Category: SCIENCE/MEDICAL NEWS

Think Vaping is Safe? Think Again!

Vaping, is it DANGEROUS?

Presenter: Cathy Butler-Witt, MA, BSW, NCTTP, CTTS—Assistant Director, Public Health Programs for Family Health Initiatives and the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative.

Location: Camden County College, Blackwood Campus, CIM Auditorium

The Center at Camden County College focuses on the needs and interests of educators and the community at large. Its goal is to create an informed citizenry through exploration of humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and issues critical to a democratic society. Citizens have the opportunity to meet scholars, scientists, government officials and business leaders to explore historical and current issues and discuss societal problems and their solutions.

For more information, Visit

www.camdencc.edu/civiccenter

FREE Wellness Programs for Seniors at Jefferson Health

VOORHEES, NJ

(Feb. 4, 2020)

–

Join Jefferson Health experts for FREE community wellness programs for seniors through May:

Wound Care for Caregivers

;

Tuesday, February 11, noon, at Cherry Hill Public Library (1100 Kings Highway)

: Join Jefferson Health’s Dr. Lisa Derr, Cherry Hill Wound Center Medical Director, for a lunch and learn discussion on educating family members and patients on wound care basics and the Do’s and Don’ts. Light refreshments will be served.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) – The Basics

;

Thursday, March 5, 2 p.m.; Kennedy Health & Wellness Center (405 Hurffville-Cross Keys Road, Suite 201, Sewell)

: COPD affects almost 15 million Americans. Learn what COPD is; how it affects the lungs; causes, signs and symptoms; and disease management.

Weight Loss and Fiber – What’s the Connection?

;

Wednesday, March 18, 11 a.m., at the

Margaret E. Heggan Free Public Library

(606 Delsea Drive, Sewell)

: Eating enough fiber is essential for a healthy diet. Join Jefferson Health’s Danielle Hall, RD, to learn how much dietary fiber you need, the foods that contain it, how it aids in weight loss, and how to add it to meals and snacks.

Understanding Alzheimer’s & Dementia

;

Tuesday, April 21, 2 p.m., at Jefferson Stratford Hospital (18 East Laurel Road, 3

rd

Floor, Room L)

: Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging. Join the Alzheimer’s Association to learn about Alzheimer’s impact, differences between Alzheimer’s and dementia, stages and risk factors, current research and treatments available for some symptoms, and Alzheimer’s Association resources.

Seconds Count when Stopping Strokes

;

Thursday, May 7, 2 p.m., at the

Gloucester County Library Mullica Hill Branch (389 Wolfert Station Road)

: Join Jefferson Health’s Kathryn Donley, BSN, RN, CCRN-K, CNRN, Program Director, Stroke & Life Support Education, for a discussion on ways to reduce your risk, identify early signs and symptoms of heart attack and stroke, and when to call 9-1-1. FREE blood pressure screenings are included.

Horticultural Therapy – Creating an Indoor Fairy Garden

;

Tuesday, May 19, 2 p.m., at Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital (2201 Chapel Avenue, Rooms 2 & 3)

: Discover the fun in designing your own “indoor fairy garden.” Adults all over are experiencing the magic in constructing them. Inspirational Horticultural Therapy’s Rachelle Hasenberg, will provide step-by-step instructions as participants plant in their own container and choose from a wide variety of items to create their unique miniature “fairy garden.” No experience necessary. A fee of $12 is due by Tuesday, May 5.

These programs are sponsored by Jefferson Health – New Jersey’s PrimeTime, a free health and wellness program for active older adults in South Jersey. All community members are invited. For more information and to register, visit

JeffersonHealth.org/NJclasses

or call

800-522-1965

.

About

Jefferson Health

: Jefferson Health, home of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, is reimagining health care in the greater Philadelphia region and southern New Jersey. Jefferson’s dedicated team of doctors, nurses, health professionals, and staff provides a range of primary to highly-specialized care through 14 hospitals (seven are Magnet®-designated by the ANCC for nursing excellence), more than 40 outpatient and urgent care locations, the NCI-designated Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Magee Rehabilitation and the JeffConnect® telemedicine program. For 2019-2020, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals is ranked among the nation’s best hospitals in eight specialities by

U.S. News & World Report

. Jefferson Health’s mission is to improve the lives of patients in the communities it is privileged to serve through safe, effective, equitable, compassionate care.

