|
|
Charles Darwin - Strep throat victim !
Mozart died of complications of strep throat.
As did Charles Darwin. ( Sort of. )
Most sore throat are caused by a virus , and and harmless.
But there there is the kind that got Mozart and Darwin !
Mozart is buried somewhere in a communal grave site in Vienna. And most people think he died of complications of strep throat ! So instead of composing, he is de-composing.
Darwin had 10 children, one of whom was also named Charles Darwin. And when Darwin's "theory of evolution on the basis of natural selection" was being presented at the Royal Society for the first time, Chuck wasn't even there. He was busy attending his son's funeral. ( A sad lesson on survival of the fittest ! )
So strep throat can be very dangerous. More so in the past than now, but it is still nothing to screw around with.
And when doctors treat it, it is not because we care about your sore throat. (That would get better on it's own anyway. Antibiotics only speed things up by a day or so . )
We treat strep throat because we are worried about about your heart. And kidneys. And brain. And arms and legs and .....
As did Charles Darwin. ( Sort of. )
Most sore throat are caused by a virus , and and harmless.
But there there is the kind that got Mozart and Darwin !
Mozart is buried somewhere in a communal grave site in Vienna. And most people think he died of complications of strep throat ! So instead of composing, he is de-composing.
Darwin had 10 children, one of whom was also named Charles Darwin. And when Darwin's "theory of evolution on the basis of natural selection" was being presented at the Royal Society for the first time, Chuck wasn't even there. He was busy attending his son's funeral. ( A sad lesson on survival of the fittest ! )
So strep throat can be very dangerous. More so in the past than now, but it is still nothing to screw around with.
And when doctors treat it, it is not because we care about your sore throat. (That would get better on it's own anyway. Antibiotics only speed things up by a day or so . )
We treat strep throat because we are worried about about your heart. And kidneys. And brain. And arms and legs and .....
Most sore throats are strep throats are not !
True strep throats serious problems can cause !
True strep throats serious problems can cause !
Strep throat is about hearts, not throats !!!
Big fat tonsils covered in gobs of white pus - yuck!!!
The two big secrets of sore throats are:
1) Over 95 % of sore throats are caused by a virus, and antibiotics have no effect on them at all
2) A few percent of sore throats are caused by bacteria, and can be treated with antibiotics. And when the bacteria are called the "group A beta hemolytic streptococci". That is quite a mouthful , so we usually just say "strep throat". If if you have got it then you need antibiotics. Even if the sore throat has already gone away. Really !
3) Because if we don't, the strep germs can hide out in your body for a few weeks, and then come back and cause a disease called "rheumatic fever". Which can permanently screw up your heart, or kidneys, or brain, or ...
4) Giving antibiotics can prevent some of these complications. Even when the sore throat has already gone away !!!
5) The only way to be sure whether or not you need antibiotics for a sore throat is to do lab tests. Doctors can never tell for sure just by looking. Even really smart ones like me !
1) Over 95 % of sore throats are caused by a virus, and antibiotics have no effect on them at all
2) A few percent of sore throats are caused by bacteria, and can be treated with antibiotics. And when the bacteria are called the "group A beta hemolytic streptococci". That is quite a mouthful , so we usually just say "strep throat". If if you have got it then you need antibiotics. Even if the sore throat has already gone away. Really !
3) Because if we don't, the strep germs can hide out in your body for a few weeks, and then come back and cause a disease called "rheumatic fever". Which can permanently screw up your heart, or kidneys, or brain, or ...
4) Giving antibiotics can prevent some of these complications. Even when the sore throat has already gone away !!!
5) The only way to be sure whether or not you need antibiotics for a sore throat is to do lab tests. Doctors can never tell for sure just by looking. Even really smart ones like me !
|
|
There, but for strep, goes he ....
Mozart may have died from the heart complications of a sore throat. Which means that strep is responsible for him "decomposing". ( Think about it for a sec ! )
Lee Iacocca ( a capitalist who used to run Chrysler and Ford, and I think used to do commercials for razor blades on TV) became a CEO because of a sore throat.
Lee really always wanted to be a pro baseball player, but after a sore throat screwed up his heart he had to give up sports and take up business !
If he had gotten antibiotics for his strep throat on time, he might have been in the baseball hall of fame instead of on the cover of Time.
Lee Iacocca ( a capitalist who used to run Chrysler and Ford, and I think used to do commercials for razor blades on TV) became a CEO because of a sore throat.
Lee really always wanted to be a pro baseball player, but after a sore throat screwed up his heart he had to give up sports and take up business !
If he had gotten antibiotics for his strep throat on time, he might have been in the baseball hall of fame instead of on the cover of Time.
