Alzheimer’s Disease Explained To Children
Julie struggles with understanding why her Halloween trick-or-treating got cancelled, or why Grandma can’t remember her name. Julie is struggling with understanding her grandmother’s Alzheimer’s disease.
By Max Wallack
+Alzheimer's Reading Room
There is a growing need to explain Alzheimer’s Disease to young children.
I recognized this need some time ago, and since no book really existed aimed at the 4 to 10 year old audience I decided to tackle this need along with my colleague Carolyn Given.
Not only did I want to explain this disease, but I also wanted to provide these young caregivers (children) with s...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - July 1, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Max Wallack Source Type: blogs
Emergency Contraception Can Be Free, But it Takes Planning – And a Prescription
By Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News
Women of all ages will soon be able to pick up emergency contraceptive pills at pharmacies and other stores without a prescription or proof of age. What many may not realize, however, is that they can get the pricey pills free under the Affordable Care Act. Doing so, however, may take time and forethought.
“Women may be faced with a tradeoff between timeliness and coverage/cost,” says Adam Sonfield, a senior public policy associate at the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research and policy organization.
When it comes to emergency contraception, timing is impor...
Source: Our Bodies Our Blog - June 28, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: OBOS Tags: Birth Control & Family Planning Drugs & Pharmaceutical Companies Public Policy Source Type: blogs
Bringing Medical Quality Data into The Hands of Consumers
by Julien Penders, Program Manager Body Area Networks, imec/Holst Centre, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Should you blame your parent if you’re overweight or diabetic? Well, it is known that there is a genetic component to it, but there is more to it – your lifestyle. Companies like 23andMe now allow consumers to find out whether their genetic code contains markers that increase their chance of contracting certain diseases. This may sound scary to many, but here is your opportunity to get healthier. Genetics gives you a probability of contracting a disease – it gives you a risk. But we can live healthier if we adapt our...
Source: Medgadget - June 27, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Julian Penders Tags: Guest Post Source Type: blogs
Marin General Hospital's Nurses are Afraid a Defective EMR Implementation Will Harm or Kill Patients .. CEO Cites Defective HHS Paper and Red Herrings As Excuse Why He Knowingly Allows This To Continue
- Posted at the Healthcare Renewal Blog on May 30, 2013 - The following appeared in the Marin County Independent Journal about an EHR system so bad the nurses at Marin General Hospital were publicly complaining, putting their careers at risk (see my May 17, 2013 post "Marin General Hospital nurses warn that new computer system is causing errors, call for time out"):National critic of health care information technology says Marin General should heed nurses' adviceBy Richard HalsteadMarin Independent JournalPosted: 05/27/2013 04:03:00 PM PDTThe critic is me. I spoke to the reporter but did not know ...
Source: Health Care Renewal - May 30, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: Lee Domanico Marin Independent Journal Marin General Hospital Marin Healthcare District red herring fallacy healthcare IT risks Richard Halstead ONC Source Type: blogs
17 Year Old Takes on Alzheimer's Disease
“I would like to be somebody who is in charge of really helping combat this disease (Alzheimer's). This is what I want to focus my life on.” ~ Max Wallack
By Bob DeMarco
+Alzheimer's Reading Room
Max and his Great Grandmother Gertrude
I first read a about Max Wallack back in December, 2009. He was 13 years old.
He caught my attention when he was named a 2009 Build-A-Bear Huggable Hero. For his effort he won $2,500. He then donated the $2,500 to the Boston University School of Medicine’s Alzheimer's Disease Center.
I wrote an article about Max and about 24 hours later I received an email from M...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - May 30, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs
NEJM Article: Massachusetts Payment to Physicians Sites Old Statistics to Support Anti Industry Bias
Over the last several years, we have covered the Massachusetts Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Manufacturer Code of Conduct (PCOC), enacted in 2009. Subsequently, the Massachusetts legislature rolled back some of the reporting requirements last fall. And we recently noted that Massachusetts saw a 3% drop in payments to physicians in 2011.
Consequently, several researchers—led by Aaron S. Kesselheim, M.D., J.D., M.P.H.—recently published a viewpoints article in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) analyzing the distribution of industry payments to Massachusetts physicians. The authors maintain that ...
Source: Policy and Medicine - May 14, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
“Can We See the Baby Bump, Please?”: Film on Commercial Surrogacy in India Screens in Boston
Update: A second public event has been added, also co-sponsored by Our Bodies Ourselves: “Systemic Violence or Informed Consent? The Politics of New Reproductive Technologies and Medical Experimentation in India” is the theme of the program at MIT on Tuesday, April 23, which will include the film screening and remarks by Sama’s co-founder, Sarojini N. The event will take place in MIT Bldg. 5, Room 217, at 7 p.m.
The rise of commercial surrogacy has led to numerous concerns and conversations involving women’s health and medical ethics. On Monday, April 22, Our Bodies Ourselves will sponsor a screenin...
