Two separate girls! Packard Children’s surgeons separate conjoined twins

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Angelica and Angelina

Raw footage of a conjoined twins surgery at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford from November 11, 2011. Wonderful two-year-old girls, the Angelina and Angelica Sabuco, were successfully separated by a multidisciplinary team led by Gary Hartman, MD.
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Today’s surgery to separate conjoined twins Angelina and Angelica Sabuco is progressing well.

The twins have been successfully separated, and are now in different rooms for the first time in their lives. Each girl will be in an operating room in the Ford Family Surgery Center at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital for an estimated two to three hours of reconstructive surgery.

From the hospital’s pre-surgery press release, a few more details about the plan for reconstruction and surgical recovery:

> Peter Lorenz, MD, and his team will rebuild the girls’ chest and abdominal walls. They will implant a thick, custom-made resorbable plate in each girl’s chest where the sternum should be, and graft bone pieces removed during the separation onto the plates.

> “The plates will dissolve over about a year and a half,” Lorenz said. “That gives the grafted bone plenty of time to fuse, so eventually the girls will have normal bones and stable chests.”

> Afterward, the girls will be in intensive care, where they’ll recover for four to five days before being moved to a regular room for another week or so. Then they’ll head home to San Jose to start their lives as two ordinary little girls.

For more developments, follow the hashtag #conjoinedtwins on Twitter.

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Conjoined twins Angelina and Angelica Sabuco underwent separation surgery at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital on November 1, 2011.

Angelina and Angelica on Christmas Eve, 2010

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Photos from Angelica and Angelina’s November 1, 2011 Surgery

Photos courtesy of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

Lead surgeon Dr. Gary Hartman

Аnesthesiologist Dr. Gail Boltz

The operating room

>>> FULL ARTICLE at: Two separate girls! Packard Children’s surgeons separate conjoined twins <<<

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* Photo showing the twins at their pre-surgery “meet the press” event on October 31, courtesy Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

** Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions – Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

***  The above story is adapted from materials provided by Stanford University School of Medicine

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Two separate girls! Packard Children’s surgeons separate conjoined twins is an article review from: Medicinezine.com

UNICEF calls for urgent funding for nutrition crisis in DPR Korea

1 November 2011

Mother and child at a UN-supported paediatric hospital in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

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Using brain-training games to stave off depression in adolescents

Children of parents who suffer from depression may have an increased risk of developing the condition or other psychological problems, in part because the parents may pass down behavioral traits such as overacting negatively to emotional situations. Now Stanford psychology professor Ian Gotlib, PhD, and colleagues are studying whether interactive games and brain-scanning software can teach these at-risk adolescents to better control their emotions, and can potentially prevent depression.

Gotlib recently presented findings from two small studies at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Psychopathology in Boston. His research is featured today in a New Scientist story:

> In a pilot experiment, eight girls [whose mothers suffer from depression] used a neural feedback display to learn how to control activity in a network of interrelated brain regions that have been linked to depression – these include the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

> The level of activity in this network was measured using a functional MRI scan and displayed to the girls in the form of a thermometer on a computer screen. The girls were shown sad or negative pictures that might ordinarily raise their “temperature”, and tried to lower that “temperature” by adopting more sanguine mental states. They were then advised to try to recreate that mindset in their daily lives.

> A control group unknowingly watched someone else’s scan output instead of their own, so they didn’t actually learn how to control their brain activity.

> Another set of girls in the pilot experiment received their training through a simple computer game instead. In this game, a pair of faces appeared on a screen every few seconds: they would be either neutral and sad, or neutral and happy. Then a dot replaced one of the faces, and the “game” was to click on the dot. For the eight girls in the control group, the face replaced by the dot was selected at random, but for eight girls in the experimental group, the dot always replaced the more positive face in the pair. Over a week of playing this game daily, these girls were in effect being trained to avoid looking at the sad faces.

Results showed that both kinds of training notably reduced the girls’ heart rate, blood pressure, cortisol levels and other stress-related responses to negative stimuli. Subjects in the control groups did not exhibit such improvement. The researchers plan to expand the number of participants in their study and compare the girls’ long-term mental health with a cohort of 200 girls not included in the trial.