Strep throat can cause PANDAS !
(NEWSER) – Strep may be causing much more than a sore throat among children. The powerful bacteria could be triggering a host of neurological problems from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder to nervous tics, anorexia, and hyperactivity, some scientists believe. Millions of US children develop strep throat each year, and most cases are quickly cleared up with antibiotics, notes the Wall Street Journal. But some kids suffer "P.A.N.D.A.s" (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcus).
"Parents have used the word 'possessed,' " says one doctor. "Their sweet, wonderful child turns into a monster seemingly overnight."
Physicians aren't on the same page when it comes to the startling phenomenon. "There's definitely something going on with these kids, but right now, you could walk into one doctor's office and they could be a believer and move forward with treatments, and some would not," says a Manhattan child psychiatrist. Some scientists believe the extreme reaction may be triggered by a genetic predisposition to mount an unusual immune response when exposed to the strep bacteria. Studies have shown that strep antibodies bind to brain cells and can cause excess dopamine production, which is often linked to neurological problems.
"Parents have used the word 'possessed,' " says one doctor. "Their sweet, wonderful child turns into a monster seemingly overnight."
Physicians aren't on the same page when it comes to the startling phenomenon. "There's definitely something going on with these kids, but right now, you could walk into one doctor's office and they could be a believer and move forward with treatments, and some would not," says a Manhattan child psychiatrist. Some scientists believe the extreme reaction may be triggered by a genetic predisposition to mount an unusual immune response when exposed to the strep bacteria. Studies have shown that strep antibodies bind to brain cells and can cause excess dopamine production, which is often linked to neurological problems.
(NEWSER) – Scarlet fever may seem like a disease of bygone times—it's what took Beth away from the Little Women and sealed the fate of the Velveteen Rabbit—but for many Britons it has become all too current. England and Wales have seen a spike in cases, with 3,000 last year, and it may be getting more virulent, the Independentreports.
Caused by the same bacterium as strep throat, scarlet fever produces a characteristic rash along with sore throat, fever, and swollen glands. Although antibiotics can combat most strains, it can sometimes lead to deadly complications like meningitis, pneumonia, or flesh-eating bacteria. Experts say it's possible that this winter's flu outbreak is making people more susceptible.
Caused by the same bacterium as strep throat, scarlet fever produces a characteristic rash along with sore throat, fever, and swollen glands. Although antibiotics can combat most strains, it can sometimes lead to deadly complications like meningitis, pneumonia, or flesh-eating bacteria. Experts say it's possible that this winter's flu outbreak is making people more susceptible.
|
|
|
|
Treatment of Sore Throats
Antibiotics for people with sore throats
Spinks A, Glasziou PP, Del Mar CB
Published Online:
September 7, 2011
Sore throats are infections caused by bacteria or viruses. People usually recover quickly (usually after three or four days), although some develop complications. A serious but rare complication is rheumatic fever, which affects the heart and joints. Antibiotics reduce bacterial infections but they can cause diarrhoea, rash and other adverse effects and communities build resistance to them.
This review of 27 trials with 12,835 cases of sore throat found that antibiotics shorten the illness by an average of about one day and can reduce the chance of rheumatic fever by more than two-thirds in communities where this complication is common.
Spinks A, Glasziou PP, Del Mar CB
Published Online:
September 7, 2011
Sore throats are infections caused by bacteria or viruses. People usually recover quickly (usually after three or four days), although some develop complications. A serious but rare complication is rheumatic fever, which affects the heart and joints. Antibiotics reduce bacterial infections but they can cause diarrhoea, rash and other adverse effects and communities build resistance to them.
This review of 27 trials with 12,835 cases of sore throat found that antibiotics shorten the illness by an average of about one day and can reduce the chance of rheumatic fever by more than two-thirds in communities where this complication is common.
Man's Strep Throat Leads to Amputation
Oct. 27, 2008
By RADHA CHITALE
ABC News Medical Unit
When Rick Kenma came down with a case of strep throat last February, he quickly made an appointment with his doctor to seek relief and treatment.
"I had a sore throat like anybody else might get," said Kemna, who lives in East Bethel, Minn. "I didn't ignore it. I had a doctor's appointment."
But on the night before he was to see his doctor, it became clear that this was no ordinary strep infection.
Kemna said his hands and feet went numb. And then he began to change color.
"My wife looked at my legs and they were turning a lovely shade of blue," Kemna said.
In an exceedingly rare twist, Kemna's strep infection had spread from his throat to the rest of his body. Kemna, his wife Jill, and their three children rushed him to an emergency room where he was diagnosed with toxic shock syndrome -- a dangerous, potentially fatal condition that decreases blood flow throughout the body, causing multiple organ failures.
