HealthNews.in

A long course of antibiotic treatment proved effective in reducing back pain symptoms in patients with chronic low back pain and bone oedema following a disc herniation.

Modic type 1 changes are present in 6% of the general population and 35–40% of the low back pain population. 100 days of antibiotic treatment with bioclavid was significantly more effective for this group of patients than placebo.

Scientists at the University of Vermont found that they were able to identify lung infections by testing exhaled air.

Using secondary electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (SESI-MS) to identify volatile organic compounds in the breath of mice, the scientists were not only able to tell which mice were infected but also which strain of bacteria was involved.

Breath analysis is still at an early stage of development but offers the potential for much quicker diagnoses than culturing samples. Extensive work is required to build up a database of VOC fingerprints for different infections and to show that SESI-MS can reliably identify infections in humans.