>>> Full article at: Using brain-training games to stave off depression in adolescents <<

* Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions – Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

**  The above story is adapted from materials provided by Stanford University School of Medicine

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Using brain-training games to stave off depression in adolescents is an article review from: Medicinezine.com

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Lung Cancer Awareness Month

Every November, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other organizations join to recognize Lung Cancer Awareness Month, a national campaign aimed at raising attention to lung cancer and its impact on our Nation’s health.

Lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, is largely preventable. About 90 percent of lung cancer deaths among men, and 80 percent of lung cancer deaths among women, are due to smoking.^[1] Moreover, tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death and disease in the United States.^[2] Each year, approximately 443,000 Americans die from tobacco-related illnesses. For every person who dies from tobacco use, 20 more people suffer with at least one serious tobacco-related illness,^[3] and approximately 130,000 of these deaths are due to lung cancer.^[4]

Tobacco use can lead to nicotine dependence and serious health problems. Quitting can significantly reduce the risk of suffering from smoking-related diseases. Tobacco dependence is a chronic condition that often requires repeated interventions, but effective treatments and helpful resources exist. We want to support smokers , many of whom began before they were old enough to make an informed choice. Most smokers want to quit and many do every year. In fact, today there are more former smokers than current smokers.^[5] HHS is dedicated to combating this widespread and devastating disease. Guiding the Department’s action in the fight against lung cancer is the HHS Tobacco Control Strategic Action Plan, which aims to create a society free of tobacco-related death and disease. The Plan’s specific, evidence-based actions include strengthening state and local tobacco control efforts; regulating the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of tobacco products (including requiring new bolder health warnings on cigarette packages and advertisements); expanding access to effective tobacco use cessation treatment; and conducting mass media and education campaigns to prevent initiation among youth, promote cessation among adults and inform the public about the health consequences of tobacco use.

Finally, to build upon our efforts to raise awareness of tobacco prevention and its impact on the nation’s health, this year, the Department included tobacco prevention among the Healthy People 2020 Leading Health Indicators (LHIs). The LHIs highlight current critical health issues that, if remain unaddressed, predict future public health problems. Addressing tobacco use is critical in reducing heart disease, stroke and cancers.

I invite you to join us as we work toward our goal of reducing the incidence of lung cancer across the nation. Supporting our efforts to eliminate tobacco use among adults and adolescents, can improve the future health of all Americans.

Howard K. Koh, M.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Secretary for Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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Lung Cancer Awareness

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women. Smoking causes 80 to 90 percent of cases of lung cancer. Don’t smoke, and avoid secondhand smoke.

> Lung Cancer, the Number One Cancer Killer.

Each year, nearly 200,000 people in the United States are told they have lung cancer and more than 90,000 people die from this disease. Deaths from lung cancer represent about one out of every six deaths from cancer in the U.S.

> Lung Cancer. Risk Factors.

Research has found several causes and risk factors for lung cancer. A risk factor is anything that changes the chance of getting a disease. Lung cancer risk factors include—

• Smoking.
• Secondhand smoke from other people’s cigarettes.
• Radon gas in the home.
• Things around home or work, including asbestos, ionizing radiation, and other cancer-causing substances.
• Medical exposure to radiation to the chest.
• Chronic lung disease such as emphysema or chronic bronchitis.
• Increased age.

> Lung Cancer. Prevention

You can reduce your risk of developing lung cancer in several ways.

• Don’t smoke. If you do smoke, quit now.
• Avoid secondhand smoke. There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure.
• Have your home tested for radon and take corrective actions if high levels are found.
• Avoid unnecessary medical tests that involve X-ray images of the chest.
• Follow health and safety guidelines in the workplace.

CDC helps support a national network of quitlines that makes free “quit smoking” support available by telephone to smokers anywhere in the United States. The toll-free number is 1-800-QUITNOW (1-800-784-8669), or visit smokefree.gov

> Lung Cancer. Symptoms

Different people have different symptoms for lung cancer. Some people don’t have any symptoms at all when first diagnosed with lung cancer. Lung cancer symptoms can be due to the direct effect of growth of cancer cells in the lung, or due to the effect of cancer cells that have spread to other parts of the body. Lung cancer symptoms due to growth of cancer cells in the lung may include—

• Shortness of breath.
• Coughing that doesn’t go away.
• Wheezing.
• Coughing up blood.
• Chest pain.
• Repeated respiratory infections such as bronchitis or pneumonia.