Medal of Honor Recipient Faces Cancer

by

MOTHAX

The American Legion Burn Pit

Just a very special article today I saw in Military.com that I wanted to share:

Sgt. Ronald Shurer is now fighting on different terrain than the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan, and against a different enemy than the battle-hardened insurgents of that remote region.

Sgt. Ronald Shurer

Fifteen months after he stood at the White House to

receive the nation\’s highest combat honor

, he\’s squaring off in an all-consuming battle against life-threatening lung cancer that his doctors rate at stage 4, meaning it has metastasized or spread to other organs.

\”It\’s everywhere,\” Shurer, 41, said in a lengthy Jan. 22 interview at the coffee shop.

More than once, Shurer said he was prepared to comment on everything about the stage 4 cancer except his prognosis. Statistics from the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society point to five-year survival rates of less than 20%, although those numbers come with the caution that they may not reflect recent advances in treatment.

It is a very long piece, but every bit of it is spectacular.

If you missed the story of Shurer\’s earlier heroics, the Army has a good video up:

His citation:

Staff Sergeant Ronald J. Shurer II distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on April 6, 2008, while serving as a Senior Medical Sergeant, Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 3336, Special Operations Task Force-33, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Staff Sergeant Shurer was part of an assault element inserted by helicopter into a location in Afghanistan. As the assault element moved up a near vertical mountain toward its objective, it was engaged by fierce enemy machine gun, sniper, and rocket-propelled grenade fire. The lead portion of the assault element, which included the ground commander, sustained several casualties and became pinned down on the mountainside. Staff Sergeant Shurer and the rest of the trailing portion of the assault element were likewise engaged by enemy machine gun, sniper, and rocket-propelled grenade fire. As the attack intensified, Staff Sergeant Shurer braved enemy fire to move to an injured Soldier and treat his wounds. Having stabilized the injured Soldier, Staff Sergeant Shurer then learned of the casualties among the lead element. Staff Sergeant Shurer fought his way up the mountainside, under intense enemy fire, to the lead element’s location. Upon reaching the lead element, he treated and stabilized two more Soldiers. Finishing those lifesaving efforts, Staff Sergeant Shurer noticed two additional severely wounded Soldiers under intense enemy fire. The bullet that had wounded one of these Soldiers had also impacted Staff Sergeant Shurer’s helmet. With complete disregard for his own life, Staff Sergeant Shurer again moved through enemy fire to treat and stabilize one Soldier’s severely wounded arm.

Shortly thereafter, Staff Sergeant Shurer continued to brave withering enemy fire to get to the other Soldier’s location in order to treat his lower leg, which had been almost completely severed by a high-caliber sniper round. After treating the Soldier, Staff Sergeant Shurer began to evacuate the wounded; carrying and lowering them down the sheer mountainside. While moving down the mountain, Staff Sergeant Shurer used his own body to shield the wounded from enemy fire and debris caused by danger-close air strikes.

Reaching the base of the mountain, Staff Sergeant Shurer set up a casualty collection point and continued to treat the wounded. With the arrival of the medical evacuation helicopter, Staff Sergeant Shurer, again under enemy fire, helped load the wounded into the helicopter. Having ensured the safety of the wounded, Staff Sergeant Shurer then regained control of his commando squad and rejoined the fight. He continued to lead his troops and emplace security elements until it was time to move to the evacuation landing zone for the helicopter.

Staff Sergeant Shurer’s actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, Special Operations Command Central, and the United States Army.

And lastly, another video, from CBS, which frankly I think does the best job with these MOH stories.

Posted in the burner | 13 comments

Giving Back to the Community

Over the years, as a result of this funding, programs at KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy, St. Anthony of the Padua in Camden, and the Brooklawn School District have served hundreds of children.

Giving back to the community is a family affair for Bernard and Shirlee Brown, their daughter Anne Koons, their son Jeff and his wife Tracy.

CAMDEN CITY NJ–The Cooper Learning Center recently received $50,000 from the Bernard and Shirlee Brown Foundation, the Anne Koons Brown Foundation and the Jeff and Tracy Brown Foundation. This generous donation will go a long way to help children with dyslexia and other learning difficulties learn to read and become happy, lifelong learners.

