EAR-SPLITTING
EAR-SPLITTING's
NEW ONE-SHOT REMEDY FOR EAR INFECTIONS
Excerpts from Diane Eicher's column in THE DENVER POST, 24 February 1997:
Middle ear infections (otitis media) are the most common medical reason for children in the US to visit a medical clinic.
A new study from Boston University shows that a single-injection treatment for ear infections is just as effective as a 10-day regimen of oral medication.
Two groups of children (242 in each group), ages between 3 months and 3 years, were studied. One group got the single shot of the antibiotic ceftriaxone, and the other group got the regular course of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (brand name Septra) medication.
Both groups of children showed equal recovery rates.
But, says Dr Steve Berman, pediatrics professor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) and The Children's Hospital, his choice would be the oral medication -- for two reasons. First, the cost of the injection is 10 times higher. Second, the potential side effects of the one-shot medication. With the 10-day regimen, it would be possible to stop medication if, and as soon as, the child shows any negative side-effects; with the one-shot injection.... [There's more mind-numbing information in the article.] Then: Berman said it's also important to remember that from 70 to 80 percent of ear infections will get better on their own, without treatment. So doctors must be judicious in not over-treating something that might not need treatment.
"GRANDPA, WHAT BIG EARS YOU HAVE!"
From KAISER PERMANENTE SENIOR EDITION, February 1997:
"While a man is growing older, his ears may be growing longer. That's what a group of British doctors found out when they measured the ears of 206 of their male patients ages 30 to 93. Research results were reported in the BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL. No women were included in the study.
"Each man's ear was measured from the top of the external left ear to the lowest part [the lobe].... On average, growth appears to be about one-quarter inch in 30 years. Doctors can't explain their findings.
"'Why ears should get bigger when the rest of the body stops growing is not answered by this research,' reports James A Heathcote, MD, one of the British physicians involved in the study.
'Nor did we consider whether this change in a particular part of the anatomy is a marker of something...'."
"DEAF NOW, HEAR LATER"
On the list of agencies helped by the Season to Share campaign [1996] (THE DENVER POST, 2 March 1997) was "Hear Now will receive a $20,000.00 grant to help low-income, hearing impaired children and adults obtain hearing aids and cochlear implants."
| Return to Top of the Page. | DEAF-LINK COLORADO
Home Page. |