Thursday, April 4, 2013
As more and more children are told they have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), some doctors and parents wonder if it is over-diagnosed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that about 1 in 5 high-school-age boys in the USA and 11 percent of school-age children overall have received a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, more commonly referred to as ADHD. An estimated 6.4 million children ages 4 through 17 had received an ADHD diagnosis at some point in their lives, a 16 percent increase since 2007 and a 53 percent rise in the past decade, according to a March 31 New York Times article. The majority of those said to have ADHD are prescribed medications such as Ritalin or Adderall. While these medications can drastically help ADHD patients, there are other risks associated with them, such as addiction and sharing or selling pills to …
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Teen's death brings home the high stakes of fighting influenza.
Minnesota's five flu-related deaths so far this season—the latest on Tuesday—have drawn attention to influenza dangers this season After the death of Carly Christenson, 14, of St. Louis Park, basketball games Tuesday evening between three St. Louis Park High School squads (including her team) and Fridley High School were postponed. And authorities are urging people both well and sick to take precautions. If you're not well, stay away from hospitals such as Unity in Fridley. "All Allina Health hospitals have flu patients," said hospital spokesperson Gloria O'Connell by email Wednesday. "We are asking visitors not to visit if they are sick. People should get flu shots if they haven't yet." If you need to get a flu shot, here are some places …
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
The woman in her 60s is the latest case in the state from an outbreak that has caused 28 deaths nationwide.
A woman in her 60s is Minnesota’s tenth case of fungal meningitis, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Previous cases include two men in their 50s and 60s and women who ranged in age from their 20s to 70s. The fungal meningitis outbreak has been blamed on tainted steroids from New England Compounding Center (NECC), a pharmacy in Framingham, MA. Six clinics in Minnesota used the medication: The U.S. Federal Drug Administration is investigating other products from the pharmacy. Over 100 facilities in Minnesota received shipments from the NECC including in the cities of: Minneapolis, St. Paul, Burnsville, Eagan, Northfield, Shakopee, Woodbury, Inver Grove Heights, Stillwater, Maple Grove, Apple Valley, Edina, Plymouth, Fridley. …
Thursday, October 25, 2012
One patient is in his 60s, the other in his 50s. The infection is tied to steroids used at clinics in Fridley, Edina, Shakopee and Maple Grove.
A Minnesota man in his 60s and another in his 50s have come down with the state's eighth and ninth cases of fungal meningitis, the Minnesota Department of Health announced Thursday afternoon. Women ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s have accounted for six of Minnesota's nine cases. Federal agencies have linked the rare infection to steroids produced at a now-closed compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts and used at six clinics in Minnesota: The outbreak is now in 18 states and has killed 24 people. Minnesota is one of 11 states where people have come down with the infection but no one has died. Fungal meningitis is different from the more common bacterial and viral forms of meningitis and is not spread person-to-person. More:
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Now infected are another woman in her 40s and the state's first male, in his 50s, to get the infection. Both received steroids for back pain at Twin Cities clinics.
Updated (with latest national tally of fatalities): Two more people in Minnesota now have fungal meningitis amidst an outbreak that has killed 19 people in the United States. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reported the state's sixth and seventh cases of the rare infection Wednesday morning. The first five patients in Minnesota were women ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s. The new cases were another woman in her 40s and a man in his 50s, the Star Tribune reported. No one in Minnesota has died. Fungal meningitis is distinct from viral or bacterial meningitis and is not spread person-to-person. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has tied a Massachusetts pharmacy's steroids to the outbreak. On Tuesday, the …
Monday, October 15, 2012
The MN Department of Health hasn't said where the five infected patients live, but the clinics where more than 800 people in MN got tainted steroid shots are in Fridley, Edina, Maple Grove and Shakopee.
Minnesota has its fifth case of fungal meningitis, the Minnesota Department of Health announced Monday morning. The new case is a woman in her 20s, said Doug Schutz, MDH spokesperson. That makes her the youngest person to get the infection in the state so far. On Oct. 13, the agency said a woman in her 70s was the latest to come down with fungal meningitis, which is not spread person-to-person. Minnesota's first three patients to get the infection were all women in their 40s, the MDH said, and two were well enough to leave the hospital last week. Schutz said the MDH does not attach any special significance to the ages of those infected so far. They have in common that they sought treatment for back pain, which can strike people of any age…
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Shots given in Shakopee, Fridley, Edina and Maple Grove lacked state OK, the Star Tribune reported.
Twelve people have now died in a fungal meningitis outbreak scientists blame on tainted injectible steroids made in Massachusetts and given to patients in 10 states, including at clinics in Shakopee, Fridley, Edina and Maple Grove. No Minnesotans have died. Three people in the state are infected and the Minnesota Department of Health has been working to alert more than 800 others who got the shots that they should get testing or treatment if symptoms arise. Across the country, 137 people have confirmed infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fungal meningitis does not spread by person-to-person contact. The compounding pharmacy that made the steroids, New England Compounding Center, was not licensed in …
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Clinics in Edina, Fridley, Maple Grove and Shakopee quietly promote 'factual,' 'consistent' information on outbreak tied to steroid shots.
The number of Minnesotans infected with fungal meningitis is holding steady at three cases, but the number of people killed in a 10-state outbreak has hit 11. That's according to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where scientists have linked the rare infection to injectible steroids produced in Massachusetts and provided to patients at clinics in Edina, Fridley, Maple Grove and Shakopee. The total number of people infected in the United States stands at 119. A spokesperson for Medical Advanced Pain Specialists (MAPS), one of two Minnesota medical groups that provided the tainted steroid, said MAPS staff is trying to help government agencies. Anne Trujillo, MAPS director of …
Thursday, September 27, 2012
A pilot program in New York City that provides contraceptives to students has met little resistance from parents. Should something like this be offered in Minnesota schools?
Let's just say it. Teens are having sex. And some studies show teens are engaging at increasingly younger ages and not using protection. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released findings that showed of high school students surveyed in 2011, nearly 48 percent said they had had sexual intercourse. Further, almost 34 percent said they had sex during the previous three month period with nearly 40 percent of those admitted to not using a condom and nearly 80 percent to not using form of birth control. New York City recently implemented a pilot program to provide more access to contraceptives in select city schools. According to a New York Times article, health officials said it has been met with little parent …
Friday, December 16, 2011
Alexandra House director 'not surprised'; Fridley police see 200-plus calls annually.
New statistics this week from the federal government say that more than a third of women in Minnesota have been raped, stalked or suffered physical violence by their intimate partners sometime in their lives. (See table for MN below.) That is one estimate of many national and state figures included in a study by Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS). 'I'm Not Surprised' Connie Moore, executive director of Alexandra House in Blaine (Anoka County's one domestic- and sexual-violence shelter and victim resource center), said she had heard about the CDC figures and was planning to dig into the report Friday. "No they weren't surprising at all," Moore said of the widely reported figures…
Heyitsme
3:34 pm on Friday, May 17, 2013
MINE doesn't sell her medication. One it's a felony and two she NEEDS to take her medication. The bottle doesn't leave the house and is locked up. It is very difficult to get a controlled substance like the ADHD medication refilled before the current prescription is scheduled to run out of pills. Too many of the "lost" refill requests can result in an investigation. She lost her pills once (only … more ›