Kawasaki Disease (KD) is a severe childhood disease that many parents, even some doctors, mistake for an inconsequential viral infection. In fact, if not diagnosed or treated in time, it can lead to irreversible heart damage. After 50 years of research, including genetic studies, scientists have been unable to pinpoint the cause of the disease.
Colon cleansing - it's been described as a natural way to enhance well-being, but Georgetown University doctors say there's no evidence to back that claim. In fact, their review of scientific literature, published today in the August issue of The Journal of Family Practice, demonstrates that colon cleansing can cause side effects ranging from cramping to renal failure and death.
If you've ever wondered if smoking offered society any benefit, a new research report published in The FASEB Journal (https://www.fasebj.org) offers a surprising answer. Nicotine protects us from Parkinson's disease, and the discovery of how nicotine does this may lead to entirely new types of treatments for the disease.
A synthesised compound which is also found in bear bile could help prevent disturbances in the heart's normal rhythm, according to research published today in the journal Hepatology by a team from Imperial College London.
Surprising results from a new study revealed that men who smoke had less risk of undergoing total joint replacement surgery than those who never smoked. Researchers also reported that men who were overweight, or who engaged in vigorous physical activity were more likely to need arthroplasty. Details of this study are now available in Arthritis & Rheumatism,a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).
台灣的過敏兒越來越多，醫界研究發現，父母親教育程度較高的家庭，孩子發生過敏的比率較高，反倒是，外籍新娘生的新台灣之子，和25歲以下年輕媽媽所生的孩子，罹患過敏疾病的機率較低。
根據過去的調查，台北市的學童，每5人就有1人罹患氣喘，林口長庚醫院針對基隆地區3千多位學童進行調查發現，新台灣之子罹患氣喘、過敏、異位性濕疹的比例均比本籍兒童低，其中過敏性鼻炎，本籍子女罹患率達47.5％，新台灣之子僅30.1%，相差近2成，其中越南籍媽媽所生的孩子，過敏比例是最低的一群。另外，媽媽在25歲之前生下的小孩，過敏比率也較低。
林口長庚兒童過敏氣喘風濕科主治醫師歐良修表示，為何會有這種差異，基因可能扮演一定角色，外籍新娘較早生兒育女也有相關。
另外他也發現，父母親教育程度較高的家庭、周歲內經常使用抗生素及退燒藥、家中養貓養狗都是誘發兒童氣喘發作及過敏性鼻炎的危險因子。
林口長庚醫院兒童內科部主任黃璟隆表示，過敏疾病有一種「衛生假說 」的理論，家庭所得較高、環境太乾淨、常打疫苗的孩子，發生過敏的比率較高。
此次調查發現，經常使用退燒藥的兒童過敏比率較高，可能是因父母教育程度較高，對孩子的疾病有較高的警覺而經常就醫，孩子會使用抗生素或退燒藥，可能是因為呼吸道反覆感染，呼吸道變脆弱，而導致過敏。
台大醫院小兒部主任江伯倫表示，國外研究發現，母親教育程度高中以上，家裡每月收入大於6萬，孩子氣喘和過敏性鼻炎發生率都比較高；另外，高油高熱量食物，肥胖BMI指數越高，體內三酸甘油脂越高，都會使氣喘的發生上升。
哈佛大學的研究也發現，北歐小朋友家中睡的床比較舊，家具比較陳舊，長大後的罹患氣喘也比較少，看來太文明的環境對現代人的健康發展不見得有利，返璞歸真的生活反而比較健康。
WATCHING the immune system rev up in response to a tumour or attack the body's own tissue may one day give doctors an edge in monitoring and treating disease.
A surge in immune cells can be a first sign of cancer, while a reduction is a clue that a treatment for autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, is working. However, these cells are difficult to detect as they are dispersed throughout the body and do not show up using conventional imaging techniques.
To make them more visible, Owen Witte and colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles, developed a molecular "tag" called FAC that binds preferentially to immune cells over other types, and then lights up during a positron emission tomography (PET) scan.
When the researchers injected FAC into mice and took a PET scan, tissues rich in immune cells, such as spleen and lymph nodes, lit up, indicating that the FAC was working. In mice infected with a virus, and in mutant mice with autoimmune disorders, those tissues lit up more brightly than in uninfected mice or mice without autoimmune disease (Nature Medicine, DOI: 10.1038/nm1724). If the technique works in people, it should give doctors an easier way to monitor disease.
前(14)日晚間拒絕隔離治療擅自離院之多重抗藥性結核病李姓病患，至今(16)日中午仍未返院治療，行蹤不明。由於病患已中斷服藥，其感染他人之風險遽增，為避免社會大眾遭受感染及不安，疾管局依「電腦處理個人資料保護法」第8條，「政府資訊公開法」第18條及「行政執行法」第36條，公布其身分，讓社會大眾能夠自我保護，並儘速將其強制就醫。
李姓病患本名李真主，男性，56歲，身高161公分，體重67公斤，離院穿著深色長袖上衣，淺色長褲；特徵為禿頭，頭上貼人工皮敷料，雙頰有紅色斑點。民眾如有發現此病患，應立即避免與其相處於密閉且通風不良的環境，並儘速撥打1922專線或通知所在地衛生機關。
該局重申，結核病是個可治癒的疾病，目前也有進步之治療方式，民眾只要遵醫囑並按時服藥，確可治癒，切莫任意中斷治療導致前功盡棄，甚至演變為多重抗藥性、乃至超級抗藥性結核病，增加治療困難。
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