Yet another study shows social value of monogamy
When it comes to marriage and family structure, there’s a good reason nearly every modern society has encouraged monogamy as the accepted norm: Because it’s good for society. (more…)
Smartphone may be the future of medicine
The New York Times reports Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist at the Scripps Medical Institute in La Jolla, California, "is only half joking when he says the smartphone is the future of medicine – because most of his patients already seem 'surgically connected' to one." (more…)
Probiotics grow in popularity but don’t always deliver on promises
Probiotic supplements and foods containing “friendly” bacteria or yeast have become popular options for people hoping to improve bowel function or boost immunity. But many customers are confused by the vast array of choices. (more…)
Report finds illicit drugs bought on Internet could be poison (Ya think?)
HealthDay reports, "A case study of two men who were poisoned and turned blue after ingesting what they thought was a recreational drug that they had bought on the Internet highlights the dangers of such purchases," according to a study in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (more…)
Survey: Nearly all orthopedic surgeons order unnecessary tests
HealthDay reports, "A shocking new national survey suggests that nearly all orthopedic surgeons may order unnecessary tests, referrals or hospitalizations to avoid being sued, to the tune of $2 billion a year." (more…)
Physician: FDA should not approve weight-loss drug without being certain of safety
In a column for USA Today, Marc Siegel, MD, professor of medicine at the NYU Langone Medical Center, writes about concerns over the safety of Qnexa [phentermine/topiramate], a new obesity drug that has been recommended for approval by the Food and Drug Administration. (more…)
Many physicians foolishly treat self, family members
American Medical News reports, "Professional ethics policies have long warned about the perils of physicians treating themselves or family members," and yet, "a 2011 survey of more than 1,000 physicians in North Carolina found that nearly half had treated themselves and that 85% had treated an immediate family member, significant other or close friend." (more…)
Fish oil and multivitamins most popular supplements in survey
A survey of over 10,000 savvy consumers of supplements shows the most popular supplements to be fish oil, multivitamins, vitamin D, calcium and CoQ10, in that order. (more…)
Researchers warn consumers should “be wary” of buying statins on the Internet
HealthDay reports, "Be wary of buying the cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins on the Internet," British researchers said in a study published in the journal Pharmacoepidemiology & Drug Safety. (more…)
Scientists argue sugar should be regulated like alcohol, tobacco
In a front-page story, the San Francisco Chronicle, "Like alcohol and tobacco, sugar is a toxic, addictive substance that should be highly regulated with taxes, laws on where and to whom it can be advertised, and even age-restricted sales, says a team of UCSF scientists" in a commentary published in Nature. (more…)
Campaign to publish list of overused tests, treatments
The AP reports, "Chances are you've heard that many expert groups say cancer screening is overused, too, from mammograms given too early or too often to prostate cancer tests that may not save lives," but "some of the nuts-and-bolts tests given during checkups or hospital visits are getting a second look." (more…)
FDA, FTC warn companies to stop selling HCG diet products
The AP reports that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warning letters to seven companies, ordering them "to stop selling an unproven weight loss remedy that uses protein from the human placenta." (more…)
PSA screening for prostate cancer. The debate continues.
ABC World News reported, "An earthquake in the debate over men and prostate cancer" regarding a "simple blood test called a PSA. Twenty million men use it to find out if they show a sign of risk, yet today, a government task force is saying healthy men should skip that test, arguing that the treatment that often follows the test may not be worth the consequences." (more…)
The PSA Controversy: A view from family physicians.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, or USPSTF, has once again rejected the status quo, following the evidence to propose a recommendation some likely will find controversial. Here's a viewpoint from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) that I find very convincing: (more…)
The PSA Controversy: A view from the American Cancer Society.
To screen or not to screen for prostate cancer, that is the question. Or is it? Here's the viewpoint of my friend, J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, MD, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for the American Cancer Society. (more…)
Task force recommends “D” rating for PSA screening for prostate cancer
TV and print media have extensively covered the US Preventive Services Task Force's (USPSTF) decision to give a "D" rating to PSA testing. What's this mean for men? I'll cover this controversy in the next few blogs. (more…)
Is the US infant mortality ranking “shameful”? I say, “no,” but here’s the debate:
Of the over 2000 blogs I've posted, one of the most popular was Health Myth #1: “The U.S. has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the developed world.”. Now, in an editorial, USA Today points out that the US has now dropped "to 41st worldwide in newborn death rates." Is it really that bad here? (more…)
CMS unveils new website with hospital quality data
CMS (the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) is beginning a new program to help health consumers compare hospitals based on quality. (more…)
Rising Costs Complicate Vaccine Guidelines
The group that advises the U.S. government on vaccination thinks some new vaccines may NOT be worth the cost. (more…)
Emergency medical care myths
In a Huffington Post report, Leigh Vinocur, M.D., debunked three emergency medical care myths. I must tell you that I believed each of these three “myths.” So, this article was very informative to me. (more…)
Palliative care may prolong life, reduce suffering
Do you know the difference between “palliative care” and “hospice care”? I must confess that for sometime I did not. Now that I'm more educated on the topic, I'm finding that many patients – and even many doctors – confuse palliative medicine with hospice (a form of palliative care for people in the last six months of life). Other patients mistakenly worry that doctors won't work as hard to cure them if they ask for palliative care. (more…)
Patients knowingly given placebo report relief
Placebo treatment, it turns out, can actually significantly influence subjective symptoms. (more…)
