December 11th, 2009 by Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
Tags: Barbara Meltz, Boston Globe, Economic Hardship, Holidays, Parenting, Pediatrics
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With the holidays upon us and our country still facing a challenging economic crisis, many families are struggling with how to balance celebrating and spending without disappointing their children.
From news stories to Facebook postings, families are expressing clear concern for how to celebrate this year, what to buy for their kids and how much money to spend. They want to be honest with their kids yet shelter them from their adult financial concerns at the same time. Moreover, they feel guilty because this year was supposed to be different because last year they had the same stresses and concerns. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr Gwenn Is In*
December 10th, 2009 by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Addiction Medicine, MassHealth Study, Programs, Psychiatry, Psychology, Quitting, smoking, smoking cessation
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Across the country health insurance coverage for smoking cessation treatment – both counseling and medications – has been extremely patchy. For example, we ask all the new patients attending our smoking cessation clinic in New Jersey if their insurance covers smoking cessation treatment, and the vast majority have no idea. Typically its also not easy for either the patient or provider to find out either. It doesn’t just depend on the insurer, but on the plan, the type of service, what they’ve already had in terms of preventive care. We’ve had many occasions where we call the insurer twice on the same day and get a different answer. And New Jersey is a state that is supposed to have relatively good insurance coverage for tobacco cessation! So it’s a mess nationwide, and the net result is that fewer patients get the treatment they need because they are put of by the uncertainty about the cost and difficulty finding out how much it is. Read more »
This post, Massachusetts Leads The Way In Smoking Cessation, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D..
December 10th, 2009 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, True Stories
Tags: Bedside Manner, Geriatrics, Good Physician, Hip Replacement, Orthopedic Surgery, Surgery
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A close relative recently underwent hip replacement at the Texas Orthopedic Hospital in Houston’s Texas Medical Center. She raved about her surgeon, Dr Richard Kearns. I had the opportunity to sit by her bed while he made his evening rounds (he didn’t know I was a physician until we were introduced at the end of his visit).
These are the qualities seem to make him successful:
- Approachable.
He bridged the technical gap that often separates patient and surgeon. He used carefully chosen language
and examples the average person can understand.
Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
December 10th, 2009 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Research
Tags: Breast Mass, Case Report, Cystosarcoma Phyllodes, Phyllodes Tumor, Plastic Surgery
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Flipping through my current copy of The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society, I was surprised to see this case report (full reference below) of a 30.8 pound cystosarcoma phyllodes of the breast. The accompanying photos are impressive. Many questions filled my head – Why did the woman wait so long to seek care? How did she manage to physically do her daily chores on the farm? How did she manage to find clothing to wear?
I scanned this photo in from the article. The patient’s history is as follows: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
December 10th, 2009 by Steve Novella, M.D. in Better Health Network, Research
Tags: Autism, Early Intervention, Early Start Denver Model, ESDM, Neurology, Pediatrics
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Many parents of children with autism have expressed to me their dismay that the anti-vaccine lobby is sucking all the oxygen out of the room for autism awareness. They feel that just being a parent of a child with autism makes others assume that they are anti-vaccine. They also worry that resources and attention are being diverted from promising legitimate research because of all the attention being paid to the failed vaccine hypothesis.
So it is good to occasionally focus on mainstream autism research to show that progress is being made, despite the unfortunate anti-vaccine sideshow. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
