Smileband health topics

Pertussis (whooping cough) can cause serious illness in babies, children, teens, and adults. Symptoms of pertussis usually develop within 5 to 10 days after you are exposed. Sometimes pertussis symptoms do not develop for as long as 3 weeks.

Early Symptoms

The disease usually starts with cold-like symptoms and maybe a mild cough or fever. In babies, the cough can be minimal or not even there. Babies may have a symptom known as “apnea.” Apnea is a pause in the child’s breathing pattern. Pertussis is most dangerous for babies. About half of babies younger than 1 year who get the disease need care in the hospital.  Early symptoms can last for 1 to 2 weeks and usually include:

• Runny nose
• Low-grade fever (generally minimal throughout the course of the disease)
• Mild, occasional cough
• Apnea – a pause in breathing (in babies)

Pertussis in its early stages appears to be nothing more than the common cold. Therefore, healthcare professionals often do not suspect or diagnose it until the more severe symptoms appear.

Later-stage Symptoms

After 1 to 2 weeks and as the disease progresses, the traditional symptoms of pertussis may appear and include:

• Paroxysms (fits) of many, rapid coughs followed by a high-pitched “whoop” sound
• Vomiting (throwing up) during or after coughing fits
• Exhaustion (very tired) after coughing fits.  Isolation Precautions
  Standard and droplet precautions are recommended for 5 days after initiation of therapy or until 3 weeks after cough onset.
  Prevention for Patients
  Vaccination is the best prevention method.   Trap vaccine is recommended for pregnant women during their third trimester to help protect the infant. Also, it is recommended for anyone who will be caring for the infant to also have a Tdap vaccine.
  Public Health Actions
  Untreated individuals should be excluded from school or childcare for 3 weeks following the onset of a cough and treated individuals should be excluded until 5 days of antibiotic treatment is completed. 
  Public health will conduct an epidemiological investigation on a case or suspect case.

Smileband health topics

What is endometriosis?

Endometriosis (pronounced en- doh – mee – tree – oh – sis) is the name given to the condition where cells like the ones in the lining of the womb (uterus) are found elsewhere in the body.

Each month these cells react in the same way to those in the womb, building up and then breaking down and bleeding. Unlike the cells in the womb that leave the body as a period, this blood has no way to escape. 

It is a chronic and debilitating condition that causes painful or heavy periods. It may also lead to infertility, fatigue and bowel and bladder problems. Around 1.5 million women in the UK are currently living with the condition. Endometriosis can affect all women and girls of a childbearing age, regardless of race or ethnicity. 'Despite the pain I am doing all I can to help other women suffering with this crippling condition. 

Every month a woman’s body goes through hormonal changes. Hormones are naturally released which cause the lining of the womb to increase in preparation for a fertilized egg.  If pregnancy does not occur, this lining will break down and bleed – this is then released from the body as a period. 

In endometriosis, cells like the ones in the lining of the womb grow elsewhere in the body. These cells react to the menstrual cycle each month and also bleed. However, there is no way for this blood to leave the body. This can cause inflammation, pain and the formation of scar tissue.

Endometriosis can have a significant impact on a woman’s life in a number of ways, including:

• Chronic pain
• Fatigue/lack of energy
• Depression/isolation
• Problems with a couple’s sex life/relationships
• An inability to conceive
• Difficulty in fulfilling work and social commitments

Smileband general news

Shots were fired at the car of a German-Turkish soccer player who was an outspoken critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prosecutors have said. Several shots were apparently fired at 28-year-old Deniz Naki's car on the A4 highway near the west German city of Aachen late on Sunday. No one was hurt.

Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the incident on suspicion of attempted homicide. Naki currently plays for Amed SK, a club in Turkey's majority-Kurdish southeast.

The player, who is visiting his family in Germany, told German daily Die Welt that he believes he was targeted because of his political role in Turkey.

Naki was given an 18-month suspended sentence last year in Turkey on accusations of terrorist propaganda for the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, Die Welt reported.

