Tinnitus es el término médico que hace referencia a la “audición” de ruídos en los oídos cuando no hay una fuente sonora externa. Algunos de los sonidos percibidos pueden ser suaves o fuertes y se puede escuchar como ruidos silbantes, soplos, zumbidos, siseos, rugidos y sonidos pulsátiles. También es posible que la persona piense que está escuchando el escape del aire, agua corriendo, el interior de una concha marina o notas musicales.
-CAUSAS MÁS COMUNES
El tinnitus es común y cási todas las personas lo experimentan de una forma leve al oír sonidos por un periodo de unos cuantos minutos. Sin embargo, el tinnitus constante o recurrente es estresante y puede interferir con la capacidad para concentrarse o dormir.
No se sabe con certeza lo que hace que una persona “escuche” sonidos cuando no hay una fuente sonora externa. Sin embargo, el tinnitus puede ser un síntoma de casi cualquier trastorno auditivo, incluyendo las infecciones de los oídos, los cuerpos extraños o la cera en el oído y las lesiones por ruidos fuertes. El consumo de alcohol, cafeína, antibióticos, aspirina y otras drogas también puede causar ruidos en los oídos.
El tinnitus puede presentarse con pérdida de la audición y ocasionalmente es un signo de presión sanguínea alta, una alergia o anemia. En muy raras ocasiones, el tinnitus es signo de un problema grave como un tumor cerebral o un aneurisma.
19 February 2011
Los gustos se heredan también
La alimentación de la embarazada también influye en los gustos de su retoño y en su desarrollo cerebral. No sólo por la calidad de los nutrientes sino por su sabor. Según un estudio realizado con ratones, y publicado en la revista "Proceedings of the Royal Society", los sabores y olores que se perciben en el útero quedan clasificados como "buenos". Cuando la madre come alimentos de sabor intenso, el cerebro de las crías adquiere tamaño. Posteriormente se demuestra que las crías prefieren esos sabores.
New model for probing antidepressant actions
The most widely prescribed antidepressants – medicines such as Prozac, Lexapro and Paxil – work by blocking the serotonin transporter, a brain protein that normally clears away the mood-regulating chemical serotonin. Or so the current thinking goes. That theory about how selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) work can now be put to the test with a new mouse model developed by neuroscientists at Vanderbilt University.
These mice, described in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), express a serotonin transporter that has been genetically altered so that it does not respond to many SSRIs or cocaine.
In addition to testing the theory about how SSRIs work, the new mouse model could lead to the development of entirely new classes of antidepressant medications, said Randy Blakely, Ph.D., Allan D. Bass Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry at Vanderbilt and senior author of the PNAS paper.
"Many antidepressants have been shown to target other proteins besides the serotonin transporter and … their efficacy in treating depression takes many weeks to develop," Blakely said. "There is likely a lot that we don't know about how these drugs act."
To generate the mouse model, Blakely and colleagues at Vanderbilt and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio first determined exactly which parts of the serotonin transporter protein interact with SSRIs. They took advantage of the fact that the fruit fly expresses a serotonin transporter that is relatively insensitive to the drugs.
By changing the protein's amino acid building blocks, they converted parts of the human serotonin transporter into its fruit fly equivalent, and in so doing identified the single amino acid required for potent binding to many SSRIs as well as to cocaine.
As predicted, the genetically-modified mice displayed normal serotonin transporter levels, and their transporter exhibited normal activity in clearing serotonin from the synapses between nerve cells. But the mice did not respond to Prozac or Lexapro, indicating that the transporter is indeed the specific target of these medications for blocking serotonin inactivation.
"Interestingly, one SSRI, paroxetine (Paxil), retains its normal powerful action on the transporter, revealing that -- at a molecular level -- different antidepressants interact with the transporter in different ways," Blakely said.
The researchers are now evaluating chronic administration of SSRIs to determine how much the transporter contributes to the more clinically relevant, delayed effects of these drugs, as well as for the side effects experience with antidepressant medications.
Because the serotonin transporter in the mouse also lost cocaine sensitivity, the model also may help researchers determine exactly how cocaine acts in the brain. "Perhaps what started as a hunt for better ways to treat depression may also spill over into a better understanding of addiction," Blakely said.
**Source: Vanderbilt University Medical Center
These mice, described in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), express a serotonin transporter that has been genetically altered so that it does not respond to many SSRIs or cocaine.