The Cooper Learning Center, with offices in Voorhees and Moorestown, has offered parents and children access to the most advanced, scientifically-proven methods for accurately assessing and treating children’s learning difficulties, combined with expert clinical support for the possible causes of learning disabilities.

“Learning to read is something that no one can take away from you,” said Koons, a successful real estate agent whose son benefited from the Cooper Learning Center 25 years ago. “We had such a positive experience and I have recommended countless people to Dr. Selznick. It’s a privilege to support this program.”

Richard Selznick, PhD, licensed psychologist, author of four books on learning issues, and the Director of the Cooper Learning Center, and his staff, ensure that children learn in a caring and supportive environment that diminishes insecurity and self-consciousness while fostering comfort and trust.

“Seeing a struggling learner grasp a concept that has been a challenge is extremely rewarding,” said Selznick. “We are grateful to the Koons and Brown families for supporting our efforts over the years to help children realize their full learning potential. They have been extremely gracious in their support of the children.”

Donations from Koons and her family have allowed the Cooper Learning Center to provide its reading services to children who would not otherwise have access to such a program. Over the years, as a result of this funding, programs at KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy, St. Anthony of the Padua in Camden, and the Brooklawn School District have served hundreds of children.

“All of my life, our parents have championed meaningful causes benefitting those in need,” said Jeff Brown, president and vice chairman of NFI. “We are proud to support a local resource where children, and their families, faced with learning challenges feel understood and are treated in a compassionate way.”

“

The more you read, the more you know, oh the places you will go

,” and thanks to Anne Koons and the Brown family, more children are overcoming their learning challenges to go so many wonderful places!

For more information about The Cooper Learning Center,

click here

.

Pictured Above:

Top (L-R): Jeff and Tracy Brown, Bernard Brown, Anne Koons and Shirlee Brown

Bottom: Participants of the Cooper Learning Center’s Summer Reading Institute with Dr. Selznick, Anne Koons and Cooper staff.

How to Encourage Your Kids to Brush Every Day

Gloucestercitynews.net (January 31, 2020)–Getting a good bedtime routine going can make it easier to get your kids to sleep. Therefore, it’s important to teach them to do things like put on their own pajamas and read a book. The problem is, when it comes to tooth brushing, many kids are reluctant to do it and may spend ages messing around and generally not doing what you ask. If your kids are refusing to brush, here are some ways to encourage them to get into good habits.

Find Out What They Dislike About Brushing

image unsplash.com

While sometimes a refusal to brush is simply laziness — or wanting to do something more fun — there can be a number of reasons why kids hate brushing their teeth. Some kids dislike the feel of brushing their teeth, but this can be helped if you brush for them until they’re older. Other kids hate the taste of toothpaste, so you could remedy this by making your own paste and utilizing different techniques to see if that makes your child happier.

Let Them Choose a Toothbrush

You wouldn’t want someone to pick out a toothbrush for you, so let your child have some input. It’s important to get a toothbrush with a head that’s small enough for their mouth, otherwise, they’ll struggle to get in the corners. An electric toothbrush can also make things more fun for them. According to Method Dental,

electric toothbrushes have a number of advantages

and can be good for kids.

Use a Reward Chart

If you’ve had success using the reward chart method with your child, then add toothbrushing to their daily goals so they can earn stars or smiley faces. Once they’ve collected enough, you can reward them with a non-sugary treat. And as they get older, the chart should be used to record their brushing every night before bed.

Use an App

The modern form of a reward chart, apps can be a good way to encourage children to pick up good habits, as well as ensuring they learn the right technique. There are many

toothbrushing apps for kids

that can be downloaded for free on the app store or Google Play. These apps will generally show a cute cartoon that ensures your child brushes correctly and for the recommended amount of time.

Take Them to the Dentist

If nagging doesn’t work, try taking the kids to a child-friendly dentist who can talk to them about brushing their teeth. Kids often don’t care if their teeth look a little yellow or if their breath smells, but the fear of having cavities or missing teeth might be enough to get them to brush more often.

From the first moment your child’s baby teeth come through, it’s important to teach them oral hygiene skills that’ll turn into good habits for life. While brushing your teeth isn’t the most exciting thing your kids can do, if you make a game out of it and reward them for remembering to brush, they are more likely to do it.

NJ Dept. of Health Opens Novel Coronavirus Call Center

TRENTON, NJ (January 30, 2020)–The New Jersey Department of Health today announced the opening of a hotline (1-800-222-1222) for the public to ask questions about the 2019 Novel Coronavirus.

