Ask the Expert

July 6, 2009

Ask the Expert: Dr. Cristina Sadowsky, Kennedy Krieger Institute

Think safety before diving in

With summer in full swing and many families headed to the pool and beach, we're reminded that diving accidents are a common cause of spinal cord injuries. Males between the ages of 15 and 25 are the most common victims of diving injuries, 90 percent of which result in paralysis. Dr. Cristina Sadowsky of the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at Kennedy Krieger Institute offers ways to prevent diving injuries with five things to keep in mind before you dive in and cool off this summer.

June 29, 2009

Causes, effects and treatment of erectile dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction, also known as ED, refers to the inability of the man to obtain and maintain erection of the penis sufficient to permit satisfactory sexual intercourse. About 18 million American men experience erectile dysfunction. Dr. Arthur L. Burnett II, medical director of the Johns Hopkins James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute's Male Consultation Clinic and professor of urology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, discusses causes, effects and treatment of the condition.

June 22, 2009

Ask the Expert: Dr. Vadim Gushchin, Institute for Cancer Care at Mercy Medical Center

Gastric cancer incidence low, but diagnosis often late

Gastric cancer is a difficult malignancy to treat. A combined approach of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation can be challenging for patients to tolerate and the survival rates are poor. Dr. Vadim Gushchin, director of gastrointestinal oncology at the Institute for Cancer Care at Mercy Medical Center, discusses the little-known but dangerous disease.

June 15, 2009

Ask The Expert Dr. Zhaoming Chen, St. Agnes Hospital

An alternative approach to pain

Pain is the No. 1 reason people seek medical help. Acute-onset pain suggests a medical emergency and immediate medical assistance is necessary. Chronic pain has a significant impact on human life. According to Dr. Zhaoming Chen, the best way to control chronic pain is a multidisciplinary approach that includes complementary and alternative medicine.

June 8, 2009

Ask the expert: Charles Edwards II, Mercy Medical Center

Exercise can reduce scoliosis symptoms

Scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine, affects roughly 2 percent of the population, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. For National Scoliosis Awareness Month, Dr. Charles Edwards II of the Maryland Spine Center at Mercy Medical Center offers five things you should know about the disease.

June 1, 2009

Ask the Expert: Howard W. Francis, Johns Hopkins School Of Medicine

Keep your ears a 'swab-free' zone

The American Academy of Otolaryngology is urging people not to use cotton swabs to clean their ears. With the public going to the pool or the beach, keeping ears in a "swab-free zone" may be easier said than done. Dr. Howard W. Francis, an associate professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine's Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, explains the purpose of earwax, the potential damage caused by the use of cotton swabs and the safest alternatives for cleaning your ears:

May 18, 2009

Ask the expert: Petr Hausner, University of Maryland

Rare anal cancer in national spotlight

Actress Farrah Fawcett's battle with anal cancer, featured last week in a television special, has brought the rare disease into the national spotlight. According the National Cancer Institute, there were an estimated 5,000 new cases of anal cancer in 2008. The number of new colon cancer cases was 106,100 for the same year. While the details of Fawcett's case are not known, Dr. Petr Hausner, an oncologist at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center who specializes in gastrointestinal and thoracic cancers, offers five things people should know about the disease:

May 25, 2009

Ask the expert: Thomas F. Hattar, Anne Arundel Medical Center

Lyme disease risk peaking

Lyme disease, a highly preventable bacterial infection, strikes nearly 20,000 people a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The peak incidence of Lyme disease will occur from May through early October, so now is the time to guard against the tick bites that transmit the infection. Dr. Thomas F. Hattar, of the Annapolis Center for Integrative Medicine and Anne Arundel Medical Center, offers five things to know about Lyme disease going into the summer season:

May 11, 2009

Thinners lessen blood clot risks

Deep vein (or venous) thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) affect up to 900,000 Americans per year, and are the third leading cause of death in the U.S. after heart disease and cancer, says Dr. Michael Streiff, medical director of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Anticoagulation Management Service and Outpatient Clinic. Here are five things that he says you should know about these conditions:

May 4, 2009

Corneal transplants are common

Corneal transplants are among the most common transplants done. Tissue from a donor is used to replace the covering over the front of the eye. New advances are making this surgery even easier, said Dr. Gerami D. Seitzman, director of Cornea, External Disease, and Uveitis at the Krieger Eye Institute, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore.

April 27, 2009

Keeping stroke risk under control

More than 140,000 people in the U.S. die each year from stroke, making it the country's second leading cause of death for women, and the third for men. About 795,000 strokes occur each year. At least one-quarter occur in people younger than 65 years, making it a health subject important to all age groups. Dr. Marian LaMonte, neurology chief at St. Agnes Hospital, presents a free talk on strokes at 6 p.m. May 12 at the hospital. She offers these tips:

April 20, 2009

Sleeping with baby not best idea

Allowing babies to sleep with their parents is a bad idea, say the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which note that the arrangement poses a risk of suffocation and strangulation.

April 13, 2009

Jet lag disrupts internal clock

Travel season is approaching, and those flying to Europe or heading to the West Coast can expect to experience jet lag. The fatigue, stomach upset and disorientation that occurs is normal, says Dr. Andrea Meredith, assistant professor of physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She offers some suggestions on how to deal with the discomfort.

