Sepsis

Health & Safety

After his wife died, he joined nurses to push for new staffing rules in hospitals

10:47am February 22, 2024

by Kate Wells

Nurses have been telling lawmakers that hospital understaffing is putting patient lives at risk. They want Michigan to follow California and Oregon and institute mandatory staffing ratios.

Sepsis, which is sometimes called blood poisoning, is essentially the body's overreaction to an infection.

Health & Safety

Vitamin C Fails Again As Treatment For Sepsis

2:26pm February 24, 2021

by Richard Harris

Sepsis is one of the most common causes of death for hospitalized patients. The search for an effective treatment has been frustrating.

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Health care workers assist a COVID-19 patient in Spain. Some evidence from Europe and China suggests an overzealous immune response may be contributing to the severe illness in some patients.

Health & Safety

Why Some COVID-19 Patients Crash: The Body's Immune System Might Be To Blame

10:12pm April 07, 2020

by Geoff Brumfiel

An overblown immune response could be killing a portion of the sick, and some doctors think that new treatments being tested could help at least some of those patients.

Sepsis, or blood poisoning, occurs when the body overreacts to infection. It's a leading cause of death worldwide.

Health & Safety

Vitamin Treatment For Sepsis Fails In Large Trial

9:20am January 17, 2020

by Richard Harris

Hopes were high that a cocktail of vitamins and steroids could treat a deadly disease that kills some 270,000 Americans annually. Trial results were disappointing.

Sepsis arises when the body overreacts to an infection, and blood vessels throughout the body become leaky. Researchers now estimate that about 11 million people worldwide died with sepsis in 2017 alone — that's about 20% of all deaths.

Health & Safety

Stealth Disease Likely To Blame For 20% Of Worldwide Deaths

4:40pm January 16, 2020

by Richard Harris

Sepsis, or blood poisoning, arises when the body overreacts to an infection. An analysis finds that it may be involved in 20% of deaths worldwide, twice the proportion previously estimated.

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A bacterial blood infection can lead to a deadly overreaction called sepsis.

Health & Safety

'Tantalizing' Results For A Test Of Vitamin C For Sepsis

4:12pm October 01, 2019

by Richard Harris

The biggest study published to date on vitamin C as a treatment for sepsis couldn't say it helped patients. But the paper does hint that people who got the treatment were more likely to survive.

Bacteria (purple) in the bloodstream can trigger sepsis, a life-threatening illness.

Health & Safety

Regulations That Mandate Sepsis Care Appear To Have Worked In New York

5:16pm July 16, 2019

by Richard Harris

Sepsis, the body's overreaction to infection, strikes more than a million Americans a year and kills more than 250,000. Evidence suggests that regulations can improve its diagnosis and patient care.

Shauna Pelfrey talks to her husband, Dorian, while preparing for his dialysis appointment.

Health & Safety

Vitamin Treatment For Sepsis Is Put To The Test

12:02pm December 12, 2018

by Richard Harris

Researchers have devised a large clinical study to quickly assess whether one doctor's apparently effective treatment for deadly sepsis is a fluke or worthy of widespread use.

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Randy and Karen O'Burke together at their son's home in Hendersonville, Tenn., last week. "Apparently, I'm pretty much of a miracle," Randy says.

How To Prevent Brain-Sapping Delirium In The ICU

9:21am October 11, 2018

by Richard Harris

People who suffer from prolonged delirium in the hospital are likely to develop long-term mental problems like dementia. Doctors have come up with techniques they say can reduce delirium in the ICU.

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Health & Safety

Watchdog Group Warns Of "Reckless" Clinical Trial At North Carolina Hospitals

12:25pm August 29, 2018

by Neal Charnoff

A national consumer watchdog group wants hospitals to end a clinical trial being conducted on sepsis patients.