“Although the risk to the public remains low, we understand that residents have questions about this new virus,” Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said. “This hotline provides factual information to alleviate fear and dispel rumors.”

The hotline is being operated by the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System (NJPIES), also known as the New Jersey Poison Center, which has run other call centers for the Health Department. NJPIES is a division of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. The hotline can accommodate callers in multiple languages.

“

As a 24-hour hotline staffed continuously with trained healthcare professionals, the New Jersey Poison Center is standing by to answer questions about this emerging infection. The call is always free, and we can communicate in any language to the public as well as healthcare professionals,” said Dr. Diane Calello, Executive and Medical Director of NJPIES.

The hotline is part of a comprehensive approach by the state and medical and public health partners to respond to novel coronavirus (nCoV) by ensuring the public health and health care system preparedness.

The Department has an CoV

webpage

that includes CDC updates, travel advisories and guidance sent to health care providers, local health departments, infection preventionists and other health partners.

On Friday, Commissioner Persichilli sent a letter to hospital CEOs detailing

specific guidance

to healthcare professionals on how to evaluate reports of patients with possible nCoV illness, such as taking a careful travel and exposure history to determine if they meet specific CDC testing criteria.  At this time, only the CDC laboratories in Atlanta have the capabilities to test for nCoV, though it is expected that state public health laboratories will be able to test soon.

The Department has also been in contact with Newark Liberty International Airport’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in advance of airport screening.

“The Department reminds individuals with recent travel to Wuhan, China or close contact with someone who has and are experiencing symptoms, to call their health care provider in advance before arriving to the office so they can make accommodations in advance,” Commissioner Persichilli said.

Patients with confirmed nCoV infection have reportedly had mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. CDC believes at this time that symptoms of nCoV may appear in as few as two days or as long as two weeks after exposure.

New Jersey continues to work closely with the CDC and local health partners to monitor the situation and will provide updates accordingly.

For more information, visit our homepage at

nj.gov/health

DHS Secretary Commends Partnership to Improve Health Outcomes in North Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA

– Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Teresa Miller today joined Project HOME, Independence Blue Cross, and AmeriHealth Caritas to announce the launch of Keystone Connection to Wellness, which will work to address health disparities and social determinants of health experienced by residents of North

Philadelphia.

“Our partners in the HEZ are doing incredible, necessary work to help work against the health disparities residents of North Philadelphia face every day, but we need to be able to scale and grow these efforts so more people can see a positive change and better health outcomes,” said Sec. Miller. “Project HOME’s partnership with Independence Blue Cross and AmeriHealth Caritas will make growing this work possible, and I am incredibly grateful that our Medicaid managed care organizations are investing in organizations like Project HOME to maximize our ability to make a positive change in the lives of people we serve.”

Project HOME is currently a partner in the Wolf Administration’s North Philadelphia’s Health Enterprise Zone (HEZ) initiative, which supports community health workers to address health disparities in North Philadelphia.

Keystone Connection to Wellness will allow Project HOME to grow its work to address social determinants of health through financial and operations support from Independence Blue Cross and AmeriHealth Caritas. A community advisory board will bring together local stakeholders to inform services and programs offered to address poverty, health outcomes, and life circumstances that influence these like food access, housing, access to behavioral health care, and employment, among others. Project HOME expects to serve approximately 1,250 people in Keystone Connection to Wellness’ first year.

In February 2019, the Wolf Administration awarded five grantees $3 million to support projects that would use community health workers to promote better health outcomes in the HEZ. This funding created innovative projects that will use community health workers to address health disparities in children, older adults, and those who are frequent users of medical services by increasing health promotion and education in the HEZ. In December 2019, the Wolf Administration

announced

Opens In A New Window

a one-year extension of this work to continue progress made in the projects’ first year. This funding will help Project HOME grow and build upon its work of addressing social determinants of health and promoting health equity and improved health outcomes in the North Philadelphia.

The HEZ is made up of the 19120-26, 19130, 19132-34, 19138, 19140-41, and 19144 ZIP codes in North Philadelphia, which run from the beginning of Broad Street through City Hall. It includes nearly 320,000 Medicaid recipients – nearly 13 percent of Pennsylvania’s total Medicaid population. Beneficiaries in zip codes around this corridor experience multiple health conditions and significant socio-economic barriers that result in high medical costs and utilization and chronic poor health. Thirty-one percent of residents living within the HEZ live below the federal poverty line, twice the national average, and the life expectancy of children in the HEZ is 20 years shorter compared to children in wealthier ZIP codes.

