I mentioned Microryza in that last post. Here's Prof. Micheal Pirrung, at UC Riverside, with an appeal there to fund the resynthesis of a compound for NCI testing against renal cell carcinoma. It will provide an experienced post-doc's labor for a month to prepare an interesting natural-product-derived proteasome inhibitor that the NCI would like to take to their next stage of evaluation. Have a look - you might be looking at the future of academic research funding, or at least a real part of it. (Source: In the Pipeline)
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Date: 14 May 2013
Has anyone else noticed a new trend in blog spam? Usually spam comments tell me how brilliant I am, before linking to the stuff they sell. Then there are the ones about sex and related paraphernalia - often gibberish and including phrases like "home coffee maker porn shoes cologne gnocchi". Recently, I've had a couple that sound like trolls - accusing me of letting down my readership with laziness or self-pity. This appears to be a new spamming strategy.My last post, "i don't have a brain tumour",was a photo of a bottle of Prosecco and a glass full of the bubbly stuff. There was not text, as I felt the title and the image were pretty self-explanatory. Before I delete all today's spam into oblivion, I thought I'd share this shining example of incongruous, inappropriate spamming:"The ve...
Date: 13 May 2013
In March, our cat, Garland, turned 16. The average lifespan of a cat is 15 - 20 years, so I figure a sixteenth birthday for a cat is a pretty rare event, and it needs to be celebrated ... with a balloon.So WCK and I went to the grocery store and picked out a "Happy 16th B-Day" balloon. The lady behind the counter at the floral department asked me if the balloon was for a boy or a girl, so she'd know what color ribbon to put on. (By the way, does any 16-year-old care what color the ribbon is on his/her balloon? Do 16-year-olds even care about balloons? Aren't they just going to look at it and grunt?) I said, "Uh, it's for a cat." The floral department ladies thought this was hilarious, and I waited for my seven-year-old to back me up on the cat-balloon thing so that I could give the f...
Date: 13 May 2013
Now that excessive hospital billings are getting some press maybe Journalist, or those masquerading as them, can stop writing articles about the high out of pocket cost of Rx and start asking why the Rx are so expensive to start with.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/13/cancer-patients-could-face-high-costs-for-medications-under-obamacare-critics
Some exchange plans might require members pay 30% of drugs that cost 10K per month and this concerns the pharmaceutical companies. All of us should be concerned about the other 7K we are paying. The expanded marketing of Enbrel which can cost a couple thousand a month should also be of concern to all of us.Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Date: 13 May 2013
A few months ago, an oncologist wrote a "Letter To A Young Smoker From An Oncologist". I found it very touching and meant to blog about it at the time - but chemo brain made me forget. It is a great article to share with someone who smokes and knows they shouldn't. Maybe it will help them quit.Then the other day I found a sequel to the first letter entitled "This Is My Last Day On Earth" also written by the same oncologist, Dr. Craig Hildreth, MD. This is written from the patients point of view on dying of cancer and the issues that supported them and what they fought to the end.The patient writes special notes to:The oncologist with thanks for the compassion and caringThe insurnace company with outrage for refusing medicaitonThe nurses for their careThe loved ones with regretsAnd finally ...
Date: 13 May 2013
This article has some complete and utter crap:
Some parts that I have issues with:
The headline: "'Junk' DNA mystery solved: It's not needed." The headline is silly but alas it is consistent with what is in the article.
"So-called junk DNA, the vast majority of the genome that doesn't code for proteins". So - they have redefined junk DNA as all non coding DNA?
"For decades, scientists have known that the vast majority of the genome is made up of DNA that doesn't seem to contain genes or turn genes on or off." Apparently there is an entity out there known as "The Genome".
And then we get into the quoting of author and researcher Victor Albert with no comments or responses from anyone is painful too.
"At least for a plant, junk DNA really is just junk — it's ...
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Date: 12 May 2013
Well this is an often asked question and answer to this is YES, if you are interested in the branch and are unable to get MD Radiology , DNB is a fair bet, slight catch being somewhat lesser passing rate in DNB, although this has improved in last few years. DNB today for all practical purposes is equivalent to MD even for academic centres. Pay-package wise there is hardly any difference in the private sector.
Usually, in the first go, people prefer: Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad for DNB and also, Bangalore & Pune. Usual places preferred in Delhi are Saftardjung, Gangaram, Stefans, Batra Hospital. INMAS is a fair option as well. In Mumbai people prefer, Jaslok, Hinduja, Lilavati and Breach Candy hospitals. NIMS Hyderabad, Nrayana Hrudalya , Bangalore are also popular choice...
Date: 12 May 2013
Leading Western pharmaceutical companies paid millions of pounds to former Communist East Germany to use more that 50,000 patients in state-run hospitals as unwitting guinea pigs for drug tests in which several people died, it was revealed today.An investigation by the German magazine Der Spiegel said international conglomerates such as Bayer, Hoechst, Roche, Schering and Sandoz carried out more than 600 tests on patients, mostly without their knowledge, at hospitals and clinics in the former Communist state.The companies were said to have paid the regime the equivalent of €400,000 (£338,000) per test. Schering, a concern which now belongs to Bayer, was said to have offered East Germany the equivalent of €3m to carry out a series of tests at an East Berlin hospital. The case of o...
Date: 12 May 2013
In the conventional practice of early heart disease prevention, cholesterol testing takes center stage. Rarely does it go any further, aside from questions about family history and obvious sources of modifiable risk such as smoking and sedentary lifestyle.
So standard practice is to usually look at your LDL cholesterol, the value that is calculated, not measured, then–almost without fail–prescribe a statin drug. While there are indeed useful values in the standard cholesterol panel–HDL cholesterol and triglycerides–they are typically ignored or prompt no specific action.
But a genuine effort at heart disease prevention should go farther than an assessment of calculated LDL cholesterol, as there are many ways that humans develop coronary atherosclerosis. Among the ...
Date: 12 May 2013
(Source: Breast Cancer? But Doctor....I hate pink!)
Date: 12 May 2013
WCK made me a Mother's Day book at school. Every page is shaped like a hat and has a prompt for WCK to fill in the blank:And here is what is says:My mom wears many hats in our family. My mom is a teacher. She taught me to read chapter books and tie my shoelaces.My mom is a nurse. She always makes me feel better when she gives me Sprite and crackers.My mom is a sanitation worker. When she sees my room, she says, "It looks like a tornado went there!"My mom is a cook. I love it when she makes me chicken, eggs, and soup.My mom is a chauffeur. She drives me to school, swimming pools, and everywhere.My mom is the best mom ever!The EndHappy Mother's Day, everyone! (Source: The Adventures of Cancer Girl)
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Date: 12 May 2013
Today, MLB has decided to allow players to wear and use pink items to promote breast cancer awareness. I am not a big fan of sports teams wearing pink at all. But this one drives me crazy.There are pink bats made by Louisville Slugger, and hats and gloves and pads and all sorts of things so the manly guys who play baseball can be pinkified for a day. After the day, the pink items will be raffled off with the benefits going to charity.Not that this is bad enough but Nick Markakis of the Baltimore Orioles and Trevor Plouffe of the Minnesota Twins had special bats made by MaxBat because their mothers had breast cancer. These bats are back with a pink logo of the manufacturer. They made this special effort but can't use the bats.The rules about this are a bit fussy"Spokesmen for both MLB and L...
Date: 12 May 2013
Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non–skin cancer among U.S. men. It can be life-threatening, and many men have cancer without knowing it. For those reasons, doctors sometimes look for prostate cancer in healthy men (screen for cancer) by measuring blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a protein secreted by the prostate gland. High PSA levels can be caused by cancer and may lead a doctor to take a sample of prostate tissue to see whether cancer is present (biopsy). Most prostate cancer grows very slowly, however, and many men with prostate cancer die of other causes. Neither PSA testing nor prostate biopsy tells doctors with certainty which cases of prostate cancer are threatening and which require treatment. As a result, many men with slow-growing cancer have bio...
Date: 12 May 2013
So – you won’t have seen a lot of me this last few days, either here or on Twitter or Facebook or even in my house, much.
Because I’ve been in the studio, with this.
And I’ve been doing my bit – going through the copy-editor’s notes, changes and suggestions, and agreeing with them (mostly), or adding to them, or deciding that things should stay as they are.
It’s interesting, and involving – not to say useful, as soon I’ll be going through ‘Breaking Bread’ again, with my editor’s suggestions to hand, and it’s useful to be reminded of all the things I always think I’ll remember but I don’t, and will come in handy for the BB work to come. (There’s a character who has separate trimmers for his nose...
Date: 12 May 2013
In this study we used the hMTH1-Tg mouse model to investigate how oxidative damage to nucleic acids affects aging. hMTH1-Tg mice express high levels of the hMTH1 hydrolase that degrades 8-oxodGTP and 8-oxoGTP and excludes 8-oxoguanine from both DNA and RNA. Compared to wild-type animals, hMTH1-overexpressing mice have significantly lower steady-state levels of 8-oxoguanine in both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA of several organs, including the brain. hMTH1 overexpression prevents the age-dependent accumulation of DNA 8-oxoguanine that occurs in wild-type mice.
These lower levels of oxidized guanines are associated with increased longevity and hMTH1-Tg animals live significantly longer than their wild-type littermates. Neither lipid oxidation nor overall antioxidant status are significantl...
Date: 11 May 2013
What's worse: The fact that we happen to have a life-size cardboard cutout of Darth Vader standing around our house, or the fact that the second my back is turned, someone dresses him up like a princess? I especially like the shoes. (Source: The Adventures of Cancer Girl)
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Date: 11 May 2013
Are there any HEALTHY breakfast cereals?
Simple answer: No.
Let’s consider the most common ingredients in breakfast cereals: wheat flour, corn, high-fructose corn syrup, sugar. In effect, they therefore contain sugar, sugar, sugar, and sugar. That ain’t good. It explains why the glycemic index of breakfast cereals are all exceptionally high, usually 70 and above. (Sucrose is 59-65, depending on the study you look at.) Breakfast cereals for kids, such as Apple Jacks and Corn Pops, can be as high as 25-37% sugar by weight.
How about those coarser cereals with whole grains like oats, millet, buckwheat, etc., such as muesli? Same issues. Followers of the Wheat Belly conversation understand that whole grains are wrongly called “low” glycemic index; they should really b...
Date: 11 May 2013
Read this first: Brooklyn's Finest (Part I of II)
The next day we visited Brooklyn Boulders, a rock-climbing gym that my grade school friend, Lance Pinn, founded and owns. In high school Lance was suave with girls, passed advanced classes without trying and seemed born able to read people and business opportunities like I was born able to tolerate Adriamycin. After college and seeing an enormous market for climbing gyms, he and two partners collected the capital for Brooklyn Boulders.
