The fear of radiation sickness as a result from the nuclear crisis in Japan has seen a surge in sales of potassium iodide in the United States.

Potassium iodide (PK) is a salt substance containing non-radioactive iodine. When taken, it floods the thyroid gland and reduces the amount of radiation that can be absorbed.

The substance is used as “Radiation medication”. Generally you can’t buy KI from the pharmacy but reports say that some manufacturers do not have them in stock.

The United States government has a large stock of KI for any emergency that might occur.

The internet retailer nukepills.com tweeted that it had was out of stock of KI pills on Tuesday. It said it had gotten more than 3,700 orders in just under a day on Sunday and has sent over 50,000 pills to Japan.

The owner of one pharmaceuticals company, said her company will be out of stocks of KI by the end of the day. She said they had received several calls from all sorts of people ranging from housewives to state governments wanting to order the “radiation pills”.

She said her firm had purchased new raw materials to produce more KI solutions.

The current U.S. government policy is that each state have enough stocks of KI for residents within 10 miles of a nuclear plant.

In 2002 a new law increased the requirement to 20 miles of a nuclear plant but that was never implemented.

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said the policies on KI stocking will be reviewed.

For the “radiation pills” to be effective, they need to be taken before exposure to radiation. The drug has an effective protection period of 24 hours.

Authorities in Japan are frantically trying to avert a nuclear disaster by dropping water on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in an attempt to cool it.

On Thursday morning, four helicopters passed over the plant within 20 minutes of each other, and dropped about 7.5 tons of water each passing time on the plant. The water is being dropped on the plant’s number 3 reactor.

The operators of the power plant later told journalists that the dropping of water on the plant seemed not to be working as radiation levels appear to have actually gone up to about 3,000 microsievert per hour. Naturally, one will experience this level of radiation in about a year.

Officials announced Thursday that cooling the number 3 reactor of the Fukushima nuclear plant was now a top priority and the attempt to tackle the problem from the air could not be put off any longer despite concerns about workers.

Authorities in Japan also announced they will be adding 11 special water cannon trucks and one from the Tokyo police department to try and cool the reactor from the ground.

The earthquake and tsunami that happened almost a week ago has led to the failure of the cooling systems of four of Fukushima’s six reactors.

Yesterday, the head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Gregory Jaczko, told congress there are “extremely high” levels of radiation coming from Fukushima’s fourth reactor.

But Japanese authorities quickly refuted the claim.

On Thursday, work also got underway to restore power to the nuclear plant from outside sources. It is said that once power is restored, they can operate the cooling system with seawater.

It is however believed this will take some time as damages caused to the pumps by seawater will first be repaired. Authorities said they will use temporary pumps initially.

Noriyuki Shikata, A spokesperson for the Japanese government told CNN on Thursday there have not been any major breach of containment at the plants. He played down any fears of a meltdown occurring imminently.

The International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA) is monitoring the nuclear situation in Japan and says that temperatures at the spent fuel pools at Fukushima’s reactors 4, 5 and 6 all register far above normal.

This is due to the fact that source of power to the cooling systems may have been compromised.

A Swedish study has claimed that coffee drinking women have a lower risk of getting stroke. The research claims that if a woman drinks at least a cup of coffee or more per day, her risk of getting stroke is reduced by as much as 25%.

The report also highlighted that women who don’t drink coffee at all actually have an increased risk of getting stroke.

The report however noted that these conclusions are just initial findings and should therefore not alter anyone’s coffee habits for now.

According to the leader of the research team, Susanna Larsson, the researchers found that those who consume 1 to 5 cups of coffee each day had their risk of stroke reduced by 22% to 25%. This was in comparison with women who drink less than 1 cup of coffee per day.

The study which was conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Medicine was published in the 10th March edition of Stroke.

The study was conducted on 34,670 women who were aged between 49 to 83.

According to the study, 1,680 women got stroke over a 10-year period spanning 1998 to 2008. It was found that women who drunk coffee had 22% to 25% less risk of getting stroke.

The research found that the results remained the same even when they took into consideration smoking, weight, diabetes blood pressure and drinking habits.

The report did not specify whether the women drunk decaf or not. However, Larsson said most people in Sweden drink caffeinated coffee.

Some experts are however calling the research inconclusive saying there is no concrete link between the reduced risk of stroke and coffee drinking. One expert said that the study study focuses on just one factor and there were a lot of other variables that affect the risk of stroke.

Also he said the study focused on only Scandinavian women and therefore even if there was a link between coffee drinking and the risk of stroke, there was no evidence it will work in other diverse groups.

Dr. Larry B. Godstein of the Duke Stroke Center said the study could not control so many variables like medications, people’s coffee consumption habits. He said there were too many variables that could contribute to the reduced risk that could not be controlled by the research team.

