MedPage Today

Articles, page 14

Physician voices

ED can predict heart death

March 24, 2010Mar 24, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today by Joyce Frieden, MedPage Today News Editor Patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) who were treated with telmisartan, ramipril, or both were at greater risk for cardiovascular events than other patients on the same medications, researchers…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Joyce Frieden, MedPage Today News Editor

Patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) who were treated with telmisartan, ramipril, or both were at greater risk for cardiovascular events than other patients on the same medications, researchers found.

In men who reported ED at baseline, all-cause mortality during a median follow-up of four years was double that seen …

Read more…

ED can predict heart death

Healthcare reform will be challenged in states

March 23, 2010Mar 23, 20108

Originally published in MedPage Today by Joyce Frieden, MedPage Today News Editor With the House and Senate now in basic agreement on healthcare reform and President Barack Obama about to sign the underlying bill into law, opponents are gearing up…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Joyce Frieden, MedPage Today News Editor

With the House and Senate now in basic agreement on healthcare reform and President Barack Obama about to sign the underlying bill into law, opponents are gearing up to challenge the legislation on a variety of fronts.

This effort was beginning even before Sunday’s House vote sent the Senate …

Read more…

Healthcare reform will be challenged in states

Drugs and prescribing

Industry relationships with physicians are coming under fire

March 21, 2010Mar 21, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer Earlier this year, Harvard's Partners Healthcare put a cap on payments its physicians can receive for serving on corporate boards at $5,000 a day. Although the cap primarily…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Earlier this year, Harvard’s Partners Healthcare put a cap on payments its physicians can receive for serving on corporate boards at $5,000 a day.

Although the cap primarily affects top researchers and executives, it is by far the stiffest limit imposed by any academic medical center, and drives deeper the …

Read more…

Industry relationships with physicians are coming under fire

Flood insurance by the government, but no public option

March 20, 2010Mar 20, 201011

Originally published in MedPage Today by John Gever This meditation was evoked by the prospect that my basement could be filled with E. coli-laden mud next week. I live within a few yards of Wheeling Creek, a tributary of the…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by John Gever

This meditation was evoked by the prospect that my basement could be filled with E. coli-laden mud next week.

I live within a few yards of Wheeling Creek, a tributary of the Ohio River that drains about 250 square miles of northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. This week has brought temperatures near 70 degrees, …

Read more…

Flood insurance by the government, but no public option

Conditions and diseases

Coronary angiography is being overused

March 19, 2010Mar 19, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer For patients without known heart disease, the diagnostic yield of coronary angiography appears to be low, researchers found. Only about 38% of those referred to the cath lab…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

For patients without known heart disease, the diagnostic yield of coronary angiography appears to be low, researchers found.

Only about 38% of those referred to the cath lab for the elective procedure had obstructive coronary artery disease, Manesh R. Patel, MD, of Duke University, and colleagues reported online in the New England …

Read more…

Coronary angiography is being overused

Medicare and how a grandmother worries about its costs

March 18, 2010Mar 18, 20103

Originally published in MedPage Today by Liz O'Brien My grandmother and her hospital roommate -- aged, tiny, frail, and sporting matching bright pink hairnets. They looked like twins -- two thin shrubs in winter that had each sprouted an improbable,…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Liz O’Brien

My grandmother and her hospital roommate — aged, tiny, frail, and sporting matching bright pink hairnets.

They looked like twins — two thin shrubs in winter that had each sprouted an improbable, big pink rose.

Although sick and scared, my grandmother had admired the pink hairnet on the lady in the next bed, so my mother …

Read more…

Medicare and how a grandmother worries about its costs

Taxing junk food may improve your health

March 17, 2010Mar 17, 201019

Originally published in MedPage Today by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer Taxing junk food may help reduce obesity and improve health, researchers have found. Patients got significantly less of their energy (calories) from soda or pizza when there was…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Taxing junk food may help reduce obesity and improve health, researchers have found.