I had emailed Lance two months ago about my 10-year cancer-free anniversary and how I wanted to celebrate at his gym. He immediately made arrangements for us. “What Lance says, goes. Lance is the man,” one of the gym employees told me.
Lance first escorted us to the Fairfield Inn & Suites across t...
Date: 11 May 2013
Due to a range of circumstances I am phoneless for the next few days. My husband is convinced I will go crazy. I am sure I will be fine.I was an early cell phone resistor and didn't get one until the spring of 2002 when I was job hunting. I have found it useful but not required in life. I am capable of going off for a day without my phone - unless I am traveling long distance and need to be in communication with others.I do not feel the need for instant communication that so many others do. I am happy to be by myself and not have to talk to anyone who is not with me. Or text. Or email.It allows me to take the escape to the outdoors to the next level where not only do I not have to check my phone, no one can call, email, text or tweet with something as well. Especially no doctor can attempt...
Date: 11 May 2013
by Kenneth H. Cohn
In anticipation of National Nurses Week, I dedicate my monthly guest post to them not only because my wife of 28 years is a nurse but also because nurses have taught me lessons about how to be a more caring physician.
I reinforce my previous salute to Nikki, an emergency room nurse in Massachusetts who took me aside and told me, "Just because that was your eighth patient with the same condition doesn't mean that it was her eighth sprain." Eventually, I got over my wounded pride and adopted the perspective that she viewed me as teachable.
I believe that my reverence for what nurses do for patients emanates from my father's teaching. As I have mentioned," as a 16-year-old, I asked my father, a practicing neurosurgeon at a community teaching hospital, "Who do the resid...
Date: 11 May 2013
(Source: Breast Cancer? But Doctor....I hate pink!)
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Date: 10 May 2013
As I mentioned in my last post, I ran my second half-marathon last month. After running two half-marathons, I have decided that the most difficult part of the race doesn't happen during the race itself. It's not even the post-race soreness. The most difficult part of the race, for me, is the taper.When you train for a marathon or a half marathon, you spend months building up the mileage that you run each week. Right after you do your longest run ever, you then start "tapering" or cutting way back on your mileage for a few weeks. When you get to the week right before the race, you're barely running at all. The idea is that you want to get to the race well rested and injury-free and all full of carbs. In theory, the taper sounds like the greatest thing ever: I get to quit all of this crazy r...
Date: 10 May 2013
True story: I've had a little spot on my face for a few years now. I've been all about ignoring it, but it was my husband who finally insisted that I get it checked out by a dermatologist. To my surprise, when I finally made an appointment, my new doc agreed that it could be suspicious and suggested a biopsy, just in case. Turns out it really was fine, but it was certainly a wake-up call about what I could have been ignoring for years -- and not even on some tucked away body part -- on my face! (Source: The ND Blog: Notes from the Nutritionista by Monica Reinagel, L.D.N., C.N.S.)
Date: 10 May 2013
Among the sexually transmitted infections, Human Papilloma Virus (HPV, to its friends) is among the least glamorous. Everyone knows syphilis and gonorrhea, but for some reason HPV doesn't share their celebrity. It should, because some strains of it cause a very common and highly unpleasant problem, genital warts -- or warts wherever people's parts happen to interact, and you can use your imagination. Other strains cause cancer -- cervical, genital, anal, oral and pharyngeal. In fact, HPV is basically the cause of cervical cancer.So it doesn't take a sodomite to see that a vaccine which is highly effective in preventing transmission of HPV would be a good thing for humanity. Or so one might think. Texas Governor Rick Perry found out the hard way that this isn't so by doing the right thing f...
Date: 10 May 2013
Michael F. Cannon
Things must be going poorly for President Obama if he wants to change the subject to ObamaCare.
Today, most of Washington is questioning whether the U.S. government was derelict in its handling of the September 11, 2012 assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which heavily armed assailants injured 10 Americans and murdered four, including the U.S. ambassador. However, over at the White House, President Obama is launching a PR defensive of ObamaCare, at which he will basically ask mothers to nag their kids to waste their money on ObamaCare’s over-priced health insurance.
The contrast brought to mind this passage from University of Chicago law professor M. Todd Henderson’s article in the latest issue of Cato’s&n...
Date: 10 May 2013
It is Mental Health Awareness month, and I began to contemplate what mental health means to me.
Mental health and wellness is the state at which one feels, thinks, and behaves. Mental health can be viewed on a continuum, starting with an individual who is mentally well and free of any impairment in his or her daily life, while someone else might have mild concerns and distress, and another might have a severe mental illness.
Everyone has “stuff” that they keep contained in a tightly sealed plastic bag. There are some who occasionally can’t help but let the “stuff” leak, and there are those with the bag wide open.
However, in our society, we still tend to stigmatize those who let their “stuff” leak out instead of helping them, understanding them, or simply not judging them....
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Date: 10 May 2013
Feeling giddy, I called my new friend, Gümmë, from the train two weeks ago. She was rushing to a meeting while I was approaching New York Penn Station. “My friend owns a rock-climbing gym in Brooklyn, so some friends and I are going this weekend,” I said.
“That sounds fun.”
I didn’t share that we would also be celebrating the 10-year anniversary of my bone marrow transplant. I dislike self-promotion, though sometimes family and friends partake without me having to try hard. My parents sent me on the comfortable Amtrak instead of me paying for the bus, which is what Dirty-D, my first-year roommate at UVA, took from Richmond. “I wasn’t going to balance a computer on my lap for eight hours so I didn’t even bring it. I didn’t want to do work, anyway,” he said, remi...
Date: 10 May 2013
This is the transcript of my recent interview with Cancer Treatment Centers of America CEO Steve Bonner.
David Williams: This is David E. Williams from the Health Business Group. I’m speaking today with Steve Bonner, CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America.
Steve, thanks for joining me today.
Steve Bonner: You’re very welcome, David. It’s great to speak with you again.
David Williams: What is Cancer Treatment Centers of America and how does it differ from other well-known cancer centers?
Steve Bonner: Cancer Treatment Centers of America is a growing chain of hospitals that specialize in and treat only cancer. We tend to see later-stage, more complex patients, because they get the diagnosis and stay at home until it becomes more complex. At t...
Date: 10 May 2013
By Diane Fennell
The oral diabetes drug metformin may slow the aging process by mimicking the effects of a calorie-restricted diet, according to a new animal study from the United Kingdom. Metformin is believed to be the most commonly prescribed diabetes medicine in the world, with over 48 million prescriptions written in 2010 in the United States alone.
Calorie restriction has been shown, in some cases, to improve health and lengthen life in animals ranging from worms to rhesus monkeys. Similar effects have been noted with the use of metformin, but it has not been clear how the drug might help delay the aging process.
To determine how metformin slows aging, researchers looked at the effects of the medicine on C. elegans worms that were exposed to and colonized by E. coli bacteria &md...
Date: 10 May 2013
"How can Merck look itself in the mirror?", asks Josh Bloom of the American Council for Science and Health (see here)."This week, Merck, with some questionable help from the FDA, gave more ammunition to industry critics, who typically maintain that the industry contributes little innovation, and is simply concerned with profits," said Bloom."For the most part, this criticism is biased and uninformed, but this time I'm siding with the critics. Because Merck is trying something that is as good an example of marketing without innovation as you'll ever see."Derek Lowe, respected author of In the Pipeline blog, agrees. "I can't see how he's wrong," said Lowe (here). "What I'm seeing is an attempt by Merck to position itself should the ongoing Vytorin trial actually exonerate the combination ide...
Date: 10 May 2013
I feel I have been somewhat introverted this week and pulling back a bit. I'm not sure why. I am doing okay. I have a fair amount of back pain these days and have moved up my appointment so that I can get some relief sooner as opposed to later. I have plenty of other aches and pains to boot.I have been tired all week. I have been sleeping fairly well. But have frequently felt the need to nap. I did have my annual mammogram this week which was a tiny bit stressful. Next year I will remember: If I feel something its nothing, if they find something its a problem. I felt something which turned out to be plain old body fat (of which I have plenty). But it allowed me to stress out for an hour or so.I did purchase a new handbag last weekend for which I have received numerous complimen...
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Date: 10 May 2013
There are a number of reasons why many of us fail to take control of our health.
Everything from time, lack of quality information, and motivation play a roll in our success or failure.
But there’s another set of lesser-known reasons why you aren’t as healthy as you’d like: the thoughts in your head.
Below I’ve profiled the top seven bad mental habits I see over and over, and how you can fix them.
#1 The belief that success is left to a special few
Some people seem to have this concept that people who end up really successful, healthy, and happy, are just the lucky few.
When you ask them how Mozart, Tiger woods, or top sports athletes are born, they’ll tell you something like “Oh it’s just their genetics, they were born that way.”
Say you have the goal of wanting t...
Date: 10 May 2013
Well, the "winner" of this months YAMMGM award is Beyond the Genome 2013 | Mission Bay | San Francisco
Alas, YAMMGM stands for "Yet another mostly male genomics meeting" so it is not an award to covet.
This meetings listed speakers are below with women highlighted in green.
Nicholas Navin -The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Sunney Xie – Harvard
Xu Xun – BGI
James Hicks -CSHL
Fuchou Tang – Peking
Itai Yanai – Israel
Thierry Voet - Sanger
Jacob Kitzman – Plasma cell free DNA sequencing
Stephen Quake – Stanford and Fluidigm
Mario Caccamo – Genome Analysis Centre
Rob Martienssen – CSHL
Ryan Lister – University of Westerm Australia
Neelima Sinha – UC davis
Jorge Dubcovsky – UC Davis
Robert Schmitz (Salk) – 1001 Arabidopsis project and CHiP-Se...
Date: 09 May 2013
The tide appears to be changing in the fight to prevent the transmission of HPV and resulting cervical cancer deaths in developing nations. (Source: LIVESTRONG Blog)
Date: 09 May 2013
Three of the better known efforts to create a drug that modestly slows the rate of aging are centered on the following items:
Resveratrol analogs that target sirtuins
Rapamycin analogs that target mTOR
Metformin
Of these, ways to manipulate the activity of sirtuins have received the greatest attention over the past decade, but there is little to show for all that money and time beyond a modest gain in the understanding of metabolism. There are no replicated, solid results of life extension in mice via sirtuin-influencing drugs, and I'd go so far as to say that the field is under something of a cloud at present. Metformin is in a similar position: while a large body of work relates to its use as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, the evidence for its ability to extend life in laboratory ani...