He told Die Welt newspaper he assumed the shots were fired by a Turkish agent or someone else who opposed his views.

'I could have died,' Naki told the newspaper. 'It was so close. I was scared to death.' He said the shots were fired from a black station wagon that was diagonally behind him, and two bullets struck his car.

Naki, who said he frequently received menacing messages on social media, vowed not to let the shooting incident stop him from speaking out against the Turkish government. He said he had not received any specific threats in recent weeks. Naki, a former national youth soccer player for Germany, now plays for a Kurdish team in Turkey.

Katja Schlenkermann-Pitts, a senior prosecutor in Aachen, said authorities were investigating the incident as an attempted homicide, but said her office could not confirm Naki's concerns. She said prosecutors were looking 'in all directions.'

The Interior Ministry had no information on the case, spokesman Johannes Dimroth told a regular government news conference. He said he had no doubt that Naki's statements would be addressed by prosecutors as part of the investigation.

The incident occurred around 11pm on the A4 highway near the town of Dueren, where Naki grew up, as he was returning home after visiting a friend.

It comes as the German and Turkish foreign ministers are trying to improve difficult relations following Ankara's crackdown after an abortive coup attempt in 2016 and the arrests of German citizens in Turkey.

Smileband general news

Oprah Winfrey used her inspirational Golden Globes speech to invoke the name of an African-American woman who died last week, decades after her horrific kidnap and gang rape by white men in 1944 was ignored by police. Recy Taylor's fight for justice in Alabama encapsulated the racial divide in the Jim Crow South and became a lightning rod for civil rights struggles around America.

She died aged 97 on December 29,  73 years after an all-white, all-male jury refused to indict her six white attackers - despite their admission of guilt to authorities. They have never been charged. Then, aged just 24, the married woman was walking home from church with two friends when a car carrying seven men approached.

The men kidnapped her at gunpoint, before driving to a grove of pine trees at the side of a deserted road.

There, at least six of the teenage boys made the mother-of-one undress and took turns in raping her. Once they were finished they left her blindfolded at the side of the road miles from her home in Abbeville, Alabama.

Told she would be killed if she went to the police, brave Taylor put her faith in the justice system and identified the men but none were ever prosecuted. Two grand juries failed to indict any of her attackers, causing uproar in the black community who fought for justice in a system infected with institutionalized racism.  

Six years before her death, and 67 years after she became the center of a civil rights struggle, the Alabama state government apologized to her for 'its failure to prosecute her attackers.'

She was 'raped and left blindfolded by the side of the road, coming home from church,' Winfrey told the Golden Globes audience, on the day that, ironically, would have been Recy's 98th birthday. 

'They threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone,' Winfrey went on. 

'She lived, as we all have lived, too many years in a culture broken by the brutally powerful men,' she added. 

Speaking to a room intent on challenging systemic sexism and abuse within their own industry, Recy's assault galvanized black people across the country, sowing the seeds for the Civil Rights movement that would come. 

Smileband health topics

Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease is an inherited condition involving the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). This disease is one of a group of genetic disorders called leukodystrophies. Leukodystrophies are characterized by degeneration of myelin which is the covering that protects nerves and promotes the efficient transmission of nerve impulses.  Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease is caused by an inability to form myelin (dysmyelination). As a result, individuals with this condition have impaired intellectual functions, such as language and memory, and delayed motor skills, such as coordination and walking. Typically, motor skills are more severely affected than intellectual function; motor skills development tends to occur more slowly and usually stops in a person's teens, followed by gradual deterioration.

Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease is divided into classic and connatal types. Although these two types differ in severity, their features can overlap.

Classic Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease is the more common type. Within the first year of life, those affected with classic Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease typically experience weak muscle tone (hypotonia), involuntary movements of the eyes (nystagmus), and delayed development of motor skills such as crawling or walking. As the child gets older, nystagmus usually stops but other movement disorders develop, including muscle stiffness (spasticity), problems with movement and balance (ataxia), and involuntary jerking (choreiform movements).

