July 24th, 2011 by DeborahSchwarzRPA in Health Tips, Research
Tags: BMI, Body Mass Index, Cardiovascular Disease, Center for Metabolic and Weight Loss Surgery, Diabetes, Diabetes Surgery Study, Excess Body Fat, Gastric Bypass Surgery, Glucose Intolerance, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Insulin Resistance, Kidney Disease, Melissa Bagloo, Metabolic Syndrome, Morbid Obesity, Stroke
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People with metabolic syndrome are twice as likely to develop heart disease, and five times as likely to develop diabetes, as those who don’t have metabolic syndrome. But many people are not yet familiar with this relatively new term. Do you know what metabolic syndrome is?
OECD Country Populations with a BMI > 30 (1996-2003)
Metabolic syndrome is the combination of several medical problems associated with morbid obesity. In addition to obesity, these conditions include: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Columbia University Department of Surgery Blog*
July 22nd, 2011 by Medgadget in Research
Tags: Bacteria, Bacterial Cells, Contrast Agent, E. Coli, fluorescence intensity, Georgia Tech, Imaging Probes, In-Vivo, Infected Tissues, Maltodextrin, Maltohexaose, Mammalian Cells, Uninfected Tissues
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A new contrast agent based on maltodextrin has been developed at Georgia Tech that can provide in vivo imaging of bacteria with a sensitivity two orders of magnitude greater than previously achieved.
Unlike most previous methods, the new probes are able to enter bacterial cells by pretending to be food, while avoiding being ingested by the mammalian cells.
From Georgia Tech:
Maltodextrin-based imaging probes consist of a fluorescent dye linked to maltohexaose, which is a major source of glucose for bacteria. The probes deliver the contrast agent into bacteria through the organism’s maltodextrin transporter, which only exists in bacterial cells and not mammalian cells.
In experiments using a rat model, the researchers found that Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
July 21st, 2011 by DrWes in Opinion, Research
Tags: Aortic Stenosis, Aortic Valve Replacement, Cardiac Surgery, Cardiology, Circulatory Systems Devices Panel, David R. Holmes, FDA, Marcus Welby, Medical Devices Advisory Committee, Medical Innovation, Medicare, Rationing, SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve, TAVR, transcatheter aortic valve replacement, Valve Insertion
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To ensure rational and responsible dissemination of this new
technology (transcatheter aortic valve replacement [TAVR]), government,
industry and medicine will need to work in harmony.”
– David R. Holmes, Jr., MD, FACC
President, American College of Cardiology
Today, Edwards Lifesciences’ will request pre-market approval of its SAPIEN Transcatheter Heart Valve from the FDA’s Circulatory Systems Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee. And for the first time, the groundwork for our complicated new era of health care rationing will be exposed.
To win an expensive technology on behalf of patients these days, there will have to be “harmony” between doctors and their professional organizations and government regulators. If not, patients lose.
At issue is a transformative technology – another milestone forwarding medical innovation on behalf of some of our oldest and sickest patients: those with critical aortic stenosis who are too sick to undergo open heart surgery. Aortic stenosis tends to be a disease of the elderly that carries at least a 2-year 50% mortality when accompanied by a weakened heart muscle. Yet thanks to the wonders of careful engineering and some daring researchers that paired their expertise and lessons learned from a variety of disciples (cardiothoracic and peripheral vascular surgery, cardiology, and even cardiac electrophysiology), technigues and technology have combined to offer a percutaneous option for aortic valve replacement.
Everyone involved in this research (and even those who have watched from afar) knows this therapy works. Most believe in the long run, it will prove to be a safer option than open heart surgery in these patients.
But that’s about where the harmony ends. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
July 21st, 2011 by GarySchwitzer in News, Research
Tags: Bazian.com, Behind the Headlines, Breast Cancer Screening Program, Cancer, Cancer Research, NHS, Office of National Statistics, ONS, PSA Test for Prostate Cancer, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, United Kingdom
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Several newspapers in the UK reported this week that cancer rates have risen over the past two decades. That set into motion an analysis by the excellent “Behind the Headlines” service offered by the NHS Choices website. They found this in newspapers:
“Cancer rates in the middle-aged “have jumped by almost a fifth in a generation”, according to The Daily Telegraph, which says that the increase “is thought to be mainly due to better detection of cancers rather than people adopting more unhealthy lifestyles”. The Sun takes the alternate view, saying that doctors are “blaming the rise on obesity and home boozing”. The Daily Mail similarly suggests that lifestyle changes are to blame.”
You don’t have to live in the UK to learn from their analysis.
They wrote:
“One factor contributing to these increases is likely to be higher rates of detection due to the NHS breast cancer screening programme and the PSA test for prostate cancer. The raw data behind these stats also needs to be placed into context: these particular cancer diagnosis rates are drawn from the datasets for England from the Office of National Statistics and similar datasets from registries in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The ONS urges caution when interpreting its data, particularly when looking at trends across time, or differences across regions.
For example, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
July 19th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in Health Policy, Research
Tags: Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services, Cheap, Cost-Effective, CVS, Diabetes, Drugs, Effectiveness, Efficacy, Generic, Harvard, Health Affairs, Heart Disease, Lipitor, Medication, Pharmaceuticals, Plavix
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Generic medications appear to be far more cost-effective than previously reported, concluded a team of Harvard professors. But, physicians and patients aren’t adopting them wholeheartedly.
Patents of 20 drugs with annual sales of more than $1 billion expired or will do so between 2010 and 2013, including Lipitor and Plavix, the highest- and second-highest revenue producing drugs in the U.S. While highly effective generics provide low-cost options for chronic disease management, they are not always factored into cost analyses, and are sometimes viewed with concerns about their safety and efficacy.
The Harvard team revisited a 2008 study that used brand-name medication costs in an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of strategies to prevent adverse outcomes associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The study found that up to 244 million quality-adjusted life-years could be gained over 30 years with appropriate preventive care. But, the study authors wrote, that “most prevention activities are expensive when considering direct medical costs.”
The Harvard team recalculated figures from the 2008 research, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