In addition to testing the theory about how SSRIs work, the new mouse model could lead to the development of entirely new classes of antidepressant medications, said Randy Blakely, Ph.D., Allan D. Bass Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry at Vanderbilt and senior author of the PNAS paper.
"Many antidepressants have been shown to target other proteins besides the serotonin transporter and … their efficacy in treating depression takes many weeks to develop," Blakely said. "There is likely a lot that we don't know about how these drugs act."
To generate the mouse model, Blakely and colleagues at Vanderbilt and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio first determined exactly which parts of the serotonin transporter protein interact with SSRIs. They took advantage of the fact that the fruit fly expresses a serotonin transporter that is relatively insensitive to the drugs.
By changing the protein's amino acid building blocks, they converted parts of the human serotonin transporter into its fruit fly equivalent, and in so doing identified the single amino acid required for potent binding to many SSRIs as well as to cocaine.
As predicted, the genetically-modified mice displayed normal serotonin transporter levels, and their transporter exhibited normal activity in clearing serotonin from the synapses between nerve cells. But the mice did not respond to Prozac or Lexapro, indicating that the transporter is indeed the specific target of these medications for blocking serotonin inactivation.
"Interestingly, one SSRI, paroxetine (Paxil), retains its normal powerful action on the transporter, revealing that -- at a molecular level -- different antidepressants interact with the transporter in different ways," Blakely said.
The researchers are now evaluating chronic administration of SSRIs to determine how much the transporter contributes to the more clinically relevant, delayed effects of these drugs, as well as for the side effects experience with antidepressant medications.
Because the serotonin transporter in the mouse also lost cocaine sensitivity, the model also may help researchers determine exactly how cocaine acts in the brain. "Perhaps what started as a hunt for better ways to treat depression may also spill over into a better understanding of addiction," Blakely said.
**Source: Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Los peligros de vivir cerca de una gasolinera
La ubicación de gasolineras en núcleos urbanos, rodeadas de viviendas y centros públicos como Hospitales, Centros de salud, residencias o colegios, puede tener efectos nocivos para la salud de las personas si no les separa una distancia mínima de cien metros. Así lo afirma un estudio desarrollado por la Universidad de Murcia que se ha publicado en la revista "Journal of Environmental Management". En este se demuestra que el aire de las gasolineras y de sus inmediaciones está afectado, principalmente, por las emisiones procedentes de la evaporación de los combustibles de automoción.
Common hip disorder can cause sports hernia
Sports hernias are commonly found in individuals with a mechanical disorder of the hip and can be resolved with surgery to fix the hip disorder alone in some cases, according to a recent study. The research, conducted by investigators at Hospital for Special Surgery, will be presented at the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine 2011 Specialty Day meeting, held Feb. 19 in San Diego following the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. "If individuals have symptoms of athletic pubalgia otherwise known as sports hernia, doctors should carefully assess their hip joint to make sure there is not an underlying mechanical problem in the hip that may be the bigger problem in the overall function of the athlete," said Bryan Kelly, M.D., co-director of the Center for Hip Pain and Preservation at Hospital for Special Surgery who led the study. "If patients present with both sports hernia and femoro-acetabular impingement symptoms, you have to consider what the order of treatment should be or whether you should just treat one." He said the research suggests that treating the joint mechanics first is optimal and if problems persist, doctors can then try surgery for the sports hernia.
In recent years, a hip condition known as femoro-acetabular impingement (FAI) or hip impingement has become widely recognized in the medical community. The hip is a ball-and-socket joint where the upper end of the thigh bone fits into the cup-shaped socket of the pelvis. In a healthy hip joint, the ball rotates freely in the cup, but in some people a bony bump on the upper thigh bone produces a situation where there is inadequate space for the hip bone to move freely in the socket. The result is damage to the socket rim and the cartilage that lines the bones, which can lead to hip arthritis. In the past few years, doctors have thought that this condition may also cause sports hernias. A sports hernia is a tearing of the tissue that forms the inner part of the abdominal wall and inserts into the pubic bone.
To investigate how often FAI is associated with sports hernia, researchers examined the records of all professional athletes who underwent arthroscopic surgery at HSS for symptomatic FAI between April 2005 and April 2010. Patients were included if their FAI limited their ability to return to competitive play. The group, 38 in total, included nine baseball players, 13 football players, eight hockey players, five soccer players, two basketball players, and one skater. Retrospective data regarding prior athletic sports hernia surgery, ability to return to play, and duration until return to play was collected from all patients.