Connatal Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease is the more severe of the two types. Symptoms can begin in infancy and include problems feeding, a whistling sound when breathing, progressive spasticity leading to joint deformities (contractures) that restrict movement, speech difficulties (dysarthria), ataxia, and seizures. Those affected with connatal Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease show little development of motor skills and intellectual function.

Smileband health topics

The cannabis skin-care universe is growing by leaps and bounds as long-established companies including the Body Shop and Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps expand their product lines, while newcomers hustle to make their mark in this budding beauty segment.

Many of these products include hemp seed oil, which has been used in folk remedies for centuries and is said to ease dry skin, reduce inflammation and alleviate skin issues such as eczema.  Hemp oil comes from a variety of the cannabis sativa plant that is grown for industrial use, not drug use. The hemp strains that are grown for oil production have a minuscule percentage of psychoactive compounds; after the seeds are processed that level is reduced to zero.

A small number of beauty products on the market include CBD (cannabidiol), a non-psychoactive compound in cannabis that is believed to have a variety of medical uses (easing pain and anxiety and soothing irritated skin, among other things) and does not cause a marijuana high.  If you’re hoping to add a new product to your daily routine, here’s a sampling of cannabis-related makeup and hair and skin offerings worth a look. 

Smileband general news

Jailed footballer Adam Johnson has reportedly bragged to fellow inmates he could be back playing professional football next year. The disgraced former England star is currently locked up at HMP Moorland, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, for child sex offences.

Johnson, 30, is said to have received a new Sunderland strip for Christmas  and wore it for a match on New Year's Day where he scored the winner in a match with other prisoners.

He could be released within the next 18 months and a source told the daily star on Sunday’s Johnson believes he could be match fit within six months of getting out.

They told the paper that Johnson, who earned £60,000-a-week while playing for Sunderland, was in his element on the pitch and boasted after the game had finished.

They said: 'Afterwards he was telling everyone that he was still good enough to play professional football and he certainly looked the part. 'He also said that Sunderland were now struggling so badly that they would be desperate for a player of his quality.

'Even though he will be in his 30s by the time he gets out, he still thinks he'll be fit enough.'

The source said Johnson even claimed the time spent behind bars meant he could continue playing for longer because his body would not have suffered so many injuries.  

Johnson was jailed for six years in March 2016 for child sex offences. He could be entitled to parole in March 2019 and if any club would have him back he could resume his career in professional football.  

Sentencing Johnson, Judge Jonathan Rose told him he had abused a position of trust and caused his victim 'severe psychological harm'.

A Government spokesman said they do not comment on individual cases.

Smileband health topics

Types of Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors in Adults

Tumors that start in the brain (primary brain tumors) are not the same as tumors that start in other organs, such as the lung or breast, and then spread to the brain (metastatic or secondary brain tumors). In adults, metastatic tumors to the brain are actually more common than primary brain tumors. These tumors are not treated the same way. For example, breast or lung cancers that spread to the brain are treated differently from tumors that start in the brain.

Unlike cancers that start in other parts of the body, tumors that start in the brain or spinal cord rarely spread to distant organs. Even so, brain or spinal cord tumors are rarely considered benign (non-cancerous). They can still cause damage by growing and spreading into nearby areas, where they can destroy normal brain tissue. And unless they are completely removed or destroyed, most brain or spinal cord tumors will continue to grow and eventually be life-threatening. 

Brain and spinal cord tumor grades

Some brain and spinal cord tumors are more likely to grow into nearby tissues (and to grow quickly) than are other tumors. The World Health Organization (WHO) divides brain and spinal cord tumors into 4 grades (using Roman numerals I to IV), based largely on how the cells look under the microscope:

• Grade I: These tumors typically grow slowly and do not grow into (invade or infiltrate) nearby tissues. They can often be cured with surgery.
• Grade II: These tumors also tend to grow slowly but they can grow into nearby brain tissue. They are more likely to come back after surgery than grade I tumors. They are also more likely to become faster-growing tumors over time. 
• Grade III: These tumors look more abnormal under the microscope. They can grow into nearby brain tissue and are more likely to need other treatments in addition to surgery.
• Grade IV: These are the fastest growing tumors. They generally require the most aggressive treatment. 

