Septic Shock

Pope John Paul II's downward spiral yesterday was a classic example of what happens to a frail, elderly patient suffering from septic shock - a condition that remains maddeningly hard to cure, doctors said. "Sepsis is the beginning of a domino effect," said Dr. Hassan Makhzoumi, a pulmonary specialist at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Towson. The disease is the body's reaction to an infection that breaks out of an organ or tissue into the bloodstream. In the pope's case, the apparent cause was a urinary tract infection that doctors began treating Thursday with antibiotics.

Every year, some 750,000 Americans develop sepsis, an extreme immune system response to infection. It kills a quarter to half of them, more than the combined number of people who die of prostate and breast cancer and AIDS, according to the National Institutes of Health. Health care providers have a limited amount of time to treat sepsis, which appears to be on the rise, possibly because of the longevity of people with chronic diseases and spread of antibiotic-resistant organisms.

A new genetically engineered drug significantly cuts the death rate from septic shock, a quick and overwhelming infection of the bloodstream that kills tens of thousands of people each year.Septic shock is an especially great threat for hospital patients and wounded soldiers.The new treatment involves a human monoclonal antibody that homes in with a sharpshooter's precision on the bacterial toxin responsible for death from the infection.In a study appearing today in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from 24 medical centers around the country report that the drug reduces fatalities from septic shock by about 40 percent.

Diverticulitis occurs when small, bulging pockets - or diverticula - occur within the colon and become infected. In most cases a slight or micro-perforation occurs. The majority of the time, the healthy body confines the infection to a very small space, and with time and a course of antibiotics, the infection will resolve itself. Dr. John L. Newman, a gastroenterologist with Anne Arundel Gastroenterology Associates, writes about diverticulitis. •Diverticulosis, the presence of the pocket without infection, is very common as we grow older.

An experimental drug has been shown to significantly reduce deaths caused by a bacterial infection so severe it kills as many as 60 percent of those who contract it, according to a clinical study that was to be published today.The drug, known as Centoxin, reduced by 39 percent the number of deaths attributed to a blood infection known as gram-negative sepsis, said a team of researchers writing in the New England Journal of Medicine.For those patients who went into septic shock -- a complication of gram-negative sepsis that kills as many as 75 percent of its victims -- the drug reduced mortality by 42 percent.

A new genetically engineered drug significantly cuts the death rate from septic shock, a quick and overwhelming infection of the bloodstream that kills tens of thousands of people each year.Septic shock is an especially great threat for hospital patients and wounded soldiers.The new treatment involves a human monoclonal antibody that homes in with a sharpshooter's precision on the bacterial toxin responsible for death from the infection.In a study appearing today in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from 24 medical centers around the country report that the drug reduces fatalities from septic shock by about 40 percent.

The Year of Magical Thinking By Joan Didion In this taut, clear-eyed memoir of grief, Didion chronicles the year following the death of her husband, fellow writer John Gregory Dunne, from a massive heart attack on Dec. 30, 2003, while the couple's only daughter, Quintana, lay unconscious in a nearby hospital suffering from pneumonia and septic shock. Dunne and Didion had lived and worked side by side for nearly 40 years, and Dunne's death propelled Didion into a state she calls "magical thinking."

Chincoteague, Va. -- Leon Rose's grin splits the darkness and he says: "Watch this." The nets on the Susan Dawn groan and a glistening bounty of horseshoe crabs spills onto the deck of his old wooden workboat. Under a full moon, the bellies of these prehistoric creatures shine like polished mahogany and their legs wriggle madly to escape.No wonder. Leon Rose is out for blood -- an ounce to be exact.But the crabs will return to the Atlantic in less than 24 hours, shortly after making a donation.

Nova Pharmaceutical Corp. attempted to soothe disgruntled shareholders at its annual meeting yesterday with the news that the decade-long wait for a major new product could be coming to an end.The company said the first stages of clinical testing on a class of drugs aimed at treating septic shock and inflammatory bowel disease began two days ago. The initial tests are designed to determine whether the leumedins, or anti-inflammatory drugs, will be safe...

WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators studying whether the abortion pill RU-486 was responsible for the deaths of two women who took the drug ruled out one of the cases yesterday. The Food and Drug Administration did not indicate which of the deaths had been ruled out. Cindy Summers, a spokeswoman for RU-486 manufacturer Danco Laboratories, said it was a death that took place several weeks after the abortion. The FDA is continuing to investigate the cause of the other death, which came several days after RU-486 was administered.