The disastrous infection nearly took his life, and the experience would leave him a double amputee.
Such complications are so rare that, for the vast majority of the estimated 10 million Americans who suffer through strep infections every year, it should not be a cause for concern.
"It's extremely unlikely for something like this to happen, which means that people shouldn't get overly concerned about it," said Dr. Aaron Glatt, a spokesman for the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) and president of New Island Hospital in Bethpage, N.Y. "The odds of something like this happening are minuscule."
But in Kenma's case, the strep bacteria made the improbable jump from his sore throat to the soft tissues in his body. And the result was a struggle for his life.
Rare Complication From Common Infection
Normally, strep throat can be quickly and easily treated with antibiotics, and it is normally eliminated by the body's immune system in a matter of days.
However, in Kemna's case, the infection set into motion a cascade of events that ultimately led to toxic shock -- a form of septic shock in which streptococcal bacteria enter the bloodstream and are transferred throughout the body.
Toxic shock is rare among adults, with about 100,000 cases reported each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and these cases are mostly in women who experience a rare complication associated with tampons.
In the week following his diagnosis, Kemna was transferred to the burn unit at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minn. By this time, his blood flow had deteriorated to the point where he was experiencing multiple organ failure that ravaged his kidneys, liver and heart.
Worst of all, both his legs had suffered so much from lack of blood that they had become gangrenous. Doctors were forced to amputate them.
"In order to save his life, you have to take off the parts that are already dead," said Dr. Jan Johnson, a critical care specialist at Unity Hospital in Fridley, Minn., where Kemna was first admitted.
"This is an extremely uncommon complication," Johnson added. "The vast majority of people with strep throat, this doesn't happen to."
Oct. 27, 2008
By RADHA CHITALE
ABC News Medical Unit
When Rick Kenma came down with a case of strep throat last February, he quickly made an appointment with his doctor to seek relief and treatment.
"I had a sore throat like anybody else might get," said Kemna, who lives in East Bethel, Minn. "I didn't ignore it. I had a doctor's appointment."
But on the night before he was to see his doctor, it became clear that this was no ordinary strep infection.
Kemna said his hands and feet went numb. And then he began to change color.
"My wife looked at my legs and they were turning a lovely shade of blue," Kemna said.
In an exceedingly rare twist, Kemna's strep infection had spread from his throat to the rest of his body. Kemna, his wife Jill, and their three children rushed him to an emergency room where he was diagnosed with toxic shock syndrome -- a dangerous, potentially fatal condition that decreases blood flow throughout the body, causing multiple organ failures.
The disastrous infection nearly took his life, and the experience would leave him a double amputee.
Such complications are so rare that, for the vast majority of the estimated 10 million Americans who suffer through strep infections every year, it should not be a cause for concern.
"It's extremely unlikely for something like this to happen, which means that people shouldn't get overly concerned about it," said Dr. Aaron Glatt, a spokesman for the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) and president of New Island Hospital in Bethpage, N.Y. "The odds of something like this happening are minuscule."
But in Kenma's case, the strep bacteria made the improbable jump from his sore throat to the soft tissues in his body. And the result was a struggle for his life.
Rare Complication From Common Infection
Normally, strep throat can be quickly and easily treated with antibiotics, and it is normally eliminated by the body's immune system in a matter of days.
However, in Kemna's case, the infection set into motion a cascade of events that ultimately led to toxic shock -- a form of septic shock in which streptococcal bacteria enter the bloodstream and are transferred throughout the body.
Toxic shock is rare among adults, with about 100,000 cases reported each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and these cases are mostly in women who experience a rare complication associated with tampons.
In the week following his diagnosis, Kemna was transferred to the burn unit at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minn. By this time, his blood flow had deteriorated to the point where he was experiencing multiple organ failure that ravaged his kidneys, liver and heart.
Worst of all, both his legs had suffered so much from lack of blood that they had become gangrenous. Doctors were forced to amputate them.
"In order to save his life, you have to take off the parts that are already dead," said Dr. Jan Johnson, a critical care specialist at Unity Hospital in Fridley, Minn., where Kemna was first admitted.
"This is an extremely uncommon complication," Johnson added. "The vast majority of people with strep throat, this doesn't happen to."
Strep throat causes complications
Rheumatic Fever Signs and Symptoms
- not everyone has all of these, but typical symptoms are shown in the cartoon
- not everyone has all of these, but typical symptoms are shown in the cartoon
|
Sydenham's Chorea / St Vitus Dance |
Click on the picture to see a video of Cali, and young woman with a complication of Strep Throat known as Sydenham's Chorea / St. Vitus Dance