Latest news with #AdventHealth
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
Man in New Smyrna Beach struck by lightning causing cardiac arrest, officials say
A man at New Smyrna Beach was struck by lightning Friday, June 20, at around 12:27 p.m., and was in cardiac arrest and unresponsive, according to immediate reports from rescue personnel. Volusia County Beach Ocean Rescue Director Tamara Malphurs said the incident occurred in the 4000 block of Atlantic Avenue. CPR was initiated. There were few details available Friday afternoon, but emergency dispatchers said the incident occurred just south of 29th Avenue. Emergency first responders also said the man, believed to be in his late 20s, was transported to Advent Health New Smyrna Beach. Dispatchers sending emergency workers to the scene said preliminary information indicated the victim was in a golf cart when the lightning struck. Paramedics transporting the man to the hospital said the victim was still unresponsive. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Lightning strikes man on beach
The Independent
3 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
How a doctor in Florida performed surgery on a patient in Africa
A doctor in Florida successfully performed a prostatectomy on a patient in Africa using transcontinental robotic telesurgery. Dr. Vipul Patel, medical director of the Global Robotic Institute at Orlando's Advent Health, operated on Fernando da Silva, 67, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in March. The surgery, performed in June, was a success and marked the first patient in a human clinical trial approved by the Food and Drug Administration for this technology. Patel used fibre optic cables to bridge the thousands of miles, noting no perceptible delay in control, with a surgical team present with the patient as a backup. The doctor highlighted the enormous humanitarian implications, suggesting the technology could benefit underserved areas globally and rural communities in the U.S.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Health
- Fox News
NSAIDs vs. acetaminophen: What you need to know before your next headache
Most households have a stash of painkillers tucked away for surprise headaches or stubborn cramps. But some may not realize that all painkillers are not created equal, and they don't all treat the same kind of pain. Over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers fall into two main categories, according to MedLine Plus. The first is NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) like ibuprofen and naproxen. "These reduce both pain and inflammation, but can irritate the stomach if not taken with food," Dr. Jessica Oswald, MD, MPH, an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at UC San Diego Health, told Fox News Digital. The other medication, acetaminophen, also helps with pain and fever, but does not reduce inflammation, Oswald noted. Dr. Min "Frank" Wu, a physician at AdventHealth in Littleton, Colorado, elaborated on how these drugs work differently in the body. NSAIDs are effective in treating fever and pain relief, the doctor told Fox News Digital. These medications can alleviate a variety of symptoms related to arthritis, infection, back injury, headaches and muscle strain, along with other acute and chronic conditions that cause pain and inflammation, he said. "NSAIDs work by inhibiting cyclooxygenase enzymes (COX-1 and COX-2) throughout the body," he noted, which means they inhibit the production of "biological mediators" that cause inflammation and blood clotting. Acetaminophen, on the other hand, works by "inhibiting COX enzymes and modulating the endocannabinoid system in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) to exert its effects," Wu said. As a pain reliever, acetaminophen is effective for migraines, according to the doctor. "In combination, acetaminophen/caffeine is recommended as a first-line agent by many European agencies," he noted. Acetaminophen's effectiveness for arthritic pain, however, is small and not clinically important, according to Wu. "It has not been shown to be effective for low back pain or radicular (nerve pain) in general," he added. Wu pointed out that acetaminophen appears to boost the pain-relief properties of other medications. "The combination of acetaminophen and NSAIDs has been shown to be more effective than either medication alone," Wu said. Oswald also spoke about this method, which she calls a "multimodal" approach. "In many cases, combining different types of pain relievers can be more effective than using just one," she told Fox News Digital. For example, an NSAID like ibuprofen along with acetaminophen and a topical cream "can work together to relieve pain more effectively," Oswald said. Research has shown that NSAIDs have multiple adverse effects and should be used with caution, both doctors pointed out. "They have been shown to cause gastrointestinal issues, and in severe cases can cause ulcers and bleeding," Wu noted. These side effects appear to be dependent on the size of the dose, the doctor added. "In many cases, combining different types of pain relievers can be more effective than using just one." There is evidence of increased gastric effects, kidney impairment and heart disease at higher doses. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also issued warnings about cardiovascular risk. At high enough doses, it can (less commonly) cause liver damage, which can potentially be fatal, according to Wu. Oswald recommended that people with certain health conditions — such as kidney problems, heart issues or stomach ulcers — should talk to a doctor before using NSAIDs. Acetaminophen has been linked to a potential risk of liver injury and allergic reactions, according to the FDA. Rare but serious skin reactions have also been reported. "Acetaminophen is generally safer for most people, as long as they stay under 3,000 milligrams per day," Oswald added. After weighing the benefits and risks, the doctor said that people should "absolutely" keep both types of OTC medications on hand at home. "Having a few different options allows you to manage pain more effectively by targeting it in different ways," she said. For more Health articles, visit Ultimately, if pain doesn't improve or keeps coming back, it's best to consult a healthcare professional who can assess the cause and discuss other treatment options, including prescription medications.