Date: 09 May 2013
So I haven't told you about The Crazy Thing I Did while I was away from the blog.I ran my second half-marathon in April. That's not the Crazy Thing, although I will need to blog about the race. Some half-marathon training plans tell you not to run more than 10 miles in training. The one I follow (from the book "Train Like A Mother") gives you to option to run 11 to 13 miles in your final, great big training run. I always like to do the full 13.1 in training, because it makes me feel more confident that I can run the real race. (That's still not the Crazy Thing. I'm getting there.)So just before Easter, I went out there and ran 13.1, and I ran it in the best time ever, one minute faster than I ended up running the actual race, and I decided that I was super awesome. (This is still not the C...
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Date: 09 May 2013
On Monday, SELF and Flywheel celebrated Mole-Check Monday and raised awareness for melanoma, the deadly skin cancer. So I decided to get my own skin checked out at the Rigel Dermatology Group to learn about MelaFind, the first and only FDA-approved diagnostic tool to detect melanoma at its most curable stage. (Source: The ND Blog: Notes from the Nutritionista by Monica Reinagel, L.D.N., C.N.S.)
Date: 09 May 2013
Coming to an office near you: a new test that can "confidently" predict whether or not you need to have aggressive therapy for your newly diagnosed prostate cancer.
Really?
That's what the press reports would lead you to believe. And it's really going to catch your attention if you're one of the tens of thousands of men who will have to decide what to do if you are diagnosed with prostate cancer that has what we call "favorable characteristics." And with the test coming to market, you would assume that your doctor would have a good understanding of whether or not it works based on the available studies and information. But guess what? The likelihood of that is pretty low, because your doctor has probably been reading the same press reports as the rest of us, since the scientific studi...
Date: 09 May 2013
I recently tried to refill my prescription for Levoxyl and learned I cannot due to a recall by the manufacturer Pfizer. I called Pfizer this morning and spoke to a robotic, though pleasant, customer service representative in India. She provided little useful information. Between my own research on the FDA and American Thyroid Association websites I learned the following:
* Pfizer has suspended production of Levoxyl, which is manufactured at a plant in Tennessee. Chemical contamination is the reason for suspended production. Emission of a strong odor was reported by pharmacists when opening 100 and 1000 tablet bottles of the product.
* Patients do not need to discard or return Levoxyl that they already have.
* The recall was initiated on March 28, 2013 and Levoxyl may not...
Date: 09 May 2013
You can't tell someone else how to feel about anything, especially about a cancer diagnosis. In this morning's Ask Amy column and woman writes in about how her mother seems to be upset and feels that she is dying. The writer was treated for cancer and is currently fine. The mother is symptomatic of cancer, not yet diagnosed and thinks she is going to die, taking a woe is me attitude.The writer is concerned that her mother's attitude is so bad and that she needs to change it.Hello! Her mother isn't feeling well. She is symptomatic of something, may be not even cancer, but clearly not feeling well. I think that the writer (daughter) needs to take a step back here and let her mother cope and more importantly get her to a doctor asap.It might or might not be cancer so she is sitting in this st...
Date: 09 May 2013
I’m working this morning, but I did take a break to check out a few things, including this Science Daily article on probiotics used as a “weapon to fight cancer.” It deals specifically with myeloma, leukemia and lymphoma patients who have had allogeneic bone marrow transplants and graft-versus-host-disease. So I thought I’d post the link [...] (Source: Margaret's Corner)
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Date: 09 May 2013
Today I’m handing over to Healthfriends, so they can introduce themselves. I love the idea of sites like these, to empower patients and help us to find, and support, each other through illness and wellness alike. It’s the future, along with jetpacks and food that can read your mind. (You’ll find me over there, as stephanieb.)
*
A new health-related social networking website, called HealthFriends (www.health-friends.org), has been launched to help users better manage their health.
Make friends and share your experiences
Through its online community, HealthFriends aims to empower patients, to become more informed about their conditions and to better manage their health by making friends with others who have similar health-related interests, sharing their experiences and sup...
Date: 09 May 2013
Conclusion
We at VacTruth applaud the efforts of Representative Boland and wish her every success in this important legislative endeavor.
Ms. Sallie O. Elkordy encourages supporters of this bill to contact the Maine House of Representatives in support of LD754: An Act To Encourage Transparency in the Disclosing of the Ingredients in Vaccinations for Children.
Additionally, you may write letters in support of this historic bill to The Portland Press Herald, The Bangor Daily News, The Kennebec Journal, The Lewiston Sun Journal, and The Biddeford Journal, or contact your own local newspaper and legislators.
How to Contact Your State Representative in Maine
Copy and paste the appropriate email address from the list below.
Contact the Maine legislature in support of LD754: An Act To Enco...
Date: 09 May 2013
I had blogged a while ago about New Jersey governor Chris Christie's angry response to a former White House physician's opinion that he needed to think about losing some weight. Christie basically told the doc she needed to mind her own business. My take was that, morbid obesity being a risk factor for coronary artery disease, stroke, and early death, Christie's weight would be a issue I considered if and when he decided to run for the Presidency in 2016. In order to be reassured that he could withstand the stress and pressure of being the leader of the world's only superpower, I indicated that I would need to see recent stress test/cardiologist bill of good health records before I even considered casting him a vote. The&...
Date: 08 May 2013
Parabiosis involves joining the circulatory systems of two animals. This is of interest for a number of studies in which old mice and young mice are linked together, known as heterochronic parabiosis. The young mice acquire a little of the metabolic, cellular, and gene expression changes characteristic of old mice, while in the the old mice some of these measures reverse towards more youthful levels. In stem cell activity in particular, the environment of signals present in the blood seems to dictate age-related decline as much as does any inherent damage to stem cells or their niches. This reinforces the view of stem cell aging as an evolved reaction to the cellular damage of aging that acts to extend life by reducing cancer risk, but at the cost of a slow decline into death due to ever m...
Date: 08 May 2013
Oncotype DX definitely produced a winner with its Breast Cancer Assay. Here are the results of the test according to the company web site:
33% [of tested patients] switched from chemotherapy + hormone therapy to hormone therapy alone based on a low Recurrence Score result
4% [of tested patients] switched from hormonal therapy only to chemotherapy + hormonal therapy based on a high Recurrence Score result
The company is now introducing a new assay for assessing the risk of biopsied prostate cancer (see: New Test Improves Assessment of Prostate Cancer Risk, Study Says). Here's an excerpt from a recent article discussing this new test:
A new test can help distinguish aggressive prostate cancer from less threatening ones, potentially saving many men from unneeded ...
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Date: 08 May 2013
by Kenneth H. Cohn
In anticipation of National Nurses Week, I dedicate my monthly guest post to them not only because my wife of 28 years is a nurse but also because nurses have taught me lessons about how to be a more caring physician.
I reinforce my previous salute to Nikki, an emergency room nurse in Massachusetts who took me aside and told me, "Just because that was your eighth patient with the same condition doesn't mean that it was her eighth sprain." Eventually, I got over my wounded pride and adopted the perspective that she viewed me as teachable.
I believe that my reverence for what nurses do for patients emanates from my father's teaching. As I have mentioned," as a 16-year-old, I asked my father, a practicing neurosurgeon at a community teaching hospital, "Who do the resid...
Date: 08 May 2013
(Source: Breast Cancer? But Doctor....I hate pink!)
Date: 08 May 2013
Jay and some of his co-workers won a fitness competition at work the other day, and he brought home some fabulous ("fabulous") prizes, including a water bottle and one of those squishy stress-ball-type things shaped like a giant pill. The first thing I thought was, goodness, it's a giant Revlimid.See?Mother and child reunion!A mutant Revlimid has taken over the city! We must flee!We gave the pill to WCK to play with (the big, fat, pretend pill, not any of the real pills!). A short while later, I walked past the goose and discovered he/she is now taking Giant Revlimid. We're hoping for a complete response.I don't know how on earth I'm going to swallow this pill. At least my hat is cute. (Source: The Adventures of Cancer Girl)
Date: 08 May 2013
May 8th, 2013, is the first World Ovarian Cancer Day. On this day, 26 ovarian cancer organizations from 17 countries around the world will unite to educate their communities about ovarian cancer and its symptoms. For women living with the disease, and their families and friends, World Ovarian Cancer Day will build a sense of solidarity in the [...] (Source: Libby's H*O*P*E*)
Date: 08 May 2013
If you are reading this post on a site other than Not Just About Cancer (besides Facebook or a feed reader), you are reading stolen content. (Source: Not just about cancer)
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Date: 08 May 2013
Snyder et al. recently published an intriguing report in Molecular Cell (21 March 2013) (featured free article) in which they convincingly demonstrate how tumors in which Nkx2-1 was deleted show striking different morphology from those in which Nkx2-1 is expressed.... (Source: The Daily Sign-Out)
Date: 08 May 2013
In 2006, we wondered what a former hotel manager, Mr Gerard van Grinsven, admittedly known for putting the "wow" back in the Detroit Ritz-Carlton, would be doing as a hospital CEO. This seemed at the time like a real "wow" example of how generic managers were taking over health care. Mr Grinsven had extensive experience in the hospitality field, but no known background in health care. Organic Local Produce, "Wellbeing Centers," Gourmet Dining, Wedding Receptions, and Corporate FunctionsOver the next few years, Mr van Grinsven's Henry Ford West Bloomfield hospital did make a name for itself. In 2009, Becker's Hospital Review reported on some of Mr Van Grinsven's innovations. First, he lead an apparent change in the hospital's mission from acute care to recreatin...
Date: 08 May 2013
Cell phones, microwave ovens, wi-fi, smart meters. What do they have in common? They all emit radiation in the radiofrequency range. And they all radiate controversy. Given that these devices are set to become as commonplace as light bulbs, it is understandable that questions arise about their possible health effects. There are all sorts of allegations that exposure can trigger ailments ranging from headaches to cancer. Allegations, however, do not amount to science. And there is a lot of science to be considered.
Let’s start with the fact that an alternating current flowing through a wire generates an electromagnetic field around it. This field can be thought of as being made up of discrete bundles of energy called “photons” that are created as the electrons in the wire flow first i...
Date: 08 May 2013
Cadmium is bad news. Lead and mercury get all the press, but cadmium is just as foul, even if far fewer people encounter it. Never in my career have I had any occasion to use any, and I like it that way. There was an organocadmium reaction in my textbook when I took sophomore organic chemistry, but it was already becoming obsolete, and good riddance, because this one of those metals that's best avoided for life. It has acute toxic effects, chronic toxic effects, and if there are any effects in between those it probably has them, too.
Fortunately, cadmium is not well absorbed from the gut, and even more fortunately, no one eats it. But breathing it, now that's another matter, and if you're a nonchemist wondering how someone can breath metallic elements, then read on. One rather direct way ...
