ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2011) — Men are three times more likely than women to develop a common form of skin cancer but medical science doesn't know why. A new study may provide part of the answer.
Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -- Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC -- James) have found that male mice had lower levels of an important skin antioxidant than female mice and higher levels of certain cancer-linked inflammatory cells.
The antioxidant, a protein called catalase, inhibits skin cancer by mopping up hydrogen peroxide and other DNA-damaging reactive-oxygen compounds that form during exposure to ultraviolet B light (UVB), a common source of sunburn and cancer-causing skin damage. Studies by others have linked low catalase activity to skin cancer progression.
For the full article please go here.
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Friday, December 2, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
6 Lies You Shouldn't Tell Your Doctor. from Yahoo News
By Jeanette Moninger
There isn't a lot your body can hide in one of those crinkly numbers. Maybe that's why so many women refuse to reveal much else at doctor visits. About a third of men and women in the United States admit to lying to their M.D.'s, according to a 2010 survey. But keeping secrets can be dangerous, especially if the information you're withholding leads to a wrong diagnosis. Besides, "a doctor's job is to advocate for your health, not judge," say Gary Fischer, M.D., a general internist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Here's why it's time to tell the whole truth -- and nothing but.
For the full article please go here.
There isn't a lot your body can hide in one of those crinkly numbers. Maybe that's why so many women refuse to reveal much else at doctor visits. About a third of men and women in the United States admit to lying to their M.D.'s, according to a 2010 survey. But keeping secrets can be dangerous, especially if the information you're withholding leads to a wrong diagnosis. Besides, "a doctor's job is to advocate for your health, not judge," say Gary Fischer, M.D., a general internist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Here's why it's time to tell the whole truth -- and nothing but.
For the full article please go here.
Insight: Diabetes breakthrough stalled in safety debate from Rueters
By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO | Thu Dec 1, 2011 8:33am EST
(Reuters) - It's a dream of medical science that looks tantalizingly within reach: the artificial pancreas, a potential breakthrough treatment for the scourge of type 1 diabetes.
Meant to mimic the function of a real pancreas, the artificial version is a complex device that combines a pager-sized continuous glucose monitor and sensor that tracks blood sugar with a pump that automatically delivers the correct dose of insulin at just the right time.
That technology could make a major difference to the three million Americans with the disease who must vigilantly monitor their blood sugar, even at night, and risk deadly consequences if they are slow to notice a dangerous change.
But it is caught up in America's long-running tug of war between supporters of more rapid medical innovation and those who seek better safety for new devices. A fresh confrontation is about to break open this week as the Food and Drug Administration lays out a path toward regulatory approval for such devices, expected as early as Thursday.
For the full article please go here.
CHICAGO | Thu Dec 1, 2011 8:33am EST
(Reuters) - It's a dream of medical science that looks tantalizingly within reach: the artificial pancreas, a potential breakthrough treatment for the scourge of type 1 diabetes.
Meant to mimic the function of a real pancreas, the artificial version is a complex device that combines a pager-sized continuous glucose monitor and sensor that tracks blood sugar with a pump that automatically delivers the correct dose of insulin at just the right time.
That technology could make a major difference to the three million Americans with the disease who must vigilantly monitor their blood sugar, even at night, and risk deadly consequences if they are slow to notice a dangerous change.
But it is caught up in America's long-running tug of war between supporters of more rapid medical innovation and those who seek better safety for new devices. A fresh confrontation is about to break open this week as the Food and Drug Administration lays out a path toward regulatory approval for such devices, expected as early as Thursday.
For the full article please go here.
Recent Facebook Litigation
Michael J. Sacopulos, Esq.
There have been several recent cases involving Facebook that have been released. These cases continue to show how social media has permeated our society. They also show a darker side of social media. Although not directly related to the health care world, I think that they provide some useful lessons. But first the cases…
Several weeks ago a Connecticut judge ordered a couple in the midst of a divorce an exchange of passwords for Facebook and dating websites. The husband’s lawyer argued, that postings by the wife, were evidence of her inability to take care of the couple’s children. The husband was arguing for full custody. The court agreed that this might produce irrelevant information in order for the wife to disclose Facebook and dating website passwords. The court agreed it might provide irrelevant information and ordered that the husband and wife exchange Facebook and dating website passwords. Finally the court went on to order that neither spouse may post messages pretending to be the other.
If you think that the Connecticut judge’s order for the parties to not post messages; reporting to be each other was unnecessary then hold on tight. In New Jersey, a woman was charged for creating a fake Facebook profile of her ex-boyfriend. As the ex-boyfriend is a narcotics detective, this woman posted such comments as “I am a sick piece of scum with a gun”. It gets worse. She posted in her ex-boyfriends name that he had herpes, frequented prostitutes, and was high all of the time. In New Jersey, a judge found that such behavior could constitute identity theft and the prosecution could go forward with her case against this woman.
For the full article please go here.
