health care
jtoney | July 24, 2011
Photo: Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine.
When the leech begins its work - using its 360 minuscule teeth to scissor in - he laughs, "Now we are into business!"
(Andrew Plucinski, hirudotherapist.)
Could leeches help Rep. Michele Bachmann's affliction?
This is not a joke, and is not intended in any way to be disrespectful towards Rep. Bachmann's challenge of dealing with migraine headaches, recently reported in the context of her candidacy for President of the United States. Migraines affect an estimated 36 million Americans, regardless of their political opinions. How an…
jtoney | June 24, 2011My colleague Prof. Mark Boguski at the Harvard Medical School shared a provocative quote: True?
Not all psychopaths are in prison. Some are in the Boardroom.
Over at MedPageToday, they just completed an intriguing and informative series of articles about the psychology of psychopaths. According to Prof. Boguski:
...our 3-part series on psychopathy just concluded yesterday on MedPageToday.
Here's a summary of some of our tweets about it:
WANTED: Charming, aggressive, carefree people who are good at looking out for #1 http://bit.ly/kmj5oM
Also...
Corporate psychopaths: the sour cream…
jtoney | June 20, 2011
Source: Sheep purple Flickr Photostream.
Big Ag and antibiotics are becoming a lightning rod for a culture war of facts. Does agricultural use of antibiotics contribute to their diminishing effectiveness in people?
Liz Wagstrom, Chief Veterinarian of the National Pork Producers Council says no. In in a Letter to the Editor in The New York Times, she writes:
In fact, numerous peer-reviewed risk assessments show virtually no risk to humans from antibiotic use in animals.
...
The risk to public health from overuse or misuse of antibiotics comes overwhelmingly from human medicine, not…
jtoney | June 1, 2011
Source.
This venomous lizard, Heloderma suspectum, harbors a billion dollar secret: a special protein in his saliva and tail. That protein, exenatide, is highly effective in treatment for type 2 diabetes.
As American's girth and weight continues to increase, so does type 2 diabetes. It is a vicious cycle:
Increased obesity leads to more enlarged fat cells that respond less and less to insulin needed for control of blood sugar - a hallmark for type 2 diabetes. This leads to increased appetite and overeating and obesity. And the cycle continues.
The protein isolated from the Gila monster…
jtoney | May 23, 2011
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Watching the "Pirates of the Caribbean 4 - On Stranger Tides" this weekend with my children reminded me that pursing a "fountain of youth" is a timeless tale that plays out in our lives in many ways. For example, you see this everyday in our grocery stores, in the form of "functional foods."
Cereals promise to lower your cholesterol, milk to improve brain function, vitamin-enhanced water to boost your immune system. Not surprisingly, it is a big business - US sales in 2009 exceeded $37 billion. Manufacturers have become adept at tip toeing towards the point at which their product…
jtoney | May 20, 2011
Online social media played a major role in the 2008 Presidential election and is already looming large in the early stages of the 2012 Presidential bid. Newt Gingrich made a dramatic statement recently about Paul Ryan's Medicare proposal:
"I don't think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering. I don't think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate," he said when asked about Ryan's proposal.
Such a provocative statement created a media firestorm, begging for a press release from Mr.…
jtoney | May 18, 2011
Last year, I taught a short course at Gilead Sciences in California and was impressed by not only the high quality of their scientific research but their efforts to increase access of their HIV medications to developing countries. Now Gilead has joined a group of pharmaceutical companies to try something bold and innovative - to share patents to both support basic research and to make their medicines more accessible.
The mission of the Medicines Patent Pool is:
...to improve access to affordable and appropriate HIV medicines in developing countries. We are working to bring down the prices…
jtoney | May 17, 2011
Every parent knows the frustration of responding to a baby's cries. Are they hungry? Wet? In pain? Need a hug? Tired?
According to Dunstan Baby Language, you can interpret these cries with confidence, reducing your stress and making you a better parent. Really?
According to their website:
The Dunstan Baby Language teaches you to hear exactly what your baby is communicating. As a parent, you will be able to interpret your infant's sounds and cries - and respond to their needs quickly and effectively.
There's more!
The Dunstan System will teach you how to tune your ear to the 5 'words',…
jtoney | May 6, 2011
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A strange email arrived in my Inbox recently asking me for a picture of my tongue, assuring me "lifetime benefits." First I wondered how this email escaped my Spam filter. But then I wanted to explore.
Here's the email {you likely will have received it too}:
Dear distinguished guest,
How are you recently? Is everything ok? I am Sasha from Traditional Chinese Medicine center (short for TCM), the assistant of Dr.Huang, it's my honor to contact you via this email.
I hope our TCM center have left nice memories for you.
It's our responsibility to give our remote concern to you since…
jtoney | May 3, 2011Death has been everywhere in the news media since the announcement of Bin Laden's demise on Sunday. How this historic event will affect global terrorism is unknown; perhaps the most important news of all was of the treasure trove of computers and files found in Bin Laden's luxury "compound."
With this event in mind, I came across today one of the strangest (some might say creepy) studies I have ever read - a biochemical study on death and dying. Researchers have found that death and dying can invoke euphoria and something like an "unbearable lightness." Seriously.
