December 2nd, 2010 by Steve Novella, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Altered Genetics, Cloned Animals, Cloned Cows, Cloning, Dairy Products, Dr. Steve Novella, European Union, Food Safety, Genetically-Modified Food, Health Risk From Food, Human Food Chain, Human Food Consumption, Meat Production, Nutrition, Safe Diet, SBM, Science Based Medicine, UE, UK Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes
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The controversy over the human consumption of meat and dairy products from cloned cows continues. The UK Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, after reviewing the evidence, concluded that there was no substantial difference between meat and dairy from cloned cows compared to conventional cows. However, food products from cloned animals and their offspring remain banned in Europe.
Use of offspring of cloned cows, sheep and pigs are legal in the U.S., South America, and Asia. Australia is likely to follow suit in a year or two. The European Union (EU) has an effective ban at the moment, but the policy is under review. The UK is also negotiating with the EU regarding the use of clones.
There is not much of a theoretical reason to suspect that cloned animals would present a health risk. The primary concern is that something unanticipated might have occurred during the cloning process, causing the animal to be genetically or developmentally abnormal. However, if the cloning process works properly this should not happen. Further, if mutations do occur but the animal lives, it is likely that any changes do not represent a risk to humans who consume the meat or dairy from such clones. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
December 2nd, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: AATAC Trial, AF Ablation, American Heart Association, Amiodarone, Anti-Arrhythmic Drugs, Antiarrhythmic Drugs, Atrial Fibrillation, Cardiac Arrhythmia, Cardiac Electrophysiology, Cardiac Procedures, Cardiovascular Drugs, Catheter Ablation, CHF, Circulation, Congestive Heart Failure, Dr. John Mandrola, Dr. Karl-Heinz Kuck, Hamburg, ICD, Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator, New England Journal of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
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In treating atrial fibrillation (AF), this year has witnessed some real excitement. And not all the good news has to do with new pills. Recently, there has been a flurry of encouraging and objective news on ablating AF. Here are some comments on three notable studies that address three important questions:
1. What are the “long-term” success rates of AF ablation?
On this important question comes an American Heart Association (AHA) abstract from the highly-regarded lab of Dr. Karl-Heinz Kuck in Hamburg. They report on a relatively young cohort of 161 patients who underwent AF ablation (using standard pulmonary vein isolation techniques) in 2003-2004. At an average of five years of follow up, more than 80 percent were either AF-free or “clinically improved.”
Real-world impression: Although late recurrences of AF years after successful ablation have been reported, my impression (having started with AF ablation in 2004) is that most who are AF-free off drugs after one year have remained AF-free thus far. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
December 1st, 2010 by Felasfa Wodajo, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Dr. Felasfa Wodajo, Healthcare Apps, iMedicalApps, MedHealth World, Medical Apps, mHealth, MobiHealthNews, Mobile Health Apps, Mobile Health Technology, Mobile Medical Apps, Research2Guidance, Smartphone
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In the future your medical apps might come from your hospital, not your app store. So says a recently published report by Research2Guidance, a mobile technology research company based in Germany. In their report, titled “Health Market Report 2010-2015″ the market researchers came to the conclusion that the dominant mode of application distribution in the future will be from doctors, hospitals and other care providers.
The report also painted a bullish picture of healthcare app adoption, estimating that the number of users of mHealth apps on smartphone phones will reach 500m by 2015. However, the revenue from this sector will still be driven mostly by device sales and through provision of services, rather than by paid downloads.
The report preview shows it to be organized into three “dimensions”: a) The smartphone market, b) The current state of the mHealth market & c) mHealth outlook to 2015. One would imagine that the last portion will be the most avidly read read as the numerous stockholders in mHealth — telecoms, device makers, insurance and pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and entrepreneurs jockey to position themselves in this rapidly-evolving land grab. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at iMedicalApps*
December 1st, 2010 by Peggy Polaneczky, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Assisted Reproductive Technology, Chromosomal Abnormalities, Dr. Peggy Polaneczky, Egg Freezing, Embryo Cryopreservation, Fertility and Sterility, Fertility Clinics, OB/GYN, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Oocyte Cryopreservation, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Reproductive Health, TBTAM, The Blog That Ate Manhattan, Women's Health
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Oocyte preservation, or egg freezing as it’s popularly called, is now being offered by over half of U.S. fertility clinics, and half of those not offering it now plan to do so in the future. This according to a national survey conducted in mid 2009 and reported this week in Fertility and Sterility.
Over two-thirds of the 143 centers offering oocyte cryopreservation will do it electively, as opposed to those that offer it only to women undergoing cancer treatments that threaten their natural fertility.
Go West, But Be Prepared To Pay
Centers located in the Western part of the U.S. are more likely to offer elective egg freezing than those in the East. Not surprisingly, centers that only accept out of pocket (as opposed to insurance) payments were more likely to offer the procedure, reflecting the history of infertility advancement, which, unlike almost any other area of medicine, has largely been financed by private individual dollars. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at tbtam*
November 30th, 2010 by AndrewSchorr in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: AHA, American Heart Association, American Society of Hematology, Andrew Schorr, ASH, Empowered Patients, General Medicine, Healthcare Transparency, Medical Conferences, Medical Conventions, Patient Advocacy, Patient Empowerment, Patient Experts, Patient Involvement, Patient Power, Patients and Social Media, Transparency In Medicine
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We are invading their home turf. Increasingly, in among the thousands of doctors, scientists, and medical industry marketers at the largest medical conventions you are finding real patients who have the conditions discussed in the scientific sessions and exhibit halls. Patients like me want to be where the news breaks. We want to ask questions and — thanks to the Internet — we have a direct line to thousands of other patients waiting to know what new developments mean for them.
I vividly remember attending an FDA drug hearing a few years ago and how there were stock analysts sitting in the audience, BlackBerries poised for the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” on whether a proposed new drug would be recommended for approval. (At that session it was thumbs down.) When the analysts got their thumbs moving, a biotech stock tanked in minutes and before long the company was announcing layoffs. Those analysts were powerful reporters.
Now patients are reporters, too, and their thumbs are just as powerful. So are their video cameras and microphones. These folks are a different breed than the folks from CNN or the scientist/journalists from MedPageToday. Their questions are all-encompassing: “What do the discussions about my disease or condition here mean for me? What should change in my treatment plan? What gives me hope? What’s important for my family to know?” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*