Date: 08 May 2013
Life after a cancer diagnosis is never the same as before. They (this is the proverbial them) tell you that you will reach a new normal - whatever that is.Some people turn their diagnosis into a turning point in their life where they start eating organic food, take better care of themselves, and appreciate the little things in life.I can say that while I used to exercise regularly. Now I even belong to a gym - it maybe one for dilapidated people - but I even go to it three times a week. And attempt to go for a walk one time a week. I am pretty sure I reach the minimum suggested exercise requirements. I am also attempting personal deflabbification but that seems to have worked not quite as well - I'm going to have to have a conversation with the bathroom scale sooner or later.I did find an ...
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Date: 08 May 2013
Theresa says….Can you explain this article about the FDA revoking J&J’s license to make baby powder? I don’t understand the implications. What is the license for? Are all of their products at risk for being unsafe?
The Beauty Brains respond:
The issue is related to the technique that J&J used to sterilize “a few” batches of baby powder made at their plant in Mulund, India.
What went wrong?
The technique involves using ethylene oxide (EO) gas to kill off any micro-organisms living in the powder. EO sterilization is typically only used on materials which can’t be protected by preservatives in solution. Powders are one common example. Makeup brushes are another.
If the EO is used properly and then the bulk material is tested to ensure no EO remains, the...
Date: 08 May 2013
I have to confess that even though I am a grown woman I seem to like many young adult –teenage books (I am still seventeen at heart). I am frequently asking my daughter and nieces about books they enjoyed when I’m looking for something to read. So far the books I have read include some teenage love stories happening in a futuristic dystopia in which the main characters are at risk of dying because of being in a arena fighting other children like in the hunger games; or being at risk of getting injured while performing difficult stunts like jumping from a train like in the divergent series.
The Fault in Ours Stars (TFIOS) by John Green is also about teens who fall in love and who are actually dying because they both have cancer.
The book is narrated from the perspective of Ha...
Date: 07 May 2013
We are all one team. We all ride for one cause. We ride to let all cancer survivors know that they are not and will never be alone. (Source: LIVESTRONG Blog)
Date: 07 May 2013
I have to confess that even though I am a grown woman I seem to like many young adult–teenage books (I am still seventeen at heart). I am frequently asking my daughter and nieces about books they enjoyed when I’m looking for something to read. So far the books I have read include some teenage love stories happening in a futuristic dystopia in which the main characters are at risk of dying because of being in a arena fighting other children like in the hunger games; or being at risk of getting injured while performing difficult stunts like jumping from a train like in the divergent series.
The Fault in Our Stars (TFIOS) by John Green is also about teens who fall in love and who are actually dying because they both have cancer. The book is narrated from the perspective of Hazel La...
Date: 07 May 2013
WCK has always been very advanced, dentally, and she's already ready for orthodontic work. She got an expander put in the top of her mouth a couple of weeks ago. Here she is, super thrilled a) to be at the orthodontist in the first place and b) to be having her picture taken:I was worried the expander would hurt. Fortunately, it doesn't. Instead, the expander traps food. For the first week or so, this really freaked out WCK. Jay was on a business trip when she got the thing put in, so he missed the first day or two of Dramatic Removal of Trapped Food. His introduction to the expander happened early one morning when we had what I will forever call The Peanut Butter Toast Incident. Pay attention, because I am never going to talk about this again.The Peanut Butter Toast IncidentI insist...
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Date: 07 May 2013
Radiologists care about their patients, even though most diagnostic radiologists don’t meet and greet their patients the same way direct-care clinicians do.
Some people have the erroneous perspective that radiologists and pathologists don’t care about the welfare of their patients. It is possible for us to understand that view if we look at radiologists and pathologists as isolated workers who work in dimly lit rooms. But that perspective is woefully short-sighted and anachronistic. For this post, ignore the fact that I see patients daily as an interventional radiologist. We are the “surgeons” within the radiology community and I greatly enjoy the hands-on nature of my sub-specialty.
Continue reading ...
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your...
Date: 07 May 2013
Life has not been easy for me. I was the child victim of a religious cult, my family was poor, and as an adult, I lost my firstborn daughter to Turner's Syndrome at birth. More recently, I suffered through a divorce due to my former spouse's extreme difficulties with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. You could say I've been through the ringer.
Yet, if not for these mishaps and hardships, I wouldn't be the person I am today. I wouldn't have the same stories to tell: stories that can help to heal others who have been through similar circumstances. I wouldn't have the same heartfelt desire to keep pushing to get those stories heard.
Creativity and persistence are good bedfellows. I've been creative my entire life. I've written poetry, songs, and stories for as long as I can remem...
Date: 07 May 2013
A few weeks ago, I took my bike in for its spring tune-up at my favourite bike shop. I love getting back on my bike again. I don't drive (which is a whole other story), so riding my bike gives me a sense of independence. Riding has always given me a feeling of freedom and on good days, I renew the euphoria of childhood as I make my way around the city on my own steam.Also, it's a lot more efficient than riding the bus and really good for my physical and mental health. My bike is a tank, weighing in at 42lbs and very solid. I sit upright as I ride it and it feels tremendously safe. However, I managed to tip it over while riding a couple of times last year. This tune-up included a new bell and fenders because mine were broken and they fixed the built-in basket which had been bent o...
Date: 07 May 2013
Since 1992, I have advocated for all of us to have the information, support and guidance we need to act to improve our health and get the most from our health care. I believe – and there is considerable evidence to back me up – that we do better when we participate in our care to the extent we are able.
As someone who has been diagnosed with several different types of cancer, I know the size and shape of the challenge we face in getting the most out of our care. We not only need to know about our specific diseases and treatments and what we can do about them, but we also need to know something about how our care is organized and about changes in general health knowledge and medical practice that affect how we make use of the resources and services available to us. Then we have to act o...
Date: 07 May 2013
Not sure if you guys know this, but yesterday was the first Melanoma Monday of 2013 -- an awesome way to raise awareness for skin cancer during skin cancer month. And, in order to celebrate, SELF hosted a super fun event at Flywheel on Manhattan's Upper West Side. While I'm literally hobbling around school right now (been a while since I've done spin...), I had a blast! (Source: The ND Blog: Notes from the Nutritionista by Monica Reinagel, L.D.N., C.N.S.)
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Date: 07 May 2013
In the past week, I’ve seen some incredibly sensationalistic articles published about the upcoming DSM-5 and a letter recently released by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). In the letter by Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the NIMH, wrote in part, “That is why NIMH will be re-orienting its research away from DSM categories.”
Some writers read a lot more into that statement than was actually there. Science 2.0 — a website that claims it houses “The world’s best scientists, the Internet’s smartest readers” — had this headline, “NIMH Delivers A Kill Shot To DSM-5.” Psychology Today made the claim, “The NIMH Withdraws Support for DSM-5.” (The DSM-5 is the new edition of the reference manual used to treatme...
Date: 07 May 2013
Burton Sobel, a towering scientist and cardiologist, died at home on May 3 at the age of 75. Sobel had been treated in the past for prostate cancer and had suffered a recurrence, but it is not known if this was the immediate cause of his death. Sobel was among the most powerful and influential cardiologists in the 1980s when he played a key early role in the development of fibrinolysis and the first major biotechnology product, TPA. From his perch as the chief of cardiology at Washington University in Saint Louis and as the More… (Source: CardioBrief)
Date: 07 May 2013
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Lissa Rankin of 6 Steps To Healing Yourself.
Take a moment and check in with yourself. How is your body feeling right in this moment? If you’re generally healthy, check in for subtle symptoms. Is your neck feeling tense? Does your lower back ache? Do you have a headache? Are you exhausted — again? Or perhaps you’re battling a more serious health diagnosis and you’re experiencing symptoms from your health condition.
Whether you’re experiencing the nuisance of a minor physical symptom, the more concerning stress of a serious health condition, or simple curiosity about how you might maximize your vitality and longevity, I’m psyched to share with you something they never taught me in medical school.
The Body Knows How To Heal It...
Date: 07 May 2013
I can’t remember how or when I met Jayne Mackta, but I’ve always been grateful I did and I hope you’ll agree when I introduce her to you today.
Jayne is an entrepreneur, pursuing the kinds of niche needs that – at their core – are the underpinnings of the discoveries in biomedicine that we depend upon to heal us when we’re ill. She’s one of many, I’m sure, but is one of the best (I’m sure of that, too). She not only works in the ‘trenches,’ but often goes there first and digs them herself to support the many others who will come later.
Her most recent effort, Curious Young Writers, is the latest of her (ad)ventures in supporting healing endeavors. In my book, Covenants, Inspiring the Soul of Healing, I say that anyone who touches health care in any way is a healer. J...
Date: 07 May 2013
Yesterday at work was the monthly sales meeting day which means it was chaotic from time to time. I was feeling relatively antisocial for some reason. I couldn't decide why. Then I realized its because of my stupid medical appointments tomorrow which are putting me in avoidance mode. Nothing like one bad mammogram to make you dread them for the rest of your life. But that is tomorrow. This is today. I will go to work today and then the gym and continue to avoid it all day and all of tomorrow as well.Stressed? Not me. Ha! (Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog)
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Date: 07 May 2013
Lung cancer causes more deaths in the United States, 160,000 estimated in 2012, than the next three most common cancers, colon, breast, and prostate, combined.
More than 1.6 million people worldwide were newly diagnosed with lung cancer, comprising 13% of all new cancer diagnoses, and 1.4 million died of lung cancer, which was 18% of all cancer deaths in 2008.
The American College of Chest Physicians released the Diagnosis and Management of Lung Cancer, 3rd ed: ACCP Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines on Tuesday. The guidelines represent the culmination of a multiyear rigorous process involving over 100 multidisciplinary experts in the fields of pulmonology, critical care, thoracic surgery, medical and radiation oncology, pathology, integrative medicine, primary care, health...
Date: 07 May 2013
I’m sure you remember that I invited you to take part in Race For Life at Northumberlandia on 23 May – not only do you get to raise money for Cancer Research UK, and hang out at one of the coolest places in Northumberland, but also you get to see how difficult I can make sounding a klaxon, as I have the honour of starting the race. What’s not to like?!
I may even persuade Alan to put a pink flower in his hat again, as he did in 2010 (I think it was 2010).
Well, entries for the Nortumberlandia Race For Life close TODAY, my friends, so follow the link in this article and come and join me, my lovely daughter, and Beloved Auntie Susan as we walk 5k around the lumps and bumps of Our Lady of The North.
And, if you can’t make it but would like to support us, please sponso...
Date: 07 May 2013
Brought to you by MedPage Today.