Patients got significantly less of their energy (calories) from soda or pizza when there was a 10% increase in the price of either (P<0.001), Penny Gordon-Larsen, PhD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues …

Read more…

Taxing junk food may improve your health

Conditions and diseases

PSA for prostate cancer screening is likely to continue

March 15, 2010Mar 15, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today by Crystal Phend The ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium met recently, just after the American Cancer Society updated its prostate cancer screening guidelines to emphasize shared decision making and Congress heard testimony over use of prostate…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Crystal Phend

The ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium met recently, just after the American Cancer Society updated its prostate cancer screening guidelines to emphasize shared decision making and Congress heard testimony over use of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in prostate cancer screening.

Now urology is no stranger to debate. Controversy continues on overdiagnosis, overtreatment, and other issues raised …

Read more…

PSA for prostate cancer screening is likely to continue

Conditions and diseases

PSA screening for prostate cancer debated in Congress

March 14, 2010Mar 14, 20103

Originally posted in MedPage Today by Emily P. Walker, MedPage Today Washington Correspondent A day after the American Cancer Society (ACS) released updated prostate cancer screening guidelines, the group's chief medical officer was before Congress urging the government to fund…

Originally posted in MedPage Today

by Emily P. Walker, MedPage Today Washington Correspondent

A day after the American Cancer Society (ACS) released updated prostate cancer screening guidelines, the group’s chief medical officer was before Congress urging the government to fund research into alternative screening methods for prostate cancer.

Otis Brawley, MD, an oncologist and chief medical officer for the ACS, told the House Oversight …

Read more…

PSA screening for prostate cancer debated in Congress

Children with special healthcare needs are underinsured

March 12, 2010Mar 12, 20102

Originally published in MedPage Today by Chris Emery, MedPage Today Contributing Writer Nearly a third of children with special healthcare needs are underinsured, and where a child lives strongly influences whether he or she will have adequate healthcare coverage, a…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Chris Emery, MedPage Today Contributing Writer

Nearly a third of children with special healthcare needs are underinsured, and where a child lives strongly influences whether he or she will have adequate healthcare coverage, a new study found.

The unadjusted proportion of underinsured special-needs children varied strongly by state, ranging from 24% in Hawaii (standard error=1.75) to 38% …

Read more…

Children with special healthcare needs are underinsured

Conditions and diseases

Autism in children can be missed early in life

March 11, 2010Mar 11, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today by Chris Emery, MedPage Today Contributing Writer The symptoms of autism tend to emerge in children after six months of age, with a loss of social and communications skills that is more common and more…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Chris Emery, MedPage Today Contributing Writer

The symptoms of autism tend to emerge in children after six months of age, with a loss of social and communications skills that is more common and more subtle than previously thought, according to a new study that questions previous assumptions about the progression of the condition.

At six months, …

Read more…

Autism in children can be missed early in life

Drugs and prescribing

Vaccine safety still concerns parents

March 9, 2010Mar 9, 20104

Originally published in MedPage Today by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer Even though 90% of parents believe vaccines protect their children against disease, many are also concerned about potential adverse effects, a new survey found. More than half of…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Even though 90% of parents believe vaccines protect their children against disease, many are also concerned about potential adverse effects, a new survey found.

More than half of survey respondents said they were concerned about vaccine safety profiles, particularly for newer immunizations, Gary L. Freed, MD, MPH, of the University …

Read more…

Vaccine safety still concerns parents

Physician voices

Why physicians are working fewer hours

March 8, 2010Mar 8, 20109

Originally published in MedPage Today by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent Physicians are working fewer hours than they once did, the result of a decade-long decline that coincided with lower fees for their services, a study showed. After…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent

Physicians are working fewer hours than they once did, the result of a decade-long decline that coincided with lower fees for their services, a study showed.

After two decades of stable hours, a steady decrease began in 1997, according to Douglas Staiger, PhD, of Dartmouth College, and colleagues.

