly, this story also appeared at the same time: Simple measures can reduce spread of respiratory viruses. Handwashing is our number one defense against spreading germs and getting sick ourselves.

Sometimes, the stories hit home because of issues that I’ve gone through or had. I’ve had a few gastroscopies so this story definitely caught my eye: Patients may have sweet and effective way to prepare for upper GI endoscopy: an anesthetic lollipop. I can do a lot of things without freaking, but I just can’t tolerate upper GI endoscopies. I have a very strong gag reflex and it’s not easy for me to imagine one of those scopes going down my throat.

A few others that were interesting because of professional or personal experience were these ones: Chinese herbal medicine may help relieve painful menstrual cramps, No evidence that insoles prevent general back pain, Stretching out does not prevent soreness after exercise, Don't routinely use enemas during labor, and Don't 'break the waters' during labor without good clinical reason, concludes Cochrane Review.

Most women who have had painful menstrual cramps can definitely understand the interest in such a finding. If you don’t get a good effect from the available treatments, it really is miserable having to experience that cramping every month. The story about insoles is interesting. As a nurse, I have that age-old nurse problem, a sore back. I never thought of trying special insoles though.

Now, the stretching story really caught my eye because I’d read that before. And you know what? Even though they have the findings, I have to disagree with them. I know that if I do any type of exercise, be it on my elliptical, raking leaves, shoveling snow, or golfing, and I haven’t stretched first, my muscles hurt. However, if I stretch before (and after if I think of it), there is minimal, if any, muscle pain.

The next two stories about labour are also interesting. I thought that they didn’t do enemas to labouring mothers any more. I guess I was wrong. As for breaking the water – that one makes a lot of sense because we really should be limiting any type of medical intervention in labour and delivery unless it is really necessary, in my opinion.

And that is the news for today!

Handwashing

How often do you wash your hands? Are you fanatical and wash them more frequently than you need to? Do you only wash them when you really have to? Or do you wash them as often as necessary, but not obsessively?

When I was a student nurse, we learned the proper techniques for hand washing and, of course, the whole bit about how often and when to wash. It’s amazing though, how many people don’t wash their hands properly or often enough.

I have been reading about the debate as to whether people should be using the so-called antibacterial hand washes. I use them and I do encourage my kids to use them in certain situations. For example, my son was working in a store where he would work the cash. We all know that money can be very dirty, so I think that the use of a hand sanitizer when working at a cash is a good idea. When out shopping and handling lots of things and then eating in a fast food cart, I think that’s another great use for a hand sanitizer. But they shouldn’t replace hand washing, in my opinion.

A lot of the actual cleaning is in the movement and action of washing, the running of water and the friction caused by rubbing your hands together. From what I’ve seen, people who use hand sanitizers tend to just rub their hands together and not do the hand washing movement that is needed.

A good hand washing technique is simple, but it can’t be rushed:

- Make your hands wet with warm running water.
- Using soap, rub your hands together, making sure that your fingers rub into the areas between the fingers of the opposite hand. This should take at least 10 to 15 seconds, minimum.
Wash the top of your hands, not just the inside (palms) and don’t forget the thumbs. Apparently, they are often forgotten. Also, remember to clean under your nails and to let the water run under as well.
- Rinse your hands well and then dry with a clean towel.

If you are using a hand sanitizer, you can use the same motions of rubbing your hands together, in between your fingers and remembering the tops of your hands and your thumbs.

We all know that hand washing is important to stay healthy and to prevent the spread of infection, but do we all know how important it is? It’s been documented in the medical literature that the spread of illness drops drastically when proper hand washing is observed. From an anecdotal point of view, when I was just graduating from nursing, I worked in post-partum and nursery. The rules were incredibly strict about hand washing when you were in the newborn nursery. Pretty well every time you turned around, you had to wash your hands. The entire time I was there, I didn’t catch one cold, one virus, one illness. Nothing. It was the healthiest time ever in my life. My hands were raw and red, but I was healthy. :-)

News for Today:
Whiplash may produce delayed jaw pain
Umbilical cord clamping should be delayed, says expert
Are too many people diagnosed as 'depressed?'
Antibacterial agent not so 'anti' after all: study
Osteoarthritis drug Prexige under review by Health Canada
Review backs antidepressant effects of omega-3s
Study: Abortion pills don't bring risks
SARS more dangerous for some, study finds