AMA: Individual responsibility for health insurance helps America’s patients, pocketbooks

Health Policy
May 12, 2011

A guest column by the American Medical Association, exclusive to KevinMD.com.

A wise physician once said, “Health is not valued til sickness comes.” The same can certainly be said about health insurance.

This concept is at the heart of our current debate about individual responsibility for health insurance coverage. While we hope never to need surgery or chemotherapy or to have an unexpected accident or illness, it’s certain that many of …

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AMA: Individual responsibility for health insurance helps America’s patients, pocketbooks

The best way to control a pertussis outbreak is to vaccinate

Conditions and Diseases
May 12, 2011

The Douglas County Health Department in Omaha, Neb., responded to a 26-person outbreak of pertussis from Sept. 26 to Nov. 21, 2008. Afterward, the department and the CDC assessed the total cost in time and personnel of the response.

“The elevated incidence of pertussis and the burden of response placed on health departments warrants exploring the impact of alternative response and …

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The best way to control a pertussis outbreak is to vaccinate

The problem with naming a diet low carb

Conditions and Diseases
May 12, 2011

What does low-carb mean?  Well, the first thing it means is that something else has more carb.  So what are you comparing it to?   Breakfast cereal?  Angel food cake?  The standard American diet (sAd)?  Anything would be low-carb compared to those.

A whole bunch of folks at the Nutrition & Metabolism Society have been working hard to help people understand that carbohydrate, and not dietary fat, is the main dietary component causing …

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The problem with naming a diet low carb

Sunscreen advice from a dermatologist to prevent skin cancer

Conditions and Diseases
May 12, 2011

by Susan Y. Chon, MD

You know you need sunscreen. But with so many lotions, sprays and gels to choose from, how do you know which sunblock will actually prevent sunburns — and skin cancer?

When it comes to shielding your skin from the sun, the type of sunscreen you choose is as important as how you use it.

I hear many people blame their sunscreen when …

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Sunscreen advice from a dermatologist to prevent skin cancer

Treating stress with cognitive behavioral therapy can impact cardiovascular disease

Conditions and Diseases
May 11, 2011

“This job is killing me” is not a statement of jest. It is a desperate plea of outright sincerity.

Stress, anxiety, depression – all have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. But can interventions to help people cope with stress positively affect longevity and decrease risk of dying? The results of a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine would imply the answer …

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Treating stress with cognitive behavioral therapy can impact cardiovascular disease

Using genomics in cancer, and for early diagnosis in infectious disease

Conditions and Diseases
May 11, 2011

In the previous post I discussed the field of pharmacogenomics.

Today I will focus on:

  • Nutragenomics
  • Disease classification
  • Disease prognostication
  • Early and rapid diagnosis
  • Prediction of diseases to develop later in life

Nutragenomics or the science of how our genes affect what we eat is a developing field.

Here is one example. Cholesterol is an important part of our physiology although too much in the wrong places is harmful. Cholesterol is carried in the body by …

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Using genomics in cancer, and for early diagnosis in infectious disease

Predicting how much impact mental illness has in a person’s life

Patient
May 11, 2011

Why is it that some people have a psychiatric disorder and they bounce back and it’s not a big deal, while others struggle terribly? For the unlucky ones, mental illness defines them.

Here are some factors that affect how much impact psychiatric illness has in a person’s life.

  • The severity of the symptoms. Any way you dice it, mild-to-moderate anxiety can often be hidden …

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Predicting how much impact mental illness has in a person’s life

How business will affect pharmaceutical reps

Medications
May 11, 2011

There’s been a lot of talk in the past year about how we need to re-think the role and profile of the pharmaceutical/biotech sales rep.

This dialogue needs to happen, given the trends that are rapidly shrinking the size of sales forces. Of course, when you poll the doctors, they are going to focus on the need for greater depth of clinical knowledge. …

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How business will affect pharmaceutical reps

One in four children in the United States are on chronic medications

Medications
May 10, 2011

The Wall Street Journal reported that a study of prescription patterns in 2009, conducted by IMS Health, showed that 25% of children in the US were on regular medication.

IMS Health is a firm that provides “marketing intelligence” to pharmaceutical companies. The firm’s job is to keep the $800 billion per year global pharmaceutical industry on a continued pattern of growth.  Hopefully these consultants accomplished something quite different this week. Hopefully they …

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One in four children in the United States are on chronic medications

Why the ophthalmologist and optometrist conflict should concern patients

Physician
May 10, 2011

If you need laser eye surgery in the state of Kentucky, or a little cosmetic work around the eyelids, it now behooves you to ask your prospective surgeon the following question before signing the operative consent form:

“Say doc, did you go to medical school?”

Kentucky joined the company of Oklahoma earlier this year as the second state to conflate optometrists and ophthalmologists. Only ophthalmologists are the sort of doctors who graduated …

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Why the ophthalmologist and optometrist conflict should concern patients

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Physicians coping after a medical error

Physician
May 10, 2011

A failed treatment, a surgical complication, a medical error, a patient death. When the going gets tough, even the toughest clinicians should get help.

Physicians and nurses who feel personally responsible for a medical error or a patient’s injury face an immediate quandary—their next patient. In the midst of your angst and guilt, do you suck it up and soldier …

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Physicians coping after a medical error

Health related anxiety in patients with complex problems

Conditions and Diseases
May 10, 2011

As an academic gastroenterologist at a tertiary care university medical center, I often see patients who have failed traditional therapies that many of my colleagues in the community have tried.

Over the past several years my practice has evolved, from dealing with predominantly the medical aspects of my patients’ diseases to embracing the biopsychosocial model of illness.  One of my colleagues has been the world leader in patient care and research in the …

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Health related anxiety in patients with complex problems

Excited about the future of healthcare in the emergency department

Health Policy
May 10, 2011

by William Schumacher, MD

Am I the only one excited about the future of healthcare?

With all the prevailing pessimism about America’s “dysfunctional” health” system, optimists (and I am one) sometimes feel stranded on our own lonely islands.

It’s not that we don’t know what the challenges are.  I have been practicing emergency medicine for over 30 years, and there …

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Excited about the future of healthcare in the emergency department

Implementation of a rational system of medical care

Health Policy
May 9, 2011

The patient entered her private solo physician’s office and handed her medical ID card to the doctor.  He put the card in his desktop reader and reviewed her medical history.   All of her visits, vaccinations, medications, tests, x-rays etc from all providers were inscribed on the data chip in the card.  The card also included insurance and billing information.  At the end of the visit, he updated her information on …

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Implementation of a rational system of medical care

Our personal commitment and social engagement as physicians

Physician
May 9, 2011

by Synphen H. Wu, PhD

Mr. C is a 46-year-old Chinese immigrant restaurant worker who came to Bellevue Hospital after two weeks of fatigue, malaise, right upper quadrant (RUQ) abdominal pain, and progressive jaundice.

He was referred from a Chinatown clinic, where his blood tests showed hepatitis B surface antigen, a hepatitis B viral load of 133 million copies, and elevated liver transaminases and bilirubin levels, …

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Our personal commitment and social engagement as physicians

Doctor bashing and confronting physicians in the media

KevinMD
May 9, 2011

It’s certainly been fascinating monitoring the response to Theresa Brown’s New York Times’ op-ed on physician bullying.

Predictably, most physicians were outraged, while the rest of the population generally supported Brown.  As alluded to in a comment, whenever you have an aggrieved party accusing another one in a national forum, controversy is what you’re going to get.  The piece was the …

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Doctor bashing and confronting physicians in the media

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