Costco Wholesale: What Is Its Pharmacy Strategy? It's Complicated.
Conclusion: Costco Pharmacy Manages Hybrid Cash/Insurance Payments for Rx Drugs Better Than Most Other Big Pharmacy Chains. Still, Costco Won ' tALWAYS Be the Low-Price Leader Because of How the U.S. Prescription Drug Market Functions.Costco Pharmacy ' s cash prices for many prescriptions may be low enough for people to simply bypass their insurance and pay out-of-pocket, which Costco welcomes, similar to how Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. or a number of other rapidly-growing, cash-only pharmacies which are popping up nationwide operate because their cash prices may be potentially even cheaper than by using insurance. Howev...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 21, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Big pharma bypass insurance cash pharmacy cash-only pharmacy Costco Costco Wholesale Corp. PBM ' Source Type: blogs
Intraoperative Imaging for Porcelain Aorta
Diffuse calcification of ascending aorta which may extend down is known as “Porcelain aorta”. Intraoperative epiaortic echocardiography along with manual palpation during surgery has been described as the most sensitive technique for detecting ascending aortic atheroma and calcification [1].
A prospective study evaluated this in hundred consecutive patients undergoing coronary bypass or valve surgery [2]. Ascending aorta was assessed by manual palpation by the operating surgeon, intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography and epiaortic ultrasound using linear and phased-array imaging. No difference was noted...
Source: Cardiophile MD - December 28, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, December 5th 2022
In conclusion, the PAAIs examined (i.e. mTOR loss of function, Ghrhr loss of function, intermittent fasting-based version of dietary restriction) often influenced age-sensitive traits in a direct way and not by slowing age-dependent change. Previous studies often failed to include young animals subjected to PAAI to account for age-independent PAAI effects. However, any study not accounting for such age-independent intervention effects will be prone to overestimate the extent to which an intervention delays the effects of aging on the phenotypes studied. This can result in a considerable bias of our view on how modifiable a...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 4, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Become Prone to Altered Behavior with Age
The altered signaling environment in aged tissue produces changes in cell behavior, some of which is adaptive and helpful, and some of which is maladaptive and harmful. In some cases the same process can be one or the other depending on context. Cellular senescence, for example, is helpful in the contexts of cancer suppression and regeneration from injury, but only up until the point at which senescent cells are no longer removed as rapidly as they are created, at which point their continued, unrelenting pro-growth, pro-inflammatory signaling contributes to many of the forms of tissue dysfunction observed in aging.
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Source: Fight Aging! - December 2, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
A woman in her 20s with syncope
Written by Destiny Folk MD, with edits by Meyers, peer reviewed by Smith and GrauerA woman in her late 20s with a past medical history of cervical cancer status post chemotherapy and radiation therapy presented to the emergency department for shortness of breath, chest tightness, and two episodes of syncope.Her initial vital signs revealed a temp of 97.7F, HR 125, RR 20, BP 115/90, and an oxygen saturation of 95% on room air. Upon arrival, she did not appear in acute distress. She was noted to be tachycardic and her heart sounds were distant on physical exam. She had a normal respiratory effort, and her lungs were clear to...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - November 28, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
Cigna-Express Scripts by InsideRx Strategy Modification, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Insulin Trial
Two years ago, I made a very well-informed decision to simply bypass our own healthcare insurance for a number of prescriptions used in my household because we were paying out-of-pocket until the deductible was satisfied anyway (which was about half the year), and our new insurance carrier Aetna and its PBM Caremark was obviously ripping us off by a fairly wide margin. In fact, the financial gamesmanship (or as the PBM ' s call it, " Price Arbitrage " ) was so overt, that it would have been financially foolish to stick with insurance under the presumption that it contributed toward satisfying the deductible (a falsehood; t...
Source: Scott's Web Log - November 21, 2022 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2022 CIGNA coupon-generating websites apps coupons Express Scripts InsideRx PBM Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, November 21st 2022
In this study researchers added new insight, showing that high-intensity aerobic exercise, which derives its energy from sugar, can reduce the risk of metastatic cancer by as much as 72%. If so far the general message to the public has been 'be active, be healthy', now researchers can explain how aerobic activity can maximize the prevention of the most aggressive and metastatic types of cancer.
The study combined an animal model in which mice were trained under a strict exercise regimen, with data from healthy human volunteers examined before and after running. The human data, obtained from an epidemiological study ...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 20, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Klotho Promotes Autophagy to Slow Vascular Calcification
Klotho is one of the few robustly determined longevity genes capable of altering life span in both directions in mice. A reduced expression of klotho shortens life span, while increased klotho levels lengthen life. Klotho has been shown to improve cognitive function, but investigation to date has suggested that it primarily functions in the kidney, and that kidney function mediates effects elsewhere in the body.