The projects include:

Education Plus Health

: improving child and adolescent health outcomes through the School-Based Health Center Community Health Worker project, which integrates community health workers into each school-based health center team to screen students and identify concerns related to asthma, diabetes, mental health, substance use, food insecurity and healthy weight, and multi-generational health needs. Education Plus Health community health workers have helped address and improve student health outcomes.

Bebashi- Transition to Hope

: mitigating the symptoms of multigenerational poverty by addressing food insecurity through physically expanding Second Helping, an emergency food pantry, establishing food pantries in schools, and working to increase access to quality health care and assistance programs through one-to-one resource navigation with direct linkages and referrals for HEZ residents. Bebashi has served 3,600 people through their food pantry.

Project HOME

: addressing diabetes and managing growing health care spending through the Healthy Communities Program, which trains peer community health workers to recruit participants from the HEZ with diabetes or pre-diabetes. The initiative uses an evidence-based healthy lifestyle program focusing on nutrition, physical activity, healthy food access, and motivational supports and will connect participants to integrated health and wellness resources.

Health Federation of Philadelphia

: strengthening programs at organizations throughout the HEZ by training community health workers and peer support workers to build sustainable capacity and promote organizational development. They are focusing on addressing diabetes and prediabetes through the implementation of a diabetes prevention program, while also addressing behavioral and mental health and substance use disorders. In addition, they are implementing a cloud-based platform for comprehensive social service referrals.

New

Kensington Community Development Corporation

: addressing social determinants of health by hiring community health workers who are residents of the HEZ and utilizing trauma-informed training to assist as they screen clients and connect them to resources for health care, food resources, credit and budget counseling, and other social service resources.

Since the creation of the HEZ in 2016, DHS and grantees have sought to improve social indicators of health for residents of North Philadelphia and are making progress on this work. DHS has previously funded trauma-informed practices among teachers, staff, parents, and community members and has increased funding for lead remediation projects in schools within the HEZ. In October DHS

announced

Opens In A New Window

$4.3 million in funding for additional services, including support for SNAP 50/50 programs aimed at moving people out of poverty, home visiting services, and services related to eviction prevention and affordable housing.

Conceived Through ‘Fertility Fraud’

When Heather Woock was conceived, her mom sought the help of a fertility specialist. (Leah Klafczynski for NPR)

Jake Harper, Side Effects Public Media:

January 28, 2020

When Heather Woock was in her late 20s, she started researching her family history. As part of the project, she spit into a tube and sent it to Ancestry, a consumer DNA testing service. Then, in 2017, she started getting messages about the results from people who said they could be half-siblings.

“I immediately called my mom and said, ‘Mom, is it possible that I have random siblings out there somewhere?\’” said Woock, of Indianapolis. She recalled her mom responded, “No, why? That’s ridiculous.”

But the messages continued, and some of them mentioned an Indianapolis fertility practice that she knew her mom had consulted when she had trouble conceiving.

Woock researched and finally learned the truth. Dr. Donald Cline, the fertility doctor her mother saw in 1985, is her biological father.

“I went through an identity crisis,” she said. “I couldn’t look in the mirror and think about, ‘Where did my eyes come from? Where did my hair color come from?’ I didn’t even want to think about any of that.”

Woock hadn’t known that her mom had used artificial insemination to conceive her, and neither of them knew the doctor had used his own sperm.

“We now know Cline used his own sample and squirted it into my mom,” Woock said.

In the 1970s and ’80s, Cline deceived dozens of patients and used his sperm to impregnate them. He has more than 60 biological children — and counting.

For Woock, as the story of her parentage sunk in, it was distressing for another reason: She wanted to start her own family and was having trouble conceiving. And now she needed to turn to the fertility industry that had so badly betrayed her mom.

“We were doing all of the calendaring … everything that is out there to help you get pregnant, we were doing that,” Woock recalled.

But after six months, when she still wasn’t pregnant at 32, she went to a fertility clinic for some tests, which can include

fertility tests for males

to try to underline all possible issues.

