Dangerous Germs Lurk On Medical Attire.

Jeannine Stein writing in the Los Angeles Times presented this tidbit…A study published in the American Journal of Infection Control “finds that dangerous germs could be lurking on nurses’ and doctors’ uniforms.” After culturing “three spots on the uniforms of 75 nurses and 60 physicians working in a 550-bed hospital,” researchers found “potential pathogens (also known as infectious agents, or germs)…on 63% of the uniforms, and antibiotic resistant bacteria were found on samples from 14% of nurses’ uniforms and 6% of doctor’s uniforms.”

COPD Increases Risk Of Osteopenia In Men.

Ingrid Grasmo writing in Medwire reported reports that a study in the journal Respiratory Research found “that men with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have a greater prevalence of osteopenia than healthy individuals.” The study authors wrote that “the likely multifactorial causes contributing to” osteoporosis “mask the potential contribution from elements related to COPD.”

Increased Risk of Atrial Fibrillation for those with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Bone Mass Lost During Women’s Diets May Not Return With Regained Weight.

Jeannine Stein writing in the Los Angeles Times reported that a “small, exploratory study” published online in the journal Obesity found that for postmenopausal women who lost bone mass when they lost weight, “regaining that weight doesn’t necessarily replace the lost bone.”  The authors “speculated about whether low bone mass in some overweight and obese people may be partially blamed on repeated diet-and-weight-gain cycles.” They also noted that bone loss may be prevented or reduced with “exercise that increased bone density.” Pay attention while you diet- and let your doctor know.

What’s Reiter’s syndrome?

Reactive arthritis, often called Reiter’s syndrome, is one of the seronegative spondyloarthropathies- now that’s a mouthful-in the same family as ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis.  It’s an autoimmune disorder that’s linked to the HLA B27 gene.(HLA B27 gene).  It is often triggered by a urinary tract or intestinal infection.  It’s most common in individuals aged 20-40 and more common in men than in women.  The symptoms of reactive arthritis often include a combination of three symptoms: inflammatory arthritis, inflammation of the eye (show eye), and inflammation of the urinary tract.  So “the patient can’t see, can’t pee, can’t bend the knee.”  The first symptom usually felt is burning pain on urination or increased frequency of urination.  Men can have prostatitis and women can have vaginitis.  The arthritis usually affects large joints such as the knees. A strange rash on the bottoms of the feet can develop.  This is called keratodermia blenorrhagica.  20 to 40 percent of men can get circinate balanitis on the end of the penis. And no… I’m not going to show a picture of that.  Some people develop mouth ulcers that come and go. About 10 percent of people will develop heart problems including inflammation of the aortic valve and pericardium-the lining around the heart.