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MedPage Today

Articles, page 18

Conditions and diseases

How can quitting smoking improve lung function in patients with asthma?

Originally published in MedPage Today by Chris Emery, MedPage Today Contributing Writer Asthmatic smokers who quit the habit can reverse lung damage that exacerbates their breathing difficulties, regardless of how long and how often they smoked in the past, a…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Chris Emery, MedPage Today Contributing Writer

Asthmatic smokers who quit the habit can reverse lung damage that exacerbates their breathing difficulties, regardless of how long and how often they smoked in the past, a Dutch study found.

MedPage Today The lungs of asthmatics who stopped smoking were in similar condition to those of asthmatics who never smoked, based …

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How can quitting smoking improve lung function in patients with asthma?

Health policy

The limits of using Medicare patient data for quality outcomes

Originally published in MedPage Today by Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff Writer Most primary care physicians don't see enough Medicare patients to determine statistically significant differences in cost and performance between practices, researchers found. In fact, nearly two-thirds (65.7%) of…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Most primary care physicians don’t see enough Medicare patients to determine statistically significant differences in cost and performance between practices, researchers found.

MedPage Today In fact, nearly two-thirds (65.7%) of primary care doctors worked in practices that saw too few Medicare patients to provide reliable comparisons with national benchmarks for cost and …

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The limits of using Medicare patient data for quality outcomes

Drugs and prescribing

What the H1N1 vaccine recall means for kids

Originally posted in MedPage Today by Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff Writer Sanofi Pasteur has recalled about 800,000 pediatric doses of its vaccine against pandemic H1N1 influenza because of low potency, the CDC announced, but the agency is not calling…

Originally posted in MedPage Today

by Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Sanofi Pasteur has recalled about 800,000 pediatric doses of its vaccine against pandemic H1N1 influenza because of low potency, the CDC announced, but the agency is not calling for revaccinations.

MedPage Today The recalled doses come from four lots of 0.25-mL prefilled syringes for pediatric use in both 10-packs (lot numbers UT023DA, …

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What the H1N1 vaccine recall means for kids

Health policy

Why doctors and hospitals oppose expanding Medicare

6

Originally published in MedPage Today by Emily P. Walker, MedPage Today Washington Correspondent The notion of a public health insurance plan appears to be evaporating from the Senate's healthcare reform bill, replaced in part with an expansion of Medicare --…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Emily P. Walker, MedPage Today Washington Correspondent

The notion of a public health insurance plan appears to be evaporating from the Senate’s healthcare reform bill, replaced in part with an expansion of Medicare — an idea that’s meeting resistance from doctor and hospital associations.

MedPage Today A proposal to scrap the public plan to allow people as young …

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Why doctors and hospitals oppose expanding Medicare

Patient voices

How doctors can stay up to date with current medical information

5

Originally published in MedPage Today by Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff Writer With the amount of research being published in medical journals and presented at meetings, it should not be surprising when a new finding slips by a busy physician.…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff Writer

With the amount of research being published in medical journals and presented at meetings, it should not be surprising when a new finding slips by a busy physician.

MedPage Today Nor should it be surprising, then, that some decisions about patient care might be made without benefit of the most recent evidence.

Although experts …

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How doctors can stay up to date with current medical information

Conditions and diseases

Why juvenile delinquency may lead to poor adult health

Originally published in MedPage Today by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent Bad boys grow up to be sick men, researchers say. In a long-running British study of juvenile delinquency in boys, death and disability at age 48 were…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent

Bad boys grow up to be sick men, researchers say.

In a long-running British study of juvenile delinquency in boys, death and disability at age 48 were strongly linked to antisocial behavior in youth, according to Jonathan Shepherd, PhD, of Cardiff University in Wales, and colleagues.

The imbalances in mortality and disability …

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Why juvenile delinquency may lead to poor adult health

Conditions and diseases

Is constipation a sign of early Parkinson’s disease?

Originally published in MedPage Today by Charles Bankhead, MedPage Today Staff Writer Constipation may represent one of the earliest signs of Parkinson's disease, preceding the onset of motor symptoms by two decades or more, data from a case-control study suggest.…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Charles Bankhead, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Constipation may represent one of the earliest signs of Parkinson’s disease, preceding the onset of motor symptoms by two decades or more, data from a case-control study suggest.