“I had to fill out all this paperwork, and there’s a slot that says kind of like, ‘Is there anything else you’d like to share?’ ” Woock said.

Yes, there most certainly was.

The Odds Of ‘Fertility Fraud’ These Days

New allegations of doctors using their own sperm keep coming to light — because of genetic-testing services like Ancestry revealing networks of half siblings — in states like

Idaho

, Ohio, Colorado and Arkansas.

But those doctors performed artificial inseminations decades ago. Could what happened to Woock’s mom happen in a modern fertility clinic?

Dr. Bob Colver, a fertility specialist in Carmel, Indiana, said it’s a question many of his patients have asked. But it’s unlikely, he said. These days, there are more people involved in the process, and in vitro fertilization happens in a lab, not an exam room.

“Unless you’re in a small clinic where there’s absolutely no checks and balances, I can’t even imagine that today,” Colver said.

It’s now illegal in

Indiana, Texas and California

for a doctor to use his sperm to impregnate his patients. But there’s no national law criminalizing what’s called “fertility fraud.”

A photo of Larry Hobson holding his daughter, Heather Woock, as an infant. Woock’s mother consulted with a fertility doctor when she was having trouble getting pregnant.(Leah Klafczynski for NPR)

Fertility medicine has advanced a lot since the 1980s, but women trying to get pregnant today with the help of medicine face a baffling array of treatment options that can be hard to navigate and can be hugely expensive. And some critics say the growing, multibillion-dollar fertility industry needs more regulation.

For example, sperm banks may not get accurate medical histories from their donors, who could pass along genetic diseases. And there’s no limit on how many times a donor’s sperm can be used, which some donor children worry could increase the chance of inbreeding. Sperm donation guidelines from organizations like the American Society for Reproductive Medicine are voluntary. There was a contestant on

“The Bachelorette”

last year who said his sperm had helped father more than 100 kids.

Unrealistic Expectations

When Woock decided to get her first fertility treatment, she set preconditions with the clinic. She insisted on having a female doctor and insisted that a doctor be in the room for all appointments and oversee everything that happened.

Her experience with her clinic was very different from her mother’s with Cline, but nonetheless there were surprises along the way.

The clinic told her that her problems conceiving could be because of husband Rob’s low sperm count and motility (meaning his sperm weren’t great swimmers). They advised a form of in vitro fertilization that involved injecting one sperm directly into one of her eggs in a petri dish.

When doctors told Woock she needed IVF, she felt pretty optimistic.

“I’m thinking going into this that our chances of success are 70, 75%,” Woock said.

A 1985 photo of Kimberly Hobson (left) pregnant with her daughter, Heather. Kimberly is photographed alongside her husband, Larry Hobson, as well as relatives who were also expecting.(Leah Klafczynski for NPR)

Fertility treatment can be really expensive, and patients may start treatment with unrealistic expectations. That’s because success rates are complicated, and some clinics use only the best numbers in their

advertising

.

For example, clinics can advertise high fertilization rates. But a 70% fertilization rate doesn’t mean 70% of eggs turn into babies — plenty can go wrong after the lab combines egg and sperm.

Success depends on your age, your clinic and the type of procedure you need. But most of the time, assisted reproduction procedures such as IVF don’t work. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which

tracks assisted reproduction rates

in the U.S., reports only about 24% of attempts result in a baby.

‘Add-On’ Technology — And Prices

When Woock started her first IVF cycle, she gave herself shots, a couple a day, to stimulate her ovaries to get multiple eggs ready at once. Multiple eggs means more chances for fertilization.

But the drugs have side effects. They gave her headaches and made her moody and less patient.

“I was actually allergic to one of the medications, which just means that you keep taking it and deal with the itching and rash,” Woock said.

But she hung on until it was time for a doctor to surgically retrieve her eggs, at which point patients can face even more choices. Because the couple’s fertility problem appeared to be with Rob’s sperm, the clinic offered to use a special device to help pick the best sperm for IVF.

“We were kind of like, ‘Yeah, why wouldn’t you?\’” Woock said. “If it’s gonna give us a better chance, do it.”

A device like that is called an add-on. Add-ons are often new technology, described as cutting-edge, which can appeal to patients. Examples of add-ons include

genetic testing for chromosomal abnormalities in embryos

— which some specialists argue improves the odds of a live birth — and

assisted hatching

and

endometrial scratching

, both methods claiming to facilitate implantation.