There have been several recent cases involving Facebook that have been released. These cases continue to show how social media has permeated our society. They also show a darker side of social media. Although not directly related to the health care world, I think that they provide some useful lessons. But first the cases…
Several weeks ago a Connecticut judge ordered a couple in the midst of a divorce an exchange of passwords for Facebook and dating websites. The husband’s lawyer argued, that postings by the wife, were evidence of her inability to take care of the couple’s children. The husband was arguing for full custody. The court agreed that this might produce irrelevant information in order for the wife to disclose Facebook and dating website passwords. The court agreed it might provide irrelevant information and ordered that the husband and wife exchange Facebook and dating website passwords. Finally the court went on to order that neither spouse may post messages pretending to be the other.
If you think that the Connecticut judge’s order for the parties to not post messages; reporting to be each other was unnecessary then hold on tight. In New Jersey, a woman was charged for creating a fake Facebook profile of her ex-boyfriend. As the ex-boyfriend is a narcotics detective, this woman posted such comments as “I am a sick piece of scum with a gun”. It gets worse. She posted in her ex-boyfriends name that he had herpes, frequented prostitutes, and was high all of the time. In New Jersey, a judge found that such behavior could constitute identity theft and the prosecution could go forward with her case against this woman.
For the full article please go here.
Gene Therapy Protects Mice Against HIV from Medical News Today
December 1st, World AIDS Day, and we find ourselves reflecting on how nearly 30 years after it first reared its ugly head, HIV is still newly infecting some two million adults a year, and despite millions of dollars and hours of research, the virus has proved elusive and slippery to vaccine developers. But an alternative path is starting to open up: gene therapy.
A new study published in Nature on Wednesday, describes how Nobel Laureate David Baltimore, a virologist and HIV researcher at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, and colleagues, inserted a gene into the leg muscles of lab mice bred to be susceptible to human HIV, that caused them to make a broad range of antibodies that protected them against exposure to HIV.
This is still a long way from developing a gene therapy approach that works in humans, but it's a start. In fact it's more than a start because this has been done before, with monkeys. In 2009, researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, were the first to raise the possibility of gene therapy for preventing HIV when they showed it was effective in preventing transmission of the simian immunodeficiency virus, which is similar to HIV but infects monkeys.
For the full article please go here.
A new study published in Nature on Wednesday, describes how Nobel Laureate David Baltimore, a virologist and HIV researcher at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, and colleagues, inserted a gene into the leg muscles of lab mice bred to be susceptible to human HIV, that caused them to make a broad range of antibodies that protected them against exposure to HIV.
This is still a long way from developing a gene therapy approach that works in humans, but it's a start. In fact it's more than a start because this has been done before, with monkeys. In 2009, researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, were the first to raise the possibility of gene therapy for preventing HIV when they showed it was effective in preventing transmission of the simian immunodeficiency virus, which is similar to HIV but infects monkeys.
For the full article please go here.
High levels of arsenic found in fruit juice from MSNBC
The apple and grape juice your kids are drinking may have arsenic at levels high enough to increase their risk of cancer and other chronic diseases, according to a new study by Consumer Reports.
A full 10 percent of the juices tested by the magazine had arsenic levels higher than what is allowed in water by the Food and Drug Administration.
“What we’re talking about here is not about acute affects,” Urvashi Rangan, senior scientist at Consumer Reports, told TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie. “We’re talking about chronic effects. We’re talking about cancer risk. And so, the fact that 10 percent of our samples exceeded the drinking water standard underscores the need for a standard to be set in juices.”
The fear is that over time arsenic will accumulate in children’s bodies and raise their risk of cancer and other serious illnesses, Rangan explained.
For the full article please go here.
A full 10 percent of the juices tested by the magazine had arsenic levels higher than what is allowed in water by the Food and Drug Administration.
“What we’re talking about here is not about acute affects,” Urvashi Rangan, senior scientist at Consumer Reports, told TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie. “We’re talking about chronic effects. We’re talking about cancer risk. And so, the fact that 10 percent of our samples exceeded the drinking water standard underscores the need for a standard to be set in juices.”
The fear is that over time arsenic will accumulate in children’s bodies and raise their risk of cancer and other serious illnesses, Rangan explained.
For the full article please go here.
Government to pay $94M to build federal health insurance exchange from HealthIT
FAIRFAX, VA – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) tapped CGI Federal Inc. to build the government’s health insurance exchange, Federal Exchange (FX).
The contract has an estimated total value of $93.7 million over a two-year base with three, one-year option periods. The $55.7 million base contract has been awarded.
Under the contract, CGI will work with CCIIO to develop and implement the Federal Exchange in line with the provision in the Affordable Care Act that requires the creation of a competitive health insurance marketplace for states and territories to help bring insurance coverage to 34 million additional Americans.
For the full article please go here.
The contract has an estimated total value of $93.7 million over a two-year base with three, one-year option periods. The $55.7 million base contract has been awarded.
Under the contract, CGI will work with CCIIO to develop and implement the Federal Exchange in line with the provision in the Affordable Care Act that requires the creation of a competitive health insurance marketplace for states and territories to help bring insurance coverage to 34 million additional Americans.
For the full article please go here.
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