MedPage Today Patients with Parkinson’s disease were more than twice as likely to report a history of constipation compared with a control population. The …

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Is constipation a sign of early Parkinson’s disease?

Conditions and diseases

How well can doctors diagnose child abuse from bone fractures?

Originally published in MedPage Today by Chris Emery, MedPage Today Contributing Writer Physicians often misdiagnose bone fractures caused by child abuse as accidental breaks, particularly if the child is male and the doctor is not a pediatrician, a new study…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Chris Emery, MedPage Today Contributing Writer

Physicians often misdiagnose bone fractures caused by child abuse as accidental breaks, particularly if the child is male and the doctor is not a pediatrician, a new study found.

MedPage Today Of children who suffered fractures from abuse, about 20% had at least one previous medical visit during which a doctor missed …

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How well can doctors diagnose child abuse from bone fractures?

Conditions and diseases

Does smoking or obesity affect life expectancy more?

Originally published in MedPage Today by Crystal Phend, MedPage Today Senior Staff Writer Gains in life expectancy from lower smoking rates over the next decade will be offset, to some degree, by reductions in life expectancy based on the rise…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Crystal Phend, MedPage Today Senior Staff Writer

Gains in life expectancy from lower smoking rates over the next decade will be offset, to some degree, by reductions in life expectancy based on the rise in obesity, researchers estimated.

MedPage Today If obesity and smoking rates had held steady, the average 18-year-old would have seen a 2.98-year increase in …

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Does smoking or obesity affect life expectancy more?

Conditions and diseases

NFL football players with concussions may need independent neurologists to clear them

Originally published in MedPage Today by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor Responding to growing concern over concussions suffered by professional football players, the National Football League may soon require teams to seek opinions from independent neurologists before allowing head-injured…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor

Responding to growing concern over concussions suffered by professional football players, the National Football League may soon require teams to seek opinions from independent neurologists before allowing head-injured players back on the field.

MedPage TodayLeague officials have not confirmed the plan, but reports in The New York Times, the Associated Press, FOXSports.com, …

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NFL football players with concussions may need independent neurologists to clear them

Conditions and diseases

Radiologists don’t agree with the USPSTF breast cancer mammogram screening guidelines

15

Originally published in MedPage Today by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer Radiologists have rejected revised mammography guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), arguing that they are not backed by scientific evidence and will lead to unnecessary…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Radiologists have rejected revised mammography guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), arguing that they are not backed by scientific evidence and will lead to unnecessary deaths.

MedPage TodayUnder the revised guidelines, “screening will begin too late and its effects will be too little,” said Stephen A. Feig, MD, of …

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Radiologists don’t agree with the USPSTF breast cancer mammogram screening guidelines

Conditions and diseases

Do chest x-rays and mammograms increase the risk of breast cancer in young women?

Originally published in MedPage Today by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer Some women already at high risk of breast cancer should be cautious about having mammography or chest x-rays before the age of 30 because the imaging may increase…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Some women already at high risk of breast cancer should be cautious about having mammography or chest x-rays before the age of 30 because the imaging may increase the risk of developing the disease, researchers here said.

MedPage Today Five or more x-rays, or any exposure to ionizing radiation before age 20, …

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Do chest x-rays and mammograms increase the risk of breast cancer in young women?

Conditions and diseases

Low pay for diabetes care harms patients

2

Originally posted in MedPage Today by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor Almost one-third of doctors in an industry-sponsored survey said they didn't spend enough time with their diabetic patients and blamed low reimbursement rates for diabetes care, researchers said.…

Originally posted in MedPage Today

by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor

Almost one-third of doctors in an industry-sponsored survey said they didn’t spend enough time with their diabetic patients and blamed low reimbursement rates for diabetes care, researchers said.

