About one in every 20 adults in the United States has survived cancer, including nearly one-fifth of all people over 65, according to new federal data.
20% Rise Seen in Number of Survivors of Cancer
The implications are that many cancers are treatable, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
A shortage of primary-care and other physicians could mean more-limited access to health care and longer wait times for patients.Proponents of the new health-care law say it does attempt to address the physician shortage. The law offers sweeteners to encourage more people to enter medical professions, and a 10% Medicare pay boost for primary-care doctors.Meanwhile, a number of new medical schools have opened around the country recently. As of last October, four new medical schools enrolled a total of about 190 students, and 12 medical schools raised the enrollment of first-year students by a total of 150 slots, according to the AAMC. Some 18,000 students entered U.S. medical schools in the fall of 2009, the AAMC says.
Evidence that physician white coats and other long-sleeved garments can be contaminated with bacteria including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has led British health authorities to ban such attire for clinicians. To examine the appropriateness of this action, researchers conducted a prospective trial in which they assessed bacterial contamination of physicians\\’ clothing.
There is a major ethical divide between a doctor referring a patient for further treatment or tests to a practice in which he has no financial interest and one where he may be not only on staff but also a major investor…
Here is the link: http://fluentnews.com/s/26540569
Combo-pilling has been gaining appeal among dieters, doctors and pharmaceutical companies, in part because single diet drugs have not been a great success. After sibutramine (Meridia) was taken off the market last October, there was only one drug left that was approved by the FDA for treating obesity for more than a few weeks: orlistat (Xen-ical by prescription or Allī over the counter). But even though orlistat is the only long-term option for consumers, many dieters eschew it because they can experience side effects (oily stains on their underwear, for example) if they eat fat-heavy meals. To many, combo-pilling begins to seem like the answer…
Here is the link: http://fluentnews.com/s/26537673
A Team Approach to Patient Care Falters
A new study reveals a series of challenges raised by trying to convert traditional practices into patient-center medical homes.
Diet Plan With Hormone Has Fans and Skeptics
A new trend in dieting has women injecting themselves with a pregnancy hormone and consuming only 500 calories a day.
From The New York Times:
VITAL SIGNS: Hazards: Misuse of Drugs Crowds Emergency Rooms
Some 700,000 Americans are taken to the hospital each year after ingesting drugs, both legal and illegal, a new study reports. And the care costs nearly $1.4 billion in emergency room charges alone.
The study, published in the March issue of The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, was based on data from the 2007 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, a government database that includes information on 27 million visits to 970 emergency rooms in 27 states…
From The New York Times:
As Health Costs Soar, G.O.P. and Insurers Differ on Cause
The new federal health care law may eventually “bend the cost curve” downward, as proponents argue. But for now, at many workplaces here, the rising cost of health care is prompting insurance premiums to skyrocket while coverage is shrinking…
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From The New York Times:
Troubles of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Start With Defining It
For an ailment with no known cause and subjective symptoms, definitions differ, and so do diagnoses.
When reports emerged 30 years ago that young gay men were suffering from rare forms of pneumoniaand cancer, public health investigators scrambled to understand what appeared to be a deadly immune disorder: What were the symptoms? Who was most susceptible? What kinds of infections were markers of the disease…
Zulfiqar Rana, MD, MPH, FACP 