Medscape
3 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Skip Regional Nodal Radiation After Chemo in Breast Cancer?
The benefit of regional nodal irradiation in women with breast cancer-positive axillary nodes has long been established. What's less clear is what to do when positive axillary lymph nodes turn negative after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Do patients still need regional nodal irradiation, or can they skip it? New findings indicate that patients are safe to skip regional nodal irradiation. The study, published online in The New England Journal of Medicine , found that adding regional nodal irradiation did not decrease rates of invasive breast cancer recurrence or death from breast cancer at 5 years in patients whose positive axillary nodes converted to negative following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. 'These results support a shift in treatment strategy in that regional nodal irradiation can be tailored in patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy on the basis of their pathological nodal response,' wrote the investigators, led by Eleftherios P. Mamounas, MD, with AdventHealth Cancer Institute, Orlando, Florida. Earlier findings were first described in an abstract at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in 2023. 'These results definitely should impact practice for most patients,' Kathy Miller, MD, co-director of the Breast Cancer Program, Indiana University Health Simon Cancer Center, Indianapolis, who wasn't involved in the study, told Medscape Medical News . However, she cautioned that patients with inflammatory disease and extensive lymph node disease at diagnosis were excluded. 'There will be temptations and variable comfort extrapolating to those patients who have a complete response,' she said. The other caveat in Miller's view is the relatively short duration of follow-up — only 5 years — for those with estrogen receptor-positive disease. 'That is always an issue given the long timeline in that phenotype. That, however, isn't a reason to recommend therapy with toxicity and cost,' Miller told Medscape Medical News . Nancy Chan, MD, breast medical oncologist and clinical research director of breast cancer at NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York City, would also like to see longer follow-up in this subgroup. 'Hormone-positive tumors can have late recurrences, and we need longer follow-up to have evidence that these results continue to hold,' Chan, who also wasn't involved in the study, told Medscape Medical News. Study Details The trial enrolled 1641 patients with breast cancer with a clinical stage of T1 to T3 (tumor size ≤ 2 cm to > 5 cm), N1, and M0 (indicating spread to 1-3 axillary lymph nodes but no distant metastasis) who reached negative node status following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The median age of patients was 52 years. About 60% had T2 disease, and the rest were split about evenly between T1 and T3 disease. More than half of the tumors (56%) were HER2 positive, and nearly a quarter were triple-negative. Slightly more patients had lumpectomy (57.7%) vs mastectomy (42.3%) and sentinel node-only vs full axillary dissections. Patients were stratified according to the type of surgery (lumpectomy or mastectomy), estrogen-progesterone receptor status (negative or positive), HER2 status (negative or positive), the use of adjuvant chemotherapy (yes or no), and the presence or absence of a pathological complete response in the breast. Patients were then randomly assigned to regional nodal irradiation (chest-wall irradiation plus regional nodal irradiation after mastectomy or the addition of regional nodal irradiation to whole-breast irradiation after lumpectomy) or to no regional nodal irradiation (no irradiation after mastectomy or whole-breast irradiation only after lumpectomy). The primary analysis included 1556 patients — 772 randomly assigned to regional nodal irradiation and 784 to no regional nodal irradiation. After a median follow-up of 59.5 months, 109 primary endpoint events (invasive breast cancer recurrence or death from breast cancer) had occurred, 50 in the irradiation group and 59 in