Pruthviraj Patil has tried a many things to cure himself of the hypertrichosis that ails him, but to no avail.

Hypertrichosis, a rare genetic condition that is also known as Werewolf Syndrome, causes 11-year-old Pruthviraj’s body to be covered with thick, matted hair, reports London’s Daily Telegraph.

Pruthviraj, who is from the district of Sangli, near Bombay, India, is one of 50 people in the world who suffers from the condition, according to the newspaper.

An amazing discovery in Greece.  A 9-year-old girl went to the hospital suffering from stomach pains.  Doctors say she was actually carrying her embryonic twin in her somtach. 

Doctors at Larissa General Hospital examined the girl and surgically removed a growth they later discovered was an embryo about six centimeters (more than two inches) long.

“They could see on the right side that her belly was swollen, but they couldn’t suspect that this tumor would hide an embryo,” hospital director Iakovos Brouskelis said.

A study out of the New England Journal of Medicine finds that people suffering from migraines and depression need to be careful when mixing medication for the two.

Researchers from Georgetown University and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration detailed 11 cases of serotonin syndrome associated with the use of triptans.

This syndrome happens when more than one medication is taken that affects the level of serotonin. Symptoms include mental status changes, overactive reflexes, muscle spasms, fever, heavy sweating, nausea, nausea or vomiting.

Those especially at risk are people who take a class of medications known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro and Prozac, along with migraine medications such as Imitrex, Zomig, Maxalt, Axert and Frova.

Are you confused when you go to the drug store to choose an allergy medication for quick and lasting relief? You are not alone!

Choosing an Allergy Treatment

Medications to treat your allergies can be both non prescription (OTC) or prescription drugs.  Some are once a day and others are twice or three times a day. 

One of the most important OTC allergy medications includes antihistamines.  They are generally the primary treatment for those who seek non prescription relief of sneezing, runny nose and itchy eyes.  They have been on the market for decades and in general are fast acting, and even better when used before the “misery” begins.   Some of the older (first generation antihistamines) cause side effects including drowsiness and impairment as well as drying of the eyes, nose and throat.  More recently there are now OTC antihistamines that are truly non-sedating that provide relief for up to for 24 hours.

Decongestants work to treat nasal and sinus congestion.  There are oral and nasal decongestants.  Side effects are common.  Overuse of nasal decongestants for more than 3-5 days will induce a “rebound congestion” that requires discontinuing the spray and treatment by a medical provider.  Oral antihistamine-decongestants can provide allergy relief especially when nasal congestion and stuffiness is a prominent symptom. 

Non medicated approaches to treatment include the use of nasal and sinus saline (salt water) washes. These store bought as well as home-made saline solutions have become quite popular to irrigate your nose and sinuses, especially if you have chronic sinus disease and/or infection. 

Go to the following resources for more in depth information on treatment of your eye allergies by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology

Go to The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology for tips and information on allergy medications

Other helpful links:

http://www.aaaai.org/patients/advocate/2003/spring/therapies.stm

http://www.aaaai.org/patients/publicedmat/tips/rhinitis.stm

Your health provider and or allergy specialist can help you decide on appropriate OTC as well as prescription allergy medications when needed.

Dr. Clifford W. Bassett is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Long Island College Hospital and on the faculty of NYU School of Medicine.  He is the current vice chair for public education committee of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.  No information in this blog is intended to diagnose or treat any condition.

Health authorities said a 70-year-old woman died and a 57-year-old man is critically ill in a Boston hospital after each was given a kidney from an infected donor, reports The Boston Globe.

The kidney was infected with a hard-to-detect virus, health officials said, which came from a 49-year-old homeless man who suffered irreversible brain damage and cardiac arrest.

The donor carried a germ called lymphocytic choriomenigitis virus, which is most often transmitted by rodents and usually unnoticed by healthy people who do not suffer anything more than flu-like symptoms, according to the newspaper.

The virus also killed three transplants patients in Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 2005.

Organs perish quickly and they are tested for diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis and herpes, but not usually viruses such as lymphocytic choriomenigitis. And, since the demand for organs is so great, recipients will often take the organs of homeless people, the newspaper said.

Man’s best friend will soon be getting bone marrow transplants.  The Vancouver Sun says Washington State University in Seattle will start offering them to canines with lymphoma this summer.