These symptoms can happen with other illnesses, too. Talk to your doctor if you have symptoms that concern you.

> Lung Cancer. Treatment

Lung cancer is treated in several ways, depending on the type of lung cancer and how far it has spread. Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. People with lung cancer often get more than one kind of treatment.

People with lung cancer may want to take part in a clinical trial. Clinical trials study new potential treatment options. Learn more about clinical trials at the National Cancer Institute.

> Lung Cancer. Survivors

People who have been treated for lung cancer may continue to have symptoms caused by the cancer or by cancer treatments (side effects). People who want information about symptoms and side effects should talk to their doctors. Doctors can help answer questions and make a plan to control symptoms.

For more information about symptoms and side effects, visit the National Cancer Institute’s Coping with Cancer.

For information about finding or providing support for people with lung cancer and their caregivers, visit CDC’s Cancer Survivorship

>>> Full article at:  Lung Cancer Awareness Month November 2011 <<<

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Announcement: 25th Anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development

”We, heads of State and Government, … are committed to making
the right to development a reality for everyone and to freeing
the entire human race from want.”
UN Millennium Declaration

Development is a human right!

The United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development unequivocally establishes development as a right and puts people at the centre of the development process.

The groundbreaking  document, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 4 December 1986, first proclaimed this inalienable right, declaring that everyone is ”entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized.”

A farmer in the Altai-Sayan Eco-Region of Uvs Province, Mongolia. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Altai-Sayan Project, which works to preserve the biodiversity of the region, has helped Mongolian farmers by converting unused land into an agricultural park. 2009 /UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

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It belongs to everyone

The pursuit of economic growth is not an end in itself. The Declaration clearly states that development is a comprehensive process aiming to improve “the well-being of the entire population and of all individuals on the basis of their active, free and meaningful participation in development and in the fair distribution” of the resulting benefits.  Like all human rights, the right to development belongs to all individuals and peoples, everywhere, without discrimination and with their participation. The Declaration recognizes the right to self-determination and to full sovereignty over natural wealth and resources.

25th anniversary

This year marks the Declaration’s 25th anniversary. Yet many children, women and men – the very subjects of development – still live in dire need of the fulfillment of their entitlement to a life of dignity, freedom and equal opportunity. This directly affects the realization of a wide range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has called on governments and all concerned to seize the opportunity of this anniversary to move beyond political debate and focus on practical steps to implement the Declaration.

“I am duty-bound to raise this anniversary call. We must end discrimination in the distribution of the benefits of development. We must stop the 500,000 preventable deaths of women in childbirth every year. We must free the millions of children from hunger in a world of plenty. And we must ensure that people can benefit from their country’s natural resources and participate meaningfully in decision-making. These are the kind of issues addressed by the Declaration, which calls for equal opportunity and a just social order. … It’s not an act of nature that leaves more than one billion people around the world locked in the jaws of poverty. It’s a result of the denial of their fundamental human right to development.”

High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay

Background

According to the latest UN Human Development Report, the number of malnourished people has increased from 850 million in 1980 to about 1 billion worldwide today. Despite over thirty years of technological progress and ever-increasing exploitation of natural resources, 150 million more people are now malnourished.

Rampant poverty and stark inequalities, both within and across countries, serve as a constant reminder that the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the fundamental principles of international human rights law it subsequently inspired, and indeed the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development remain empty words for far too many people, especially those belonging to marginalized groups.

A right that addresses contemporary challenges

Born at the end of the colonial era, the Declaration on the Right to Development remains highly relevant today. The right to development embodies the human rights principles of equality, non-discrimination, participation, transparency and accountability as well as international cooperation. These along with the basic requirements of the Declaration (see box) can guide our responses to a series of contemporary issues and challenges, including climate change and the quest for sustainable development, the stalled Doha Development Round of trade negotiations, development cooperation, Aid for Trade, debt relief, technology transfer, foreign direct investment, the democratic deficit, weak governance, the Millennium Development Goals and the need to reform international financial institutions.