The Year of Magical Thinking By Joan Didion In this taut, clear-eyed memoir of grief, Didion chronicles the year following the death of her husband, fellow writer John Gregory Dunne, from a massive heart attack on Dec. 30, 2003, while the couple's only daughter, Quintana, lay unconscious in a nearby hospital suffering from pneumonia and septic shock. Dunne and Didion had lived and worked side by side for nearly 40 years, and Dunne's death propelled Didion into a state she calls "magical thinking."

WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators studying whether the abortion pill RU-486 was responsible for the deaths of two women who took the drug ruled out one of the cases yesterday. The Food and Drug Administration did not indicate which of the deaths had been ruled out. Cindy Summers, a spokeswoman for RU-486 manufacturer Danco Laboratories, said it was a death that took place several weeks after the abortion. The FDA is continuing to investigate the cause of the other death, which came several days after RU-486 was administered.

Pope John Paul II's downward spiral yesterday was a classic example of what happens to a frail, elderly patient suffering from septic shock - a condition that remains maddeningly hard to cure, doctors said. "Sepsis is the beginning of a domino effect," said Dr. Hassan Makhzoumi, a pulmonary specialist at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Towson. The disease is the body's reaction to an infection that breaks out of an organ or tissue into the bloodstream. In the pope's case, the apparent cause was a urinary tract infection that doctors began treating Thursday with antibiotics.

MY FATHER HAS always had enormous energy. If he ever felt ill, you didn't know it. Twenty-five years after ending his career as a foreign service officer, he was enjoying vigorous retirement, a pillar of the Florida community where he lives.Then a bad infection -- one he might have avoided if he'd received an adequate warning from his doctor -- dramatically changed all that.It's a problem that affects scores of people annually -- those who, like my father, have had a joint or heart-valve replacement.

Chincoteague, Va. -- Leon Rose's grin splits the darkness and he says: "Watch this." The nets on the Susan Dawn groan and a glistening bounty of horseshoe crabs spills onto the deck of his old wooden workboat. Under a full moon, the bellies of these prehistoric creatures shine like polished mahogany and their legs wriggle madly to escape.No wonder. Leon Rose is out for blood -- an ounce to be exact.But the crabs will return to the Atlantic in less than 24 hours, shortly after making a donation.

Nova Pharmaceutical Corp. attempted to soothe disgruntled shareholders at its annual meeting yesterday with the news that the decade-long wait for a major new product could be coming to an end.The company said the first stages of clinical testing on a class of drugs aimed at treating septic shock and inflammatory bowel disease began two days ago. The initial tests are designed to determine whether the leumedins, or anti-inflammatory drugs, will be safe...

Every year, some 750,000 Americans develop sepsis, an extreme immune system response to infection. It kills a quarter to half of them, more than the combined number of people who die of prostate and breast cancer and AIDS, according to the National Institutes of Health. Health care providers have a limited amount of time to treat sepsis, which appears to be on the rise, possibly because of the longevity of people with chronic diseases and spread of antibiotic-resistant organisms.

Diverticulitis occurs when small, bulging pockets - or diverticula - occur within the colon and become infected. In most cases a slight or micro-perforation occurs. The majority of the time, the healthy body confines the infection to a very small space, and with time and a course of antibiotics, the infection will resolve itself. Dr. John L. Newman, a gastroenterologist with Anne Arundel Gastroenterology Associates, writes about diverticulitis. •Diverticulosis, the presence of the pocket without infection, is very common as we grow older.

A new genetically engineered drug significantly cuts the death rate from septic shock, a quick and overwhelming infection of the bloodstream that kills tens of thousands of people each year.Septic shock is an especially great threat for hospital patients and wounded soldiers.The new treatment involves a human monoclonal antibody that homes in with a sharpshooter's precision on the bacterial toxin responsible for death from the infection.In a study appearing today in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from 24 medical centers around the country report that the drug reduces fatalities from septic shock by about 40 percent.

An experimental drug has been shown to significantly reduce deaths caused by a bacterial infection so severe it kills as many as 60 percent of those who contract it, according to a clinical study that was to be published today.The drug, known as Centoxin, reduced by 39 percent the number of deaths attributed to a blood infection known as gram-negative sepsis, said a team of researchers writing in the New England Journal of Medicine.For those patients who went into septic shock -- a complication of gram-negative sepsis that kills as many as 75 percent of its victims -- the drug reduced mortality by 42 percent.