May 6th, 2010 by David H. Gorski, M.D., Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research, True Stories
Tags: AACR, American Association for Cancer Research, American Society for Clinical Oncology, Anoikis, Apoptosis, ASCO, Barrett's Esophagus, CAM, Carcinoma, Cell Biology, Cell Death, Chemotherapy, Chronic Inflammation, Complicated, Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, Cure for Cancer, Douglas Adams, Dr. Allan Balmain, Dr. Joan Brugge, Dr. Lisa Coussens, Dr. Sean Morrison, Eradication of Cancer, Evidence-Based, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, Genetic Network, Genetics, GERD, Harvard Medical School, Hulda Clark, Malignant, Medical Quackery, Metabolic Derangements, Metabolism, Metastasize, NECSS, Nicholas Gonzalez, Northeast Conference of Science and Skepticism, Oncogenes, Pancreatic Cancer, President Richard Nixon, Quackademic Medicine, Robert O. Young, Science Based Medicine, stem cells, TCGA, The Cancer Genome Atlas, The Complexity of Cancer, Tumor Angiogenesis, Tumor Cell Anchorage, Tumor Suppressor Genes, UCSF, University of Michigan, Unscientific Medicine, War On Cancer, Warburg Effect
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[Recently] I participated in a panel discussion at the Northeast Conference of Science and Skepticism (NECSS) with John Snyder, Kimball Atwood, and Steve Novella, who also reported on the conference. What I mentioned to some of the attendees is that I had managed to combine NECSS with a yearly ritual that I seldom miss, namely the yearly meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting.
There are two huge cancer meetings every year — AACR and the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO). AACR is the meeting dedicated to basic and translational research. ASCO, as the word “clinical” in its name implies, is devoted mainly to clinical research.
Personally, being a translational researcher myself and a surgeon, I tend to prefer the AACR meeting over ASCO, not because ASCO isn’t valuable, but mainly because ASCO tends to be devoted mostly to medical oncology and chemotherapy, which are not what I do as a surgeon. Each meeting draws between 10,000 to 15,000 or even more clinicians and researchers dedicated to the eradication of cancer. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
May 5th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research
Tags: Communication Disconnect, Defensive Lack of Documentation, Defensive Medicine, Direct Reports from Patients, Dismisses a Symptom, Doctor-Patient Communication, Downgrade Symptoms, Dr. Ethan Basch, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, Life-Threatening Diagnosis, Medical Liability, Medical Malpractice, New England Journal of Medicine, New York Times, Nurses, Patient Comments, Patient Complaints, Primary Care
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Doctors often have a communication disconnect with their patients. A recent piece from the New York Times encapsulates the issue, citing a recent New England Journal of Medicine perspective.
According to oncologist Ethan Basch, “Direct reports from patients are rarely used during drug approval or in clinical trials. If patients’ comments are sought at all, they are usually filtered through doctors and nurses, who write their own impressions of what the patients are feeling.”
There are a variety of reasons for this. Some doctors feel they have a better sense of the patient’s symptoms than the patient himself. Biases can affect how doctors and nurses perceive symptoms. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
May 5th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research
Tags: Association of American Medical Colleges, Baby Boomers, Closed Practices, Family Medicine, Forgivable Loans, General Medicine, Healthcare Reform Law, Higher Reimbursement, Internal Medicine, Long Waits for Patients, Medical Residency, Medical School, Medical School Students, Medical Specialists, Medicare, Nurse Practitioners, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Physician Assistants, PPACA, Previously-Uninsured People, Primary Care Medicine, Primary Care Physicians, Primary Care Residency Program, Primary Care Shortage, Routine Care, Rural Communities, Teaching Hospitals, Underserved Areas
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The new healthcare reform law, which is called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), will be a huge disappointment to the millions of previously-uninsured people who finally purchase insurance policies when they try to find a doctor.
Primary care physicians are already in short supply and the most popular ones have closed practices or long waits for new patients. Imagine when 2014 hits and all of those patients come calling. Who is going to be available to treat them? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
May 4th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
Tags: Baby, Columbia, Crib, Fetal Brain Stimulation, Fetus, Hands-Free Listening, Health Apps, In Utero, iPod, iUtero, Mom, Mother, Music, Nirvana, Nuvo Group, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Pediatrics, Pregnancy, Ritmo Advanced Pregnancy Sound System, South Carolina, Stroller, Toys
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The new Ritmo Advanced Pregnancy Sound System from the Nuvo Group of Columbia, South Carolina, gives an interesting twist to “In Utero,” the title of the famous Nirvana album.
“Research in human fetal development shows that babies exposed to music while in-utero display advanced intelligence, coordination, and learning abilities,” says the product website. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
May 4th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Average Cost, Cardiology, CBS MoneyWatch.com, Circulation, Direct Healthcare Costs, Doctors, Healthcare Economics, Healthy Lifestyle, Heart Attack, Heart Health, Hospitals, Indirect Healthcare Costs, Internal Medicine, Ischemic Heart Disease, Lifetime Cost, Lost Productivity, National Business Group on Health, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, NHLBI, NIH, Prescription Drugs, The WISE Study, Tim Russert, Time Away From Work, Women's Health
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How much would a heart attack cost you? Quite a bit, according to CBS MoneyWatch.com:
According to an article from the National Business Group on Health, the average total [editor’s note: lifetime] cost of a severe heart attack -– including direct and indirect costs -– is about $1 million. Direct [lifetime] costs include charges for hospitals, doctors and prescription drugs, while indirect costs include lost productivity and time away from work. The average [lifetime] cost of a less-severe heart attack is about $760,000. Amortized over 20 years, that’s $50,000 per year for a severe heart attack and $38,000 per year for a less-severe heart attack.
I’m all for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but before we get all hot and bothered about performing more testing to “prevent” a heart attack as a means to save healthcare costs going forward, remember the lessons we learned from the Tim Russert fallout. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