Click here to learn more about Stroke from the US National Library of Medicine

We might all know that the health care law introduced by President Obama has been repealed. We you don’t know is that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, has been for some time now a brain child of Congressional Republicans and despite several court contests, the law actually still stands very strong.

But if you talk to most Americans, they’ll tell you that’s not true. A recent poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation has revealed that some 22% of Americans still actually think the Obama health care law has been repealed and a further 26% do not no whether it has been repealed or not.

The poll further reveal that majority of Americans will want to keep some key components of the Affordable Care Act such as tax credits for supporting small businesses and financial assistance for supporting low income families. But it also revealed that some 4 in 10 will rather see the law totally repealed. Some of them though will want to have it replaced with a Republican version of the law.

Read the entire report here.

When the mom of 5-year-old Christine Honeycutt saw a faint gray smudge on her daughter’s face, she assumed it must just be a result of being hit by the door despite her daughter claiming to have not been hit by a door.

She then saw what looked like a little bruising on her daughter’s neck but neither the smudge or the bruising left her unnecessarily concerned.

Then a few weeks passed and the smudge and bruising were still there. This time she drew the attention of Christine’s pediatrician. But he also thought there was nothing to worry about.

He believed the marks were only discoloration and gave Christine’s mom, Vicki, an ointment to smear on the affected areas and keep her daughter out of the sun.

Then 5 months passed by and the smudge and the discoloration around the neck were still visible. Vicki now decided to seek a second opinion from a Southern California doctor.

He also diagnosed Christine the same as the pediatrician. And even though Vicki was not completely satisfied by the diagnosis, she still wasn’t majorly concerned. This was because despite the marks on her skin, Christine was a very healthy girl.

A year came by and Christine had gained a lot of weight and had episodes of seizure. She will fall into wild episodes of convulsions. And yet still she was being misdiagnosed. But this time Vicki wasn’t buying this.

What is Parry Romberg Syndrome?

A few months after the seizures, the little smudge on Christine’s forehead had spread to become a rather very visible line that stretches all the way to her eyebrow. It now seemed like a big indentation on her face. Also Vicki said in a CNN interview that, “one side of her face resembled a baby . It seemed like one side of her face was growing and the other side was not.”

Then in 2008, her thoughts were confirmed as a diagnosis was given as Parry Romberg Syndrome. It is an extremely rare autoimmune disorder that affects approximately 1 out of a million people. It is characterized by one side of the face growing normally while the other was rather deteriorating.

Doctors gave Christine a very bleak outlook. Parry Romberg Syndrome had no cure. And to make matters worse, Christine’s face couldn’t be operated upon until the Syndrome had run it’s course. And this could be several years before this happens.

When that time came, Christine was now an adolescent and was finding it very hard to fit in. Her mother then reached out to Dr. John Seibert. Dr. Seibert was a plastic surgeon who had operated on several people with the Parry Romberg syndrome.

Just this past November, he operated on Christine. Doctor Seibert spoke of the 7-hour long operation as building a teddy bear. He and his team took some tissue from Christine’s left arm and inserted it under the deteriorating side of her through an incision under her ear to give that side of the face the natural shape it should have had.

Despite some Parry Romberg Syndrome specialist’s belief that the operation might not be able to stop the syndrome from causing damage the bones under the damaged side of her face, Christine is very happy with the results so far. She said, “I already like my new nose better.”

She will continue to see Dr. Seibert for minor operations to make sure the new tissue bends well with the old healthy tissue.

The full story can be found at CNN.

A new research has revealed that, you are more likely to get oral cancer through oral sex than smoking or drinking.

It used to be that drinking and smoking were the main causes of cancer but the new report indicates that, people getting oral cancer through oral sex have doubled in the last 30 years.

This was revealed by Dr. Maura Gillison, at a meeting of the American science community in Washington.

It was revealed that you are 8.6 times more at risk of developing oral cancer if you have had oral sex with more than sex different people than someone who has never done it. Those who smoke are only 3 times more likely and those who drink were only 2.5 times more likely to get oral cancer.

The oral cancer is caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). It is the exact same virus that causes cervical cancer in women. This means men are more at risk of developing oral cancer through oral sex than women.

More of today’s youth stand a greater chance of developing the disease as teens of today view oral sex as a norm and casually indulge in it. The situation is so bad that Dr. Gillison is suggesting vaccinating young boys against the disease before they start indulging in sexual activities.

She said she often advices her patients to vaccinate their children against the virus. And although there is no definite vaccine against HPv, she said the vaccine for preventing genital warts and anal cancer might be able to protect them against HPV as a potential byproduct.