Investigator Planned to Make Vast Profit From Autism/MMR Vaccine Scare
Andrew Wakefield, the lead author on the 1998 study that reported a link between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and a new condition of regressive autism and bowel disease called autistic enterocolitis (AE), was planning to market a prestudy diagnostic testing kit with expected yearly sales of 28 million pounds (43 million US dollars), a new paper published online in the BMJ reports. (more…)
Obama Pushes to Rescind Conscience Rights For Pro-Life Doctors
A national organization of Christian doctors is strongly concerned about the Obama administration’s effort to rescind conscience protections the Bush administration put in place for medical professionals. The regulations provide additional protections and support for those doctors and nurses who don’t want to be involved in abortions and may face pressure from medical institutions receiving federal funds. Here are the details from LifeNews.com: Documents the Obama administration filed in November and December have Obama administration attorneys admitting the administration wants to finalize a rescission of the conscience rules but has been delayed because of other business — likely due to the HHS working on implementing the provisions of the ObamaCare law. That greatly concerns Jonathan Imbody, the Vice President for Government Relations at the Christian Medical Association. “When the Obama administration…
U.S. spending millions to see if herbs truly work
People have been using herbal supplements for centuries to cure all manner of ills and improve their health. But for all the folk wisdom promoting the use of such plants as St. John's wort and black cohosh, much about their effect on human health remains unknown. Therefore, I'm delighted that the federal government is spending millions of dollars to support research dedicated to separating the wheat from the chaff when it comes to herbal supplements. Here are the details from USA Today: "A lot of these products are widely used by the consumer, and we don't have evidence one way or the other whether they are safe and effective," said Marguerite Klein, director of the Botanical Research Centers Program at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. "We have a long way…
Obama Admin Working to Rescind Conscience Rights on Abortion
The Obama administration is still working to overturn conscience rights for medical professionals on abortion that were put in place at the tail end of the Bush administration. Here are the chilling details in a report from LifeNews: In 2008, the Bush administration issued a rule that prohibited recipients of federal money from discriminating against doctors, nurses and health care aides who refuse to take part in medical procedures to which they have religious or moral objections, such as abortion. The rule implemented existing conscience protection laws that ensure medical professionals cannot be denied employment because they do not want to assist in abortions. New information about the state of those protections and efforts to repeal them comes from legal papers the administration filed in a case the state of…
As Healthcare Reform Takes Hold, 74% of Physicians Will Retire or Seek Other Alternatives
Healthcare reform, should it survive legal challenge, repeal, and/or non-funding, will usher in a new era of medicine in which physicians will, according to a report in Modern Medicine, "largely cease to operate as full-time, independent, private practitioners accepting third party payments. Instead, they will work as employees, as part-timers, as administrators, in cash-only 'concierge' practices, or they will walk away from medicine altogether." Here are the details from Modern Medicine: These are some of the findings of a new report commissioned by The Physicians Foundation entitled "Health Reform and the Decline of Physician Private Practice". The report outlines provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare") and examines economic, demographic, and other forces impacting the way doctors structure their practices and deliver care. The report offers a…
ObamaCare Repealed in the House
The House of Representatives resumed debate this morning on H.R. 2, legislation to repeal ObamaCare. A final vote came this evening, and it, as expected, passed easily with the new GOP majority in control. Also, in the "breaking news" category is a headline from American Spectator saying CBO Says Repealing ObamaCare Would Reduce Net Spending by $540 Billion. Haven't heard that from the liberal news media, have you? Unfortunately, Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid called today's vote "partisan grandstanding," and again said that he won't allow a vote to take place in the Senate. Reid is using the same tactics that resulted in this lousy law being rammed down the throats of the American taxpayer to begin with. Here are some interesting facts from my friend, Gary Bower, founder and…
Lower-Priced Resveratrol Supplements Pass Quality Tests While Some Higher-Priced Brands Flunk
Nature's Code ResveratrexConsumerLab.com has reported that tests of supplements containing resveratrol — a compound promoted as "life-extending" — revealed that two products provided only 43.4% and 86.7%, respectively, of their listed amounts of resveratrol. These two products were among the most expensive supplements of the ten products selected for testing by ConsumerLab.com. Surprisingly, ALL of the lower-priced products fared well in the tests. Results for all ten products are now published in ConsumerLab.com’s Review of Resveratrol Supplements. An additional nine products that passed the same testing through ConsumerLab.com’s Voluntary Certification Program are included in the report as well as one product similar to one that passed testing but sold under a different brand name. Resveratrol products have proliferated following reports in 2006 of life-extending and athletic endurance-enhancing effects of resveratrol…
“Mammography Saves Lives” Slogan Doesn’t Tell Full Story and May Mislead Many Women
The current “Mammography Saves Lives” campaign in the United States and previous campaigns promoting screening for breast cancer are not providing balanced information, because they underreport, or don't mention at all, potential harms from the procedure, say critics. One expert says the advertising for a screening mammogram should say something like this: MAMMOGRAPY HAS BOTH BENEFITS AND HARMS … THAT’S WHY IT’S A PERSONAL DECISION. Screening mammography may help you avoid a cancer death or may lead you to be treated for cancer unnecessarily. But both are rare; most often mammography will do neither. That’s why screening is a choice. Women who want to do everything possible to avoid a breast cancer death should feel good about getting mammograms (every year if they wish). Women who don’t like the procedure or…