MedicineWorld.Org blog writers create dozen of blog posts every day including this ent news blog. Visit main blog page for more selection of blog postings Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT en-us http://medicineworld.org/images/ent-news.jpg 113 85 http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/3-2008/link-between-common-cold-and-ear-infection.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/3-2008/link-between-common-cold-and-ear-infection.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT A new five-year study at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston confirms the suspected close link between the two most common diseases of young children: colds and ear infections. The study, which appears in the March 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Disease, confirmed the suspected close link between the two most common diseases of young children, viral colds and ear infections. It also identified the viruses linked to higher rates of ear infections........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2008/over-the-counter-eardrops-may-cause-hearing-loss.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2008/over-the-counter-eardrops-may-cause-hearing-loss.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT A new study, led by scientists at The Montreal Childrens Hospital (MCH) of the MUHC, has revealed that certain over-the-counter earwax softeners can cause severe inflammation and damage to the eardrum and inner ear. The results of the study, recently published in The Laryngoscope, suggest that use of these medications should be discouraged........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2008/helps-improve-childrens-cold-symptoms.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2008/helps-improve-childrens-cold-symptoms.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT A saline nasal wash solution made from processed seawater appears to improve nasal symptoms and may help prevent the recurrence of respiratory infections when used by children with the common cold, as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of Otolaryngology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Infections of the upper respiratory tract and sinus infections are common among children, as per background information in the article. Nasal irrigation with isotonic [balanced] saline solutions seems effective in such health conditions and is often used in a variety of indications as an adjunctive therapy, the authors write as background information in the article. Eventhough saline nasal wash is currently mentioned in several guidelines, scientific evidence of its efficacy is rather poor........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/12-2007/common-treatments-for-sinus-infections.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/12-2007/common-treatments-for-sinus-infections.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT A comparison of common therapys for acute sinusitis that included an antibiotic and a topical steroid found neither more effective than placebo, as per a research studyin the December 5 issue of JAMA. Acute sinusitis (sinus infection) is a common clinical problem with symptoms similar to other illnesses, and is often diagnosed and treated without clinical confirmation. Despite the clinical uncertainty as to a bacterial cause, antibiotic prescribing rates remain as high as 92 percent in the United Kingdom and 85 percent to 98 percent in the United States, as per background information in the article. Because there are no satisfactory studies of microbiological etiology from typical primary care patient practices, wide-scale overtreatment is likely occurring, the authors write. Concerns about wide-spread antibacterial use include increasing antibiotic resistance in the community. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as topical steroids are also used as a therapy and may be beneficial, but there has been limited research........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/11-2007/genes-influence-age-related-hearing-loss.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/11-2007/genes-influence-age-related-hearing-loss.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT Waltham, MAA new Brandeis University study of twins shows that genes play a significant role in the level of hearing loss that often appears in late middle age. The research, in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, examined genetic and environmental factors affecting hearing loss in the frequency range of speech recognition........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2007/ears-ringing.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2007/ears-ringing.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT Brain researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered how cells in the developing ear make their own noise, long before the ear is able to detect sound around them. The finding, reported in this weeks Nature, helps to explain how the developing auditory system generates brain activity in the absence of sound. It also may explain why people sometimes experience tinnitus and hear sounds that seem to come from nowhere........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2007/ear-infection-superbug-resistant.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2007/ear-infection-superbug-resistant.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT Scientists have discovered a strain of bacteria resistant to all approved drugs used to fight ear infections in children, as per an article would be published tomorrow in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). A pair of pediatricians discovered the strain because it is their standard practice to perform an uncommon procedure called tympanocentesis (ear tap) on children when several antibiotics fail to clear up their ear infections. The procedure involves puncturing the childs eardrum and draining fluid to relieve pressure and pain. Analyzing the drained fluid is the only way to describe the bacterial strain causing the infection........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2007/mit-finds-new-hearing-mechanism.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2007/mit-finds-new-hearing-mechanism.