Our weekly roundup of the latest developments in the world of health. New recommendations on performing CPR, choosing antipsychotic drugs for older people, and a non-invasive procedure to treat uterine fibroids were in the news this week. So were findings about how excess fat decreases the effectiveness of some injected medications.
Stay well.
This Issue:
New CPR Guidelines Antipsychotic Drugs and Seniors Ultrasound for Fibroids Buttocks Fat Affects Injections In the News:
New CPR Guidelines New recommendations on performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation urge more chest compressions more quickly. The American Heart Association published new CPR guidelines this week. The association is now recommending twice as many chest compressions, upping the number from 15 compressions for every two "rescue breaths" to 30 compressions. The 30 compressions are recommended for anyone of any age, whereas the old guidelines had different recommendations for adults and children, The Associated Press reports. The AP quotes experts who say the new guidelines should make it easier to learn CPR The benefit of so many compressions is that they increase blood circulation, which is critical to saving lives and limiting long-term damage after cardiac arrest. The new guidelines also recommend starting compressions after one shock from a defibrillator, rather than waiting to administer three shocks, the AP says.
Antipsychotic Drugs and Seniors
Switching elderly patients to older antipsychotic drugs may be as risky as keeping them on some of the newer drugs. A Harvard study published in the
New England Journal of Medicine this week examined whether older antipsychotic drugs carried fewer safety risks for older patients. The study comes after the Food and Drug Administration's decision earlier this year to require that newer antipsychotics carry a "black box" warning because they appear to increase the risk of death, The New York Times News Service reports. In the study, researchers looked at nearly 23,000 people aged 65 or older who started taking antipsychotic medications between 1994 and 2003. The researchers compared the short-term risk of death for patients taking older drugs such as Thorazine and Haldol with that of patients taking newer drugs such as Abilify and Clozaril. People taking the older drugs had a 37% higher risk of death compared to those on newer medications, especially at the start of treatment, the researchers found. The researchers say their findings don't suggest what drugs should be prescribed to older patients, but offer evidence that switching from newer to older drugs may not be beneficial.
Ultrasound for Fibroids
Ultrasound technology may offer women with uterine fibroids relief without having to go under the knife. A Harvard study to be presented at the Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago this week finds that magnetic resonance-guided, focused ultrasound surgery relives symptoms for one year after treatment. Pervious studies had already found that the technique brought symptom relief for up to six months, The New York Times News Service reports. The procedure uses ultrasound to deliver heat to fibroid tissue, killing it without cutting or piercing the skin. In a trial involving 160 women who experienced pain, bleeding or frequent urination due to fibroids, participants reported improvements in symptoms 12 months after they underwent the ultrasound procedure. The more fibroid tissue the women had destroyed, the more relief they reported.
Buttocks Fat Affects Injections
Too much fat in the buttocks could have an effect on your health. A study presented at the Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago this week find that excess buttocks fat can interfere with the effectiveness of intramuscular injections such as vaccines, contraceptives, and some other medications. In the study, researchers looked at 50 people age 21 to 87 who received some type of medication via intramuscular infection in the buttocks. The researchers injected an air bubble along with the medication, which allowed them to spot on CT scans whether the medication made it into the muscle or got lodged in fat. The researchers found that only 32% of the medications reached the muscle. The needle was more likely to miss the target gluteus muscle in women than in men; 56% of the needles reached the muscle in men, compared to only 8% in women, The New York Times News Service reports. Doctors may need to use a needle that's longer than the standard 3 centimeters or so when giving injections to patients with extra buttocks fat, the researchers say.
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