In a study published in…
jtoney | April 18, 2011
Source - Pancreatic beta cells needed to produce insulin.
Atlas carried the weight of the heavens on his shoulders. Americans may be carrying a burden of almost two tons of sugar from a lifetime of satisfying their sweet tooth.
The New York Times article "Is Sugar Toxic?" describes the risk in a compelling way:
Yes, the average American consumes 3,550 pounds of sugar in a lifetime, according to USDA estimates. The recommended daily intake of sugar is far less than the US average of 11.9 teaspoons:
How much is just right?
The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of…
jtoney | April 16, 2011
To mark "Tax Day," April 18:
The White House website has just launched a "Federal Taxpayer Receipt" calculator that shows you where those federal tax dollars go.
As an example, I used amounts from the 2009 tax return submitted by President Obama that reported payment of $1,792,414 in federal taxes from a gross income of $5,505,409.
{Give it a try, entering the amounts from your 2010 return!}
The results:
As you see, more than 50% of these dollars are allocated to national defense and health care. Will this ever change?
jtoney | April 6, 2011
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Bioephemera provided an excellent overview of the ongoing appeal to the "Myriad gene patent case."
Jessica Palmer wrote:
Myriad Genetics's patents on the breast cancer genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2) were invalid because genes are unpatentable products of nature.
Could Myriad Benefit If They Lose Their Case?
I believe that if Myriad and the biotechnology industry itself embraces open innovation, that ironically they could indeed benefit. Let me explain.
A review in Science stated (April 2010):
A legal bombshell hit the biotech world last week: A federal judge in New York City used…
jtoney | March 8, 2011
Once again, Big Pharma is under attack. Let me provide a different perspective.
Reporter Duff Wilson had some choice words in his characterization of this beleaguered industry:
They are all struggling with research failures as they scramble to replace their cash cows,...
Consumers should see a financial benefit as lower-cost generics replace the expensive elite drugs,...
Pfizer paid the largest criminal fine in the nation's history as part of a $2.3 billion settlement over marketing drugs for unapproved uses. Some analysts say larger fraud and foreign bribery cases will come.
As shown…
jtoney | January 20, 2011
A message sent this afternoon over Twitter by President Obama announces a new report, "Promises Kept," produced by "Organizing for America" (a project of the Democratic National Committee.) This brief document gives food for thought as we look towards the 2012 Presidential elections.
@BarackObama Barack Obama
Let's be the generation that makes future generations proud of what we did here.
Some selected highlights:
Do you think that these are promises kept? This is not a simple question but one that warrants careful thought. I do not have an answer.
REBUILDING OUR ECONOMY
RECOVERY ACT…
jtoney | January 10, 2011
Photo by Bruteitup.
A DOG or cat owner spends roughly $10,000 on the care and feeding of his pet over its lifetime. (Dogs cost more per year, but cats make up for it by living longer.) What does he get for this investment?
Surveys indicate that what most pet owners mainly want is companionship, unconditional love and a play pal. In recent years, however, we have also begun to regard pets as furry physicians and four-legged psychotherapists.
Hal Herzog, Op-Ed in The New York Times ("Fido's No Doctor, Neither Is Whiskers")
No one would question the emotional value of pets as our companions,…
jtoney | January 5, 2011View full size
Tanya Kovacs of Iselin holds her 20 month old son Caleb as they take part in a rally in front of the State House opposing new vaccine mandates by the state for children. TONY KURDZUK/THE STAR-LEDGER
As reported by the Associated Press and in The New York Times this evening {"filed 7:50 pm}:
The first study to link a childhood vaccine to autism was based on doctored information about the children involved, according to a new report on the widely discredited research.
The conclusions of the 1998 paper by Andrew Wakefield and colleagues was renounced by 10 of its 13 authors and…
jtoney | January 5, 2011This Friday, a new bill will introduced in the 112th session of Congress by Rep. Cantor (R-VA), the "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act."
Such a provocative title! This may be time for a basic overview of the Affordable Care Act, regardless of your political affiliation. The video below, produced by the Kaiser Family Foundation, is one of the best that I have seen; in fact, I have used it for teaching purposes to begin discussions about the current law.
jtoney | January 4, 2011
EPA/SHAWN THEW
US President Barack Obama delivers opening remarks at a bipartisan meeting to discuss health reform legislation at the Blair House in Washington, DC USA 25 February 2010.
Renewed debate is imminent about so-called "ObamaCare" {a term used by some as a pejorative for health care}. It's a good time for a refresher of how we got to where we are, with the Affordable Care Act.
President Obama hosted a televised health care summit with Republican and Democratic lawmakers in efforts to craft healthcare overhaul legislation.
Just before this summit, email messages from Nancy-Ann…
revere | April 18, 2010With health care costs growing without bounds, the medical devices industry and President Obama are hard at work. Not hard at work reducing costs. Hard at work convincing us that the solution to the cost crisis is more technology. Right, Mr. President. And John McCain is a maverick and Sarah Palin is a genius. Almost everyone else believes advanced technology is a significant driver of health care costs and the idea that it will drive down costs is not just a fantasy but steaming pile of crap. That doesn't mean there's no room for innovation to lower costs. On the contrary:
Nobody knows…