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT MIT scientists have discovered a hearing mechanism that fundamentally changes the current understanding of inner ear function. This new mechanism could help explain the ear's remarkable ability to sense and discriminate sounds. Its discovery could eventually lead to improved systems for restoring hearing........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2007/brain-center-responsible-for-tinnitus.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/10-2007/brain-center-responsible-for-tinnitus.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT For the more than 50 million Americans who experience the phantom sounds of tinnitus -- ringing in the ears that can range from annoying to debilitating -- certain well-trained rats may be their best hope for finding relief. Scientists at the University at Buffalo have studied the condition for more than 10 years and have developed these animal models, which can "tell" the scientists if they are experiencing tinnitus........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2007/developing-new-method-for-hearing-loss-assessment.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/9-2007/developing-new-method-for-hearing-loss-assessment.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT A Purdue University researcher is working on a new technique to diagnose hearing loss in a way that more accurately reflects real-world situations. "The traditional way to assess speech understanding in people with hearing loss is to put them in a quiet room and ask them to repeat words produced by one person they can't see," said Karen Iler Kirk, a professor of speech, language and hearing sciences. "The goal of our research is to develop new tests that reflect more natural listening situations with visual cues, different background noises, voice quality, dialects and speaking rates. This is a more accurate way to predict how people perceive speech in the real world and, therefore, can help us determine appropriate treatment and interventions, such as cochlear implants........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/7-2007/research-focuses-on-vocal-cords.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/7-2007/research-focuses-on-vocal-cords.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT Damaged or diseased vocal cords can forever change and even silence the voices we love, from a family member's to a famous personality's. Julie Andrews, who starred in such classics as The Sound of Music, is among the professional singers who have undergone surgery to remove callus-like growths that can form from overuse of these two small, stretchy bands of tissue housed in the larynx, or voice box. Sadly, Andrews may never fully recover her singing voice after surgery on her vocal cords in 1997........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/7-2007/improving-accuracy-of-thyroid-hormone.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/7-2007/improving-accuracy-of-thyroid-hormone.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT Scientists at Georgetown University Medical Center have developed a fast and accurate way to measure a major hormone released by the thyroid gland ? an advance they say may help in the therapy of a number of women who have overactive or underactive thyroid glands. As per the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, approximately 27 million Americans have thyroid glands that produce too little of the hormone, thyroxine, a condition known as hypothyroidism, or else the gland produces too much, known as hyperthyroidism. Thyroxine regulates the body's metabolism, and hypothyroidism, linked to fatigue and weight gain, is much more common than hyperthyroidism, characterized by weight loss. More than eight out of 10 patients with thyroid disease are women, and nearly one out of 50 women in the United States is diagnosed with hypothyroidism during pregnancy........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/7-2007/after-implant-of-cochlear-device.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/7-2007/after-implant-of-cochlear-device.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT Cochlear implantselectronic devices inserted surgically in the ear to allow deaf people to hearmay restore normal auditory pathways in the brain even after a number of years of deafness. The results imply that the brain can reorganize sound processing centers or press into service latent ones based on sound stimulation. Jeanne Guiraud, PhD, and his colleagues at the University of Lyon, Edouard Herriot University Hospital, and Advanced Bionics, a firm that makes cochlear implants, worked with deaf subjects from 16 to 74 years old and observed that younger subjects and those with a shorter history of deafness showed changes that mirrored patterns in people with normal hearing more closely. The results were reported in the July 18 Journal of Neuroscience....... ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/7-2007/reanimating-paralyzed-faces.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/7-2007/reanimating-paralyzed-faces.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT A surgical technique known as temporalis tendon transfer, in conjunction with intense physical treatment before and after surgery, may help reanimate the features of those with facial paralysis, as per a report in the July/recent issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/7-2007/no-change-intaste-after-tonsil-removal.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/7-2007/no-change-intaste-after-tonsil-removal.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:12:19 GMT In a small study of patients undergoing tonsillectomy, or removal of the tonsils, none reported an ongoing dysfunction in their sense of taste following the procedure, as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of OtolaryngologyHead and Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Together with the sense of smell and nerve impulses in the mouth, the sense of taste contributes considerably to flavor perception during eating and drinking and thus plays a major role in the enjoyment of foods and beverages, as per background information in the article. The sense of taste shows little deterioration during aging but can be weakened by disease or medications. Accidental nerve damage during some medical procedures, including radiation therapy, middle ear surgery, dental or oral surgery or tonsillectomy, also can cause taste dysfunction........ ]]>