Nation’s Jails Struggle With Mentally Ill Prisoners
Washington, DC, United States (KaiserHealth) – Three hundred and fifty thousand: That’s a conservative estimate for the number of offenders with mental illness confined in America’s prisons and jails. More Americans receive mental health treatment in prisons and jails than in hospitals or treatment centers. In fact, the three largest inpatient psychiatric facilities in the country are jails: Los Angeles County Jail, Rikers Island Jail in New York City and Cook County Jail in Illinois. “We have a criminal justice system which has a very clear purpose: You get arrested. We want justice. We try you, and justice hopefully prevails. It was never built to handle people that were very, very ill, at least with mental illness,” Judge Steve Leifman tells Laura Sullivan, guest host of weekends on All Things Considered. A failing system When the government began closing state-run hospitals in the’80s, people with mental illness had nowhere to turn; many ended up in jail. Leifman saw the problem first-hand decades ago in the courtroom. When individuals suffering from mental illness came before him accused of petty crimes, he didn’t have many options. “What we used to do, which I tell people was the definition of insanity was they would commit an offense, the police would arrest them, they’d come to court, they’d be acting out so we would order two or three psychological evaluations at great expense, we would determine that they were incompetent to stand trial and we’d re-release them back to the community and kind of held our breath and crossed our fingers and hoped that somehow they’d get better and come back and we could try them,” he says. Instead, many disappeared and got re-arrested. Sometimes within minutes. “They’d walk out the door, they were ill, they’d act out, because [the jail] is next to the courthouse there are several officers out there, and they’d get re-arrested,” he says. Not only was the system inefficient, it was costly as well. When Leifman asked the University of South Florida to look at who the highest users of criminal justice and mental health services in Miami-Dade County, researchers found the prime users were 97 people, individuals diagnosed primarily with schizophrenia. “Over a five-year period, these 97 individuals were arrested almost 2,200 times and spent 27,000 days in the Miami-Dade Jail,” Leifman says. “It cost …
FDA to review safety of bone drugs
Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Two U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panels will meet on Friday to review popular bone drugs. Included in the panels’ agenda is to discuss a possible recommendation for women to rest first from taking the medication due to concerns over side effects on long-term use. The comprehensive safety review to determine if it is safe for females to use the bone drugs beyond three to five years comes 16 years after the drugs such as Fosamax were launched into the market. The FDA recommendation is expected to affect about four million women in the U.S. who take biphosphonates, which inhibit the bone renewal process by adding bone mass. However, its possible side effects include causing the bones to become brittle. The FDA review will cover at least four branded bisphosphonates and generic counterparts, used for the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis. It includes: Fosamax (alendronate sodium) tablets and solution and Fosamax Plus D made by Merck Actonel (risedronate) and Actonel with calcium made by Warner Chilcott Bonivia (ibandronate sodium) tablets and injection made by Roche, and Reclast (zoledronic acid) made by Novartis. Among the reported risks to long-term use of the osteoporosis drugs are jawbone death, unusual broken thigh bones and esophageal cancer. Due to those risks, the FDA ordered in October the manufacturer of the drugs to add a warning of the higher risks for atypical femur fractures and in 2005 a warning for osteonecrosis. Because of the side effects, Merck has 1,115 lawsuits over jaw damage and another 535 over unusual femur fractures and other bone injuries. After the patent of Fosamax, which was launched in 1995, expired in 2008, generic versions of the medication came out in the market. In 2010, global sales of bone drugs reached $7.6 billion, which went down from a peak of $8.8 billion in 2007. The FDA is expected to issue a report on the results of the Friday discussion on Wednesday, Sept. 14. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
New bionic leg gives amputees a natural gait
Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter Nashville, TN, United States (AHN) – A new prosthetic leg developed at Vanderbilt University is the first of its kind to give amputees a smooth, fluid and natural gait. The new “bionic” leg uses the latest in computer, sensor, electric motor and battery technologies to give the prosthetic extraordinary capabilities. It is the first artificial limb that powers knee and ankle joints to work in tandem. It uses microprocessors programmed to register data and then anticipates what the user is attempting to do. In turn, it operates the devise, giving the user a “leg up.” The bionic leg was seven years in development. Recent technological advances allowed the researchers to construct a lower limb that weighs roughly nine pounds, less than the average human leg. It will operate for three days without a charge, or about eight miles of continuous walking. The new device requires 30 to 40 percent less of the user’s own energy to operate. The advanced model shows the astonishing progress being made in uniting man and machine. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
Prenatal yoga becoming trendy with pregnant Hollywood celebrities