The investigators found that while 32 percent of the athletes had previously undergone surgery for their hernia, none of them had been able to return to their previous level of competition with the hernia surgery alone. One patient underwent hernia surgery at the same time as the FAI surgery. Thirty-nine percent of patients had hernia symptoms that resolved with FAI surgery alone and 36 of 38 patients were able to return to their previous level of play. All 12 patients that had both hernia and FAI surgery were able to return to professional competition. On average, athletes were able to return to their sport 5.9 months after arthroscopic surgery.
This is the first paper that has looked at the coincidence of FAI and sports hernia, and has practical implications for practice. "Groin pulls and lower abdominal muscle strains are frequently associated with hip joint mechanical problems, and patients should make sure that doctors are looking at both those locations as potential sources of the pain," said Dr. Kelly, who is also in the Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service at HSS. "Before this study we knew that both impingement in the hip joint and athletic pubalgia were the cause of decreased function and pain in athletes. Now we recognize that there is a close relationship between those two, and oftentimes the problems coexist and need to be looked at when treatment options are being discussed."
**Source: Hospital for Special Surgery
In recent years, a hip condition known as femoro-acetabular impingement (FAI) or hip impingement has become widely recognized in the medical community. The hip is a ball-and-socket joint where the upper end of the thigh bone fits into the cup-shaped socket of the pelvis. In a healthy hip joint, the ball rotates freely in the cup, but in some people a bony bump on the upper thigh bone produces a situation where there is inadequate space for the hip bone to move freely in the socket. The result is damage to the socket rim and the cartilage that lines the bones, which can lead to hip arthritis. In the past few years, doctors have thought that this condition may also cause sports hernias. A sports hernia is a tearing of the tissue that forms the inner part of the abdominal wall and inserts into the pubic bone.
To investigate how often FAI is associated with sports hernia, researchers examined the records of all professional athletes who underwent arthroscopic surgery at HSS for symptomatic FAI between April 2005 and April 2010. Patients were included if their FAI limited their ability to return to competitive play. The group, 38 in total, included nine baseball players, 13 football players, eight hockey players, five soccer players, two basketball players, and one skater. Retrospective data regarding prior athletic sports hernia surgery, ability to return to play, and duration until return to play was collected from all patients.
The investigators found that while 32 percent of the athletes had previously undergone surgery for their hernia, none of them had been able to return to their previous level of competition with the hernia surgery alone. One patient underwent hernia surgery at the same time as the FAI surgery. Thirty-nine percent of patients had hernia symptoms that resolved with FAI surgery alone and 36 of 38 patients were able to return to their previous level of play. All 12 patients that had both hernia and FAI surgery were able to return to professional competition. On average, athletes were able to return to their sport 5.9 months after arthroscopic surgery.
This is the first paper that has looked at the coincidence of FAI and sports hernia, and has practical implications for practice. "Groin pulls and lower abdominal muscle strains are frequently associated with hip joint mechanical problems, and patients should make sure that doctors are looking at both those locations as potential sources of the pain," said Dr. Kelly, who is also in the Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service at HSS. "Before this study we knew that both impingement in the hip joint and athletic pubalgia were the cause of decreased function and pain in athletes. Now we recognize that there is a close relationship between those two, and oftentimes the problems coexist and need to be looked at when treatment options are being discussed."
**Source: Hospital for Special Surgery
Specialized blood plasma treatment does not improve rotator cuff healing, study finds
Improving healing after a rotator cuff tendon repair is an ongoing problem for orthopaedic surgeons world-wide. Researchers, presenting a study at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Specialty Day in San Diego (February 19th) found that one of the latest tools for healing injuries, platelet-rich plasma (PRP), does not make a big difference. "Our study on 79 patients who received platelet-rich plasma with a fibrin matrix (PRFM) demonstrated no real differences in healing in a tendon-to-bone rotator cuff repair. In fact, this preliminary analysis suggests that the PRFM, as used in this study, may have a negative effect on healing. However, this data should be viewed as preliminary, and further study is required" said study author, Scott Rodeo, MD of New York City's Hospital for Special Surgery.
The randomized trial broke the 79 patients into two groups: those that received the PRFM and those that did not. Standardized rotator cuff repair techniques were used for all patients along with post-operative rehabilitation protocols. The tendon healing was evaluated using ultrasound at six and 12 weeks post-operation. Ultrasound was also used to determine blood flow in various areas of the repaired tendon. The researchers also looked at shoulder movement outcome scales and strength measurements.