April 6, 2009

Shingles more painful in elderly

Shingles is a painful, and somewhat mysterious, skin disease that affects people who have had chicken pox. It may occur spontaneously or may be induced by stress, fever, radiation therapy, tissue damage or immunosupression. Dr. Oanh Lauring, chief of dermatology at Mercy Medical Center, says doctors do not know the specific mechanism that triggers reactivation.

March 30, 2009

Aortic valve replacement a common surgery

Former first lady Barbara Bush and comedian Robin Williams made headlines recently because both underwent aortic valve replacement surgery. Although open-heart surgery sounds scary, Dr. John V. Conte, associate director in the division of cardiac surgery and a professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins Heart and Vascular Institute, says aortic valve replacement is one of the most common procedures heart surgeons perform. Most patients can expect a full recovery.

March 23, 2009

High-fiber diet can ease hemorrhoids

Hemorrhoids are swollen and inflamed veins in the anal area. Also called piles, this common condition can be quite painful. Often a modification in diet is all that is needed to reduce the discomfort, says Dr. Robert Akbari, colorectal surgeon at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson.

March 16, 2009

Untreated adult ADHD raises some risks

Having trouble concentrating? Can't sit still? Are you disorganized and always late? If so, and if you've always been that way, it might not be a flaw in your personality but a genuine clinical disorder known as adult ADHD. Everyone's heard of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, but left undiagnosed and untreated, it can carry over into adulthood, says Dr. David W. Goodman, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Center of Maryland in Lutherville.

March 9, 2009

Arthritis starting to affect younger people

Arthritis affects almost 80 percent of Americans. And those affected are getting younger, according to Dr. Barry Waldman of OrthoMaryland and director of the Center for Joint Preservation and Replacement at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics at Sinai Hospital. "We don't really know why, but we're seeing an epidemic of patients with wearing out of joints in their 40s and even late 30s." But the good news, Waldman says, is that diet and exercise are the best ways to treat the disease.

March 2, 2009

Pancreatic cancer particularly virulent

Pancreatic cancer has been in the news recently. Last month, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumor from her pancreas. That same week, actor Patrick Swayze, who was diagnosed with the disease about a year ago, wrote a letter to Congress urging increased funding for research.

February 23, 2009

Whooping cough still around

Whooping cough sounds like one of those old-fashioned diseases that only the heroines of Victorian novels get. But whooping cough, or pertussis, is a serious and sometimes fatal illness that has been on the rise in the United States in recent years, says Virginia Keane, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and president of the Maryland chapter of the Academy of Pediatrics.

February 16, 2009

Perimenopause symptoms differ among women

Perimenopause is that transitional time when a woman goes from having regular periods to ending menstruation. Dr. Howard A. Zacur, professor of reproductive endocrinology and director of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, says not all women experience the same symptoms; some may not experience perimenopause at all. At 7 p.m. Feb. 24, Zacur will speak about perimenopause and answer questions at Goucher College's Buchner Hall, 1021 Dulaney Valley Road, Towson. For more information, call 800-547-5182.

February 9, 2009

Foot pain increases with New Year's resolve to exercise

At the first of the year, many people resolve to get in shape. A month or two later, many of those same people who jumped full throttle into an exercise regimen are feeling the effects of running, walking and other new activities - particularly in their feet. But there are ways to treat and prevent foot pain, says Dr. Rebecca A. Cerrato, a foot and ankle surgeon at the Institute for Foot and Ankle Reconstruction at Mercy Medical Center.

February 2, 2009

Frostbite: what to look for

It's cold outside. And as people shovel snow, scrape car windows or just spend time in the frigid air, some find that their hands and feet become numb or painful. Better get indoors or warm up, because this could mean frostbite or, more likely, frostnip, says Dr. John Wogan, attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

January 26, 2009

Amblyopia, or lazy eye, is treatable

An estimated 2 percent to 3 percent of the population has what is commonly known as "lazy eye," a visual disorder in which the brain and one eye do not work together properly. If treated, particularly if treated early, lazy eye - or amblyopia - can, in the majority of cases, be corrected, says Dr. Michael X. Repka, professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins.

January 19, 2009

Early detection is key to treating cervical cancer

Each year, about 11,000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. This cancer is relatively slow-growing and may not cause any symptoms, but it can be detected with regular tests called Pap smears. If detected early enough, the cure rate - or five-year-survival rate - is about 80 percent, says Robert E. Bristow, director of the Kelly Gynecologic Oncology Service and the Ovarian Cancer Center of Excellence at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

January 12, 2009

Understanding Kawasaki syndrome that afflicted Jett Travolta

After the death of John Travolta's 16-year-old son this month, speculation about possible causes blossomed in the print and broadcast media and blogosphere, including discussions of Kawasaki syndrome. This disease - an inflammatory, autoimmune disorder - typically affects young children and, in some cases, can cause serious heart damage, says Stacy Fisher, a cardiologist at MidAtlantic Cardiovascular Associates.

February 14, 2008

Chocolate is good in small amounts

If you really love your Valentine, don't give her an enormous box of fancy candies. The most thoughtful gift may be a small - make that 1 ounce - piece of dark chocolate, says Lawrence Cheskin, associate professor of medicine and human nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center.