Hollywood, CA, United States (AHN) – Golden Globe nominated pregnant January Jones (Mad Men) was reportedly spotted heading to yoga class in Los Angeles and Silver Lake (California) recently. Soon-to-be first time mom Alyssa Milano (Charmed) was reportedly seen going to yoga class in Calabasas (California) and Los Angeles sometime back. Tori Spelling (Saved by the Bell), due with the couple’s third child in October, is said to be taking yoga lessons at home. Golden Globe nominated Jessica Alba (Dark Angel), who recently gave birth to her second child, reportedly said that prenatal yoga really helped her maintain her figure. She was also quoted as saying, “Prenatal yoga is really good,” and “it really prepares your body”. Welcoming this prenatal yoga trend, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that yoga was a mental and physical discipline by means of which the human-soul (jivatman) united with universal-soul (parmatman). Zed suggested celebrities to explore the spiritual dimension of yoga also besides its physical benefits. Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said yoga was one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy and urged celebrities to take a look at the rest of the five schools also. Some sages had described yoga as the silencing of all mental transformations, which lead to the total realization of the Supreme Self, Zed added. Rajan Zed pointed out that according to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical. It is claimed that prenatal yoga keeps limbs toned, improves balance and circulation, helps learning to breathe deeply and relax, and is beneficial during labor and birth. Prenatal yoga is also quoted as “one of the best forms of exercise during pregnancy” and prepares for the birth “by focusing on relaxation and breathing techniques”. According to National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to an estimate, about 16 million Americans, including many celebrities, now practice yoga. —– This article submitted by Rajan Zed Article ©
Overstretched Libyan health service needs sustained support
BENGHAZI, Libya (IRIN) – Recent fighting in Libya, especially in the capital Tripoli, has taken a toll on medical services with overstretched personnel working under very difficult conditions, and seriously ill and injured patients unable to reach hospitals and clinics, health workers say. “No matter how mighty a health system, nobody can deal with this huge influx of injured patients,” said Khalid Shibib, head of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Libya. Emphasizing the importance of strong international support for Libya’s embattled health system as the country’s internal conflict looks to be moving towards a conclusion, Shibid told IRIN from Benghazi on 31 August: “This is not about politics, it is about health needs.” The interim administration led by the National Transitional Council, he added, now had its health officials in Tripoli and so had a responsibility to take charge, but international help was vital, particularly given critical shortages of supplies and the heavy casualty rates from recent clashes. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said that in the past few days there has been an improvement in the situation in Tripoli. Speaking from Brussels, MSF Emergency Coordinator Rosa Crestani told IRIN: “One week ago, the hospitals were overwhelmed and some were not accessible. Now the situation is calming down and the majority of hospitals are running at capacity.” Crestani said local Libyan volunteers had played a vital role in cleaning up badly damaged facilities, enabling medical personnel to extend their activities and treat more patients in hospitals and clinics that had previously been off-limits. “This doesn’t mean everything is fine,” Crestani emphasized, noting that MSF was running mobile clinics to help treat a large, vulnerable migrant population, living in what she described as “appalling conditions”. Apart from understaffing, and shortages of medical supplies for treatment of the war-wounded and those with chronic diseases in Tripoli, other reports speak of the failure to remove waste from health facilities and the shortage of water. On 26 August, there were reports of at least 200 decomposing bodies at Abu Salim hospital. Outside Tripoli, there is still major concern about health needs in areas like Misrata and Zlitan, which were badly affected by the conflict and the breakdown in medical supplies. Crestani said it was important to provide psychological support services to populations who had lived through the fighting. Changing priorities A recurring theme since the outbreak of hostilities in February has been the strain the crisis has placed on both ordinary Libyans and medical practitioners…
Stroke rates up for teens and young adults
David Goodhue – AHN News Reporter Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The rates of young people being hospitalized for ischemic strokes have spiked since the mid 1990s, according to new research. Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that between 1995 and 2008, ischemic stroke hospitalization rates in adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 44 increased up to 37 percent. The jump coincided with an increase in the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, lipid disorders and tobacco use among this age group during the same time, the researchers said. According to the American Heart Association, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Ischemic stroke is when blood flow to the brain is blocked by clots or build-up of fatty deposits called plaque inside blood vessel walls. Stroke in adolescents and young adults accounts for 5 to 10 percent of all stroke incidences, and is one of the top 10 causes of childhood death. A full report on the study appears in the Annals of Neurology. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
HIV-positive people battle health service discrimination
Cairo, Egypt (IRIN) – The last time Mustafa Abdel Rahman, an Egyptian living with HIV, visited a hospital in Cairo, he was treated so shoddily by the medical personnel that eight years on he refuses to go back. During the three months Abdel Rahman spent in hospital in 2003, the doctor never came into his room; he sent a nurse in once a day to give him his medication. Throughout his stay his room was never cleaned, forcing him to clean it himself, and when his temperature rose dramatically one night and he went to a doctor’s office for help, he was thrown out and ordered never to leave his room. “I saw for myself how people like me are detested, held in contempt, and given the severest psychological pain,” Abdel Rahman, a lawyer, told IRIN/PlusNews. “Our medical workers do not just understand that people living with HIV and AIDS are human beings too.” According to a 2011 report on HIV-related stigma in Egypt, the healthcare sector was consistently identified by people living with HIV as a major source of stigma and discrimination. A study quoted in the report found that denial of care, breach of confidentiality, non-consensual testing, poor quality of care, gossip and blame were all frequent features of Egypt’s healthcare setting. Many of the 11,000 Egyptians living with HIV would rather suffer minor health problems than attempt to obtain health care. “HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination are the most serious challenges to putting the lid on infections in this country,” said Ahmed Awadallah, the manager of the youth reproductive and sexual health program at local NGO the Family Planning and Development Association. “This trend must change because it has its own adverse effects.” Amany Masoud, deputy director of the Right to Health Program at local NGO the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, told IRIN/PlusNews she knew of a pregnant HIV-positive woman who was denied permission to give birth in many of the country’s main hospitals before eventually being offered a room specially for HIV-positive people at a hospital in Cairo. MSM Awadallah noted that discrimination was particularly bad for men who have sex with men (MSM). “Egyptians in general tend to perceive HIV as a punishment from God and the personal responsibility of the infected party,” he said. “Most …