MedPage Today In a survey of 200 primary care physicians and 100 endocrinologists, 32% reported an inability to provide comprehensive diabetes care, Alyssa Pozniak, …

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Low pay for diabetes care harms patients

Drugs and prescribing

Tamiflu kills babies, and other H1N1 flu pandemic misconceptions

Originally published in MedPage Today by Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff Writer As one of the two MedPage Today writers on full-time H1N1 duty since the beginning of the outbreak in April, I feel like I know the issues well…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Todd Neale, MedPage Today Staff Writer

As one of the two MedPage Today writers on full-time H1N1 duty since the beginning of the outbreak in April, I feel like I know the issues well enough to help clear up misconceptions when they come up in conversation.

medpage-today1The other day, just such a situation presented itself. An …

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Tamiflu kills babies, and other H1N1 flu pandemic misconceptions

Health technology

iPhone radiology app to diagnose appendicitis

Originally published in MedPage Today by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer For years, the pager and cell phone have summoned on-call radiologists to the emergency room. Now this leap in technology: an iPhone App that lets radiologists diagnose a…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

For years, the pager and cell phone have summoned on-call radiologists to the emergency room. Now this leap in technology: an iPhone App that lets radiologists diagnose a patient remotely, wherever they may be.

MedPage Today Using a $20 iPhone application called OsiriX, radiologists made correct diagnoses of appendicitis in 124 of …

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iPhone radiology app to diagnose appendicitis

Medical education

Medical student needlestick injuries

Originally posted in MedPage Today by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer Medical students are frequently stuck by needles, and few report their accidents, researchers say. In a survey, about 60% of surgery residents reported being stuck with a needle…

Originally posted in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Medical students are frequently stuck by needles, and few report their accidents, researchers say.

MedPage Today In a survey, about 60% of surgery residents reported being stuck with a needle while they were in medical school, Martin A. Makary, MD, MPH, of Johns Hopkins, and colleagues reported in the December issue of …

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Medical student needlestick injuries

Conditions and diseases

Will the H1N1 flu virus mutate?

Originally published in MedPage Today by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent The CDC is keeping a careful eye on a mutation in some strains of the pandemic H1N1 flu that Norwegian researchers isolated from three patients with severe…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent

The CDC is keeping a careful eye on a mutation in some strains of the pandemic H1N1 flu that Norwegian researchers isolated from three patients with severe disease.

MedPage Today The mutation has been seen “sporadically” in the U.S., according to Anne Schuchat, MD, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization …

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Will the H1N1 flu virus mutate?

Physician voices

Baby boomers don’t receive enough preventive health

5

Originally published in MedPage Today by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer Only a quarter of baby boomers take advantage of preventive services such as flu vaccines and cancer screenings, a new report from the government and two powerful interest…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer

Only a quarter of baby boomers take advantage of preventive services such as flu vaccines and cancer screenings, a new report from the government and two powerful interest groups says.

MedPage Today At the same time, states are falling behind goals to increase certain screenings and reduce unhealthy behaviors, according to the …

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Baby boomers don’t receive enough preventive health

Conditions and diseases

The health reform politics of mammograms and breast cancer screening

4

Originally published in MedPage Today by Emily P. Walker, MedPage Today Washington Correspondent The emotional debate over a federal panel's proposal to end routine mammograms for women in their 40s has reignited controversy over a contentious healthcare reform issue: comparative…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Emily P. Walker, MedPage Today Washington Correspondent

The emotional debate over a federal panel’s proposal to end routine mammograms for women in their 40s has reignited controversy over a contentious healthcare reform issue: comparative effectiveness research.

MedPage Today Healthcare reform opponents say the new mammogram guidelines by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) make their point: If …

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The health reform politics of mammograms and breast cancer screening

Conditions and diseases

What is the death toll for the H1N1 flu pandemic?

Originally published in MedPage Today by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent In the first six months of the H1N1 flu pandemic, 22 million Americans fell ill from the virus, the CDC now estimates. Of those, about 98,000 needed…

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Michael Smith, MedPage Today North American Correspondent

In the first six months of the H1N1 flu pandemic, 22 million Americans fell ill from the virus, the CDC now estimates.

MedPage Today Of those, about 98,000 needed inpatient care, and 3,900 died, according to Anne Schuchat, MD, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

The estimates …

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What is the death toll for the H1N1 flu pandemic?

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