Crohn's disease: New diagnostic technology
VIENNA, -- Austrian scientists say they've developed a new
diagnostic technology for Crohn's disease: computerized
tomography enteroclysis. CT enteroclysis is reportedly
superior to conventional enteroclysis -- previously con-
sidered the gold standard as an imaging method for the
evaluation of the small bowel in patients with Crohn's
disease. Crohn's disease is an inflammatory disease of the
intestinal wall. "The big advantage of CT enteroclysis is
its ability to detect complications which exist outside
normal parameters of the diagnosis and identification of
Crohn's disease," said Dr. Johannes Sailer of the Medical
University of Vienna and lead author of the research. "Our
recent study proved that CT enteroclysis can detect fistula,
abscess and conglomeration tumor superior to conventional
enteroclysis, with no disadvantages in the detection of
minimal mucosal changes (a sign of early stage Crohn's
disease). "CT enteroclysis is an excellent technique for
diagnosis of all small bowel diseases (that) show morpho-
logic changes to the bowel wall," added Sailer, who said
the technique should replace conventional enteroclysis in
patients with Crohn's disease. The study was detailed in a
recent issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.
Test offered for children with stroke risk
PHOENIX, -- St. Joseph's Children's Health Center in Phoenix
is using a special ultrasound to identify the risk for stroke
in children who have sickle cell disease. The transcranial
Doppler, or TCD, ultrasound test measures blood flow in one's
arteries, identifying the narrowness of the artery and assess-
ing stroke risk. The TCD ultrasound is placed at the base of
the patient's skull. The more rapid the blood flow, the
narrower the artery is, increasing the chance of developing
a blood clot, which can eventually lead to a stroke. The risk
of stroke in people with sickle cell disease is greatest
between the ages of 2 and 20 when the developing blood vessels
are most susceptible to form plaques. Patients who are
identified as high-risk receive blood transfusions every
three to four weeks to reduce their risk. Proper treatment
can reduce the risk of stroke by approximately 90 percent.
Sickle cell disease is an inherited disorder in which red
blood cells become sickle-shaped and have difficulty passing
through small blood vessels. This can damage the wall of the
artery, causing plaque to form and eventually narrowing blood
flow.
Scientists explore effects of emotions
NEW YORK, -- Researchers say people who have negative
emotions without knowing their source often allow the
emotions to affect decisions on unrelated issues. "When
we do not know the cause of our negative states --
referred to as mood states by psychologists -- we use
the moods themselves as information about our environment,"
explain Rajagopal Raghunathan of the University of Texas-
Austin, Michel Pham of Columbia University and Kim Corfman
of New York University. They demonstrated the effect by
putting subjects into a sad, anxious or neutral mood, then
having them make choices unrelated to the source of their
feelings. While both anxiety and sadness exerted a strong
influence on decision-making, different types of negative
emotions encouraged different choices. "While anxiety
triggers a preference for options that are safer and pro-
vide a sense of control, sadness triggers a preference for
options that are more rewarding and comforting," write the
authors. Even when subjects identified the cause of the
emotions, decisions moderately or superficially related to
that cause were still affected by the emotions. The study
appears in the March issue of the Journal of Consumer
Research.
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