Killer "Black Death" bacteria most likley extinct
Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter Ann Arbor, MIchigan, United States (AHN) – The bacteria strain that caused the plague called the Black Death, one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, is most likely extinct, according to new research from the University of Michigan. The Black Death is believed to have started in China. It was thought to have been carried by Oriental rat fleas living on black rats, who were regular passengers on merchants ships to the Mediterranean and Europe. It killed 100,000 people across Europe, or about one-third of the population, in the 14th century. Scientists have long probed the cause of the Black Death, which has been studied in great detail over the years and the subject of many debates. Researchers reveal they have now found the culprit. The bacterium Yersinia pestis is to blame and has recently been found in the teeth of some medieval victims of the plague. The finding were published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences. The medieval strain is said to be the second of three. The first was the Plague of Justinian in 541 A.D. The third was documented in the 20th century, and is responsible for about 2,000 worldwide deaths a year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a different form of the Yersinis pestis is considered responsible for the plague that exists today. The World Health Organization classified today’s plague as a “re-emerging infectious disease,” and hopes that new findings on the old bacterium will be beneficial in combating today’s strain. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
Scotland rejects idea of seeking extradition of Lockerbie bomber
AHN News Staff Tripoli, Libya (AHN) – Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond says his country would not seek the extradition of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, who is said to be in a comatose situation. “The Scottish government has no intention, never has had any intention, to ask for the extradition of Mr. al-Megrahi because he has conformed to his license conditions,” Salmond told BBC television. Salmond’s comments came Monday after Megrahi’s brother confirmed that his terminally ill brother was drifting in and out of a coma and is approaching death. Megrahi was the only person convicted for bombing Pan Am flight 103 and killing 270 people over the Scottish town of Lockerbie. Due to his terminal cancer, Scottish authorities released him on compassionate grounds on August 20, 2009, in a belief that he would not live more than three months. He has been alive more than two years in Tripoli until reports of his comatose situation appeared in the media. U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez had urged Tripoli to extradite the bomber – a call strongly dismissed by Salmond. The Scottish leader said that Scotland would never make such a request, adding that even if he had made it, the Libyan rebel leadership would not have agreed to it. “The opinion of many, many people is that it might be time as far as Mr. Megrahi is concerned to draw a line under that part of the Lockerbie issue and perhaps allow this man now to die in peace,” Salmond continued. “I feel in view of all he’s been through that he should have been accorded a peaceful end in Tripoli with his family,” said Jim Swire, whose daughter died in the bombing and who has long maintained Megrahi to be innocent. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
Somali’s join IDP camps in search of food
Mogadishu, Somalia (IRIN) – More and more poor residents of Mogadishu are moving into camps set up there to house more than 100,000 displaced from other parts of the country by intensifying drought and the subsequent lack of food and other basic services, say aid workers and civil society representatives. The number of Mogadishu families moving into camps has sharply increased in the past three weeks, officials say. “Many of the families moving to camps are not much better [off] than the displaced; no one has reached their areas yet, they therefore decided to move to the camps to access help,” Asha Ugas Sha’ur, a prominent member of civil society in Mogadishu, told IRIN. She said many of the families had lived in areas formerly under the control of the insurgent Al-Shabab group, which withdrew from the city on 6 August. Some are long-term IDPs and residents who depended on income from daily work. “There are no jobs to be had and no other income,” she added. Sha’ur said some of them had gone for weeks without leaving their homes due to fighting. “Now they are coming out and they have nothing.”Attracting the needy Abdulqadir Omar, the area manager for the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), which supports four camps in the Somali capital, with an estimated population of 3,000 families (18,000 people), told IRIN many of the new arrivals were from the city or the outskirts, “where aid has not reached yet”. Many families who were in IDP camps in the 30km-long Afgoye Corridor, which runs south from the city, are moving back to Mogadishu because there was not much help there, he said. Omar said other families were setting up makeshift shelters inside the camps, a phenomenon known as “bush bariis” (roughly translated as rice huts). They “wait for a food distribution and go back home”, he said. “This in itself is an indication of how desperate people are.” Ambaro* moved from her residence in the north of Mogadishu into a camp. Her neighbourhood was one of the last places Al-Shabab abandoned. “I moved because staying there meant starvation.” She used to find work in the markets but now they have been abandoned, “and I cannot feed my children. When I heard all those people coming to help the drought people I decided I was going to find help also.” Omar…