Aimee Copeland, 24, is currently at JMS Burn Center in Augusta battling necrotizing fasciitis.

(Credit:Facebook) (CBS News) Aimee Copeland, the 24-year-old graduate student who is fighting for her life against the flesh-eating disease necrotizing fasciitis is very responsive and coherent, according to a blog posted on a University of West Georgia Psychology department student website.

Aimee Copeland, 24, battles flesh-eating necrotizing fasciitis following zip-lining accident

in a post written Thursday afternoon, Aimee’s classmate Ken Lewis  provided an update for those following the tragic story, saying Aimee unfortunately will need her hands and her remaining foot amputated because the blood vessels have died.

Last week doctors had performed a hip-high amputation on Aimee’s left leg. not all the news was bleak, with Lewis writing that Aimee is responding to specific commands and has even selected the music she wants to hear.

“The neurologist says that there is no indication of any brain damage,” Lewis wrote. “The cardiopulmonologist says that her lungs are slowly healing.”

Aimee’s sister Paige also wrote an update today on the Facebook page their father had set to raise awareness about Aimee’s condition.

“Seeing Aimee this morning was so refreshing,” Paige wrote Thursday afternoon. “Her eyes are wide open and she is nodding or shaking her head to the questions we ask. My hope for her recovery is stronger than ever!”

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a “Love Aimee” vigil is being held tonight at the University of West Georgia campus. Blood donations are also being accepted at the JMS Burn Center in Augusta where she has been hospitalized since last Friday.

Last Friday, emergency room doctors at Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton, Ga., diagnosed Copeland with necrotizing fasciitis. According to the Journal-Constitution, Copeland received a nasty cut on her leg last Tuesday on a homemade zip line she was using that broke as she and her friends kayaked along the little Tallapoosa River in Carrollton.

Doctors closed the gash with 22 staples, but her conditioned worsened over the next few days until she was eventually hospitalized and diagnosed with the disease. The paper reports the bacteria that caused the disease was Aeromonas hydrophila, which is typically found in freshwater.

Symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis include a small red painful lump or bump in the skin that changes to a very painful rapidly growing bruise (sometimes within an hour), and the center of the bruise may become black and die, or break open and ooze fluid. Other symptoms include fever, sweating, chills, nausea, dizziness and shock. immediate treatment, such as with powerful IV antibiotics or surgery is necessary to prevent death.

WebMD has more on necrotizing fasciitis.

A significant number of passengers were still suffering from the symptoms of a major flu-outbreak aboard the luxury cruise ship ‘Arcadia’, when it called at the port of Walvis Bay last Friday. Many were not able to disembark at major ports, as the symptoms included severe coughing and shortness of breath, obliging especially elderly passengers to stay aboard.

Passengers referred to the flu as the “Arcadian Cough.” Many were confined to their cabins onboard and advised to stay indoors. The ship’s medical staff was inundated with patients taking ill on the journey, some whom were treated and returned to their cabins while some were kept in the ship’s hospital for observation.The passengers shared their frustrations over the flu outbreak online by posting blogs and updates to networking sites, including Facebook and YouTube. The outbreak also fetched headlines in newspapers in the smaller port cities along the way and highlighted the importance of hygienic standards and the regular sterilisation of passenger ships to avoid pest outbreaks or germ and virus infections that target and compromise the human immune system.“Arcadia” is on a four-month world cruise that started in Southampton, via the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal to Asia, Australia, the Indian Ocean and Cape Town. It is now on the north-bound return-journey to the United Kingdom traveling via Walvis Bay, St. Helena and Tenerife.

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“We took biopsies in [1999] and couldn't establish a causative agent for the hair loss then,” Tony DeGange, chief of the biology office at the USGS Science Center in Anchorage, told the Washington Times. “But now we have this unexplained mortality event going on with seals. And they haven't been successful in figuring out what caused the seal deaths. Is it just a matter of coincidence or is it related? We don't know.”

More than 100 ringed seals and Pacific walruses washed up on the shores of Alaska, Canada and Russia last summer. they showed fur loss and skin lesions accompanied by labored breathing and fatigue. the majority of the animals eventually died, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Despite extensive testing for a wide variety of well-known infectious agents, the cause(s) of the observed condition in walruses and ice seals remains unknown,” the USGS said in a statement. “Advanced testing techniques for unidentified infectious agents is continuing as well as further testing for potential causes including man-made and natural biotoxins, radiation, contaminants, auto-immune diseases, nutritional, hormonal and environmental factors.”

Even though scientists are investigating radiation as a possible cause, they stressed it's unlikely the illness is being caused by contamination from Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was damaged last year in an earthquake.

While no polar bears have died yet, the appearance of a disease spreading through their population is “disturbing,” Andrew Wetzler, director of the Land and Wildlife Program for the National Resources Defense Council, said in a blog post.

