Rise in C-sections Concerns Some Experts; Early Births, Health Problems Linked

Kelly Parsons was in her eighth month of pregnancy when her water broke and doctors, concerned about her severe high blood pressure, prepared to deliver her baby by Caesarean section. Lying in her hospital bed, she kept thinking her baby wasn’t ready to be born. “I knew it wasn’t good,” said the 30-year-old Louisville woman. Indeed, while he’s doing well at 5 years old, Parsons’ son Jackson was born underweight, suffered breathing problems and jaundice and spent two weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit. Such serious and costly medical problems are not unusual for the growing number of babies born relatively late in pregnancy, but before the 37 to 42 weeks considered full-term. And a growing number of doctors and health advocates — including the March of Dimes at a recent “prematurity summit” in Louisville — are linking this to a new factor: a jump in C-sections. The rate of C-sections reached a record in 2005 — the most recent year for which data are available — 30.3 percent of all births in the United States, up 46 percent from 1996. Kentucky’s rate, 33.9 percent, was sixth-highest in the nation. Pre-term births, meanwhile, have risen more than 30 percent in two decades nationally, and today comprise about one in seven births in Kentucky and Indiana. Most of those are “late pre-term,” defined as 34 to 36 weeks in the womb. Some medical experts and women’s health advocates say late pre-term births could be reduced by bringing down the number of C-sections done before 39 weeks for reasons such as mothers’ requests or doctors’ schedules. The March of Dimes is asking hospitals to voluntarily review all such C-sections. “There are many of us doing elective Caesareans,” said Dr. Iffath Abbasi Hoskins, of New York, vice president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “Often, it is for the health of the mother or baby. … (But) some of it is the patients saying: ‘I’m done. Get me delivered.’ “

Please click on the link below to read the complete Courier Journal article:

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20081130/NEWS01/811300463/1008

The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters.  The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.

Delay in Cancer Treatment Is Found to Raise Recurrence

One in five breast cancer patients ages 65 and older postponed radiation therapy or did not complete the full radiation regimen after breast-conserving surgery, and the lapses in care took a significant toll on their health, a new study reports. Researchers and physicians at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York reviewed the medical records of nearly 8,000 patients with Stage 1 breast cancer. Those who waited eight weeks before beginning radiation therapy were 1.4 times as likely to have had a recurrence or to develop a new breast tumor, the researchers found. Patients who delayed radiation for 12 weeks or longer were four times as likely to have suffered a recurrence. The study was published in the journal Cancer. A truncated course of radiation therapy — defined as less than three weeks, instead of the usual regimen of five to seven — increased the risk of succumbing to cancer by 32 percent, the researchers reported. Delayed and incomplete radiation treatment did not as adversely affect patients with a precancerous condition called ductal carcinoma in situ, the study said. “One of the big problems is that care has to be coordinated to avoid these kinds of delays and lack of completion, especially for patients from a lower socioeconomic status,” said Dr. Heather Taffet Gold, assistant professor of public health at the college and lead author of the study.

Please click on the link below to read the complete New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/health/02cancer.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=health&adxnnlx=1228743287-c8qJXG4u55PS5N7nMkzbcA

The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters.  The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.