June 2nd, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
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A couple of health journalism gems you shouldn’t miss just because they were published over the holiday weekend:
Natasha Singer of the New York Times had an important piece, “When Patients Meet Online, Are There Side Effects?,” about privacy concerns when social networking sites like CureTogether.com and PatientsLikeMe.com offer online communities for patients and collect members’ health data for research purposes.
John Fauber of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel published another in his “Side Effects” series on conflicts of interest in healthcare. This one was about doctors vouching for the drug Multaq for treating atrial fibrillation without ever having seen all of the data.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune began a “Too Much Medicine” series. Health editor Dave Hage informs that they’ve been working on this project for nearly a year with plans for a few more installments in coming months, each covering different ailments and procedures that are over-used or under-proven. (Unfortunately, I think the series is only available in the print editions.)
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
June 2nd, 2010 by AlanDappenMD in Better Health Network, Opinion, Primary Care Wednesdays, True Stories
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Today my brother Arthur helped someone stay alive a little bit longer. He wouldn’t be happy with how I used his story, but he’s dead enough to not hear it.
Art had an enormous IQ which helped him dance through school, standardized testing, and academic awards like a hot knife through butter. But life requires many skill sets, genius being just one. My brother’s biography in many ways mirrors that of the Unabomber’s — move for move — until one decisive moment when Jesus walked into Art’s life.
Forever and irrevocably from that moment forward, Art became God’s logic pugilist. Heretofore, all of his training in science and math was used to prove that the truth in the Bible could be found only in literal interpretation. Read more »
June 1st, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
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Instead of blogging (again) about Congress’s failure to stop the 21% Medicare SGR cut, which went into effect today, I could just re-run my April 16 post. I wrote then:
“It is the failure of both political parties, over many years, to honestly deal with the SGR, including the cost of getting rid of it, which has resulted in the current ongoing SGR farce. And yet members of Congress wonder why the public holds them in such low regard.”
Blogging in DB’s Medicare Rants, Dr. Bob Centor captures the outrage felt by most physicians:
“I am mad. Every physician I know is mad. Patients should join us in expressing anger. Physicians cannot trust Congress if they cannot repair this absurdity.”
(Bob references ACP’s statement, released on Friday; click here to read it in its entirety.)
That Congress allowed politics again to get in the way of doing what is best for patients makes my blood boil. Voters can and should hold them accountable. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
June 1st, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
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I regularly talk to my patients’ parents about social health. What parents do, what they think, and how they socially experience their child’s health problems has become an interest of mine.
I can hear it now: “Of course patients won’t discuss their social health activities with you, you’re a doctor.” Perhaps, but I don’t think so. Actually, I’ve had some very interesting open dialog with a few of my long-term patient-parents. Many have children suffering with chronic diseases such as Crohn’s disease, eosinophilic enteropathy, and the like. The relationships I cultivate are open, and the nature of my dialog has been just as consistently open as other aspects of our relationship.
Interestingly, while nearly all have used online search to understand their disease, most have never connected with other disease sufferers in the online space. The concept of crowdsourcing is met with puzzled looks. Sure they’re e-patients, but I would characterize most of my patients as e-patients. The question is: What does that really mean? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
May 28th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
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The British Medical Journal reported on a study of toothbrushing and found that people with poor oral hygiene had an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack.
We’ve known for the last two decades that inflammation plays an important role in atherosclerosis. Markers of low-grade inflammation like C-reactive protein are also shown to be higher in heart disease.
The Scottish Health researchers looked at the general population and followed a large subset with questions about their oral health. They asked about frequency of dentist visits, toothbrushing, and controlled for many co-variables such as general activity, hypertension, smoking, height and weight. They also collected blood for studies of C-reactive protein as a marker of inflammation. They removed from the analysis participants who had no natural teeth (edentulous) and those with existing cardiovascular disease.
This elaborate and lengthy study showed that toothbrushing is associated with cardiovascular disease, and that subjects who brushed their teeth less than once a day had a 70 percent increase in heart disease compared with people who brushed twice a day. The inflammation that periodontal disease causes is directly related to increased C-reactive protein and increased heart attacks.
Leave it to the Scotts and the Brits to remind us to brush and floss every day.
REFERENCE: British Medical Journal, 2010; 340: c2451.
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