The decline coincided …

Read more…

Why physicians are working fewer hours

Medical education

Young doctors gathered around the beer machine

March 5, 2010Mar 5, 201020

Originally published in MedPage Today by Charles Bankhead From time to time, I hear a "mature" person lament the sad state of affairs of the "next generation." Sometimes I wonder whether the same concern should apply to the next generation…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Charles Bankhead

From time to time, I hear a “mature” person lament the sad state of affairs of the “next generation.” Sometimes I wonder whether the same concern should apply to the next generation of doctors.

I was at a cardiology meeting, and my schedule included a breakfast program. As I headed toward the meeting, I …

Read more…

Young doctors gathered around the beer machine

Physician voices

Hospitals can deliver low cost, high quality care

March 4, 2010Mar 4, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor Many hospitals that spend relatively little per patient deliver good-quality care, researchers said. Medicare data indicated that hospitals in the highest quartile of per-patient cost for initial treatment…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor

Many hospitals that spend relatively little per patient deliver good-quality care, researchers said.

Medicare data indicated that hospitals in the highest quartile of per-patient cost for initial treatment of pneumonia or congestive heart failure (CHF) did not have markedly lower readmission or risk-adjusted mortality rates than hospitals in the lowest …

Read more…

Hospitals can deliver low cost, high quality care

Conditions and diseases

Placebo effect ethics in medical treatment

March 3, 2010Mar 3, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor The placebo effect is a real and therapeutic psychological phenomenon that, with more research, could be exploited more systematically in medical practice, said Australian researchers. "There is not…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor

The placebo effect is a real and therapeutic psychological phenomenon that, with more research, could be exploited more systematically in medical practice, said Australian researchers.

“There is not one placebo effect, but many,” wrote Damien Finniss, MSc, of the University of Sydney in Australia, and colleagues in the Feb. 20 …

Read more…

Placebo effect ethics in medical treatment

The Danny Williams surgery shouldn’t be controversial

March 2, 2010Mar 2, 20109

Originally published in MedPage Today by Michael Smith OK, don't take this the wrong way, but .... Chill. Relax. Give the other guy the benefit of the doubt. Don't jump to conclusions. And most of all, think before you speak,…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Michael Smith

OK, don’t take this the wrong way, but ….

Chill. Relax. Give the other guy the benefit of the doubt. Don’t jump to conclusions. And most of all, think before you speak, blog, natter, comment, or otherwise pontificate on issues of the day.

And when I say ‘think,’ I don’t mean trying to find the …

Read more…

The Danny Williams surgery shouldn’t be controversial

Drugs and prescribing

Your metformin may smell like dead fish

March 1, 2010Mar 1, 20102

Originally published in MedPage Today An immediate-release form of the antidiabetic agent metformin has a dead fish odor that may cause patients to stop taking the drug, clinicians warned. Metformin is known to cause adverse gastrointestinal effects such as diarrhea,…

Originally published in MedPage Today

An immediate-release form of the antidiabetic agent metformin has a dead fish odor that may cause patients to stop taking the drug, clinicians warned.

Metformin is known to cause adverse gastrointestinal effects such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, flatulence, distention, and abdominal pain. Those side effects “often necessitate discontinuing the drug,” a group of physicians and pharmacists …

Read more…

Your metformin may smell like dead fish

Condoms don’t work all the time, and here’s why

February 26, 2010Feb 26, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today by Chris Emery, MedPage Today Contributing Writer Condoms that don't fit properly are more likely to break, slip off, and decrease the pleasure of both partners during sex, which may discourage their use and undermine…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Chris Emery, MedPage Today Contributing Writer

Condoms that don’t fit properly are more likely to break, slip off, and decrease the pleasure of both partners during sex, which may discourage their use and undermine their public health benefits, a survey found.

Ill-fitting condoms were reported by 44.7% of the men polled. They were more likely than …

Read more…

Condoms don’t work all the time, and here’s why

Real physician voices, twice a week

Free, and one click to unsubscribe.

22

pages