Source: Our Bodies Our Blog - April 17, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Rachel Tags: Events Global News Pregnancy & Childbirth Reproductive Technology & Genetic Engineering Source Type: blogs
AMSA Expanding Anti-Industry Scorecard to 400 Teaching Hospitals
We recently reported on a survey of 1,610 first- and third-year medical students and 739 residents regarding conflict of interest (COI) policies and their interactions with industry. In our story, we noted that almost every year, the American Medical Students Association (AMSA) publishes a yearly “PharmFree Scorecard” that evaluates the COI policies at American medical schools. Here is a little background and history on AMSA.
The PharmFree Scorecard is funded through the Consumer and Prescriber Education grant program, which resulted from the Neurontin settlement back in 2004.
It is because of organizations lik...
Source: Policy and Medicine - April 16, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Boston rises in the wake of tragedy
“Daddy, a bomb blew up in Boston!”
That was how my 4-year old greeted me when I came home this evening.
Of course, I already knew about the horrific attacks during the Boston Marathon, first on Twitter, then realizing the gravity of the event as mainstream media caught up.
I practice in Nashua, NH, which is about 45 minutes north of Boston. But I’ve been in New England for more than 20 years, having gone to Boston University for undergrad and medical school, and Boston Medical Center for residency.
The Boston Marathon is annually held on Patriot’s Day, a uniquely Massachusetts holiday. It is a day where most ev...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - April 16, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: Kevin's Take Emergency Source Type: blogs
The Coming Alzheimer’s Tsunami
When it hits, the Alzheimer's tsunami will cause havoc and destruction, and will probably do so suddenly. The longer we wait, the more intense and more devastating the effects will be.
By Max Wallack
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Perhaps you have heard the oncoming increase in Alzheimer's cases referred to as an impending tsunami. Have you ever stopped to think about what this means?
"Tsunami" is a Japanese word that refers to what were once called a "tidal wave" in English. A tsunami begins with an undersea disturbance such as an earthquake, resulting in a buildup of water pressure.
Subscribe to the Alzheimer's ...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - April 10, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Max Wallack Source Type: blogs
Alzheimer's Claims Yet Another Brilliant Mind
I told myself her confusion was the result of some medication for back pain. I did not want to admit that one of the kindest, smartest people I had ever met might be slipping away.
By Max Wallack
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Yet another person I really care about has become affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
Although not a blood relative, this person has had a profound influence on my life since I was four years old.
I have considered her my primarily role model. She was the one that taught me that each person has gifts that can benefit society, and with those gifts comes an obligation to make this world a better place.
...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - March 31, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Max Wallack Source Type: blogs
Can Aerobic Exercise and Environmental Enrichment Slow Alzheimer's Disease?
In this study, scientists who were already providing wild mice with a running wheel for exercise, decided to add a novel toy or object to explore to their cage each day. The results were amazing. While the mice doing aerobic exercise were less impaired when injected with amyloid beta from Alzheimer’s patients, those mice who were given the novel toys each day were significantly less impaired than those with the aerobic exercise alone.
Could it be that the novelty of going to the gym every day had a significant effect upon Dotty, above and beyond the exercise factor?
It looks like that is a very real possibility. We all...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - March 23, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Max Wallack Source Type: blogs
Conference Alert: Advances in CT/MRI
CME - Advanced CT & MR Imaging Course - 2013 in association with 7 eminent speakers from Boston University will be held at The Leela Palace, Bangalore on 30 & 31st March 2013. The registrations are limited to 350 on a "first come first served basis". This CME promises to bring in cutting edge info on CT & MR imaging and promises to a be an academic treat.
Prof H T Narayana, Prof and HOD, Dept of Radiology
conference email : info@acmic.in
conference website: www.acmic.in
From Sumer's Radiology Site http://www.sumerdoc.blogspot.com -The Top Radiology Magazine. Teleradiology Providers at ww...
Source: Sumer's Radiology Site - March 11, 2013 Category: Radiologists Authors: Sumer Sethi Source Type: blogs
Threading the NEIDL: TWiV goes inside a BSL-4
Last fall the science show This Week in Virology teamed up with MicrobeWorld (the public outreach website by the American Society for Microbiology) and Boston University School of Medicine to produce a documentary offering a rarely seen behind-the-scenes view of a biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory. Today I am pleased to announce the release of Threading the NEDIL: TWiV goes inside a BSL-4.
Constructed in 2009 in the highly populated South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) facility contains labs that operate at biosafety levels 2, 3 and 4. Due to i...
Source: virology blog - March 7, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology biosecurity bioterrorism Boston University BSL-4 National Emerging Diseases Laboratory NEIDL viral virus Source Type: blogs
Pharmaceutical Consultant Appointed to Head FDA Center for Tobacco Products, Creating an Immediate and Inappropriate Conflict of Interest
According to an article in the Winston-Salem Journal, the current head of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products - Dr. Lawrence Deyton - is stepping down and will be replaced by Mitch Zeller, who heads a firm that does consulting work for Big Pharma.According to the article: "What could make Zeller’s appointment controversial is he currently serves as an executive with Pinney Associates, a pharmaceutical consulting firm that does work for GlaxoSmithKline, the top seller of nicotine-replacement therapy products." ..."In October 2010, the consumer health care division of GlaxoSmithKline requested that the FDA take Reyno...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - February 25, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
