Woodstown New Jersey Legal Blog

The respiratory syncytial virus is a common virus that leaves healthy adults and children with cold-like symptoms, but in babies, it can cause serious respiratory illness. However, testing for RSV infection among pregnant women is uncommon, and when it does occur, it frequently ends in a misdiagnosis. This is according to a study from Clinical Infectious Diseases. Its findings may be of interest to residents of New Jersey.

Researchers state that pregnant women are rarely hospitalized for RSV infection but that those who are usually get a severe case of it. They analyzed over 15,000 pregnant women who were admitted to hospitals for acute respiratory infection or febrile illness. Only 6 percent of these were tested for RSV infection, of that number, 21 came up RSV-positive. Approximately 63 percent of the tests occurred in the third trimester.

Many cancer patients in New Jersey and across the U.S. are being overtreated for their disease, according to three new studies. The research was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago in early June.

In one study, scientists found that many women diagnosed with early-stage hormone-positive, HER-2 breast cancer do not benefit from undergoing chemotherapy. In fact, anti-hormone treatments are sufficient if the disease hasn't spread to a woman's lymph nodes. Meanwhile, a French study found that patients with severe forms of colon cancer are not helped by heated chemotherapy, a common treatment that was first introduced around 15 years ago. Finally, a Paris study discovered that surgery does little to help late-stage kidney cancer patients. The results showed that surgically removing the diseased kidney only causes a patient pain and increases his or her medical bills.

Pancreatic cancer can be one of the most difficult cancers to treat and survive for people in New Jersey and across the country. One study found some improved hope in a four-drug combination, and researchers noted that it could improve survival substantially when compared to a one-drug regimen. The survey applied to people with pancreatic cancer that had not spread to other regions of the body.

One reason why it is so difficult to treat pancreatic cancer is that it is so often misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all until cancer has spread further throughout the body. However, a drug called folfirinox provides even greater hope for those whose pancreatic cancer is diagnosed early enough that surgical removal is possible. While around 20 percent of such patients were cancer-free five years later when using the traditional drug, Gemzar, nearly 40 percent had successful results five years later after receiving folfirinox. Around 66 percent of patients who received folfirinox survived compared to around 50 percent of Gemzar patients. The results exceeded the scientists' expectations.

Age-related macular degeneration is the number one cause of irreversible vision loss among people 50 and older in New Jersey and the rest of the U.S. This incurable eye condition is most frequently found in females, those over the age of 60 and farsighted individuals. A history of sunlight exposure as well as genetic factors can also increase the risk.

Unfortunately, the condition is also frequently misdiagnosed. This is according to a new study published in JAMA Ophthalmology. Researchers at the University of Alabama, Birmingham looked at 644 patients who were previously examined by an ophthalmologist or optometrist via dilated eye exam. They found that 25 percent of those patients had undetected signs of AMD. The patients' average age was 69.