The right to development is not about charity, but enablement and empowerment. The Declaration identifies obstacles to development, empowers individuals and peoples, calls for an enabling environment and good governance at both national and international levels, and enhances accountability of duty bearers – governments, donors and recipients, international organizations, transnational corporations, and civil society.

Act together now

“States have the duty to cooperate with each other in ensuring development and eliminating obstacles to development,” says the Declaration. While there are hard-won development gains, the international community has yet to fully utilize the potential of the Declaration, partly due to politicization and polarization.

“The Right to Development can be realized only when there is a solid national and international accountability framework for development that respects social justice and human rights. Let us return to the hopeful and principled message of the Declaration itself – in a spirit of reasoned compromise and with a sense of the vital mission at hand, and focus our efforts on making the right to development a reality for all.”

High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay

During this 25th anniversary in 2011, the United Nations Human Rights office (OHCHR) seeks to raise awareness, enhance understanding and promote dialogue on the right to development through a series of events and public information activities

Background

DEVELOPMENT IS A HUMAN RIGHT FOR ALL

The right to development can be rooted in the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the two International Human Rights Covenants.

Through the United Nations Charter, Member States undertook to “promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom” and “to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.”

The Universal Declaration on Human Rights contains a number of elements that became central to the international community’s understanding of the right to development. It attaches importance, for example, to the promotion of social progress and better standards of life and recognizes the right to non-discrimination, the right to participate in public affairs and the right to an adequate standard of living. It also contains everyone’s entitlement to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration can be fully realized.

An important step towards the recognition of the right to development was UN General Assembly resolution 1161 (XII). In this resolution, the General Assembly expressed the view “that a balanced and integrated economic and social development would contribute towards the promotion and maintenance of peace and security, social progress and better standards of living, and the observance of and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

This theme was taken up at the International Conference on Human Rights, held in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, from 22 April to 13 May 1968. The Conference expressed its belief “that the enjoyment of economic and social rights is inherently linked with any meaningful and profound interconnection between the realization of human rights and economic development.” It recognized “the collective responsibility of the international community to ensure the attainment of the minimum standard of living necessary for the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons throughout the world.”

In 1969, the General Assembly, in its resolution 2542 (XXIV), adopted the Declaration on Social Progress and Development, which states that “social progress and development shall aim at the continuous raising of the material and spiritual standards of living of all members of society, with respect for and in compliance with human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

In its resolution 4 (XXXIII) of 21 February 1977, the UN Commission on Human Rights decided to pay special attention to consideration of the obstacles impeding the full realization of economic, social and cultural rights, particularly in developing countries, and of national and international action to secure the enjoyment of those rights. Recognizing the right to development as a human right, the Commission requested the UN Secretary-General to undertake a study on “the international dimensions of the right to development as a human right in relation with other human rights based on international cooperation, including the right to peace, taking into account the requirements of the New International Economic Order and fundamental human needs.” The study was submitted and considered by the Commission on Human Rights at its thirty-fifth session in 1979.

The Commission subsequently, by its resolution 36 (XXXVII) of 11 March 1981, established a working group of 15 governmental experts to study the scope and contents of the right to development and the most effective means to ensure the realization, in all countries, of the economic, social and cultural rights enshrined in various international instruments, paying particular attention to the obstacles encountered by developing countries in their efforts to secure the enjoyment of human rights. It also requested the Working Group to submit a report with concrete proposals for implementation of the right to development and for a draft international instrument on this subject.

The right to development was proclaimed by the United Nations in 1986 in the “Declaration on the Right to Developmentt” which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 41/128.

As follow-up mechanism to ensure promotion and implementation of the Declaration on the Right to Development, the Commission established an intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development in 1998, and its high-level task force on the implementation of the right to development in 2004.