the no-irradiation group. Regional nodal irradiation did not significantly increase the interval to invasive breast cancer recurrence or death from breast cancer (hazard ratio, 0.88; P = .51). Survival free from any recurrence was 92.7% in the irradiation group and 91.8% in the no-irradiation group. Regional nodal irradiation also did not increase the locoregional recurrence-free interval, distant recurrence-free interval, disease-free survival, or overall survival. No deaths related to therapy were reported, and no unexpected adverse events were observed. Grade 4 adverse events occurred in 0.5% of patients in the irradiation group and 0.1% of those in the no-irradiation group. Summing up, pathological complete response in axillary lymph nodes predicted a lack of benefit from regional nodal irradiation — a finding that 'expands the clinical utility of the neoadjuvant approach,' the researchers said. Ongoing patient follow-up will provide data on longer-term outcomes overall and in subgroups stratified by breast cancer subtype. Chan told Medscape Medical News that the B-51 trial provides 'important data as we try to figure out how we can optimize treatment and omit toxicity where it's not necessary . ' 'From this study, it looks like we can safely omit radiation for some patients' who achieve a pathological nodal complete response, Chan said. 'However, every breast cancer patient who sits in front of us is different, and there are many different factors to consider, such as subtype, age, and initial nodal burden, when making treatment decisions,' Chan added.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Doctor uses robot to remotely perform surgery on patient thousands of miles away
A doctor in Florida has used a robot to remotely perform surgery on a cancer patient thousands of miles away in Africa. Vipul Patel, the medical director of the Global Robotic Institute at Orlando's Advent Health, recently performed a prostatectomy, which removes part or all of the prostate, on Fernando da Silva of Angola, ABC News reported in an exclusive story from medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton on Tuesday. Da Silva, 67, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in March, and in June, Patel cut out the cancer using transcontinental robotic telesurgery. The surgery was a success, according to ABC News. Prostate cancer is very prevalent in Africa, Patel told the network, adding, 'In the past, they really haven't monitored it well or they haven't had treatments.' The doctor said this surgery was a long time coming. 'We've been working on this really for two years,' Patel said. "We traveled the globe, looking at the right technologies." Da Silva was the first patient in a human clinical trial approved by the Food and Drug Administration to test this technology. Surgeons have used a multimillion-dollar robot to operate on patients using 'enhanced visuals and nimble controls' before, ABC News reported, but they are often near their patients when operating the machine. Patel used fiber optic cables to test the technology at a long distance from his patient. 'There was no perceptible delay in my brain,' the doctor said. His surgical team was in the operating room with Da Silva just in case they had to jump in. "We made sure we had plan A, B, C, and D. I always have my team where the patient is," the doctor said. In case something went awry with the telecommunications, "the team would just take over and finish the case and do it safely,' he said. Reflecting on the surgery, Patel called it 'a small step for a surgeon, but it was huge leap for health care.' He said the 'humanitarian implications are enormous.' "Internationally, obviously, there's so many underserved areas of the world,' the doctor said, adding that rural communities in the U.S. could also benefit from the technology. He continued: "Emergency room physicians will have technology that can be remotely accessible to surgeons, maybe even in the ambulance, where people can get remote interventions if they can't make it to the hospital.' Patel said he will submit the data he collected from the surgery to the FDA with the hopes that he can do more telesurgeries in the future.
