May 26th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research
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“…I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” — Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire
Years ago when I began my medical training, I recall enrolling patients for clinical research. In cardiology, there were a myriad of questions that needed to be answered, especially in the area of defining which medications were best to limit the damage caused by a heart attack.
Patients routinely participated in large, multi-center prospective randomized trials to answer these questions. It was routine for them not to charged for participating in the trial — the drug(s) and additional testing would be funded by the company whose drug was being studied. Patients enrolled willingly, eager to help advance science and perhaps, in some small way, their fellow man. It never dawned on me in those early days why hospitals and research centers were so eager to promote research. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
May 7th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Humor, News, Research
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From Freep.com:
“Medical researchers at Wayne State University have asked hunters in the state [Michigan] to donate the hearts of harvested wild turkeys for researching heart disease and congestive heart failure.
The National Wild Turkey Federation recently joined the school in making the appeal. Researchers hope that tests using wild turkey hearts could lead to medical breakthroughs for combating heart problems in humans.” Read more.
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
May 6th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research, True Stories
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I was recently listening to an audiobook about diet, written and read by a “famous” doctor who gets people healthy through dietary changes.
Since my podcast pushes me a little into the mainstream (more than this blog does), I thought it would be good to hear what the “average” person is reading about health. Plus, I am not exactly the most compliant patient when it comes to diet, so I thought I could possibly get something out of it personally.
I did my best to listen with an open mind, ignoring what I thought were gimmicks and trying to glean the valuable information from what this doctor was saying.
I had to stop, however, before finishing the book. It wasn’t the content so much that gave me cause to feel the desire to smash my iPod, it was the hype. The author was constantly using words like “amazing,” “magical,” and “miraculous.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