Researchers think there may be several reasons for a lack of response in healing, including variability in the way platelets are recovered, platelet activation and the mechanisms for the way the PRFM reacts with the tendon cells. The study was also unable to document the number of platelets actually delivered to patients who received the PRFM. Platelets are the cells that help control bleeding and healing.
"Additional research needs to be performed to figure out the mechanisms for why PRP is successful in healing certain areas of the body and not others. With more study we will continue to learn new procedures for improving orthopaedic surgery outcomes," said Rodeo.
*Source: American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine
The randomized trial broke the 79 patients into two groups: those that received the PRFM and those that did not. Standardized rotator cuff repair techniques were used for all patients along with post-operative rehabilitation protocols. The tendon healing was evaluated using ultrasound at six and 12 weeks post-operation. Ultrasound was also used to determine blood flow in various areas of the repaired tendon. The researchers also looked at shoulder movement outcome scales and strength measurements.
Researchers think there may be several reasons for a lack of response in healing, including variability in the way platelets are recovered, platelet activation and the mechanisms for the way the PRFM reacts with the tendon cells. The study was also unable to document the number of platelets actually delivered to patients who received the PRFM. Platelets are the cells that help control bleeding and healing.
"Additional research needs to be performed to figure out the mechanisms for why PRP is successful in healing certain areas of the body and not others. With more study we will continue to learn new procedures for improving orthopaedic surgery outcomes," said Rodeo.
*Source: American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine
Sólo el 7% de los profesores identifica los síntomas del asma según una encuesta
Sólo el 7% de los profesores identifica correctamente los síntomas del asma, a pesar de ser la enfermedad pediátrica "más frecuente" en los países desarrollados, que afecta a uno de cada diez niños en edad escolar.
Así se desprende del Estudio sobre el Asma en los Centros Escolares Españoles (EACEE) 2009-2010 presentado por la Fundación María José Jové y de la Fundación BBVA y llevado a cabo entre 4.679 docentes de 208 centros educativos españoles, en colaboración con la Sociedad Española de Neumología Pediátrica.
Según destacan sus autores, durante el curso, los más pequeños pasan alrededor de un 30% de su tiempo en la escuela bajo la atención y supervisión del personal de los centros escolares, fundamentalmente de los profesores.
En el caso de los niños con asma, los docentes tienen que tomar decisiones sobre diferentes situaciones en relación con la enfermedad, de forma consciente o inconsciente, por acción o por omisión. Por tanto, insisten en que su nivel de conocimiento así como la disponibilidad de recursos materiales y organizativos adecuados en los centros escolares podrían influir de forma determinante en el bienestar de los niños afectados.
Sin embargo, el trabajo muestra que el 93% de los profesores cree que sus conocimientos sobre el asma "no son suficientes" y desearía mejorarlos, y casi un 96% opina que no hay una normativa clara sobre el papel de los profesores en el cuidado de alumnos con patologías crónicas, como el asma.
Asimismo, en un importante número de casos, los profesores dijeron desconocer la existencia de alumnos afectos de asma en sus clases. Asimismo, la comunicación entre padres, familiares y profesores en relación con la enfermedad resultó ser "muy deficiente".
-Reconocer las carencias
Así, el estudio refleja que, aunque el nivel de conocimiento del profesorado sobre el asma y sobre cómo actuar ante un niño con síntomas de asma es "muy bajo", hay un reconocimiento generalizado por parte de los profesores de esa deficiente formación, y la gran mayoría desea mejorarla.
Además, los educadores manifiestan en su gran mayoría que no disponen o no saben de la existencia de determinados recursos para la atención de los niños con asma en los centros escolares. En este sentido, sólamente el 6,8% de los profesores contestó correctamente la pregunta en la que se solicitaban los tres síntomas principales del asma. El número de respuestas correctas crece en los profesores más jóvenes y de menor antigüedad profesional.
-Los hombres lo detectan mejor
A su vez, los hombres obtuvieron puntuaciones significativamente más altas que las mujeres. Esta puntuación es también mayor en los profesores asmáticos o con familiares cercanos con asma. Por otro lado, se ha detectado también un déficit de comunicación de padres a profesores y a la inversa, y pocas veces se hace por las vías idóneas.
Por su parte, el 53,7% de los profesores incluidos en el estudio manifestó no conocer el número de niños asmáticos que tiene en clase. Asimismo, la comunicación entre las familias y los docentes es muy escasa y pocas veces con el contenido deseable, pues sólo el 26% recibe información de los factores desencadenantes de las crisis en cada niño, y únicamente el 33,6% recibe información de las medidas a tomar o el tratamiento en el caso de una crisis de asma.