An exam table at Midwest Fertility Specialists, a fertility clinic in Carmel, Indiana.(Lauren Bavis/WFYI)

Jack Wilkinson, a biostatistician at the University of Manchester in England,

researches add-ons

, which he has found can increase costs — and, he said, they may not work.

“We quite often see there’s no benefit at all,” Wilkinson said. “Or, possibly even worse, that there’s a disadvantage of using that treatment.”

Wilkinson said the device Woock’s clinic offered could work, but the evidence supporting it is thin.

Failed Fertilizations

The clinic called Woock the morning after her egg retrieval. None of Woock’s eggs fertilized. The procedure revealed that her husband’s sperm quality wasn’t the only fertility issue the couple faced.

“They immediately saw that there was something wrong with my eggs,” Woock said. “My eggs are just total crap.”

She underwent a second round of IVF with the same result — no fertilization.

“Getting that news the second time … felt even more set in stone that this was going to be a very long, challenging road,” Woock said.

Challenging and expensive. Most states, including Indiana, don’t require insurers to cover fertility treatment. Without insurance, a round of IVF can cost more than $10,000 — even more than $20,000 — with no guarantee the patient will get pregnant.

Woock was lucky that her employer-provided insurance covered a lot. But it still wasn’t cheap. She had to pay for some medications, “plus, you have to pay lab and facility fees that insurance doesn’t pay,” Woock said.

Donor sperm and eggs aren’t generally covered, either. Those can be tens of thousands of dollars.

Woock faced a hard choice: After two failed attempts, did she want a kid enough to go through IVF again? She and her husband decided they did. So Woock did a third round of IVF. And then a fourth. When that didn’t work, she gave up on using her own eggs.

“What I expected as I was growing up and picturing my children is not what I will see,” Woock said.

Woock and her husband decided to try donor eggs. If all goes according to plan, she could still carry a child. She wants to keep trying.

“I realize that pregnancy is incredibly challenging on your body and your mental state,” she said. “If I can make it through a year of IVF, I can make it through morning sickness.”

This story is part of a partnership that includes

Side Effects Public Media

,

NPR

and Kaiser Health News. The story was adapted from Episode 6 of the podcast

Sick

. You can hear more about the fallout from Dr. Donald Cline’s deception on Sick’s first season, at

sickpodcast.org

.

ACL tears cause harmful changes in our brain structure

Newswise — ANN ARBOR—It\’s known that some joint function is often permanently lost after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, and re-injury is common even with intensive physical therapy, but it\’s unclear why.

New research from the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology shows structural changes in the brains of patients who underwent ACL reconstruction. These changes hinder recovery and may contribute to performance deficits and re-injury, says study co-author Lindsey Lepley, U-M assistant professor of athletic training.

Lindsey Lepley and colleague Adam Lepley, clinical assistant professor of athletic training, took MRI brain scans of 10 ACL-reconstructed patients. The scans showed that part of the corticospinal tract—the pathway that scuttles messages from brain to muscles—had atrophied in the patients.

The corticospinal tract runs from front to back through both hemispheres of the brain. The side of the tract that controls the ACL-reconstructed knee was about 15% smaller than on the uninjured side, the researchers say.

Think of the altered corticospinal tract as a traffic tunnel that narrows, letting fewer cars pass through, they say. In the ACL reconstructed patients, less information gets from the brain to the muscle because less information can travel along the smaller tract.

\”In essence, the brain not only alters the way it communicates with the rest of the body, joints, muscles, etc., but the structural makeup of the basic building blocks of the brain are also changed after ACL injury,\” Adam Lepley said. \”We think that this is a protective mechanism, in which our body is trying to limit unwanted movement around a joint injury … and can be applied to not just ACL injuries, but other musculoskeletal injuries as well.\”

Another recent study shows that downstream neural activity in the quadriceps is impaired during sport-like movements after ACL surgery, which suggests that poor brain structure and communication can lead to reduced functioning, the researchers say.

The bottom line for patients and clinicians is that a knee injury is not just about knees––other areas, like the brain structure, are negatively impacted, too.

