Latest Health News

The understanding and treatment of epilepsy has improved considerably over the past fifty years. Most of this improvement has resulted from basic scientific research into how and why epileptic seizures start, and from the development of safer and more effective anti-epileptic drugs by the pharmaceutical industry. However, there is still much work which needs to be carried out, not just to improve our understanding and knowledge, but to improve the quality of life of a child or man or woman with epilepsy.

It is unlikely that a single ‘cure’ for all epileptic seizures and epilepsies will be found, due to the fact that there are so many different causes and types of epilepsy. It is also very unlikely that epilepsies will ever be completely prevented from occurring in the first place. A proportion of the epilepsies are inherited. It is improbable that much can be done to prevent these epilepsies, and it may not be possible (or appropriate) to remove these abnormal genes by ‘genetic engineering’ techniques. However, improved medical care should reduce the numbers of patients who develop epilepsy after meningitis or encephalitis. Improved safety measures on the roads, in cars, and the wider use of cycle helmets and protective head gear on industrial sites should reduce the incidence of posttraumatic epilepsy. In developing countries, better obstetric care and public health measures to eradicate parasitic diseases, (particularly cysticercosis) and bacterial diseases (particularly tuberculosis and other causes of meningitis) will play a part.

*90\188\2*

It has been known for some time that a small daily dose of aspirin reduces the incidence of stroke. It does this by affecting certain types of our blood cells.

Blood cells are of three types: red cells (which carry oxygen), white cells (which defend us against infection), and platelets (plate-shaped cells that seal holes in blood vessels). Whenever there is bleeding, thousands of platelets settle at the site of the broken vessel to plug the hole. They also release a chemical that starts blood clotting at the site of injury. Drugs like aspirin, that “stabilize” platelets by slowing up their sealing and clotting activities, therefore cause increased bruising and more prolonged bleeding than would be expected after minor trauma.

On the good side, daily doses of aspirin can help to prevent clots from forming spontaneously inside blood vessels, thereby also helping to prevent stroke (due to clotting in an artery of the brain) and myocardial infarction (heart attack due to blocking of a coronary artery).

During a recent study in France, Internal Medicine Alert (5#3:11) reports, either a daily aspirin or placebo (the patients did not know which) was taken by patients who had experienced transient ischemic attacks (warning symptoms of stroke, such as episodes of slurred speech, weakness on one side, loss of vision, etc). Results were clear cut, with only 10 percent of the aspirin group developing stroke, as compared to 18 percent in the placebo group.

This French study confirmed earlier studies in the United States and Canada but differed from them in showing that aspirin can prevent strokes not only in men but also in women. This was an important contribution. Women are more likely to benefit equally with men when their aspirin dosage is reduced in proportion to their lower weight. One baby aspirin (about 100 mg) daily is probably enough.

Aspirin as a preventive treatment may be much more powerful than has so far been suspected. A Georgetown University neurologist who is an expert on this subject believes that, until now, researchers have focused too much upon the number of strokes that occur on various preventive regimens. More meaningful information can be obtained, he believes, when one studies the severity of strokes as well as their numbers.

Thus, Modern Medicine (26#12:8) reports, a daily aspirin reduces the severity of strokes even more than it reduces their number. Preliminary clinical studies even suggest that daily aspirin cuts the number of strokes that are severe (fatal ones or those that leave the victim paralyzed) by 80 percent. The strokes that occur on this regimen have usually been mild ones from which most of the victims have recovered fully. Additional studies are now is progress to determine if this exciting preliminary work can be confirmed.

*205\143\2*

Symptom: Pain and tenderness

Home care: Pad the heels of the child’s shoes and temporarily restrict activities such as running and jumping.

Precautions

-    Inability to move the foot up and down may indicate a torn Achilles tendon and needs medical attention.

-    Have the child see a doctor if home treatment does not promptly relieve the pain of Sever’s disease.

-    Pain may recur following a new injury. Repeat the treatment.

Painful heels are a common complaint before and during adolescence. Almost 90 percent of the time the pain is due to injury of the bony growth plate near the back of the heel bone (calcaneus). The injury is called Sever’s disease and may be due to a direct blow caused by the heels pounding the ground, or to the calf muscles pulling on the Achilles tendon and the back of the heel bone.

Signs and symptoms

In Sever’s disease, one or both heels hurt when walking and are tender to the touch on both sides and the bottom of the heel bone (about one to two centimeters away from the back of the heel). The heels are not swollen or red; the skin over the heels shows no abnormality. The diagnosis is based on the presence of pain and tenderness at the heel and the absence of other symptoms. Note that other problems that cause pain at the heel also cause other symptoms. For example, infection of the heel bone (osteomyelitis) produces severe pain that intensifies over time, redness and swelling of the infected heel, and a low-grade fever. Blisters, plantar warts, and wounds of the heel can also cause sore heels.

Home care

To relieve pain from Sever’s disease, pad the heels of all of your child’s shoes with a heel pad and temporarily restrict activities that involve running and jumping. Even if a child has pain in only one heel, be sure to pad the heels of both shoes.

Precautions

• If your child can’t move the affected foot up and down (by rising on tiptoes), he or she may have a torn Achilles tendon. Do not attempt home care. The child should see a doctor.

• With the proper home treatment Sever’s disease should subside in four to six weeks; however, pain should cease as soon as the heels of the shoes are padded, and if the pain isn’t promptly eased you should take your child to the doctor. • Pain may recur following a new injury. Don’t worry; just repeat the treatment.

Medical treatment

After a careful examination to rule out other causes of pain, your doctor will follow the same steps as you do in home treatment. If Sever’s disease is severe, the doctor will immobilize the ankles. X rays are seldom required.

*192/84/5*