Last Effective Treatment For Gonorrhoea 'Fails'

Last Effective Treatment For Gonorrhoea 'Fails'

Urgent action must be taken to prevent millions of people running out of treatment options, warns the World Health Organisation (WHO) in a statement.

In the UK, resistance to cephalosporin antibiotics, the last treatment option against gonorrhoea, is already being reported - alongside Australia, France, Japan, Norway and Sweden.

Figures released by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) show new sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnoses rose by 2% in England in 2011, with nearly 427,000 new cases, reversing the small decline observed the previous year.

According to the HPA, gonorrhoea was up by 25% on 2010, with sexually active young heterosexual adults (15-24 years) and gay men most at risk.

In new guidance, WHO is calling for greater vigilance on the correct use of antibiotics and more research into alternative treatments.

“Gonorrhoea is becoming a major public health challenge, due to the high incidence of infections accompanied by dwindling treatment options,” says Dr Manjula Lusti-Narasimhan, from the Department of Reproductive Health and Research at WHO.

“The available data only shows the tip of the iceberg. Without adequate surveillance we won’t know the extent of resistance to gonorrhoea and without research into new antimicrobial agents, there could soon be no effective treatment for patients.”

In the BBC’s Scrubbing Up column, Peter Greenhouse of the British Association for Sexual Health & HIV (BASHH), notes that since penicillin was first used to treat gonorrhoea in 1943, the organism has gradually developed novel means of evading control by each new antibiotic.

As strains of gonorrhoea that need a higher concentration of a drug to kill them become the dominant ones, eventually the drug will no longer work, he states.

“Over-the-counter medication, widely available in Africa and Asia means people self-medicate often taking the wrong dose at the wrong time, perhaps with alcohol which further reduces the concentration of the drug.”

“If gonorrhoea becomes untreatable in these countries, the effect on increasing HIV rates could be disastrous - because any sexually transmitted infection which causes inflammation and discharge increases the transmission efficiency of HIV,” writes Greenhouse.

According to the Terrence Higgins Trust in the UK, there have so far only been a handful of cases of gonorrhoea that have shown partial resistance to antibiotics.

Ceftriaxone, the current recommended treatment, is still very effective; there were only four cases of reduced effectiveness reported in the figures for 2011, and all of these cases responded to other drugs.

However, ceftriaxone is one of a group of drugs that are the last line of antibiotics not to show resistance.

Jason Warriner, Clinical Director at the Terrence Higgins Trust, told Huffpost Lifestyle: "As levels of STIs continue to rise, we will see drug-resistant strains develop. This just shows how crucial it is for those who have been at risk to go for regular sexual health check-ups.

"As well as using condoms during sex, we recommend people who are sexually active get checked out at least once a year. Most modern tests involve a simple urine sample or self-administered swab. They are quick, easy, and a good way to achieve peace of mind.”

A spokesperson for the Family Planning Association (FPA) told Huffpost Lifestyle: "While there is still medication for gonorrhoea available, we especially want to reduce the ‘revolving door syndrome’ where people get infected, get treatment, have more unprotected sex and get infected again."

• Infection of the urethra, cervix and rectum

• Infertility in both men and women

• A significantly increased risk of HIV infection and transmission

• Ectopic pregnancy

• Stillbirths and premature deliveries

• Severe eye infections occur in 30-50% of babies born to women with untreated gonorrhoea, which can lead to blindness.

• Spontaneous abortion

Source: www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

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Make Sleep A Priority ... And Other Tips To Stay Healthy On The Go

Make Sleep A Priority ... And Other Tips To Stay Healthy On The Go

By Tina Haupert

May was been a busy month for me. I feel like I've spent more time traveling than at home! The month started off with a 3-day trip to New York City, followed by a day-long fitness conference, another trip to NYC and then an overnight 200-mile running relay. Even though I've been having a blast on the road, it isn't surprising that all of this nonstop travel involves some fatigue, stress, and makes it more difficult for me to eat well. When I'm running around from place-to-place and event-to-event, I sometimes make poor decisions with regard to my weight-loss goals, like choosing a buttery croissant over a Greek yogurt and happy hour over an early-morning run through a new city.

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Being constantly on the go means that my normal eating and exercise routines get a bit out of whack, not to mention slacking on my healthy habits doesn't make me feel good about myself, so through my travels over the past two weeks, I've made it a point to take care of myself and keep my waistline in check. Use these tips to ensure you don't forgo your goals while on the go:

Plan Healthy Snacks
I've learned that with a little advanced planning, eating on the road doesn't have to be a challenge. I used to just wing it, but this often meant I'd get too hungry and be forced to buy the most convenient meal or snack I could find, like greasy fast food or an enormous blueberry muffin. Not surprisingly, this wasn't the healthiest or waist-friendly option, so now I make sure to bring along healthy snacks. My favorites are bananas, KIND bars and single-serving packets of nut butter.

Pick Protein-Packed Meals
On long train rides or flights, I don't always have the luxury of finding a healthy meal option, so I eat before I board or purchase a meal to bring with me. I make sure I choose one with lots of protein, so I'm satisfied for hours. My favorites on the road are Starbuck's Protein Box, which comes with a hardboiled egg, nut butter and fresh fruit, or a large salad with grilled chicken and beans.

Prioritize Sleep
Getting a good night's rest is a priority for me when I travel. If I'm sleep deprived, I get cranky, easily frustrated, and my cravings are tough to control, which means a slice of greasy pizza often wins over a colorful, nutrient-packed salad. But when I'm well-rested, making healthy choices is a lot easier, so I'm able to stick to my goals and feel better about my choices.