The Declaration on the Right to Development

The Declaration on the Right to Development defines such right as “an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized.” (Article 1)

The Right to Development includes:

• full sovereignty over natural resources
• self-determination
• popular participation in development
• equality of opportunity
• the creation of favourable conditions for the enjoyment of other civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights

The human person is identified as the beneficiary of the right to development, as of all human rights. The right to development can be invoked both by individuals and by peoples. It imposes obligations both on individual States – to ensure equal and adequate access to essential resources – and on the international community – to promote fair development policies and effective international cooperation.

The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action

The World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993, dealt extensively with the right to development. It adopted the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, which recognizes that democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing.

The World Conference reaffirmed by consensus the right to development as a universal and inalienable right and an integral part of fundamental human rights. It further stated that, while development facilitates the enjoyment of all human rights, lack of development may not be invoked to justify the abridgement of internationally recognized human rights.

UN General Assembly event to commemorate “The Right to Development at 25:
Policy Coherence in the Global Partnership for Development”

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> United Nations (UN).

The United Nations was established on 24 October 1945 by 51 countries committed to preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security. Today, nearly every nation in the world belongs to the UN: membership totals 192 countries.

When States become Members of the United Nations, they agree to accept the obligations of the UN Charter, an international treaty that sets out basic principles of international relations. According to the Charter, the UN has four purposes:

Head of UN health agency outlines reforms to improve efficiency

1 November 2011

The head of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today stressed that planned reforms are intended to make the agency more efficient as it strives to

Yoga or Stretching Eases Low Back Pain

A new study reports that weekly classes of yoga or intensive stretching are equally effective at reducing low back pain and improving back movement. Both proved better than a self-care book, and their benefits lasted several months after the classes ended.

Each year, Americans spend over $50 billion on low back pain. It is the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading reason for missed work. A variety of treatments are available, but none have proved to be highly effective for chronic back pain. In addition, little is known about the comparative effectiveness of these therapies.

Several small studies have found that yoga may ease back pain. Based on ancient Indian philosophy, yoga has been practiced for more than 2,000 years. It typically combines physical postures, breathing techniques, and meditation or relaxation. Because it integrates both mind and body, some people suspect that yoga might be more beneficial than other exercise techniques in improving back pain. However, no studies have conclusively shown that yoga has this advantage.

To investigate, a team of researchers led by Dr. Karen J. Sherman of the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle launched a clinical trial that enrolled 228 adults. All had moderate low back pain that had lasted for at least 3 months. The study was funded by NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM).

Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups. Two groups received 12 weekly 75-minute classes of either yoga (92 participants) or stretching exercises led by a licensed physical therapist (91 participants). Those taking yoga or stretching were asked to practice at home each non-class day for at least 20 minutes. The remaining 45 volunteers received a self-care book that described the causes of back pain and suggested exercise and lifestyle changes to reduce pain. The study results were reported in the October 24, 2011, advance online edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The researchers found that after 3 months, the outcomes for the yoga group were better than those in the self-care group and continued to be better even at 6 months. The effectiveness of stretching was similar to yoga at 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months. Compared to the self-care group, more yoga and stretching participants reduced their medication use for back pain. Those taking yoga or stretching classes also had better back functioning and were significantly more likely to rate their back pain as better or completely gone at all follow-up times.

“We expected back pain to ease more with yoga than with stretching, so our findings surprised us,” says Sherman. The similar effectiveness of the 2 exercise-based approaches suggests that the benefits of yoga for back pain may have less to do with the mental component than with the physical aspects of muscle stretching and strengthening.

“Our results suggest that both yoga and stretching can be good, safe options for people who are willing to try physical activity to relieve their moderate low back pain” Sherman says. She adds that it’s important for classes to be taught by instructors who can tailor the difficulty and adjust stretches and postures to accommodate participants’ physical limitations.

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*  The above story is reprinted from materials provided by National Institutes of Health (NIH)
** The National Institutes of Health (NIH) , a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency—making important discoveries that improve health and save lives. The National Institutes of Health is made up of 27 different components called Institutes and Centers. Each has its own specific research agenda. All but three of these components receive their funding directly from Congress, and administrate their own budgets.

Yoga or Stretching Eases Low Back Pain is an article review from: Medicinezine.com