1. FDA Wants Cancer Warnings on Tanning Beds. Indoor tanning beds must must carry prominent warning labels indicating that children younger than 18 should not use them and that people who do use them need regular cancer screening.
2. Religion Powers End-of-Life Care. Terminal cancer patients with strong religious support were more likely to receive invasive treatments when near death than those without such connections.
3. Docs Don’t Test Kids for STDs, HIV. Despite guidelines calling for universal testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), physicians administered these tests to adolescents less than 3% of the time.
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out h...
Date: 07 May 2013
The direct specialised commissioning function of NHS England is
supported by a devolved clinical leadership model. CRGs covering all
prescribed specialised services draw membership from each of the
geographical areas covered by the twelve senates. They are responsible
for preparing national specialised service strategy and developing
specialised service contract products such as specifications and
policies. These webpages provide further information about the national
programmes of care and CRGs.
Internal medicine
Cancer and blood
Mental health
Trauma
Women and children
NHS England - news (Source: Health Management Specialist Library)
Date: 06 May 2013
The American Urological Association, which in recent years has defended the PSA screening test, has changed it’s position and no longer recommends routine testing for men.
On Friday, the American Urological Association (AUA) announced that men under the age of 55 should not get routinely screened with a PSA test [1]. Men who are between the ages of 55 and 69 should talk with their doctors about the benefits and harms of testing and proceed based on their personal values and preferences.
The new guidelines for early detection of prostate cancer were developed using evidence from a systematic literature review rather than consensus opinion, and provides rating and interpretation of the evidence based on randomized controlled trials with modeled and population data as supporting evid...
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Date: 06 May 2013
As is pretty normal around this parts, we seem to have gone directly from winter into summer, with no real spring in between. And we also seem to have gone from winter boots and coats to the danger of sunburn.I've been in denial about all this but I noticed a bit of pink on my arms today and realized I need to start applying the sunscreen. You'd think this would be simple but it's really not.I am extremely ambivalent about sunscreen. It's important as a means to help prevent cancer but much of it is filled with carcinogens. The kind that isn't can feel like rubbing on bread crumbs and leave cement like globs on your skin. I found one a couple of summers ago that was organic and everyone liked but it cost $52 for 147ml (5oz). In my house, one of these tubes didn't last very long.I think I c...
Date: 06 May 2013
WCK had strep throat twice over the winter. Both times, she told me right away that her throat hurt, and I was all, "Oh, flibbidy floo. You're not really sick. Now, get in the car so we can go to swimming lessons!" And, of course, both times she ended up being really sick and needing antibiotics. She also had to spend two days on the couch watching "A Bunch of Smart-Mouthed Kids", which is my name for all of the sitcoms on the Disney Channel.So today when she got into the car after school and told me her throat hurt, my motherly instincts told me right away that she had strep throat. I drove directly to urgent care, because I knew if I waited an extra day to get her into the regular pediatrician, I was looking at at least 48 hours of Disney Channel sitcoms, and I was not going to let that ...
Date: 06 May 2013
Did you know that your diet, if you’re like most Americans, is likely starving your cells of what they need to serve you best? Did you know that modern day diseases like diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, auto-immune diseases, cancer, depression, and more can be alleviated, avoided or cured altogether with diet?
It’s true!
If you want to feel your best, improve the quality of your life, and even shed some pounds, then read on and also check out the powerful video that could change your life (if you let it).
Your Cells Are Starving!
We are all made up of cells. About 100 Trillion, give or take, to be exact. And these little guys are busy 24/7 working to support us! All they are asking for are the right tools and building supplies to get their job done. If we give them that, the...
Date: 06 May 2013
Fish-oil pills and supplements of lutein and zeaxanthin, nutrients found in many fruits and vegetables, don't boost the effectiveness of a popular vitamin and mineral combination previously found to help fight macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness.
More than a decade ago researchers showed that people with macular degeneration who took a supplement containing vitamins C and E, beta carotene, and zinc for five years cut the risk of having the disease progress by 25 percent. Since then, observational research has suggested that dietary intake of omega-3s as well as lutein and zeaxanthin, which are nutrients called carotenoids, might further reduce the risk.
To find out, a multi-center team led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health's National Eye Institute stud...
Date: 06 May 2013
May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month, so take this moment to think: When was the last time you saw a derm? And have you done a self-exam recently?We know, we know, we're nagging. But according to the Skin Cancer Foundation, skin cancer is the most common of all cancers, affecting more than two million Americans each year. What's more: It's the easiest to cure, if diagnosed and treated early. So get checked, people! (Source: The ND Blog: Notes from the Nutritionista by Monica Reinagel, L.D.N., C.N.S.)
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Date: 06 May 2013
It's a law of nature: Everyone who undertakes major home renovations ends up loathing their contractor. When I was recently redoing my kitchen and bathroom, I finally figured out why. It has nothing to do with the contractor's honesty, quality of work, punctuality or the mess they make. It's about behavioral economics and human psychology — in particular, the unusual way that we assess pain.
In the early '90s, the psychologist Daniel Kahneman and his colleagues did a series of experiments that revealed how people remembered the pain of a situation. In one experiment, participants held a hand in an ice-water bath (of 14 degrees Celsius) for 60 seconds — a pretty painful experience. To be precise: an 8.3 on a 10-point pain scale. In a second experiment they held their ha...
Date: 06 May 2013
MG is all about making decisions. The good and the bad. When I was younger, I made a lot of bad ones. I was very immature and naïve. Most of them only affected me, but there were some that hurt others, and I wish I could change that. But I can’t. That is the thing about choices. You make them and that is pretty much it. So you need to make as many smart ones as possible. If not, then you certainly need to learn from them, so you can make better ones in the future. This is where I am now. Really thinking about my choices. How do they affect me and the people in my life? Now that I am 40, hopefully I am older and wiser (at least most of the time).
When I was in my teens and twenties, I made the choice to spend a lot of time in the sun. I lived 15 minutes from the beach and made it a prior...
Date: 06 May 2013
Here's the latest "medical periodic table", courtesy of this useful review in Chemical Communications. Element symbols in white are known to be essential in man. The ones with a blue background are found in the structures of known drugs, the orange ones are used in diagnostics, and the green ones are medically useful radioisotopes. (The paper notes that titanium and tantalum are colored blue due to their use in implants).
I'm trying to figure out a couple of these. Xenon I've heard of as a diagnostic (hyperpolarized and used in MRI of lung capacity), but argon? (The supplementary material for the paper says that argon plasms has been used locally to control bleeding in the GI tract). And aren't there marketed drugs with a bromine atom in them somewhere? At any rate, the greyed-out element...
Date: 06 May 2013
Last night I went to bed pretty early to get ready for a Monday where I actually have to go to work. I did wake up around 330 and wasn't sure I would get back to sleep. Then I was informed by my husband that I slept through the alarm and the snooze alarm. I guess I was tired. I need a nap.But its not to be. I will go to work and then meet a friend for a walk (I hope). I'll go to bed early tonight to make up for it.I have been a big fan of four day weekends recently and find I barely make it through a 3 day work /18 hour work week. Today I have to go to work because of my doctor appointments on Wednesday and I have plans for Friday. If I have to change my work schedule, I usually opt for the Friday option instead of the Monday option.There will be a sales meeting at work today which m...
Date: 06 May 2013
Conclusion
Please act now if you want to have a say in what vaccinations your children receive. These vaccinations are not as safe as the US government wants you to believe they are. If you are still not convinced, please watch the following two videos on the HPV vaccines.
Gardasil. One More Girl
Cervarix Video
References
1. http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A00497&term=…
2. http://www.greenmedinfo.com/anti-therapeutic-action/vaccination-hepatitis-b…
3. http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/02/managing-editors-note-below…
4. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/01/24/hpv-vaccine-averting-cancer-unproven.aspx
5. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-g-yerman/an-interview-with-dr-dian_b_405472.html
6. http://truthaboutgardasil.org/new-york-is-trying-to...
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Date: 06 May 2013
Well, the mammogram was over pretty much before it had begun, conducted by a fiercely friendly and efficient mammographer. (Is that a word? It is now.) Appointment at 2, called in at 2.05, done by 2.10.
I regretted that I forgot about the pre-emptive paracetamol. It takes quite a lot of force to render something that’s built to be bowl-shaped into a two-inch-thick flat plate. My breasts spent the rest of the afternoon going, “what was that about?”. If they’d been in a cartoon they’d have been surrounded by stars and tweeting birds until about 4 o’clock. (Although, just in case you’ve never had a mammogram: they’re passingly uncomfortable, not properly painful. A couple of paracetamol – or distraction with coffee and cake – is all ...
Date: 06 May 2013
A new fun and free resource for young cancer patients - Re-Mission 2 - a new collection of cancer-fighting mini-games (Source: LIVESTRONG Blog)
Date: 05 May 2013
Team LIVESTRONG took on the streets of Pittsburgh, PA and raised over $15,000 for LIVESTRONG Foundation cancer support programs and services. (Source: LIVESTRONG Blog)
Date: 05 May 2013
As the weeks go by, we try to collect stories and news coverage regarding physician-industry collaboration and the breakthroughs and successes that come from such relationships. Below is a short summary of some recent physician-industry-academic-government collaborations and the impact they have had on individual patients, the U.S. healthcare system, and beyond.
In light of the recently proposed budgets for FY 2014, numerous scientific and medical groups have urged Congress and the Obama Administration to increase funding for research. The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Researchers of America (PhRMA) recently noted that its member companies have invested approximately $550 billion since 2000 in the research and development of new therapies for a wide range of diseases such as diab...
Date: 05 May 2013
(Source: Breast Cancer? But Doctor....I hate pink!)
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Date: 05 May 2013
Three years ago, we went to a Kansas City Royals game at Kauffman Stadium. I took a photo of a sign that contained an incorrect apostrophe, and I even posted it on this blog. The sign read, "Kid's Store". Is only one kid allowed to shop there? Who is the lucky kid? Why do I care so deeply about these things? I have an illness. Don't judge me.*A few months later, the Kansas City Star asked readers to send in examples of typos from around town. I sent in my "Kid's Store" photo. The reporter working on the story called me right away, and he was equally horrified that the Royals would allow this. My photo appeared in the paper. I figured the public shaming in the Kansas City Star would cause the Royals to fix the sign ASAP.I went to another game today, three years later, and I checked the...
Date: 05 May 2013
Yesterday I thought my blog post was a bit cynical. Someone on Facebook said it was a bit jaded maybe but understandable.My health keeps giving me hits - if its not one thing, its another. I spend more time rearranging my life for doctor appointments and at those appointments than anything else. By the end of this week, I will have had 18 medical appointments in the first 19 weeks of the year. I am down to an expected rate of about 50 doctor appointments for the year. This is the lowest since 2006.My therapist (of course I need a therapist with all these medical issues) tells me I am in chronic mourning for my health because something else always seems to want to cause problems. (Yesterday my knee started popping when I walked up and down stairs but I am going to ignore that one for at lea...
