Ulcers

Cookbook for people who have ulcersNancy Longo (above), owner of Baltimore's acclaimed restaurant Pierpoint, has a new cookbook out for people with ulcers. "Spice for Life" includes 36 easy-to-prepare recipes and full-color photos of the dishes. Best of all, it's free for the asking from the Helicobacter Pylori Foundation, an organization that disseminates information on the bacterial infection that causes ulcers. Call 800-761-9809.Now that Cook's Cupboard in the Rotunda has finished renovating, it features a bright new look.

Q. I've been diagnosed with aphthous ulcers by two doctors, one dentist, a periodontist and an oral pathologist. They have all prescribed treatments, from a particular kind of toothpaste to prednisone to folic acid, but these approaches haven't helped. These sores broke out in my mouth just when I quit smoking five months ago. My mouth is so tender, I wonder if I should begin smoking again. All the doctors say my body is stressing out because of lack of nicotine. Can you suggest anything?

Human Genome Sciences Inc. saw its stock rise 11 percent yesterday after the biotechnology company announced that SmithKline Beecham Corp. had opted to jointly develop and commercialize the Rockville firm's most advanced drug. "We're looking forward to working with [SmithKline] on this drug," said Kate de Santis, Human Genome's director of corporate communications. The drug in question is called Repifermin, which has demonstrated positive indications during early Phase II clinical trials involving patients with venous ulcers, a type of lesion.

Should you disinfect your computer keyboard? Will this harm it? Computer keyboards are a breeding ground for bacteria, especially when keyboards are shared, according to a recent study published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. Researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, led by William A. Rutala, an epidemiologist at the UNC Health Care System, swabbed 25 computer keyboards that were used frequently by multiple nurses and other health care providers. As expected, the keyboards were teeming with bacteria, Rutala said.

Older women can add to strength Most people can build muscle through strength training, it has long been thought - even people in their 80s who have never hoisted a dumbbell. But it may be time to tweak that idea. A new study found that women in their 80s who do resistance training might not boost their muscle mass. However, this doesn't mean older women are off the hook from working out - the study also found that despite the lack of muscle growth, the participants could lift more weight after the weight-training program.

My granddaughter is 10 years old, and she still wears diapers to bed every night. Can you give me some advice on how we can get her up to go to the bathroom? I remember years ago discussion of an electrical device that sounded an alarm to wake the child. Do these devices still exist? If there is no underlying medical problem, a bed-wetting alarm is a good treatment. At first the alarm may wake everyone in the house except the sleeping bed-wetter. Waking the child and getting her to the bathroom to finish urinating should address the problem within a month or two. Devices such as SleepDry or Wet-Stop2 cost $50 to $75. I suffered for years with stomach ulcers and had to be hospitalized when they turned into bleeding ulcers.

Human Genome Sciences made double-barreled announcements yesterday about its protein wound-healer repifermin, saying the treatment showed promise and was "well-tolerated" in Phase II tests on skin-ulcer patients and - separately - that it had been approved for Phase II testing on patients with a painful gastrointestinal disease. Dr. David C. Stump, the company's senior vice president for drug development, called the two developments "great announcements for our product." But the company's shares dropped $9.25, or nearly 11.5 percent, to close at $71.25 on the Nasdaq stock market as the overall market fell.

Scientists unraveling the story of mankind's ancient migrations have enlisted the help of an unlikely historian: an ulcer-causing bacterium that lives in the gut. An international research team reports in Science that the S-shaped bacterium Helicobacter pylori, best known for its miserable role in peptic ulcers and stomach cancer, may also harbor clues to human whereabouts over the centuries. Half the population of the planet may be infected with the bug, which is thought to be passed by contact from mother to child during infancy.

The widely used pain reliever diclofenac poses the same cardiovascular risk as the withdrawn drug Vioxx and should not be used by people with heart disease or high blood pressure, researchers reported yesterday. Diclofenac, an older drug sold as Cataflam or Voltaren, increased patients' chance of heart attack by 40 percent, according to an analysis of 23 clinical studies, the same risk observed in patients who took low doses of Vioxx. The report was released early by the Journal of the American Medical Association because of its health implications.

Charles "Bud" Groft, a retired Westminster auto mechanic who had been battling back from a double-lung transplant last August, died Saturday at Johns Hopkins Hospital from an infection he developed following ulcer surgery.Services will be at 1 p.m. tomorrow at St. John's Lutheran Church, 961 Leister's Church Road in Westminster.Mr. Groft, 51, was born in Westminster. He left high school to begin working as a mechanic at automotive shops. He worked for 17 years as yard manager of Condon's Auto Parts in Westminster and often spent his spare time tinkering with cars.