Veterinary Oncologist Dr. Jeffrey Bryan says over the years the procedure has been done experimentally in dogs. 

Bone marrow transplants have been done routinely for humans in the past two decades and save thousands of lives, so Bryan believes it can do the same for dogs.

But, it won’t be cheap – the procedure will cost $20,000.

“This represents a big giveback to the canine species,” Bryan said.

Early Birth for Mom Who Lost Significant Weight Due to Morning Sickness - 28 weeks into her pregnancy, Fiona Shaw’s morning sickness was so bad that she lost 42 pounds and was forced to have an emergency Caesarean section.

Baby Born Weighing 1 Pound at 23 Weeks - Ellie-Suzanne Fish was given a 10 to 15 percent chance of surviving at birth. But today, at 9 months old, she weighs 14 pounds and has finally been released from the hospital.

For reasons that doctors don’t fully understand, the rate of premature births seems to be on the rise. Watch FOX’s own Dr. Manny, who specializes in high risk pregnancy, discusses the health problems and risks associated with these specific cases.

Eight-year-old Emily Joost isn’t able to speak to her parents.  She has Aicardi syndrome which is a genetic disorder so rare only 500 people in the entire world have been diagnosed with it. 

The Belleville News-Democrat in Illinois says the girl can’t walk or feed herself either but her parents aren’t complaining. 

“It was very difficult for me, especially that first year,” Elaine Joost said of her daughter’s diagnosis at three-months-old. “In the beginning, it was always, ‘Am I going to be strong enough? Can I do this?’”

Emily can make noises to indicate if she is happy or upset, according to the newspaper, but she cannot form words.

Click here to read all 10 Mistakes.

In the wake of 15-year-old Miley Cyrus posing in makeup and not much else for Vanity Fair, Hugh Hefner has stated that he would like to see Miley pose naked for Playboy—when she turns 18.
I believe Hefner’s offer, albeit cloaked in the disclaimer that Miley has to be legal to strip for him, may herald a challenge to the current age of sexual consent—which is between 16 and 18 in almost all states, lower only in South Carolina (and only when the sexual partners are both young).

What Hefner chose to do was to express being sexually attracted to an underage girl.  He knows that he is perceived as freeing American men to express their sexuality.  In this case, he is presumably leading the way in suggesting that men ought to feel free to direct their sexual fantasies toward 15-year-olds—bemoaning, perhaps, the fact that they will have to impatiently wait to get them out of their clothes.

I don’t know that Hefner would have felt restrained were Miley just 14.  Maybe even a fetching 13  After all, he wasn’t the one who suggested that Miley get almost-naked for Vanity Fair.  And she certainly didn’t look ill-at-ease with her sexuality in that magazine.  She looked seductive. 
Disney didn’t recoil in horror.  Miley is Money.  The show goes on, no matter how much she chooses to show.
That seeming comfort with sexuality—at 15, or less—is part of the issue here.  We know that many 15-year-olds are sexually active.  According to some data, one in three ninth graders has had sexual intercourse. 

The age of puberty has been steadily declining.

Hefner’s comment is, nonetheless, a kind of gauntlet thrown down to the legal age of consent:  He isn’t in ninth grade.  He’s an adult man.  He is openly attracted to an underage girl.  And he doesn’t seem worried about saying so.

This potential chapter in the story of the sexual revolution wasn’t written by Hefner, though.  Signs that Americans are rethinking age-appropriate sexual activity are everywhere. 

After all, the American public embraced, rather than shunned, Jamie Lynn Spears after her pregnancy.  Untold millions of magazines that showcase her new home and the birth of her daughter and her daughter’s first birthday will be sold. 

Will the fact that she is an unwed, pregnant 16-year-old with more media attention than ever suggest to young girls around America that they, too, can start their families sooner, rather than later?  Will they wonder what have they been waiting for?

Only time will tell.  But one thing is clear:  The time that was once allowed teenaged girls to slowly grow into being sensual, to play at adulthood without being treated by older men as adults, is under assault.  And you partly have the media to thank for that:  The unlikely and powerful alliance of Disney, Vanity Fair and Playboy.

Keith Ablow, M.D. is a psychiatrist, FOX News contributor and the founder of www.LivingtheTruth.com