Health Tips

, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- DANGERS OF BODY PIERCING, TATTOOING

Half of university undergraduates have some type of body piercing, and 17 percent have suffered a medical complication as a result, a study in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings indicates. The report also notes that 23 percent of students with tattoos experienced medical problems. Tattoos are particularly prevalent among male varsity athletes, they authors said. "Body art is prevalent among undergraduate university students, and there is significant incidence of medical complications among students with piercing," said lead author Dr. Lester Mayers of the Pace University Athletic Department's Division of Sports Medicine. "If our prevalence and complication rates are representative for this age group, these morbid events comprise a considerable demand on and cost to the heath care system." In female students, the most popular piercings were of the navel, 29 percent, and of the ear, 27 percent not including earlobes. In males, a third of the piercings involved the ear. The most common complications were bacterial infections, followed by bleeding and injury or tearing at the site.

STEROIDS SOOTHE SORE THROAT

A dose of steroid relieved the pain of sore throat brought on by a bacterial or viral infection, a study shows. The Mayo Clinic study, published in the journal Laryngoscope, suggests one 10 mg dose of dexamethasone is effective against bacterial or viral pharyngitis, doctors said. In the study of 118 patients seen for a sore throat at Saint Mary's Hospital in Rochester, Minn., the volunteers were given a course of antibiotics. In addition, some were given a single dose of dexamethasone, either in a shot or a pill form, while others were given a placebo, a sugar pill or saline shot with no medicinal value, in a pill or injection. The patients given the steroid reported pain relief four hours sooner and rated the relief as twice that reported by those given placebos, said researcher Dr. Julie Wei. Sore throats and colds are among the most common reasons for a visit to a doctor. Each year, sore throats account for more than $300 million in health care spending, according to the U.S. Department of Health.

TRAINING CARING DOCTORS

The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry is training doctors to have a good bedside manner, and be competent in such qualities as trustworthiness, good judgment, good communication and the ability to keep up-to-date with changes in the field. Taking note of the unusual program, an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association proposes changes to ensure physician competence such "typically overlooked" areas as teamwork, interpersonal skills, clinical reasoning and managing ambiguous clinical situations. Study co-author Dr. Edward Hundert, dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry, designed Rochester's Double-Helix curriculum. Students work with patients starting in their first year, not in their second or third, as is the traditional practice. Basic science and clinical work are intertwined throughout training "like the strands of a double helix," Hundert said. "At the end of their second and third years, students have a professional-competency assessment that lasts two weeks and embodies all of the elements of competence," Hundert said. "Medicine, no matter how technological it is, is always a human enterprise," he said.

CULPRIT CAUGHT IN NURSING HOME OUTBREAKS

Scientists have traced the cause of gastroenteritis that often breaks out in nursing homes. Because both bacteria and viruses are potential culprits, researchers looked at the role of each in the epidemics. They studied 156 Maryland nursing home residents who became ill one winter. The investigators identified a group of Norwalk-like viruses as the culprits, they said in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. "Every year, scores of gastroenteritis infections occur in Maryland nursing homes, but the cause of these outbreaks has baffled investigators," said lead study author Dr. Kim Green of the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "We and our collaborators at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recognized the importance of identifying the etiologic agent or agents so that effective prevention and control strategies could be developed for this illness." The researchers think "it is likely that there may be a heavier disease burden from this illness in United States nursing homes than previously recognized." Gastroenteritis, an intestinal illness, causes vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, chills and headache. Usually lasting no longer than 48 hours, the illness can nevertheless cause serious complications in the elderly, many of whom are already struggling with other illnesses, Green said. "We hope the knowledge gained from this study will increase awareness in the medical community that Norwalk-like viruses should be a primary suspect when an acute gastroenteritis outbreak occurs in the nursing home setting," he said.

(EDITORS: For more information about DANGERS, call 507-284-5005; about STEROIDS, call 507-284-5005; about CARING, call 716-275-7954; about DIARRHEA, call 301-402-1663.)