The Oral Cancer Foundation reports that some 37,000 people will develop oral cancer this year and out of that, some 8,000 will die from it.

As outrageous as it may sound, CNN reports that scientists are working to develop a skin “printing” technology that could help treat injured servicemen on battlefields of the future.

The inspiration for this system comes from the simple inkjet printer you own at home. The research is being conducted by scientists from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Dr. Anthony Atala, who is the director of the institute said, “We begun by using the common printer cartridge we use at home. But rather than putting ink into it, we filled it with cells”

The technology is aimed at repairing injured or skin burns.

How soon can we expect to see a skin “printer” in action?

The project is still currently being developed and it should be at least another 5 years before it can be tried on human beings said Dr. Atala.

There are other educational institutions researching comparable projects and will talk about it tomorrow at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference to be held in Washington. The scientists believe other organs in the body could also be repaired using this technology.

Burnt victims consitute roughly 5% – 20% of millitary combat injuries. The research is being supported by an arm of the Defence Department (DoD) responsible regenerative medicine.

The researchers at the Wake Forest Institute will get an estimated $50,000,000 from the DoD spread across the next 5 years.

The scientists were able to create the skin “printer” by simply altering a common printer which is used at home. One such alteration the attachment of a 3-dimensional “elevator” which replaces damaged skin with new skin.

The process used to “print” the new skin contains many processes. Firstly, the burn victim muste donate a small sample of skin. This is less than half a postage stamp. A chemical solution is used to collect the sample.

This small sample contains cells that are separated and reproduced in a special environment which accelerates the cell regeneration process.

When they have produced enough cells, they fill a cartridge with the cells and print on the wonded area of the

A fresh research has revealed that far too many patients with abnormal mammograms or related breast problems are being treated with surgical biopsies instead of needle biopsies, a much more safe, less intrusive and inexpensive treatment.

A Florida research discovered that 30% of all breast biopsies conducted there within a period of five years from 2003 – 2008 involved surgery. This is 20% more than the medical guidelines prescribe.

The study also indicates that the national rate is likely to be the same to that of Florida. This will mean that more than 300,000 breast biopsies sufferers will undergo unrequited surgical treatment. This will cost them several hundred million dollars. Majority of the victims do not suffer from cancer. If you are suffering from cancer, then having a biopsy surgery means you undergo two separate operations. This might even mean a more difficult second surgery for the cancer when a needle biopsy would have made it more easier.

The lead researcher, Dr Stephen R. Grobmyer, reveal that the team begun the studies when they were sent patients, on a consistent basis, who were being treated with biopsy surgery rather than a needle biopsy.

Dr. Grobmyer said, “After seeing this happen on a consistent basis, you suspect something is not being done right”.

The researchers are not sure why there is such a widespread use of surgical biopsies. They suspect this might be due to the fact that not every doctor follows the medical guidelines and advances. They also suspect this might be a case of doctors refusing to refer patients to radiologists, who do the needle biopsy, so they can keep their surgical biopsies fees.

The are many advantages to using a needle biopsies as opposed to using a surgical biopsies. The later will mean making a a larger incision to conduct the operation whiles the former only requires a tiny incision. The later may require general anesthesia, stitching and might leave a scar on the skin while the former requires no stitches and presents a lesser chance of developing a scar.

When the anomaly in the breast is very small and can not be detected by feeling the breast, then a mammogram will be required. This means the needle biopsy can only be performed by using mammography or any other imaging technique. This means only a radiologist will perform the needle biopsy. In the case where you can detect the lump by feeling the breast, then a surgeon can perform the needle biopsy as imaging will not be required.

The study reveals that hospitals will bill a patient anywhere from $5,000 – $6,000 per needle biopsy and twice that for surgical biopsy. This presents an incentive for doctors to keep patients for surgical biopsy instead of referring them to radiologists for needle biopsy. Doctors earn estimated $1,500 – $2,500 per surgical biopsy as opposed to $75o – $1,500 per needle biopsy.

Many surgeons have agreed with the research with many saying that they have seen so many patients who have had surgical biopsy instead of needle biopsy. And many believe this is happening because doctors don’t want to lose the fees they get for performing open biopsies.

The study also reveal that majority of doctors who perform open biopsy instead of needle biopsy were doctors in private practice as opposed to doctors employed by hospitals.

So how do we stop so many people from undergoing surgical biopsy rather than needle biopsy?

One way is for hospitals to ban doctors who deliberately encourage patients to chose open biopsy over needle biopsy. People need to be more educated about this issue.

Also if your doctor tells you you need open biopsy rather than needle biopsy and you don’t have cancer, ask them why and look for a second opinion.