Date: 05 May 2013
I saw a thoracic surgeon in the doctor’s lounge today. I have read his cases and frozens for a year or so, but never introduced myself. I still get intimidated in that man’s world of the doctor’s lounge. It’s not just me, my female partner was urged by her male recruiter to eat with him every morning in the lounge when she started seven years ago, and chit chat with the men. She said although she realized he was trying to be nice, it was excruciating and she bowed out politely after a few weeks. Walking in there is like walking into an all male club room.
The thoracic surgeon was sitting around the table with a cardiologist, an OB/GYN, a surgeon, and a hospital administrator. All men I knew individually, but I’m a silent parasite in the lounge, at least during the morning rus...
Date: 05 May 2013
Discussion
Latest Headlines from Fight Aging!
T-Regulatory Cells More Numerous in the Aged Immune System
HMGA1 as a Potential Common Mechanism in Cancer
A Skeptical View of Mitochondrial DNA Damage and Aging
Protecting Cryonics Patients
A Review of Adenylyl Cyclase Type 5 and Longevity in Mice
On Extending Mouse Longevity
Growth Hormone and IGF-1 in Aging
IGF1R Levels in the Brain Correlate With Species Life Span
Calorie Restriction and Calorie Restriction Mimetics
The Burrill and Buck Aging Meeting, May 20th 2013
SENS RESEARCH FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2012
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2013/04/sens-research-foundation-annual-report-for-2012.php
The SENS Research Foundation is one of the few organizations presently focused on developing medical tec...
Date: 04 May 2013
Saturday, May 4, 2013current mood: reminiscentI can’t believe my Baby is turning 14 this coming Tuesday.Madeleine Maris…I remember the day I brought her home, like it was yesterday. See Maddy wasn’t really supposed to be my dog, she was originally going to be my Dad’s second dog. Maddy is my Dad’s dog’s puppy. When he changed his mind about having two dogs, the idea of Maddy becoming mine was given to me. I have to admit I wasn't too keen in the beginning. I just bought my first house and wasn’t quite ready for a puppy. Yet, the more I saw her, the more I fell in love. So 4th of July weekend, 1999, I brought Maddy home.I guess I should start off my explaining how I chose her name. Maddy was named after Madeleine Albright. For those of you who don’t know...
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Date: 04 May 2013
WCK, Jay, and I have observed Star Wars Day on May the Fourth every year for the past few years. Last year, I went all out and cooked a special meal: Boba Fett-uccini, Qui Gon Jinn-ger fruit salad, Yoda Soda, and Wookiee Cookies. WCK, Picky Eater Champion of the World, only ate the Wookiee Cookies. She even rejected the Yoda Soda because, and I quote, "It was green." Then she spent a year reminding me often that she did not care for the Boba Fett-uccini. (My opinion: It was as tasty as it was cleverly named.)This year I was less than motivated to search for special Star Wars recipes, so I kept putting it off. This morning, WCK started asking me what our Star Wars meal was going to be, and I realized that I hadn't planned one. So I just gave Star Wars names to what I'd planned to make anywa...
Date: 04 May 2013
Text message: “John, This cough and congestion is killing me. It’s turning thick and green. Can you write me a Z-pak? It always works for me.”
If you write a blog on medical decision-making and heart rhythm matters, it seems an incredible omission not to opine on the FDA warning concerning the commonly used antibiotic azithromycin (the drug in a Z-pak). Quoting directly from the FDA warning:
[Azithromycin] can cause abnormal changes in the electrical activity of the heart that may lead to a potentially fatal irregular heart rhythm.
Should we say this more clearly: that simple antibiotic you are taking for a minor infection could be lethal!
This is something, isn’t it?
Continue reading ...
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social ...
Date: 04 May 2013
I'm working on this one. I haven't come up with much. There was a recent article in the New York Times about our feel good, pinkification war on breast cancer that has never done much for me. There is also that year 2020 breast cancer deadline which I find just stupid. Seriously in 7 years there will be a cure? We have come a fair distance in the past seven years but that doesn't seem to have us in a position to be done in the next 7. Some pretty little blue bird of happiness will have to drop something off unexpectedly that will do the trick, get through FDA testing and all that, and then drug companies will still gouge the patients for a $10,000 a year for the medication (because of all the research they had to do).I saw a video recently about cancer researchers dancing - even in bowties...
Date: 04 May 2013
Research tends to overlook young adults who lose their moms, according to Taranjit (Tara) K. Bhatia, PsyD, a clinical psychologist who specializes in relationships, including mother-daughter bonds. Because they’re already adults, people assume these daughters don’t need maternal guidance.
However, losing a mom has a powerful effect on young adult daughters. In her research, Bhatia found that a daughter’s sense of identity is especially shaken. “They don’t know what being a woman is all about.”
Daughters also doubt their own role as mothers. “Most motherless daughters are very insecure about how well they could mother without their mothers’ advice, support and reassurance.”
Cultural identity is affected, as well. As kids and teens, many daughters are too busy with school ...
Date: 04 May 2013
(Source: bookofjoe)
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Date: 03 May 2013
The other day at exercise class, we worked out to an odd, sped-up, dance-mix version of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name." Later that day, my friend Lauri, who is also a Bon Jovi fan and who is also in the exercise class, texted me to tell me she had to rush home and listen to real Bon Jovi to get the faux Bon Jovi out of her head.It took me almost an entire day, but then it dawned on me that someday I will manage a Bon Jovi cover band, and I will call it ... wait for it ...Bon Faux-vi.Although Bon Faux-vi was perhaps the greatest idea I'd ever had, Lauri told me her husband wants to start a Bon Jovi cover band where they all play banjos, and he will call it Banjo-vi. I have to admit, Banjo-vi is even better than Bon Faux-vi because, well, it has banjos.There is a Bon Jovi cover band b...
Date: 03 May 2013
Canadian Physicians are expected to develop skills in advocating for patients, both as individual and as groups as part of the CanMeds Roles initiative. Patient Support groups are becoming an important aspect of some people's management plan. Some examples are Patients Like Me Web Tribes and StarBright World. For other examples see a previous blog on the topic.
Do you think it is fair to ask physicians to become familiar with resources like this or should it be the responsibility of organizations like the Canadian Cancer Association? What responsibility do patients have to inform doctors about groups they belong to? (Source: Medical Education Blog)
Date: 03 May 2013
Asbestos continues to be a health concern in the industrialized world for people working in building remediation, demolition, or a few specialty industries like car breaks manufacturing. Screening environments for the presence of asbestos fibers can help people avoid the cancer-causing mineral mix and identify where breathing apparatuses should be used. Fiber detectors already exist, but they can’t differentiate between asbestos and other materials like fiberglass and gypsum.Researchers at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK have developed a new sensor that is capable of quickly identifying the presence of asbestos without sending samples to a lab.Read More (Source: Medgadget)
Date: 03 May 2013
Medical schools are getting much more interested in developing more expertise in the field of bioinformatics. Here's an excerpt from an article about the development of a new bioinformatics center at the UPenn School of Medicine (see: Big data gets a home at University of Pennsylvania’s medical school):
University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia has established a dedicated center for biomedical informatics, underscoring the expansion of big data from drug development to population health. The Institute for Biomedical Informatics will focus on improving patient care and the research that goes into personalized medicine, according to a statement from Penn Medicine....The institute will work in partnership with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia ...
Date: 03 May 2013
The rise of personalized treatment has healthcare professionals completely rethinking the way they treat cancer. At the molecular level, each is different and should be treated accordingly, but similarities shouldn’t be ignored either. A study from the...(read more) (Source: ADVANCE Discourse: Lab)
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Date: 03 May 2013
Stephen Bonner is CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA). In this podcast interview he discusses CTCA’s integrative approach and its commitment to measuring and reporting quality. He also takes on a Reuters report that concluded CTCA’s claims of higher survival rates could not be substantiated, and questions the credibility of CTCA’s critics.
Share (Source: Health Business Blog)
Date: 03 May 2013
I always make an effort with how I look, but today I dressed with special care.
First, extra-pretty underwear. I have always liked good underwear – at 36DD, if you’re not prepared to invest in some decent bras you end up with what Joy calls ‘Grandma breasts’. (For clarity: this is a generic term, not a specific reference.) And, post-cancer, I’ve become even more keen on beautiful bras and matching knickers, reminding my body on a daily basis that it’s doing a damned fine job of wellness, and I appreciate it. But today I chose one of my favourite sets.
Then, a short dress covered in butterflies, with leggings and boots. A necklace and bracelet that were made for me at a market in France. Special care with makeup.
Basically, this morning I am getting ready...
Date: 03 May 2013
He laughed.I went to see a physicians assistant in the rheumatology department yesterday about the bump on my arm (not on a log). He was a very nice man and spent some time talking to me.He said what I have is probably a ganglion cyst and he could stick a needle in it and drain it but it might come back. I said lymphedema arm. He said 'oops, no needle'. I said when I move my thumb around it makes it hurt more, he said I could give you a thumb splint but that would make your arm swell up.So we left it that I will monitor admire it, and if it does become problematic, I would be referred to a surgeon to see if there was anything else that could be done. On the other hand, sometimes they go away on their own, or disappear and then reappear. But its not arthritis and its not cancer so what they...
Date: 03 May 2013
Discussion Blog)
Date: 03 May 2013
Drugs for the prevention of breast cancer (Source: OnMedica Blogs)
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Date: 02 May 2013
Choosing new treatments based not just on where the cancer started, but also base on what’s broken genetically. (Source: LIVESTRONG Blog)
Date: 02 May 2013
This is what can happen when a private practice surgeon refers a complicated colon cancer patient to a medical oncologist affiliated with a certain multinational, gigantic world-famous non-profit health care system.
Let's say the surgeon is asked to see a patient with a large bowel obstruction. Perhaps the colonoscopy demonstrated a high grade constricting lesion in the distal sigmoid/upper rectum and the CT scan revealed a massive, locally infiltrating mass invading into the bladder and a possible liver lesion. Perhaps the patient has lost 30 lbs recently and has noted foul smelling material in her urine. The surgeon is concerned about diffuse tenderness on exam, possibly due to impending cecal ischemia. He books the case for the OR and curbsides a med oncologist ...