Today's open access paper is focused instead on the relationship between klotho and vascular calcification. Prior research on this topic has focused on the relationship between klotho and FGF23, but here the...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 15, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Which chemotherapeutic agent is well known to cause coronary vasospasm?
5-fluorouracil is well known to cause coronary vasospasm. 5-fluorouracil and its orally active prodrug capecitabine are fluoropyrimidines, belonging to the class of antimetabolites used for treatment of malignancies of breast, head and neck tumours and gastrointestinal tumours.
Mechanisms for coronary vasospasm
Endothelial cell damage with cytolysis and denudation
Increased endothelin-1 bioactivity leading to vasoconstriction
When high dose infusions are given, coronary vasospasm with angina, arrhythmia or even sudden death can occur in up to 5% of patients. Vascular toxicity occurs generally within 72 hours of the...
Source: Cardiophile MD - November 13, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
How To Lower Diastolic Blood Pressure Through Minor Lifestyle Changes?
ConclusionWhat Is Diastolic Blood Pressure?
Diastolic blood pressure is the pressure in arteries during the resting phase of a heart. These range below 120 mmHg in a healthy human, whereas 120-129 is an elevated stage, and anything in between 130-139 mmHg or above is considered hypertension.
Why Choose The Drug-Free Approach To Manage Blood Health?
Managing blood health without using medicines is best for early-stage patients. There are a few reasons why one should choose a drug-free approach.
First, drug-free approaches are often more effective in the long run. Second, these methods tend to have fewer side eff...
Source: The EMT Spot - November 11, 2022 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Kutryk Tags: Guides Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs
Vitamin D Deficiency: 6 Common Signs That Are Easy To Miss
Vitamin D is vital for regulating the levels of phosphate and calcium in the body. (Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog)
Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog - November 4, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jeremy Dean Tags: Nutrition Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, October 31st 2022
This study used mice to evaluate how their lifestyles - eating fatty foods vs. healthy and exercising vs. not - affected the metabolites of their offspring. Metabolites are substances made or used when the body breaks down food, drugs or chemicals, or its own fat or muscle tissue. "We have previously shown that maternal and paternal exercise improve health of offspring. Tissue and serum metabolites play a fundamental role in the health of an organism, but how parental exercise affects offspring tissue and serum metabolites has not yet been investigated."
Researchers used targeted metabolomics - the study of metaboli...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 30, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Towards Direct Reprogramming of Heart Fibroblasts into Cardiomyocytes
A promising approach to inducing regeneration from injury and age-related fibrosis in the heart is the reprogramming of fibroblast cells into heart muscle cells, cardiomyocytes. Like all such efforts, much of the work lies in establishing the recipe of regulatory signals needed to produce the desired outcome. The research results reported here are an illustrative example, representative of programs taking place in many laboratories, in which scientists are attempting to improve on the discovered forms of reprogramming in order to make them efficient enough to be useful as a basis for regenerative therapies.
Mammal...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 28, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Back to basics: what is this rhythm? What are your options for treating this patient?
Written by Bobby Nicholson MD, with edits by Meyers, Smith, GrauerA woman in her early 40s presented to the emergency department for evaluation of palpitations. She reported that she has been experiencing this since she was diagnosed with COVID a little over 1 week ago. She reported a prior history of SVT and has previously performed vagal maneuvers at home with symptom resolution. She reports that she is now unable to vagal out of her palpitations and is having shortness of breath and dull chest pain. Her initial EKG is below.We see a regular tachycardia with a narrow QRS complex and no evidence of OMI or subend...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - October 25, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
Podcast Recommendation: Global Healthy Living Foundation " Healthcare Matters "
Although I have considered the idea, I don ' t necessarily envision myself as a podcaster, but Ihave found a number of different podcasts rather informative (some are also entertaining).So I thought why don ' t I share some of the podcasts that I ' ve learned from here?First up is one from the Global Healthy Living Foundationhttps://ghlf.org/ which actually has several podcasts. The podcast I ' m referring you to today is the podcast they refer to as " Healthcare Matters "https://ghlf.org/healthcarematters/, and more specifically an episode of that podcast entitled " S3, Ep 2 entitled " A Failed Promise: Why Are Patients O...
Source: Scott's Web Log - October 20, 2022 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2022 podcast robert popovian Source Type: blogs