\”It means that during treatment, a systemic approach should be taken not just to improve range of motion or swelling at the injured joint, but also consider other impairments like poor movement patterns and muscle activation in order to get better outcomes,\” Lindsey Lepley said. \”There is evidence of using visual retraining, different motor learning modalities like external focus of attention and biofeedback, which can help \’rewire\’ the brain to help the body adapt to a new normal.\”

Study:

Corticospinal tract structure and excitability in patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: A DTI and TMS study

Related research:

Protracted alterations in muscle activation strategies and knee mechanics in patients after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Lindsey Lepley

Adam Lepley

Transgender State Workers Sue Florida Demanding Support for Sex-Change Surgeries

Tom Fitton JudicialWatch.org

Around the country, and now in Florida, “transgender” activists are demanding all of us to pay for their sex-change surgeries.

Corruption Chronicles

has the

details

:

CNBNews graphics

In what appears to be a growing national trend, another public enterprise is being sued for failing to pay for transgenders’ costly sex-change surgery. The plaintiffs in this latest case are two veteran state workers—both men—in Florida who allege sex discrimination because the state’s insurance policy doesn’t cover surgical procedures to help make them women. One of them, Jami Claire, is a senior biological scientist at the University of Florida (UF), the state’s premier university, which is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. The other, Kathryn Lane, is an attorney in the Tallahassee public defender’s office. Both men take hormones and undergo electrolysis to make them more feminine.

Now they want taxpayers in the Sunshine State to fund expensive surgeries to alter their genitals and face. Claire, who is 62 years old, and Lane, 39, claim to have gender dysphoria that requires gender-affirming care explicitly excluded by the state’s health insurance program, which covers more than 350,000 employees and dependents. “Gender dysphoria is a serious, but treatable, medical condition,” according to the federal

complaint

filed this week is U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. “Left untreated it can lead to debilitating distress, depression, anxiety, impairment of function, substance abuse, self-surgery to alter one’s genitals, or secondary sex characteristics, self-injurious behavior and even suicide.” That makes “gender-affirming care” medically necessary, the lawsuit says, adding that singling out transgender employees for unequal treatment constitutes “unlawful sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Equal Protection Clause.”

Claire, the UF scientist, is a Navy veteran who has been living as a female for more than two decades and has a “well-established social and professional identity as a woman,” the complaint says. In 1997 he was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and began taking hormones and undergoing electrolysis for hair removal. His wife and children disowned him and the “financial toll of the divorce” made gender-affirming treatments unaffordable so he stopped them until a few years ago. In 2016 Claire resumed gender affirmation treatments to “live authentically as a woman,” a medical necessity, the lawsuit says, because Claire experienced constant stress, anxiety, pain and anguish as a man. In 2018 Claire paid for a breast augmentation to feminize his body. Now he wants the state to pay for the surgical removal of his testicles, but his public insurance plan denied the procedure.

Lane, the attorney, also has a “well-established social and professional identity as a woman,” according to the complaint. He began experiencing gender dysphoria since the age of five but suppressed his “female identity” for many years, causing “severe depression and anxiety.” In 2012, Lane finally embraced his female identity and began hormone and facial/body hair removal treatments. Lane also began growing out the hair on his head to “be identified more easily as a female.” In 2015 he paid for breast augmentation surgery. The lawyer wants the state insurance plan to pay for an expensive cosmetic procedure known as “facial feminization surgery” essential to treating gender dysphoria. “Facial features play an important part in being recognized as a particular gender,” the lawsuit says. “The public’s ability to recognize an individual as transgender based on their facial features places that individual at risk of violence, harassment, and discrimination.”

Governments are increasingly being forced to pay for the pricey cosmetic treatments of transgender people who claim to be stuck in the wrong body. Thousands of dollars are annually spent to give transgender jail inmates nationwide hormone treatments, laser hair removal and makeup. In Massachusetts, a convicted murderer actually

sued

the Department of Corrections to pay for sex-change surgery. Last year a federal judge forced Wisconsin taxpayers to provide sex reassignment surgery and hormonal procedures for low-income transgender residents who get free medical care from the government. In his

ruling

, the federal judge wrote that Medicaid, the publicly funded insurance that covers 65.7 million poor people, cannot deny the medical treatment needs of those suffering from “gender dysphoria.” Officials estimate it will cost up to $1.2 million annually to provide transgender Medicaid recipients in the Badger State with treatments such as “gender confirmation” surgery, including elective mastectomies, hysterectomies, genital reconstruction and breast augmentation.

source JUDICIAL WATCH