“At the very least, it should serve as a caution flag to scientists and government officials,” he wrote. ”With polar bears already vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and now showing signs of a new emergent illness, this is not the time to be playing Russian roulette with the Beaufort Sea population either by rushing ahead with offshore oil exploration and drilling or by continuing Canada's commercial trade in polar bear skins.”

The State of Alaska Division of Public Health said there's no evidence of the disease spreading to humans.

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LinkedIn is a new social networking site which caters to business individuals as well as professionals. It combined the best of Twitter and Facebook to present a way of contacting colleagues as well as building your own professional profile and professional network in your field.

You can access certain communities for an individual skill and search for other professionals with those skills.

When you register for LinkedIn you register the same as you would for a social networking site. You enter minimal information like your name, your email address (which is then confirmed) and your country of residence. You can enter additional information such as company or alumni if you want. When you are done registering you can import a contact list from a different webmail service, or you can browse for people based on their name, their company, or their college. The biggest difference is that using this social networking site means that you do not look for after party photos or holiday family photos. You can only contact people for professional means instead of looking for your next hook up. This site lets you seek professionals within your personal contacts. if you are friends with someone you can look up a friend of your colleague who might be an expert in diesel motors or networks.

While LinkedIn was launched back in 2003, its popularity began to grow by 2008. It expounded upon the community aspect and created an area where employees can seek employers, and employers can seek employees. You can use it for social networking as well as an online CV database. if you are accustomed to using Microsoft Outlook, then the layout of LinkedIn will seem natural for you. It makes business owners feel at home with the contact list looking like a rolodex and updates available for specific features. sometimes the site might seem cluttered—much like Microsoft Windows—which can take away from the appeal.

The service is free and is funded through advertisements—as most social networking sites are today. You can, however, upgrade to a premium account service which lets you search specifically for CV’s of potential new hires. This is a useful service for companies looking for new employees.

LinkedIn is a great feature because it removes the hassle of using a business directory or searching through ads. You can find other features such as a visual map creation of your connections and how they are related, as well browsing for employees and CV’s which are suitable in a network which is professional looking, and you can integrate this application with other webmail contacts and Microsoft Outlook.

New York, NY (PRWEB) August 08, 2011

according to a July 4, 2011, piece in the New York Times, an article published in the Archives of General Psychiatry reported “an elevated risk of autism in children whose mothers took a popular type of antidepressant during the year before delivery.” These drugs, so-called SSRIs, include Paxil (paroxetine). according to the Times, “Dr. Joseph Coyle, the editor in chief of the psychiatry journal, called the [study] ‘[a] game changer….’”

Previous studies have attributed to Paxil birth defects in children born to mothers who were taking the drug while pregnant. These include: clubbed foot; cleft lip/palate; delayed development; persistent pulmonary hypertension; gastrochisis; heart defects; skull defects; and brain/spinal cord defects. moreover, Paxil can cause premature birth or even miscarriage. And a child exposed to Paxil in utero can experience withdrawal symptoms after birth.

The new site, paxilbirthdefectlaw.com, has features that allow for easy sharing, including links for automatic posting on Facebook and Twitter, specifically to enable visitors to spread the word about Paxil and the dangers of the drug. the Rottenstein Law Group, a personal injury firm, encourages visitors to link to its sites from their own blogs and Web sites to spread information about defective medical products and dangerous drugs.

About THE ROTTENSTEIN LAW GROUP the Rottenstein Law Group is a new York-based law firm that represents clients in mass tort actions. the firm was founded by Rochelle Rottenstein, who has more than two decades of experience as a lawyer, to represent clients in consumer product injury, mass tort, and class action lawsuits in a compassionate manner.

Contact: the Rottenstein Law Group, LLP Rochelle Rottenstein, Esq. 1259 Veeder Drive Hewlett NY 11557 (212) 933-9500 (office phone) (212) 933-9980 (facsimile) rochelle(at)rotlaw(dot)com rotlaw.com

Read the full story at prweb.com/releases/2011/8/prweb8693799.htm

Twelve Iowa football players are recovering after being taken to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Monday evening with a kidney condition, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported on its website Tuesday.

The Gazette said the Iowa players have rhabdomyolysis, which is a breakdown of muscle fibers that releases myoglobin into the bloodstream. this can affect the kidneys and can be caused by excessive exercise.

This corresponds with a posting on the Facebook page of Iowa linebacker Jim Poggi, who wrote he was hospitalized after his urine turned brown.

The school released a clarification Tuesday night saying the players admitted were all participating in NCAA allowable winter workouts and that the symptoms for which the players were being treated were likely related to those workouts.

The school released a statement earlier Tuesday saying the players had been hospitalized, but were recovering.