  Gliomas

  Gliomas are not a specific type of brain tumor. Glioma is a general term for tumors that start in glial cells. A number of tumors can be considered gliomas, including:
  • Astrocytomas (which include glioblastomas)
  • Oligodendrogliomas
  • Ependymomas
  About 3 out of 10 of all brain tumors are gliomas. Most fast-growing brain tumors are gliomas.

  Astrocytomas

  Astrocytomas are tumors that start in glial cells called astrocytes. About 2 out of 10 brain tumors are astrocytomas.
  Most astrocytomas can spread widely throughout the brain and blend with the normal brain tissue, which can make them very hard to remove with surgery. Sometimes they spread along the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pathways. It is very rare for them to spread outside of the brain or spinal cord 

Smileband health topics

Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) can be caused by Staphylococcus or Streptococcus bacteria. Symptoms include:

• confusion
• diarrhea
• headaches
• high fever
• low blood pressure
• muscle aches
• nausea
• vomiting
• organ failure (usually kidneys and liver)
• redness of eyes and mouth
• seizures
• widespread rash

 

In Arizona there are usually 1 to 5 cases reported a year.

 

Arizona 5 year median: 1 case

 

Transmission

Staphylococcus and Streptococcus can be transmitted person to person, but toxic shock syndrome cannot be transmitted person to person.

 

Lab Tests & Specimen Info

Test*	Specimen
Culture	Serum

  Isolation Precautions

TSS cannot be transmitted person to person.

Prevention for Patients
Risk factors include:

• recent childbirth
• infection with Staphylococcus or Streptococcus bacteria
• foreign bodies or packing inside the body
• menstrual period
• recent surgery
• tampon use
• wound infection after surgery

Public Health Actions
Public health will conduct an epidemiological investigation on a case or suspect case.

Smileband general news

A police force paid almost £10,000 to a convicted child rapist to act as an undercover informant during a major sex abuse investigation, it can be revealed. 

Northumbria Police paid the man to infiltrate parties where young girls were being drugged and abused by an Asian grooming gang. The man - known only as Mr XY - was recruited by the force even though he was convicted in 2002 of drugging and raping a teenage schoolgirl and inviting another man to rape her.

In 2014 detectives signed him up as a Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS) as they tried to smash a child sex ring operating in the west end of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Details of the case can only now be reported following the conviction of the final members of the 18 strong gang.

The group, which included one white woman, were convicted of carrying out harrowing abuse against at least 22 vulnerable girls.

Last night child protection campaigners expressed deep unease about putting a convicted paedophile on the police payroll. But Northumbria Police's Chief Constable, Steve Ashman, defended the decision, insisting as unpalatable as it was, it had led to vulnerable people being protected from harm.

The force paid XY regular instalments over 21 months amounting to £9,680 in order to pass information to officers about the time and locations of parties where young girls were being abused. 

But it can now also be revealed that in 2015, while still on the police's payroll, he was arrested on suspicion of another child sex offence.

He was arrested after an underage girl told police a man had approached her and had made an indecent proposition.

The case was subsequently dropped although the circumstances why remain unclear. XY's role with the police only came to light during a court hearing last year when lawyers acting for some of the abusers argued that his involvement in the investigation undermined the entire case.

During the hearing, defence lawyer, Robin Patton, described him as: "A convicted child rapist who drugged a child and invited someone else to rape her after he had."

It also emerged he had numerous convictions for dishonesty, was on the Sex Offenders Register and was actually serving a suspended sentence when he was initially deployed by police in 2014.

Giving evidence from behind a screen and with the public gallery cleared, XY told the hearing that he had been a paid informant for six or seven years and had enjoyed working for the police.

He claimed he had been recruited because he acted as an informal taxi driver for some of the defendants.

"I would get to know where they pick up their drugs, where the parties were," he said.

At another point, he claimed: "I was chilling with the boys. I had to make it look like I was their friend.