MEDICAL ENGLISH ARTICLES

  (HealthDay News) -- Sleeve gastrectomy, a procedure used to help obese people lose weight, may damage the bones of teen patients, a new study finds. "Childhood obesity is a major public health issue that has increased over the last 10 years," said researcher Dr. Miriam Bredella, a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School. "Sleeve gastrectomy is the most common bariatric surgery procedure performed in children and adults." In the procedure, about 75% of the stomach is removed to reduce how much someone can eat. "In adults, bariatric surgery can have long-term effects on bone, leading to higher fracture risk," Bredella noted, saying the researchers wanted to focus on teens "during the crucial years when bone mass is being accrued." For the study, researchers examined 52 obese teens, 26 of whom had a sleeve gastrectomy. Before and a year after surgery, patients had a CT scan of the lumbar spine, to measure the amount of bone mineral densit...

Authors: Martyna Jankowska, Houssam Ghazzawi   Abstract We present a rare and noteworthy case of bilateral quadriceps tendon rupture in a fit and healthy middle-aged man who required an urgent surgical intervention of a bilateral open repair of the quadriceps mechanism. Early recognition and appropriate surgery resulted in a good outcome and allowed the return to his previous mobility status and lifestyle. Through this case we are hoping to highlight how important the right diagnosis and management is, and how rare this type of injury is in a view of no significant past medical history. Summary A healthy 56 year old male presented to Emergency Department (ED) with bilateral knee pain, swelling and reduced range of movement. The onset of symptoms was sudden and occured when the patient was performing his routine set of excercises involving weighted squats. On examination patient was unable to straight leg raise and there was a palpable gap above both patellas. The patient was otherw...

  ABSTRACT The authors report on a case of tibial shaft fracture associated with ankle injury. The clinical, radiological and surgical characteristics are discussed. Assessment of associated injuries is often overlooked and these injuries are hard to diagnose. When torque occurs in the lower limb, the ankle becomes susceptible to simultaneous injury. It is essential to make careful assessment based on clinical, radiographic, intraoperative and postoperative characteristics in order to attain functional recovery. INTRODUCTION The first description of the association of diaphyseal tibial fractures with additional ankle injury was made by Weber 1  in 1972. As the tibial injury is visible and obvious, a potential associated ankle injury may be neglected. Distal tibiofibular syndesmosis instability may lead to subluxation of the talus. Once undiagnosed, ankle arthrosis may take place even if the treatment for the diaphyseal tibial fracture has provided excellent reduction, stabiliz...

Smartphone diseases identified by the state health insurance program include text neck syndrome, dry eye syndrome, insomnia and carpal tunnel syndrome. In 2018, medical expenses for the four diseases amounted to 433.4 billion won ($372.3 billion), a 46.8 percent jump from 2014’s 295.3 billion won. The number of patients in need of treatment for these conditions totaled 5,462,746, an increase of 14.8 percent over the same period. Roh Young-hak, an orthopedic surgeon at Ewha Womans University Medical Center, said while using handheld devices was not the sole cause of “text neck,” it may be more common among mobile users. “More people spend time hunched over a smartphone, than say, a book,” he said. According to the data presented by the lawmaker, insomnia was the condition that saw the most drastic surge, from 461,790 in 2014 to 597,529 in 2018. Lee Hyang-woon, a neurologist at the same hospital’s sleep center, said exposure to light in the evening “severely inhibits sleep” by interferin...

    Lesson by Daniel M. Abrams, animation by TED-Ed. Today, about one-tenth of the world’s population are southpaws . Why are such a small proportion of people left-handed -- and why does the trait exist in the first place ? Daniel M. Abrams investigates how the uneven ratio of lefties and righties gives insight into a balance between competitive and cooperative pressures on human evolution. Transcript If you know an older left-handed person, chances are they had to learn to write or eat with their right hand. And in many parts of the world, it's still common practice to force children to use their "proper" hand. Even the word for right also means correct or good, not just in English, but many other languages, too. But if being left-handed is so wrong, then why does it happen in the first place? Today, about 1/10 of the world's population are left-handed. Archeological evidence shows that it's been that way for as long as 500,000 years, with about 10% of huma...

  Engaging with multiple types of digital media simultaneously, known as media multitasking, has become the norm for many people due to the increasingly easier access to technology. However, a recent study found that media multitasking greatly decreases the ability of sustaining attention, consequently impairing memory.  In the modern era, the average smartphone-carrying human is constantly bombarded with a deluge of information in the form of social media, messages, and other distractions. Humans crave the gratification they receive from continually checking their phone while simultaneously watching TV and Skyping with a friend, priding themselves in their multitasking ability. However, the bulky, modern brain has remained relatively unchanged compared to hundreds of thousands of years ago; that is, it has inherently been fine tuned to only focus on one task at a time. But as we continue to pummel our brain with multiple types of digital information, it becomes apparent to sc...

  A 71-year-old woman sustained a fall onto her anterior left knee. Following this, she reports having 10 months of subjective instability during activities of daily living before seeking orthopedic evaluation. The patient denied having any significant associated pain, but she had apprehension with knee flexion and extension. Of note, the patient had prior bilateral patellectomies for patellofemoral pain at age 15 years and, more than 15 years prior to her current presentation, she underwent contralateral total knee arthroplasty. She was in otherwise good health, ambulating and living independently. 1. Anteroposterior and lateral views of the left knee are shown. Examination of the left knee was notable for 0° to 110° range of motion, which was similar to the contralateral limb. However, at 30° flexion the extensor mechanism was felt to consistently dislocate laterally over the trochlea. This was painless, but reproducible during the flexion-extension cycle. She had no effusion, no...