A Medical/Health Tip Sheet
Until recently, sinusitis patients were limited to two treatment options: medical therapy such as antibiotics and topical nasal steroids, or conventional sinus surgery, which requires bone and tissue removal in order to open up blocked sinus passageways and leads to a longer recovery period.
Sinusitis is one of the most common chronic health problems in the U.S., afflicting 37 million Americans each year.
Software program allows doctors to understand blood flow in the brain
There is now a non-invasive method to determine how blood flow in the brain is affected by stroke, aneurysm and other cerebrovascular disorders, some of the most debilitating and deadly diseases.
The non-invasive optimal vessel analysis (NOVA) software helps to improve the diagnosis and treatment of vascular disease by providing additional information not available through any other current diagnostic test. This is important because, in some cases, NOVA may provide an alternative to more invasive tests. For example, after a surgical intervention, many patients undergo a catheter angiogram, a test that requires both injection of contrast dye and radiation exposure. With the availability of NOVA, some patients may only need to have a non-invasive MRI.
Dr. Richard Klucznik, neuroradiologist at the Methodist Neurological Institute, says this technology is especially important on patients who receive brain stents for aneurysms. NOVA takes the images from a magnetic resonance scan (MRI) and creates a three-dimensional view of the patient's brain vessels. This allows physicians to map the major blood vessels in the brain, as well as many of the smaller, connecting branches, and to determine blood flow rates. The information is used to diagnose neurovascular disease and take appropriate action to prevent the onset of stroke, or rupture of an aneurysm.
Sleepiness and driving a dangerous combination
Most people are aware of the dangers of drinking and driving, but drowsy driving is just as fatal. Like alcohol, sleepiness slows reaction time, decreases awareness, impairs judgment and increases your risk of crashing.
Dr. Todd Swick, section chief of sleep medicine at the Methodist Neurological Institute, says someone who has gone 17-18 hours without sleep is equivalent to someone driving with a blood alcohol level between 0.8 - 1.2. If a person has not slept in 24 hours or more, that is the same as someone with a blood alcohol level of 1.25+.
Drowsy driving can be cause by many things, including undiagnosed or untreated sleep disorders. People with untreated obstructive sleep apnea have been shown to have up to a seven times increased risk of falling asleep at the wheel.
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