December 11th, 2010 by Glenn Laffel, M.D., Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Abigail Mandel, AMY1 Gene, Amylase, Bitter-Tasting Vegetables, Dietetics, Digestion, Dr. Glenn Laffel, Food and Drink, Food Consistency, Food Preferences, Food Taste and Texture, Genetics, Humans and Food, Ice Cream, Melt In Your Mouth, Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, Pizaazz, PLoS Medicine, Salivary Amylase, Salivary Glands, Science Daily, Starch, Starchy Foods, Wall Street Journal
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Scientists know that our perceptions about taste and texture drive our food preferences. They know quite a lot about the role of taste in this regard, and the results of some recent experiments have shed new light on the role of texture as well, particularly as it relates to foods containing starch.
Starch is a major component of potatoes, rice, corn, wheat and the enormous variety of foods derived from them. It is also added to many other products from maple syrup to pudding. In fact, starch accounts for 40 to 60 percent of the calorie content in the average Western diet, and more than that in many Asian and third-world diets.
Humans begin digesting starch in the mouth, where the salivary glands secrete an enzyme known as amylase. This enzyme breaks down starch and other complex carbohydrates into simpler sugar molecules which end up being absorbed from the small intestine into the bloodstream. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Pizaazz*
December 10th, 2010 by DavidHarlow in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Accountable Care Organizations, ACO, AOL News, Care Coordination, David Harlow, Doctors and Social Media, Dr. Kamal Thapar, EHR, Emergency Medicine, Facebook, General Medicine, Health 2.0, Health IT, Health Outcomes, HealthBlawg, Healthcare and Social Media, Healthcare Cost Containment, Healthcare reform, HIT, Internal Medicine, mHealth, Mobile Health, Newt Gingrich, Patient Engagement, Patient-Centered Medical Home, Patients and Social Media, PCMH, PHR, Primary Care, Social Media, Social Media and Medicine
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I’ve seen at least half a dozen links to the op-ed coauthored by Newt Gingrich and neurosurgeon Kamal Thapar about how the doctor used information on Facebook to save a woman’s life. (It was published by AOL News. Really.)
In brief, a woman who had been to see a number of different health care providers without getting a clear diagnosis showed up in an emergency room, went into a coma and nearly died. She was saved by a doctor’s review of the detailed notes she kept about her symptoms, etc., which she posted on Facebook. The story is vague on the details, but apparently her son facilitated getting the doc access to her Facebook page, and the details posted there allowed him to diagnose and treat her condition. She recovered fully.
Newt and Dr. Thapar wax rhapsodic about how Facebook saved a life, and sing the praises of social media’s role in modern medicine. (I’m not sure how this really fits in with Newt’s stance on health reform, within his 12-step program to achieve the total replacement of the Left…but, hey, nobody has the patience these days for so many details anyway.)
Regular readers of HealthBlawg know that I would perhaps be the last to challenge the proposition that social media has a role to play in health care. However, I think Newt got it wrong here. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog*
December 10th, 2010 by AnnMacDonald in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: Ann MacDonald, Antidepressants, Archives of General Psychiatry, Bipolar Disorder, Citalopram, Dr. Roy Perlis, Emotional Health, Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Mental Health Letter, Harvard University, Major Depression, Massachusetts General Hospital, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Psychology, Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression, STAR*D Study, Treatment-Resistant Depression
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Only one-third of people with major depression achieve remission after trying one antidepressant. When the first medication doesn’t adequately relieve symptoms, next step options include taking a new drug along with the first, or switching to another drug. With time and persistence, nearly seven in 10 adults with major depression eventually find a treatment that works.
Of course, that also means that the remaining one-third of people with major depression cannot achieve remission even after trying multiple options. Experts are hunting for ways to understand the cause of persistent symptoms. In recent years, one theory in particular has gained traction: that many people with hard-to-treat major depression actually suffer from bipolar disorder. However, a paper published online this week in the Archives of General Psychiatry suggests otherwise — and the findings provide new insights into the nature of treatment-resistant depression. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
December 10th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Berlin, Birth Canal, C-Section, Caesarian Section, Charite Hospital, Germany, Labor And Delivery, Live Birth, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Maternal-Child Health, Maternity Care, Medgadget, Medical Imaging, MRI, Newborn, OB/GYN, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Radiology, The Local
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At the Charité Hospital in Berlin, researchers have built a specialty MRI machine with enough space to fit a woman undergoing labor. The Local, a German newspaper in the English language, is reporting that the first images of a baby moving through the birth canal have been captured, and that the mother and child are doing just fine. The clinicians involved in the project hope to be able to study why some women end up requiring a Caesarian section, while others do not.
More at The Local: MRI scans live birth…
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
December 9th, 2010 by DrRich in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Biosensors, Cardiac Electrophysiology, Covert Rationing Blog, Dr. Joseph Smith, Dr. Rich Fogoros, General Medicine, HealthLeaders 20 for 2010, HealthLeaders Media, Lowering the Cost of Healthcare, Medical Technology at Home, Technology and Healthcare, Technology and Medicine, West Wireless Health Institute, Wireless Communication in Medicine, Wireless Healthcare, Wireless Technologies to the Patient
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DrRich is delighted to note that a very good and longtime friend and former colleague has been named as one of the HealthLeaders 20 for 2010 — that is, as one of 20 people, chosen by HealthLeaders Media, who are changing healthcare for the better.
DrRich has known this man for nearly two decades, and from the very beginning he has insisted his real name is Joe Smith. So let’s go with that.
Joe’s recognition by HealthLeaders is very well deserved. Joe is chief medical and science officer of the West Wireless Health Institute in San Diego, a non-profit institution whose mission is to bring wireless technologies to the patient, technologies to diagnose, monitor and treat health conditions in the patient’s own home. Joe is uniquely qualified for this role, having earned a PhD in medical engineering and medical physics, an MD from Harvard (a place DrRich has never even been allowed to see), and having spent years practicing medicine as a (particularly well-known) cardiac electrophysiologist. (Electrophysiology, as regular readers will know, is widely recognized as the geekiest of medical specialties.)
For what it’s worth, DrRich considers Joe to be one of the most honest, most ethical physicians he has ever known, one who will always place the welfare of patients ahead of his own treasure and his own career. DrRich has seen him do it. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Covert Rationing Blog*
Scientists know that our perceptions about taste and texture drive our food preferences. They know quite a lot about the role of taste in this regard, and the results of some recent experiments have shed new light on the role of texture as well, particularly as it relates to foods containing starch.
