October 21st, 2010 by GruntDoc in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Army, Blood Test, Brain Injury Protein, Combat Troops, Concussion, Contact Sports, Emergency Medicine, General Peter Chiarelli, GruntDoc, Head Injury, Head Trauma, Lumbar Puncture, Mild Brain Damage, Neurology, Pseudotumor Cerebri, Seizure, Shaken Baby Syndrome, Stroke, TBI, TIA, Traumatic Brain Injury, USAToday.com, Young Athletes
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Via USAToday.com:
FREDERICK, Md. — The Army says it has discovered a simple blood test that can diagnose mild traumatic brain damage [TBI] or concussion, a hard-to-detect injury that can affect young athletes, infants with “shaken baby syndrome” and combat troops.
“This is huge,” said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army vice chief of staff.
Yes, it is, if it pans out. There’s so little actual information in this that it’s hard to get excited about it, but let’s say they’ve isolated a “brain injury” protein.
First, it would have uses outside traumatic brain injury (TBI), though that in and of itself might be useful. I don’t want to poo-pooh this test for TBI, but there are already rules for returning to contact sports (and combat has to be the ultimate in contact activities), so what’s the purpose here? (I forsee more Purple Hearts, which is fine.)
Stroke? TIA? Seizure? Pseudotumor cerebri, as a strain indicator? What if this is the test that allows us to diagnose meningitis without doing lumbar punctures? I’m all in on that front. Let’s hope this pans out, for all our sakes.
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
October 21st, 2010 by Iltifat Husain, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: ALS, Apple, Apraxia, Cerebral Palsy, Children With Special Needs, Developmental Disabilities, Down Syndrome, Health Apps, Health Insurance Coverage, iMedicalApps, Insurance Reimbursement, Intracerebral Hemorrhage, iPad, iTouch, Medicare, Proloquo2Go, Special Needs Kids, Speech Therapy Apps, Steve Jobs, Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, Wall Street Journal
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In a Wall Street Journal profile on how iPad apps are being used by special needs children, such as those who have speech impediments and as a communication tool — Steve Jobs commented on how even he did not have the foresight to see that the iPad could be used in such a fashion.
“We take no credit for this, and that’s not our intention,” Mr. Jobs said, adding that the emails he gets from parents resonate with him. “Our intention is to say something is going on here,” and researchers should “take a look at this.”
Last year we reported on how how much cheaper Apple’s portabile devices were compared to the traditional speech software/hardware products, and how insurance companies were hesitant to reimburse for a significantly cheaper Apple products verse industry products. At the time of our report, insurance companies were willing to reimburse up to $8,000 for a product that could be replaced by an iPod Touch with speech therapy apps would cost approximately $600. Since our report on the topic last year, not much has changed. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at iMedicalApps*
October 21st, 2010 by Harriet Hall, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Dr. Harriet Hall, Dr. Mark Crislip, Dr. Steve Novella, Elderly Care, Fluzone, High-Dose Flu Vaccine, Immunization, Immunology, Influenza, Medicare, Older Adults, Patient Options for Preventive Care, Preventive Health, Preventive Medicine, SBM, Science Based Medicine, The Medical Letter, Vaccination, Vaccines
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Dr. Novella has recently written about this year’s seasonal flu vaccine and Dr. Crislip has reviewed the evidence for flu vaccine efficacy. There’s one little wrinkle that they didn’t address — one that I’m more attuned to because I’m older than they are.
I got my Medicare card last summer, so I am now officially one of the “elderly.” A recent review by Goodwin et al. showed that the antibody response to flu vaccines is significantly lower in the elderly. They called for a more immunogenic vaccine formulation for that age group. My age group. One manufacturer has responded. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
October 20th, 2010 by DrCharles in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, Research
Tags: ACOG, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Family Physician, CAM, Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, Dietary Supplements, Dietetics, Family Medicine, Fetal Health, Healthy Baby, Healthy Diet, Healthy Pregnancy, Herbal Medicine, Natural Medicines, Nutritional Supplements, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Prenatal Care, Prenatal Vitamins, Primary Care, The Examining Room of Dr. Charles, Vitamins and Minerals, Women's Health
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What is in a prenatal vitamin? Why do most doctors recommend them? Is there any evidence taking them is worthwhile? I decided recently that I would read through the ingredients of these vitamins, often touted as “essential vitamins and nutrients, crucial for the healthy development of your baby.” Hmmm. Does that mean eating traces of polyvinyl alcohol every day is beneficial?
The fine print ingredients of such brands as “One A Day”, “Centrum Materna”, “Rite Aid” and even the prescription only “Prenate Elite” are a confusing mess of milligrams, international units, RDA’s, and chemicals. As the makers of Centrum explain, “It is very challenging to formulate vitamins and minerals without the use of non-medicinal ingredients which serve to keep the product stable and to prevent the various ingredients from interacting.” They also find fault in the limited number of suppliers of the active ingredients in prenatal vitamins, and therefore claim substances like gelatin are difficult to avoid.
Let’s take a tour of the prenatal vitamin ingredient zoo. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Examining Room of Dr. Charles*
October 20th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Archives of Internal Medicine, Best Doctors, Board-Certified Doctor, Comparative Quality of Physicians, Dr. Danielle Ofri, Evan Falchuk, General Medicine, Healthcare Quality, Healthcare reform, NEJM, New England Journal of Medicine, Non-Certified Foreign-Trained Doctor, Patient-Doctor Relationship, Phony Quality Measures, Quality Medical Care, Quality of Patient Care
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Who do you think is likely to be a better doctor: A board certified graduate of one of the top medical schools in America, or a non-certified doctor trained in a foreign country?
If your answer is “I have absolutely no idea,” then you’re probably spending a lot of time looking at the “report cards” that pass for measures of health care quality. And you’re probably confused.
Researchers in Pittsburgh studied 124 process-based quality measures in 30 clinical areas. These process measures are the state-of-the-art ways in which government and private insurers are checking up on the quality of medical care. They include things like making sure patients with heart problems are prescribed aspirin, and that women get Pap smears. The researchers compared these measures against other, simpler measures, like medical education, board certification, malpractice claim payments, and disciplinary actions.
The result? You couldn’t tell the differences among doctors. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
