June 16th, 2011 by Glenn Laffel, M.D., Ph.D. in Research
Tags: 6-mercaptopurine, behavioral intervention, behavioral therapy, Cancer, Chemotherapy, chemotherapy drug, mobile behavioral intervention, Oncology, Pamela Kato, Re-Mission, self-administered medication, social support, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, videogames, web-based intervention
1 Comment »
In recent posts on Web-based and mobile behavioral intervention programs, we reviewed evidence suggesting that social support, in one form or another, can improve participants’ adherence and engagement with the program. That didn’t always mean however, that participants achieved better outcomes as a result. In one study for example, an online community increased engagement with and utilization of a Web-based activity program, but it did not increase participants’ actual activity levels.
Another study, slightly older than the ones reviewed above, did show that a Web-based program improved outcomes. In this case, the intervention was an online videogame known as Re-Mission. Since I haven’t touched previously on outcome studies for automated lifestyle intervention tools or videogames as an example of such programs, I’ll do that here.
Re-Mission is intended improve medication compliance in teens and young adults with a history of cancer. In the game, players control a nanobot within a 3-dimensional body of a young person that has cancer. Play involves destroying cancer cells and managing chemotherapy-related adverse effects like vomiting and bacterial infections by using antiemetics and antibiotics. The game purports to help users understand Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Pizaazz*
June 16th, 2011 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Health Tips, Research
Tags: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Chronic Bron, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, COPD, Cough, Coughing, Research, Second hand smoke, smoking, Vitamin D
No Comments »
I am frequently extolling the health benefits of Vitamin D because almost weekly there is a new study that correlates high vitamin D levels with reducing some disease. The latest is from the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and research shows that high doses of vitamin D supplementation improved respiratory muscle strength in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The patients that did not receive supplemental vitamin D had blood levels of 22.8 compared to 53.8 in the supplemented group. The patients who were supplemented had improved respiratory function, strength and less shortness of breath. It certainly didn’t cure or reverse COPD but the improvement was an encouraging trend in this terrible chronic disease.
In reading about this it got me thinking about COPD and the fact that it is one of the most common reasons for hospitalization and disability in the United States. It is a progressive disease that affects the alveoli (small air sacs that exchange oxygen) and small bronchioles of the lungs. These airways and air sacs lose their elastic quality and become thick and inflamed. Mucus forms and patients become progressively short of breath and eventually need supplemental oxygen just to breathe. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.
Did you know that most COPD is caused by Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
June 14th, 2011 by Berci in Research
Tags: 23andme, Disease Prediction, DTC, Genetic Testing, Misinformation, Risk Analysis, Science, Unhelpful
No Comments »
While 23andMe brings down the price of consumer genetic tests and builds up relations with big pharma (doesn’t share individual data though), it seems the DTC genetic testing is neither accurate in predictions nor beneficial to individuals according to a study described on Medical News Today.
Working under the supervision of Associate Professor Cecile Janssens, together with researchers from Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston, USA, Ms Kalf examined the risk predictions supplied by two large DTC companies, deCODEme (Iceland) and 23andMe (USA). They simulated genotype data for 100,000 individuals based on established genotype frequencies and then used the formulas and risk data provided by the companies to obtain predicted risks for eight common multi-factorial diseases – age-related macular degeneration (AMD), atrial fibrillation, celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, heart attack, prostate cancer, and Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes (T2D). Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
June 4th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in News, Research
Tags: Defensive Medicine, Malpractice, Medical Malpractice, Prescriptions, Primary Care, Professional Liability, Profit, Reasons For, Referral, Reimbursement, Tests, Tort Reform, Unnecessary Testing
1 Comment »
Physicians don’t make money from the tests, prescriptions, procedures and admissions they order, according to a new survey by the staffing and technology company Jackson Healthcare. At most, 6.2% of physicians’ total compensation comes from the doctor’s orders, the survey reported.
Direct income from medical orders comprised:
–0.5% from charges from prescriptions,
–1.0% from charges from lab tests,
–1.1% from charges associated with hospital admission,
–1.3% from charges associated with facility fees for surgeries, and
–2.3% from charges from diagnostic imaging.
The survey of 1,512 physicians challenged claims that physicians won’t stop practicing defensive medicine because they profit from their medical orders, the company stated in a press release.
“Many outside the industry believe that physicians make a lot of money on the tests, prescriptions, procedures and admissions they order,” said Richard Jackson, chairman and CEO of Jackson Healthcare. “The reality is that most (82%) do not make any money from their orders. For the remaining that do, it constitutes a fraction of their total compensation.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
June 2nd, 2011 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Health Tips, Research
Tags: Changing Outcomes, Coronary Angiogram, CT Scan, Fitness, Healthy Living, Heart Disease, Predicting Heart Disease, Radiology, Reducing Heart Attacks, Running, Timed Mile
1 Comment »
It is hardly news to say that we need better means to predict who will die of heart disease. No matter how much you may hear about medical errors, hospital acquired infections, or even distracted driving, it’s still heart disease that kills the most of us.
The inflammation that begins narrowing our arteries starts when we are young. It percolates quietly, stealth-like for years. The young usually skate by unscathed. But all the cookies, beers, chips, inactivity and work stress adds up. The tension of life squeezes our arteries, daring them to crack or fissure. This cataclysm is one of the ways that middle age may introduce herself.
A friend, or colleague, or sibling dies suddenly of heart problems. Those of us that our “masters-aged” have likely felt these sensations of sadness, and then the reality that they may be next.
“I should probably come in and get a check-up,” is something I hear frequently in the doctor’s lounge after such a tragedy.
I agree. When you are old enough to use reading glasses it is time to think about what lurks inside your heart’s blood vessels.
But herein lies the catch. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
Another study, slightly older than the ones reviewed above, did show that a Web-based program improved outcomes. In this case, the intervention was an online videogame known as Re-Mission. Since I haven’t touched previously on outcome studies for automated lifestyle intervention tools or videogames as an example of such programs, I’ll do that here.