Date: 02 May 2013
The immune system malfunctions with age, producing harmful chronic inflammation while failing to adequately respond to pathogens and failing to destroy potentially cancerous and senescent cells. Characteristic changes in immune cell populations accompany these changes, and in past years researchers have shown that adjusting these populations by destroying some of the unwanted immune cells can reverse at least some immune system declines.
Here is an open access paper that focuses on changes in the population of regulatory T cells with aging. These are cells involved in suppressing the immune response, for example so as to prevent the immune system from attacking healthy tissues:
Over the course of the human life, age-related diseases develop because of the failure of genetic traits to rem...
Date: 02 May 2013
Any mechanism that appears common to all cancers, or even just a wide range of cancers, is worth examination to see if it might serve as the basis for a therapy. Here is an example of speculative research of this nature:
[Researchers] have identified a gene that, when repressed in tumor cells, puts a halt to cell growth and a range of processes needed for tumors to enlarge and spread to distant sites. The researchers hope that this so-called "master regulator" gene may be the key to developing a new treatment for tumors resistant to current drugs. "This master regulator is normally turned off in adult cells, but it is very active during embryonic development and in all highly aggressive tumors studied to date. Our work shows for the first time that switching this gene off in aggressive ca...
Date: 02 May 2013
First of all, my M-spike remained the same this month at 1.5, which means the Revlimid is still succeeding at kicking some M-spike butt.Ha ha ha, M-spike! I am laughing at you!Second of all, I know I have not blogged in a super long time. It's been 32 days, to be exact. I don't have a good excuse at all. I continued to put off the blog, and then tons and tons of people (or, to be more exact, two people) asked about it. Today I decided I needed to start it back up again. To make up for all of the days I missed, I have decided to punish challenge myself with a 32 Day Blogathon. I will post to the blog every day for 32 days in a row. For 32 days, I will push myself to come up with something fun and witty and informative, unless, of course, I get really lazy and decide to post a New Kids on th...
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Date: 02 May 2013
Years ago, I had a chance to receive a few copies of Re-Mission and distribute it to local pediatric clinics. I can tell you children fighting cancer loved the game. Now I was glad to read the news about the launch of Re-Mission 2. The company behind it, HopeLab, managed to find big sponsors including the LiveStrong Foundation to improve the game and push it to the next level.
More than five years in the making, Re-Mission 2 consists of six free-to-play online minigames launching tomorrow with a host of support from charities, medical researchers, and major corporations.
The new titles are on the leading edge of “games for health,” a movement to take the engagement of gaming and turn it to the cause of improving health.
Here is the official trailer:
(Source: ScienceR...
Date: 02 May 2013
We in the press are accustomed to PR folks “advising” us of all the good things that hospitals do. They open new pavilions named for wealthy benefactors of new cancer and heart centers and children’s care, with media coverage of the ribbon-cutting ceremonies attended by famous faces. They buy big new machines that smash and diagnose illness and want the world to know about that, too.
But a press release that just popped up in my email offered a new twist. It announced that New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the one that treats the Clintons and other celebs, had earned two energy Star Awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The press release said the hospital earned a “Combined Heat and Power Award for the hospital’s highly efficient combined heat and power system at it...
Date: 02 May 2013
The kinase inhibitor tivozanib (for renal cell carcinoma) was shot down this morning at an FDA committee hearing. There are going to be a lot of arguments about this decision, because feelings have been running high on both sides of the issue.
And this has been an issue for over a year now. As that FierceBiotech story puts it:
Tivozanib hit its primary endpoint, demonstrating a slim but statistically significant improvement in progression-free-survival of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma when compared to Nexavar (sorafenib). But the sorafenib arm experienced a slightly better overall survival rate, and Aveo has been trying to explain it away ever since.
The developer had to start in the spring of 2012 at a pre-NDA meeting. According to the review document, "the FDA expressed ...
Date: 02 May 2013
This is becoming a familiar narrative on Health Care Renewal: top health care leaders continue to enrich themselves while their organizations' behavior continues to raise ethical questions.For our latest example we return to the ongoing adventures of biotechnology giant Amgen.CEOs Get Richer An AP story (via the LA Times) documented the continuing enrichment of its current CEO:Amgen Inc's new chief executive, Robert A. Bradway, received total compensation of $13.6 million in 2012, more than his predecessor, according to an analysis of a company regulatory filing.Bradway, who was promoted from chief operating officer to chief executive May 23, saw his compensation nearly double from $7.1 million in 2011.Last year Bradway, 50, was paid a salary of $1.26 million and received stock awards wort...
Date: 02 May 2013
European Federation of Periodontology and American Academy of Periodontology Issue Consensus Reports Reaffirming Relationship between Periodontal Disease and Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, Adverse Pregnancy OutcomesChicago, IL – April 30, 2013 – The American Academy of Periodontology (AAP), in collaboration with the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP),) recently published a series of consensus reports that analyze the scientific evidence linking periodontal disease, specifically periodontitis, to other systemic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The consensus reports, which appear in both the Journal of Periodontology and the Journal of Clinical Periodontology, also outline clinical recommendations for dental professionals to...
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Date: 02 May 2013
“Aren’t those decorations looking nice?” asks a soft voice beside me.
Startled, I turn to find a young woman wearing a red-and-white sari. Her head and face are swathed in the folds of the sari, leaving only the large red bindi on her forehead clearly visible.
We’re sitting on a grassy tuft amid a large campus green. All about us stand buildings with signs in both Hindi and English. Atop the central building waves an Indian flag, around which workers are hanging colorful garlands, tassels and lights.
“It looks very nice. What is it for?” I reply in Hindi, feeling that my accent must betray my American upbringing.
Continue reading ...
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how. (...
Date: 02 May 2013
According to an article in the Johnstown (PA) Tribune-Democrat, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, with all of its scientific expertise, is not sure that smoking cigarettes - which kills more than 400,000 Americans each year - is any more hazardous than using non-tobacco e-cigarettes, which have not been reported to ever have killed a single person.According to the article, the Department of Health was quoted as stating: "Consumers may believe this is a safer way to smoke when, in fact, there is a lack of long-term studies that have been done on the product, therefore leaving the long-term effects unknown."Not only did the Department of Health deny that vaping is any safer than smoking, but it also stated that it does not support smokers quitting using e-cigarettes.According to the art...
Date: 02 May 2013
As I write this, it’s exactly four weeks since I was waiting for a cab to take me to the airport for the first leg of my trip to Kurdistan. (It’s not a complicated journey. Newcastle to Heathrow, night at the Hilton, get up at stupid o’clock, fly to Vienna then on to Erbil. About 7 and a half hours in the air, about 24 hours altogether. In knitting terms: a sock. In reading terms: a book, though not a fat one.)
It’s been quite an almost-month. The work in Kurdistan was rewarding, not to say compelling, and the place itself ate up a little bit more of my heart. The friends I made last time turned out to be friends indeed, sharing time and hospitality and tips about how to get along. I made new bonds with my colleagues (I didn’t go alone this time) and I learned...
Date: 02 May 2013
I have always said that unless you have walked the walk, you can't talk the talk. If you haven't had cancer, you have no idea what it is like - you can't shouldn't even pretend to get it. But those of us who have been there know.So that opens us up to all the emotions of the cancer diagnosis and treatment process again and again as we hear stories about others.A friend called me yesterday because a friend of hers who just gave birth to a new baby two weeks ago, was just diagnosed at stage IV for a recurrence of a rare childhood cancer. There aren't a lot of treatment options - either chemo or surgery - available for her. She doesn't have a full diagnosis/prognosis yet but it doesn't look good. Its a very sad story that she will probably not be around to raise her child. So those of&n...
Date: 02 May 2013
Should the Modern Man Be Taking Testosterone?
Is It Low T? .com
By now you've likely seen the commercials. Fit-looking middle-age men telling you how they put on weight, had less energy, and were no longer the sexual tigers they were in their twenties -- until, that is, they started rubbing testosterone gel on their shoulder, upper arm, or abdomen.
Now they feel more like the men they used to be.
The commercials don't mention a 2009 study in the New England Journal of Medicine wherein a group of men on testosterone replacement therapy had more than four times the number of cardiovascular problems -- so many that the study had to be halted.
They also don't make clear how risky exposure to testosterone gel is for others -- female partners, children, even pets. The gel is actually notor...
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Date: 01 May 2013
In response to over a decade of indefinite detention without charges or trial, with no foreseeable hope of ever being repatriated home, with no hope of ever seeing wives and children again, over 100 inmates at the American Gulag in Cuba are now participating in a mass hunger strike. Of the 100, our medical personnel in Guantanamo are now force feeding 21 of them using silastic nasogastric tubes. (The above image is the chair at Gitmo used to restrain prisoners while the tubes are forcibly inserted.)
The American Medical Association (AMA) has again gone on the record condemning the practice of forced feedings. In a letter to Defense Secretary Hagel, AMA President Dr. Jeremy Lazarus wrote:
“Every competent patient has the right to refuse ...
Date: 01 May 2013
Naked mole rats are well studied by the aging research community: there are large colonies of naked mole rats in US laboratories, and a steady output of new papers on naked mole rat biology from numerous research groups. Their genome was sequenced in 2011, in advance of many other species that you might consider more pressing candidates. Naked mole rats are interesting to scientists for a number of reasons, the most important of which are that (a) they live nine times longer than similarly sized rodent species and (b) are immune to cancer. Researchers hope that there is something to be learned here about the relative importance of different metabolic processes in degenerative aging, and further that the biological mechanisms by which naked mole rats suppress cancer so effectively might lea...
Date: 01 May 2013
(Ed. - Welcome Mr. John Hennessy to the Pallimed family. His background in executive leadership of oncology programs brings a potential outsiders perspective to Pallimed. Thankfully he is a strong ally and champion for hospice and palliative care as you will see from his first post. Great to have you here John. - Christian)
Disappointed…frustrated…we’ve all been there. My most vivid memories are of birthdays at home, when books and socks were unwrapped rather than remote control model airplanes and car keys. It wasn’t my birthday this week, but my daily e-mails usually include a gift or two. This week, it came from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) in the form of a link to the 2013 NCCN Guidelines for Patients for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (...
Date: 01 May 2013
ESPN Sportscaster, Stuart Scott, talks about Team LIVESTRONG and the importance of surrounding yourself with people that "get it" during and after your cancer experience. (Source: LIVESTRONG Blog)
Date: 01 May 2013
Medication mix-up’s are a well-known source of errors and harm in the hospital. So we shouldn’t be surprised that similar errors occur in other settings, including the home. Medication Errors in the Home: A Multisite Study of Children With Cancer in the journal Pediatrics documents the high rate of errors in at-home administration of medications for pediatric cancer.
