June 30th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Beer-Sheva, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Blogs, Computer Program, Computer Software, Depressive Pattern, Detecting Depression, Diagnostic Tool, Family Medicine, General Medicine, IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agency Technology, Internal Medicine, Israel, Mental Health, Mental State, Online Text, Online Writing, Pop-Up Warnings, Primary Care, Psychiatry, Psychology, Thought Police
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In a Thought Police kind of way, a new computer program can detect depression through your online writing.
Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Beer-Sheva, Israel, have developed a program that detects depression in text without obvious terms like “depression” or “suicide.” In a sample of 200 positively-identified texts out of 300,000 which were screened by the program, there was a 78 percent agreement between the program and a panel of psychologists. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
June 30th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Addicted To Indoor Tanning, addiction, Alcoholism, Anxiety, Archives of Dermatology, CAGE Criteria, Depression, George Hamilton Syndrome, Non-Tanners, Psychiatry, Psychological Disturbances, Psychology, Self-Image Disorders, Skin Cancer, Substance Abuse, Tanners, University Students
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According to the Archives of Dermatology, there are people who are addicted to indoor tanning. That journal reported on a study of 421 university students in the northeastern United States. Using self-reported questionnaires, they screened for alcoholism and substance use as well as anxiety and depression. They also had a questionnaire about addiction to indoor tanning.
If you’re scratching your head (as I was), there’s a medically-accepted criteria known as CAGE (cut down, annoyed, guilty, eye-opener) that correlates with addiction, so they used this for “addiction” to indoor tanning also. They found that more of the kids who met the criteria for addiction to indoor tanning also had greater anxiety, greater use of alcohol, marijuana and other substances. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
June 30th, 2010 by Davis Liu, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Booster Shot, Bortella Pertussis Bacteria, CDC, Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, Communicable Disease, Deadly Infection, Deaths In California, dT Vaccine, Immunization, Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine, Lost Immunity, Pertussis Vaccine, Preventive Health, Primary Care, Public Awareness, Public Health, Spread Of Disease, Tdap Vaccine, Up-To-Date Care, Whooping Cough Epidemic
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California recently declared an epidemic of whooping cough (pertussis) which resulted in the death of five infants under the age of 3 months. The pertussis vaccine, which is already given routinely to infants, is first given at 2 months of age, then 4 months and 6 months of age, with an additional booster at 15 to 18 months of age, and then again at 4 to 6 years old.
The vaccines for Bortella pertussis bacteria, which causes whooping cough, does not confer lifelong immunity. In other words, fully-vaccinated children who then become teenagers and then adults lose immunity, can acquire the infection and then spread it. Should babies acquire pertussis, as the public has discovered, it can be deadly. The persistent cough tires the baby, causes difficulty breathing, and can make them turn blue or cyanotic resulting in pneumonia or convulsions. According to CDC, about half of children aged 1 year and younger need to be hospitalized if infected with the illness. Although older children and adults can handle the cough, the infection can cause them to cough for weeks or months. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis*
June 30th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: ACP, American College Of Physicians, Annals Of Internal Medicine, Best Medical School List, Bob Doherty, Commitment To Primary Care, Family Medicine, Fixing Primary Care, General Medicine, Grant Money, Health Reform, Lack of Primary Care, Medical School Rankings, More Primary Care Doctors, Politicians, Primary Care Physicians, Primary Care Shortage, Primary Care Track Record, Primary Care Training Programs, Shifting Funds, Social Mission Score, U.S. News, Underserved Populations, Worforce Diversity
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Medical schools are traditionally ranked on criteria like research funding and technological innovation. These rankings are highly significant. A place on the U.S. News‘ annual “Best Medical School” list is a coveted spot indeed.
So that’s why there was some media attention paid to a recent study from the Annals of Internal Medicine, which ranked medical schools according to their “social mission” — a phrase that defines a school’s commitment to primary care, underserved populations and workforce diversity. Using this new criterion, some of the traditionally high ranking schools fell significantly. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
June 29th, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Age-Related Testosterone Deficiency, Aging Men, Andropause, Bad Health News Stories, ED, Elderly Men, Erectile Dysfunction, Gary Schwitzer, German Media Coverage, Health Journalism, Health News Headlines, Health Reporting, HealthNewsReview.org, Hypogonadism, Injudicious Use, Knight Science Journalism Tracker, Liz Scherer, Low T, Low Testosterone, Male Menopause, Media Misinterpretation, Men's Health, New England Journal of Medicine, Older Men, Overdiagnosed, Overhyped, Overtreatment, Psychological Health, Reproductive Endocrinology, Sexual Health, Testosterone Therapy, Unnecessary Treatment
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An article on the Knight Science Journalism Tracker comments on German media coverage of the “Is there male menopause?” question. An excerpt:
One study, but very different types of headlines: “‘Male Menopause’ discovered” and “Men have no Menopause.” Both types of headlines are based on one study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which analyzed 3219 European males between 40 and 79. Blood samples provided testosterone levels and questionnaires (!) asked about the “general, sexual, physical, and psychological health.”
What the scientists found was nothing more and nothing less than a correlation between a low testosterone level and three clinical symptoms (“decreased frequency of morning erection, decreased frequency of sexual thoughts, and erectile dysfunction”). So, one could call it an age-related testosterone deficiency, affecting only a minority (about 2%) of elderly men.
But one shouldn’t name it “andropause” or “male menopause” — and the scientists themselves did NOT use the term in the whole article — because this term immediately suggests a relation to menopause, which is a completely different and natural developmental phenomenon for every woman above the age of 50. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*