FAILURE TO GIVE SUPPORT TO DRUG USERS DRIVES HIV SPREAD

More than 90 percent of the world's 16 million injecting drug users are offered no help to avoid contracting AIDS, and governments that ignore them risk a spiralling public health crisis, drugs experts said on Monday.


Source: Reuters

TSUNAMI ARRIVED AT AUSTRALIA, NO BIG WAVES REPORTED

SYDNEY - Australian officials on Sunday recorded the first effects of a wide-ranging tsunami generated by the Chile earthquake, reporting a rise in sea levels but no major waves.

Water levels surged by a few centimetres off Tasmania, they said, warning of rises of up to 40 centimeters (16 inches) and strong currents for several hours rolling up Australia's east coast.

"At the moment we're really in the first few minutes of it," Alasdair Hainsworth, the Bureau of Meteorology's acting assistant director of services, told AFP.

"It's sea levels rising by just a couple of centimetres at the moment."

People were urged to stay away from east coast beaches after the massive 8.8-magnitude quake hit Chile, killing 214 people and sending giant waves speeding across the Pacific.

"We're not expecting to see any significant water inundation but we're still urging people to stay away from the water's edge and stay out of the water," Hainsworth said.

"It's likely to cause strong currents. This could occur for the next four to six hours at least."

But hundreds of people ignored the warnings, heading down to Sydney beaches despite fears that the massive earthquake would trigger a tsunami.

At the popular eastern Sydney beach of Bondi, scores of swimmers ventured into the water while in nearby Coogee people lined the promenade above the sand to watch for any unusual waves.

Bondi lifesaver Jacob Waxs said about 100 people were in the water despite being told it was dangerous and that lifesavers had ordered all beaches in New South Wales closed.

"Unfortunately we cannot order people off the beach, we can only advise," he told AFP.

"Initially everybody got out, however, people seem to be going back in and the tsunami warning is still active."

"The surfers here in Bondi will still be out there when there's a shark alarm," he added.

The New South Wales State Emergency Service (SES) has issued official warnings for people to stay away from the state's coastal areas.

"Do not go to the coast to watch the tsunami, as there is the possibility of dangerous, localised flooding of the immediate foreshore," the warning stated.

"Boats in harbours, estuaries or shallow coastal water should return to shore. Secure your boat and move away from the waterfront. Vessels already at sea should stay offshore in deep water until further advised."

source:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/world/02/27/10/tsunami-reaches-australia-no-big-waves-reported

TSUNAMI ALERT IMPLEMENTED IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvocs) issued a tsunami alert level 1 in the Philippines today. This could be the effect of the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Chile today. The said earthquake could generate a destructive tsunami that could hit coastlines on the western Pacific.

The government has also warned those living in the eastern side of the Philippines including Camarines and Albay. “No evacuation order is in effect but communities along the east coast of the country are advised to wait for further information and to prepare for possible evacuation,” the government institute said in an advisory.

Source abs-cbn news

HYPNOSIS MAY HELP REDUCE PAIN AND SUFFERING IN METASTATIC BREAST CANCER PATIENTS

Hypnosis can help alleviate the pain and suffering experienced by women being treated for breast cancer, according to a study by a University at Buffalo School of Social Work professor.

The randomized trial measured pain and suffering, frequency of pain and degree of constant pain among 124 women with metastatic breast cancer, according to Lisa D. Butler, associate professor in UB's School of Social Work, a faculty member in the Buffalo Center for Social Research and first author of the study.

Researchers recorded levels of pain at four-month intervals for a year. Women who were assigned to the treatment group received group psychotherapy, as well as instruction and practice in hypnosis to moderate their pain symptoms. They reported "significantly less increase in the intensity of pain and suffering over time," compared with a control group, who did not receive the group psychotherapy intervention.

However, those using hypnosis reported no significant reduction in the frequency or constancy of pain episodes.

"The results of this study suggest that the experience of pain and suffering for patients with metastatic breast cancer can be successfully reduced with an intervention that includes hypnosis in a group therapy setting," according to Butler. "These results augment the growing literature supporting the use of hypnosis as an adjunctive treatment for medical patients experiencing pain."

The study was published last year in an issue of the American Psychological Association journal Health Psychology.

The researchers also found that, within the treatment group, those patients who could be hypnotized more easily -- a group the researchers said demonstrated "high hypnotizability" -- reported greater benefits from hypnosis. These patients used hypnosis more overall, including outside of the group sessions, and in some cases used it to address other symptoms related to their cancer.

"These results suggest that although hypnosis is not at present standard practice for treating a wide range of symptoms that trouble cancer patients, it is worth examining that potential," Butler says. "Together, these findings suggest that there may be a number of benefits to the use of hypnosis in cancer care including, but not necessarily limited to, its more traditional application for pain control."

Butler joined the UB faculty in January 2009, after doing research at Stanford University's School of Medicine. She was hired at UB to strengthen the university's research focus on "extreme events" as part of the UB 2020 strategic planning initiative. She recently published a nationally recognized study on how some people living through an extremely traumatic event - including the 9/11 terrorist attacks -- have the ability to recover or even grow in personal and interpersonal functioning.

Source: University at Buffalo
http://www.buffalo.edu/

NURSE, DEFIBRILLATOR CREDITED WITH SAVING STUDENT'S LIFE

RUSSIAVILLE, Ind. -- Quick thinking by a Western High School nurse likely saved the life of a student who collapsed during gym class.
Drew Brantley, 17, a school soccer and baseball star, was playing basketball with classmates last week when he collapsed and appeared to have a seizure, 6News' Jennifer Carmack reported.
But nurse Brenda Strunk said she quickly realized it was much more severe.

When we got to him, we were trying to find pulse on him. We couldn't find a pulse," she said.
Strunk grabbed an Automated External Defibrillator located outside the school's gym and used it to bring the boy back from full cardiac arrest.
Brantley spent five days in Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where doctors said he had a heart condition that had gone undetected.

Now he is back home and thanking the people, and the machine, that helped save his life.
"I couldn't tell you where one of (the AEDs) is in the school, although I guess I will now," he said. "I'm just so happy that everybody knew how to use it, and everybody got there on time."
His parents said they hope to use this second chance to make sure every school is equipped with one of the life-saving machines.

"Only because of that device and the people at school is our son still alive" said Ron Brantley. "Make sure you get them. Even if you don't have to use them, it's a security blanket."
The machines cost about $1,700 a piece. The Western School Corporation has 11 throughout the district near playing fields, cafeterias and gymnasiums, and six more are on order.

Source:
Theindychannel.com