Schedule Exercise "Dates" With Friends
Traveling doesn't mean taking a vacation from my workouts. In fact, it means just the opposite! While in New York, I planned a fitness "date" with a friend who I haven't seen in awhile. She suggested an early-morning bootcamp class, which got me out of bed and started my day off on the right foot. Scheduling a time to exercise keeps me accountable, and working out with a buddy makes exercise all the more fun.

For more on diet and nutrition, click here.

Flickr photo by CoquiTheChef

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Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

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Why More Older Americans Are Going Abroad For Medical Treatment

Why More Older Americans Are Going Abroad For Medical Treatment

Fred Schuler is the type of guy you’d want to have a pitcher with within two minutes of speaking to him. He’s affable and funny –- he laughs easily and regularly –- and seems like he’d have a lot of great stories, given his peripatetic lifestyle as a professional golf caddy on the GPA and LGPA tour circuit. But ask Schuler to describe the crippling pain that took him off the green and put him into a wheelchair for two months, and you can practically hear the 61-year-old wince.

“Other than excruciating?" Schuler asked gamely. “I was living on Aleve and Tylenol. I couldn’t straighten up, I was hunched over. Toward the end I could walk 100 yards [with a cane] and then I was toast."

After living with the pain for almost four years, Schuler had few options: He was uninsured and out of a job, thanks to his debilitating disc problems. An orthopedic surgeon Schuler met at work offered to treat him for free. But upon examining his X-rays he realized Schuler’s condition was far worse than he’d thought.

“I exercised every avenue I could in terms of getting public assistance to get some medical health here and kept running into dead ends," Schuler said.

That’s when Schuler turned to a solution more post-50 Americans are considering as healthcare costs continue to rise: medical tourism.

Once only something done by the incredibly wealthy, medical tourism is "really turning into something people understand," said Josef Woodman, CEO of Patients Beyond Borders, which produces guidebooks on medical travel. The organization estimates that in 2012, 600,000 people traveled abroad for treatment -- a number anticipated to grow 15 to 20 percent annually as boomers age.

"Our population is continuing to age into financially challenging procedures,” Woodman said. "Every month the insurance companies find a way to take benefits off the table. Each month there is a slightly bigger piece of the population pie that is going to find the cost savings very attractive."

"I would tend to say that 80 percent or more of the people using medical tourism are baby boomers," said Rajesh Rao, CEO of IndUSHealth, a medical travel program provider for patients and employer health care plans. "I would say the bulk of utilization happens with baby boomers just because they’re at an age where they need more intervention."

Most of the people deciding to go abroad for treatments that are unaffordable in the United States are paying out of pocket. But with the cost of a round-trip ticket (or two, if they decide to bring along a companion), treatment and hotel accommodations, is it really that much cheaper?

The answer is a resounding yes, say experts, doctors and patients like Schuler.

A survey conducted by Patients Beyond Borders shows the jaw-dropping differences in cost. In 2011, you could pay $88,000 for a coronary artery bypass graft in the U.S., or $9,500 in India (which saw the highest average savings, at 65 to 90 percent). For a hip replacement in Mexico, it’s $12,500 instead of $33,000 on average in the States.

And for those uninsured adults -– 16.5 percent of Americans between the ages of 45 and 64 in 2010 -- that extra “$20,000-$30,000 ... can be the difference between refinancing your home” and being out thousands, said Woodman.

So given all the cost benefits, why hasn’t medical tourism taken off?

"We’re so used to the adage that you get what you pay for, it takes a little thinking outside of the box," Rao said. "By just going outside, you end up getting a lot better quality and a lot better care for a lower cost. Until you actually see it, it’s hard to believe."

Yet that same adage still may apply on a case-by-case basis, said Dr. Doug Lundy, an orthopedic trauma surgeon at Resurgens Orthopaedics in Atlanta.

Some patients who travel outside the U.S. for care are treated extremely well, Lundy said. "And sometimes you look at it, hold your breath and think, 'Wow, you paid so much money for this and you got substandard work done.' Sometimes you have to do the work over again."

In a 2009 Gallup poll, the most recent on the matter, 29 percent of Americans said they would consider going abroad for "alternative treatments for a major medical problem." But that number jumped 13 percentage points when those surveyed were asked if they would go abroad if treatment were cheaper and the quality similar to that found in the U.S.

For a number of international hospitals hoping to cash in on this growing market, the latter is increasingly the case. More hospitals than ever are rushing to meet the exacting standards of the Joint Commission International, an organization that has accredited more than 500 health care facilities around the world to date, certifying hospitals on everything from architectural design to superbug prevention.

The JCI-accredited hospital at which Schuler was treated –- Wockhardt Hospitals in Bangalore, India, which is associated with Harvard Medical International -– exceeded his expectations.

"They picked me up at the airport at 4 a.m. their time and took me to the hospital" for X-rays, Schuler said. "My room was incredible, the care was phenomenal. I was there in the hospital for seven days and I was in what I consider to be a four- to five-star health facility."

"When they rolled me into surgery, I remember looking at my doctor and saying, 'If it’s not successful, just let me go,'" Schuler continued. "He said, 'It'll be ok.' By 8 a.m. I was under the knife and by noon they got me up and I was pain-free. I could not believe it."

"The first thing the doctor said after my surgery was, 'My, you’re a lot taller than I thought you were!'" Schuler laughed. "I had nothing negative happen to me, so I would promote it 100 percent."

Whether you decide to stay put and visit your own doctor or go abroad for your next costly treatment, do yourself a favor and research your options. In part two of this series, we’ll go over the advantages and disadvantages of medical travel, and we’ll have tips on what kind of questions to ask when you consider going abroad for treatment.

Check out our slideshow below to see what some of the more popular facilities look like.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

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