-De infantil a la ESO
El trabajo concluye que la actitud de los docentes ante síntomas de asma varía en función de la etapa educativa en la que imparten clase. En este sentido, el 42,9 por ciento de los de Educación Infantil avisan a los padres ante dicha situación. Este porcentaje baja a un 35,2% en cursos de Educación Primaria y a un 20,5% en la ESO.
A la luz de los datos obtenidos, los autores del análisis figuran la necesidad de implementar acciones educativas dirigidas a los profesores y alumnos, adecuar los recursos humanos, materiales y organizativos, y finalmente promulgar una normativa que aclare el vacío existente en torno a la distribución de responsabilidades para los cuidados específicos que requieren los niños con patologías crónicas en el horario escolar, como el asma.
**Publicado en "El Mundo"
Así se desprende del Estudio sobre el Asma en los Centros Escolares Españoles (EACEE) 2009-2010 presentado por la Fundación María José Jové y de la Fundación BBVA y llevado a cabo entre 4.679 docentes de 208 centros educativos españoles, en colaboración con la Sociedad Española de Neumología Pediátrica.
Según destacan sus autores, durante el curso, los más pequeños pasan alrededor de un 30% de su tiempo en la escuela bajo la atención y supervisión del personal de los centros escolares, fundamentalmente de los profesores.
En el caso de los niños con asma, los docentes tienen que tomar decisiones sobre diferentes situaciones en relación con la enfermedad, de forma consciente o inconsciente, por acción o por omisión. Por tanto, insisten en que su nivel de conocimiento así como la disponibilidad de recursos materiales y organizativos adecuados en los centros escolares podrían influir de forma determinante en el bienestar de los niños afectados.
Sin embargo, el trabajo muestra que el 93% de los profesores cree que sus conocimientos sobre el asma "no son suficientes" y desearía mejorarlos, y casi un 96% opina que no hay una normativa clara sobre el papel de los profesores en el cuidado de alumnos con patologías crónicas, como el asma.
Asimismo, en un importante número de casos, los profesores dijeron desconocer la existencia de alumnos afectos de asma en sus clases. Asimismo, la comunicación entre padres, familiares y profesores en relación con la enfermedad resultó ser "muy deficiente".
-Reconocer las carencias
Así, el estudio refleja que, aunque el nivel de conocimiento del profesorado sobre el asma y sobre cómo actuar ante un niño con síntomas de asma es "muy bajo", hay un reconocimiento generalizado por parte de los profesores de esa deficiente formación, y la gran mayoría desea mejorarla.
Además, los educadores manifiestan en su gran mayoría que no disponen o no saben de la existencia de determinados recursos para la atención de los niños con asma en los centros escolares. En este sentido, sólamente el 6,8% de los profesores contestó correctamente la pregunta en la que se solicitaban los tres síntomas principales del asma. El número de respuestas correctas crece en los profesores más jóvenes y de menor antigüedad profesional.
-Los hombres lo detectan mejor
A su vez, los hombres obtuvieron puntuaciones significativamente más altas que las mujeres. Esta puntuación es también mayor en los profesores asmáticos o con familiares cercanos con asma. Por otro lado, se ha detectado también un déficit de comunicación de padres a profesores y a la inversa, y pocas veces se hace por las vías idóneas.
Por su parte, el 53,7% de los profesores incluidos en el estudio manifestó no conocer el número de niños asmáticos que tiene en clase. Asimismo, la comunicación entre las familias y los docentes es muy escasa y pocas veces con el contenido deseable, pues sólo el 26% recibe información de los factores desencadenantes de las crisis en cada niño, y únicamente el 33,6% recibe información de las medidas a tomar o el tratamiento en el caso de una crisis de asma.
-De infantil a la ESO
El trabajo concluye que la actitud de los docentes ante síntomas de asma varía en función de la etapa educativa en la que imparten clase. En este sentido, el 42,9 por ciento de los de Educación Infantil avisan a los padres ante dicha situación. Este porcentaje baja a un 35,2% en cursos de Educación Primaria y a un 20,5% en la ESO.
A la luz de los datos obtenidos, los autores del análisis figuran la necesidad de implementar acciones educativas dirigidas a los profesores y alumnos, adecuar los recursos humanos, materiales y organizativos, y finalmente promulgar una normativa que aclare el vacío existente en torno a la distribución de responsabilidades para los cuidados específicos que requieren los niños con patologías crónicas en el horario escolar, como el asma.
**Publicado en "El Mundo"
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