“The student-athletes were admitted throughout the course of Monday evening,” a University of Iowa staff physician said in a statement. “All of the individuals are responding well to treatment as of Tuesday morning. all are in safe and stable condition.”

The school would not confirm the identities of the players or their individual medical conditions, but the staff physician and a football team physician confirmed Tuesday the players were responding well to treatment.

“Coach Kirk Ferentz is out of town recruiting, but he is aware of the situation and is being kept abreast of the progress being made,” Gary Barta, Iowa’s director of athletics, said in the school-released statement. “Our No. 1 concern is the safety of our student-athletes, so we are pleased with the positive feedback. Our next step is to find out what happened so we can avoid this happening in the future.”

The school says it’s not clear when the players will be discharged. a school spokesman, Steve Roe, says privacy laws prevent further comment.

Iowa offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde, who recently graduated from the program and was a member of the team’s leadership group, defended Iowa’s workout practices in an interview with The associated Press.

“They are nothing if not concerned for the health of the players,” Vandervelde said. “That’s always the first priority, health and development. I mean workouts are never used to punish. It’s always about improvement, and workouts are always well within the capabilities of the athletes asked to perform them.”

Tuesday’s announcement that a dozen players had been hospitalized was just the latest bad news to hit the program that just wrapped a disappointing 8-5 season.

Senior wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos was suspended for the Hawkeyes’ Insight Bowl win over Missouri after an arrest on drug charges. Johnson-Koulianos pleaded guilty to marijuana possession while other drug charges against him were dismissed.

Running back Adam Robinson was dismissed from the team after being arrested for possession of marijuana in his hometown of Des Moines while on suspension for violating team rules.

Information from ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg and The associated Press was used in this report.

Image: Illustration by Andrew Bannecker

When vascular surgeon Paolo Zamboni reported in December 2009 that inflating a tiny balloon inside twisted veins in the neck provided relief from multiple sclerosis, he created quite a stir. the idea that surgically straightening crooked veins could somehow benefit a degenerative nerve problem was astounding. Physicians were skeptical. Zamboni himself concluded that his findings should be subjected to more rigorous testing. Regardless, many people with MS, which affects at least 250,000 people in the U.S., immediately began clamoring for the unproved treatment. Their demands, amplified through a wide range of social-networking platforms, soon proved impossible to resist. In the past year, for instance, hospitals in California, New York, Italy and Poland have offered the Zamboni treatment—at a cost of $10,000 or more because it is not covered by insurance.

Doctors found themselves playing catch-up every step of the way. Even before Zamboni published his results in the Journal of Vascular Surgery, a post on Patients­LikeMe.com (an online patient community) boasted news of his research, useful links and a dedicated Facebook URL. Community networks traded contact information detailing who would offer the procedure and where. Before-and-after videos were posted on YouTube. Like AIDS activists of 30 years ago but armed with much more powerful communications tools, patients challenged researchers and medical centers to explain why it was taking so long to offer Zamboni’s approach. yet most MS experts believe that undergoing the procedure at the moment is a very risky proposition.

This episode highlights a growing challenge for patients: how to temper enthusiasm for experimental therapies, now widely and effectively marketed through personal testimonials posted online, until evidence shows that the treatments are likely to do more good than harm. “You can never blame people for being excited about something that sounds like good news, especially when they have a serious disease,” says Aaron Miller, a professor of neurology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and chief medical officer for the National MS Society. “I think these social-media sites can have a positive function in that they allow patients to discuss research and share their experiences.” but, he adds, “they have a very major risk in leading patients to embark on therapeutic courses that are not necessarily appropriate for them or haven’t been established as being scientifically valid.”

A dangerous Game In the case of Zamboni’s work, it is easy to see how patients might be tempted to jump the gun and seek a treatment that initially sounds exciting. After all, the study findings came from a reputable surgeon (though not an MS researcher) publishing in a respected journal. as Daniel Simon, an interventional radiologist in Edison, N.J., says of the work: “It wasn’t Bob’s Journal of MS and Autobody Repair; it was the premier journal of vascular surgery.”

It is also easy to see why racing to get treatment can be a dangerous game to play. In the first place, one study, even a well-done one, does not show that a therapy is ready for prime time. Often in medicine, early positive findings wash away later. And Zamboni himself pointed out that the study had limitations. the small trial was not randomized, double-blinded or placebo-controlled—the combination of which is considered the gold standard in clinical research. Participants also continued to take immune system–modulating therapies known to reduce symptoms.

In the case of MS, as with some other disorders, the difficulty of knowing whether a treatment that seemed to work really did have an effect in a study is compounded by the erratic nature of the disease. the most common form—relapse-remitting MS—has a variable course marked by flare-ups amid symptom-free periods. So it is difficult to know if a certain treatment actually works or was simply taken during a naturally occurring remission. Patients taking placebo have often reported substantial improvements, according to Mount Sinai’s Miller.