Error types include administering at the wrong dose or frequency, incorrect label, missed doses, using expired medication, and using the wrong administration technique. Many of the errors have the potential for harm, some caused actual harm.
From the article:
“In our study, parent administration errors were often caused by miscommunication between parents and clinicians or between in-home caregivers regardin...
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Date: 01 May 2013
by Andrea J. Simon
In my last blog post for Hospital Impact, I shared a case study in which a hospital realized men represented an untapped market for growing its patient base. I encouraged all hospitals to see the opportunities awaiting them if they likewise targeted men and men's health.
Tellingly, several readers who commented wanted to "know more about how you do this," as did a number of clients. So I'd now like to tell you more about men's health from the perspective of the physicians who became "men's health champions" at Men's Health University, a successful initiative at Integris Health in Oklahoma.
In preparation for a talk I will be giving on men's health later this month, I have been interviewing physicians who have been involved in their hospitals' men's health outreach. Th...
Date: 01 May 2013
By Quinn Phillips
Fear, it is often said, can be a powerful motivator. So perhaps it is not surprising that in diabetes-prevention efforts and other publicity campaigns, stoking fear in the viewer or reader is one of the most commonly used tactics. Many people, however, wonder whether promoting fear of diabetes is really the best way to achieve these campaigns' goals (including our own Jan Chait, in a 2007 blog post) and whether this tactic could have unintended consequences.
One recent example of a publicity campaign designed to induce fear is an online banner ad by the American Diabetes Association. (Click the image above to view a larger version.) "Diabetes kills," the ad reads, "more than breast cancer and AIDS combined. Just 30¢ a day can help us get closer to a cure." Accompany...
Date: 01 May 2013
Lets return to the 'if its not one thing, its another' category. My back is being very bad lately. When I say bad it is causing me pain of the kind that makes it difficult to remain vertical for any length of time. That makes it hard for me to do things like walking around, cooking meals, cleaning, emptying the dishwasher, going to the grocery store, going to work, and feeding the cat among others. Nothing much. It also tends to hurt when I am sitting or lying down. What can I do that does not cause me pain. I'm thinking. I'll get back to you when I come up with something.I think what has happened is that the last treatment to my back has worn off. I have had these fun treatments where they basically stick heated needles in my back between the bones and kill off the irritated nerves which ...
Date: 01 May 2013
In conclusion, the hypothalamus has a programmatic role in ageing development via immune-neuroendocrine integration, and immune inhibition or GnRH restoration in the hypothalamus/brain represent two potential strategies for optimizing lifespan and combating ageing-related health problems. (Source: Fight Aging!)
Date: 30 Apr 2013
Discussion: There were many factors that likely contributed to the dramatic improvement in Ms Emma N’s refractory nausea and vomiting. Better psychiatric care through the palliative care psychologist and psychiatrist almost certainly played a role in her overall clinical turn-around. The close attention, serial visits and supportive counseling she received in the Palliative Care clinic could also have been therapeutic. Up-titration of her olanzapine also likely was helpful. Olanzapine is an atypical antipsychotic that works on multiple receptors including dopaminergic, serotonergic, adrenergic, histaminergic and muscarinic receptors. Of particular interest is its antagonism of 5HT2 receptors which are located in the vomiting center and are not well targeted by other traditional antiemeti...
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Date: 30 Apr 2013
Well, knowing I had to have it done and in only 2 weeks… didn’t give to much time to “plan” things. No, I didn’t particularly have anything to deal with planning or preperation, no money, no assets nothing where a will would be needed. I didn’t have anything, but I did do some journaling to [...] (Source: Metastatic liver cancer)
Date: 30 Apr 2013
May is Mental Health Month. Through media, local and national events, the hope is to reduce stigma about mental illness and promote well-being for children and adults. This year's theme is "Pathways to Wellness" — and calls attention to strategies and approaches that help achieve wellness and good mental and physical health. Take a look at what wellness really is about:Wellness is essential to living a full and productive life. It’s about keeping healthy as well as getting healthy. Wellness involves a set of skills and strategies that prevent the onset or shorten the duration of illness and promote recovery and well-being. Wellness is more than an absence of disease. It involves complete general, mental and social well-being. Steps that build and mai...
Date: 30 Apr 2013
Health Payment Systems (HPS) helps consumers understand and pay their bills. In this interview, HPS CEO Jay Fulkerson answered my questions about the origins of the company and what they are trying to achieve.
What challenges are you trying to address?
As a technology company, we look for ways to close existing gaps or delays by streamlining the healthcare payment and billing process and connecting its various components. The current payment system is convoluted, confusing and wasteful. We need to rethink it from the ground up if we’re serious about doing the very best for healthcare consumers. We hope to bring an increased understanding of the process and simplification for the patients and providers, as well as empowerment for consumers. Data shows patient satisfaction with their p...
Date: 30 Apr 2013
Few topics are as controversial as assisted suicide. It's currently illegal in Canada but recently, a Canadian woman with an irreversible debilitating illness travelled to Switzerland, where the group Dignitas provides assistance with suicide, legally.I think most of us have contemplated our own deaths. When you live with metastatic cancer, it's impossible not to do so. I'm hoping that moment for me is in the distant future, but I find the prospect of a long, lingering death from cancer to be terrifying. However, is it more terrifying than the prospect of death itself?I differentiate that from euthanasia because I think the term I use clarifies the willing and conscious participation of the person facing death. Am I kidding myself that this is a distinction that can be maintained? Wha...
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Date: 30 Apr 2013
Pancreatic cancer is a vicious killer, metastasising quickly and spreading across the body with little treatment options available to do much about it. A drastic new approach, that of using radioactive bacteria to target tumors large and small, has been demonstrated in a promising animal study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.An attenuated form of Listeria bacteria has been known to selectively infect cancer cells, leaving healthy tissue alone. That is because the immune system around cancer cells is dysfunctional and so Listeria is able to survive. While other researchers worked on using Listeria to transport cancer medications into cancer cells, in a nod to the namesake of their institution, the researchers decided to bring a bit of nuclear warfare to the cancer ...
Date: 30 Apr 2013
The opposite of depression is not happiness, according to Peter Kramer, author of “Against Depression” and “Listening to Prozac,” it is resilience: the ability to cope with life’s frustrations without falling apart.
Proper treatment doesn’t suppress emotions or dull a person’s ability to feel things deeply. It builds a protective layer — an emotional resilience — to safeguard a depressive from becoming overwhelmed and disabled by the difficulties of daily life.
However, the tools found in happiness research are those I practice in my recovery from depression and anxiety, even though, theoretically, I can be happy and depressed at the same time. I came up with my own recovery program that coincides with the steps toward happiness published in positive psychology s...
Date: 30 Apr 2013
Jillian Michaels made a major nutritional boo boo with this recent piece of hers: MYTH: If You Want To Slim Down, Go Gluten-Free.
“Only about one percent of the American population needs to be gluten-free because of an autoimmune disorder called celiac disease. Most people do not have to worry about gluten and should eat whole grains as part of a balanced diet.”
She makes the perennial mistake of the nutritionally ignorant: She equates wheat with gluten. As followers of the Wheat Belly message all understand, wheat does NOT equal gluten.
Wheat is the perfect obesogen, a food perfectly crafted to cause weight gain. That’s because wheat contains:
Gliadin–Upon digestion, gliadin is reduced to a collection of 5 polypeptides, each 4 or 5 amino acids long, that bind to t...
Date: 30 Apr 2013
I've had a few people send along this article, on the possible toxicological effects of the herbicide glyphosate, wondering what I make of it as a medicinal chemist. It's getting a lot of play in some venues, particularly the news-from-Mother-Nature outlets. After spending some time reading this paper over, and looking through the literature, I've come to a conclusion: it is, unfortunately, a load of crap.
The authors believe that glyphosate is responsible for pretty much every chronic illness in humans, and a list of such is recited several times during the course of the long, rambling manuscript. Their thesis is that the compound is an inhibitor of the metabolizing CYP enzymes, of the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids by gut bacteria, and of sulfate transport. But the evidence given ...
Date: 30 Apr 2013
I broke down and called my rheumatologist's office yesterday about the bump on my arm (not on a log). The problem was who to talk to.The nurse practitioner I saw a couple of weeks ago is on vacation.The rheumatologist I saw first left and I have not yet met with my new rheumatologistI ended up talking to the physician's assistant who has never met me. We will meet on Thursday afternoon.He did tell me it sounds like a rheumatoid nodule - I said that I am rheumatoid factor negative and statistics say I should not be getting nodules. But I did switch to injectable methotrexate which could be what caused it so I might need to switch medications. But with my medical history I can't take a lot of them. He did also say it could be a ganglion cyst which could be drained or removed. Oh but since it...
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Date: 30 Apr 2013
Brought to you by MedPage Today.
1. SERMs Still Have Value for Breast Ca Prevention. Treatment with selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) led to long-term protection against breast cancer.
2. C. Diff Infection Eludes European Hospitals. Infection with Clostridium difficile – a dangerous and potentially deadly condition – appears to be substantially under-diagnosed in European hospitals.
3. Medicare Panel to Mull Genetic Cancer Tests. Genetic tests to help oncologists determine the previously unknown origin of metastatic tumors work moderately well, members of a Medicare coverage advisory committee were told.
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Date: 30 Apr 2013
Monday 29 April 2013 12.01 BST
Critics fear that giving out free medicines allows pharmaceutical companies to decide which diseases are treated
Vaccine donations might end after a period of time, leaving governments to pick up the bill. Photograph: Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Adam Robert Green for African Arguments, part of the Guardian Africa Network
In the early 2000s, pharmaceutical companies were high on activists' hit lists, prompted by Big Pharma's ill-advised attempt to sue the South African government for patent infringement on HIV drugs; an attempt to deal with the country's epidemic by allowing cheaper, generic copies to be sold.
Today, the discourse seems merrier. Charities and NGOs sit down with the same companies, discussing how best to confront public health challenges in...
Date: 29 Apr 2013
The longest lived mice are those that have been altered to remove growth hormone or growth hormone receptors. In humans there is an analogous population of natural mutants, their condition known as Laron syndrome, who, like the mice, seem resistant to cancer and type 2 diabetes. They do not appear to live significantly longer than the rest of us, but that doesn't rule out modest extension of life - the data is lacking to say either way at this time.
Secretion of growth hormone (GH), and consequently that of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), declines over time until only low levels can be detected in individuals aged ≥60 years. This phenomenon, which is known as the 'somatopause', has led to recombinant human GH being widely promoted and abused as an antiageing drug, despite lack of ...
Date: 29 Apr 2013
To truly understand what a momentous month South African Cancer Control has had, we have ... (Source: LIVESTRONG Blog)
Date: 29 Apr 2013
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