Bear in Israel undergoes surgery to repair herniated disc

May 7, 2014: Mango, a 19-year-old male Syrian brown bear, rests on a bed as zoo veterinarians and staff prepare him for surgery in the Ramat Gan Zoological Center's animal hospital near Tel Aviv, Israel.AP

RAMAT GAN, Israel –  Surgery can be a real bear. Even for a bear.

In Israel, a 19-year-old Syria brown bear named Mango underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a herniated disc, said Sagit Horowitz, a spokeswoman for the Ramat Gan Zoological Center near Tel Aviv.

Zoologists first noticed Mango had a problem when he started to show signs of paralysis in his hind legs in the last few weeks, said Dr. Merav Shamir, who led the surgery on the furry patient.

"It started acutely," she said. "He wasn't able to move his right hind limb and it progressively deteriorated over the following 48 hours to become completely paralyzed on the hind limbs."

Horowitz said veterinarians discovered the 550-pound bear had the injured disc during an X-ray taken after noticing his worsening paralysis. That disc compressed Mango's spinal cord and caused the paralysis he had been suffering through, Shamir said.

Veterinarians shaved parts of the bear's furry back to prepare him for surgery Wednesday, as well as intubated him. They propped his head up on a pillow wrapped in a trash bag and put an IV through his snout. They also wrapped a blood-pressure cuff around his right paw.

Such unique procedures aren't uncommon at the Ramat Gan Zoological Center, the premier zoo of Israel. Last year, veterinarians there used acupuncture to cure the chronic ear infection of a 14-year-old Sumatran tiger named Pedang.

Shamir said other bears with a similar disc problem like Mango had been euthanized and that the surgery he underwent was novel for bears — though often performed on small dogs.

"I'm nervous now — I'll be happier in a few hours," Shamir said before the hourslong surgery began. "I wish him luck."

Veterinarians will know in the coming weeks whether Mango makes a full recovery.

View the original article here

1 in 5 women will undergo pelvic surgery in her lifetime, study says

About 1 in 5 women now will undergo certain pelvic surgeries during her lifetime, nearly double the risk of having one of these surgeries in the 1990s, according to a recent study.

Researchers looked at women's likelihood of undergoing surgery before age 80 for either stress urinary incontinence (a condition that can cause urine to leak during sneezing or laughing), or pelvic organ prolapse (in which pelvic organs begin to droop within a woman's body).

"Surgeries for both of these conditions have increased substantially," said Dr. Jennifer M. Wu, associate professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's department of obstetrics and gynecology, an author of the study. "The 20 percent figure is nearly double that of earlier U.S. studies, which reported rates of 11.1 percent and 11.8 percent," for stress urinary incontinence surgery and pelvic organ prolapse surgery, respectively, she said.

Wu said she is not surprised by the results of this study, because stress incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse are very common conditions, which 1 in 3 women will experience in her lifetime. Many women, however, are embarrassed discussing symptoms such as involuntary urine leakage with their doctors, she said. [7 Embarrassing Health Problems (And How to Treat Them)]

"It's often not talked about until they are referred to a sub-specialist," Wu told Live Science. "Many women have suffered in silence for years with problems such as 'accidents' in public places. This can lead to social isolation for many of them."

Stress incontinence can be triggered by any sudden pressure increase within the abdomen. Pelvic organ prolapse occurs when a pelvic organ, such as the bladder, drops (prolapses) from its normal spot in the lower belly and pushes against the sides of the vagina, causing bulging, pressure or urine leakage during intercourse. This can happen when the muscles that hold the pelvic organs in place get weak or stretched from childbirth or surgery.

In the study, researchers used 10 years of data from a database of U.S. health plan claims and doctors' visits that included more than 10 million women from ages 18 to 89. Previous studies on this topic had small sample sizes, or were limited to one geographic region, Wu said.

The study appears today (May 7) in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

"Many women believe these conditions are a normal part of the aging process," Wu said. "They're not."

However, surgery is not the only option. "With prolapse, one treatment option is no treatment at all," she said. "We just watch and wait if it's not affecting a woman's quality of life."

Other options, she said, include treatment with a pessary device, which is used to lift the bladder or apply compression to the urethra during activities certain activities, or pelvic floor physical therapy (Kegel exercises) designed to improve muscle tone.

For women with bladder incontinence, she said, nonsurgical treatments include lifestyle changes such as weight loss for those who are overweight or obese, dietary changes, anti-spasmodic medications, a pessary, Kegel exercises and nerve stimulation.

Copyright 2014 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

View the original article here

Former astronaut Armstrong has heart surgery

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, was recovering from heart surgery, days after his 82nd birthday.

A NASA spokesman talked to Armstrong's wife, Carol, on Wednesday and said only that he was recovering. Armstrong's birthday was Sunday.

It wasn't clear where the surgery occurred or where the former astronaut was recuperating.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden wished Armstrong a quick recovery from cardiac bypass surgery in a Facebook statement.

"Neil's pioneering spirit will surely serve him well in this challenging time and the entire NASA Family is holding the Armstrong family in our thoughts and prayers," the statement said.

Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, and he radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." He spent nearly three hours walking on the moon with fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin.

A message Wednesday on Aldrin's Twitter account also wished Armstrong well.

Armstrong and his wife married in 1999 and made their home in the Cincinnati suburb of Indian Hill, but he has largely stayed out of public view in recent years.

He spoke at Ohio State University during a February event honoring fellow astronaut John Glenn and the 50th anniversary of Glenn becoming the first American to orbit the Earth. In May, Armstrong joined Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida to support the opening of The National Flight Academy, which aims to teach math and science to kids through an aviation-oriented camp.

View the original article here