In an Ideal World, How Much Would We Spend on Health Care?
BY BEN WHEATLEY
We have heard it said before, and it is no longer shocking to say, that in 2021 the United States spent $4.3 trillion on health care. To put this gaudy number in some perspective, we measure it as a share of our economy and report that health care comprised 18.3% of our gross domestic product. CMS projects that health care will approach 20% of GDP in coming years—one-fifth of everything we buy and sell in this country.
In a recent report, the Health Affairs Council on Health Care Spending and Value said that “it is unclear what percentage of GDP would represent the ideal level to devote to h...
Source: The Health Care Blog - May 11, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy Ben Wheatley Health care spending medical debt Patent Source Type: blogs
In an Ideal World, How Much Would We Spend on Health Care? – Part 1
BY BEN WHEATLEY
We have heard it said before, and it is no longer shocking to say, that in 2021 the United States spent $4.3 trillion on health care. To put this gaudy number in some perspective, we measure it as a share of our economy and report that health care comprised 18.3% of our gross domestic product. CMS projects that health care will approach 20% of GDP in coming years—one-fifth of everything we buy and sell in this country.
In a recent report, the Health Affairs Council on Health Care Spending and Value said that “it is unclear what percentage of GDP would represent the ideal level to devote to healt...
Source: The Health Care Blog - May 11, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy Ben Wheatley Health care spending medical debt Patent Source Type: blogs
What Scientists and Historians Understand: Without Truth, Progress Is An Impossibility
BY MIKE MAGEE
“This too will pass, honey!” That’s what my mother used to say when any of my eleven brothers and sisters or I seemed to be overwhelmed by whatever. And largely, now, three quarters of a century since my birth, she was mostly right. Whether in personal lives or the life of our nation, over a span of time, the slope has been slight, but upward.
But there are weeks, like this past one, where we are forced to witness the beating death of an innocent 29 year old black man at the hands of police in the very city where Martin Luther King was slaughtered 55 years ago, when it would be easy to lose hope. ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 6, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy black history month Mike Magee Ron DeSantis Source Type: blogs
The “Antebellum Paradox”: What is it and why it matters.
BY MIKE MAGEE
I recently made the case that “Health is foundational to a functioning democracy. But health must be shared and be broadly accessible to be an effective enabler of good government.” I also suggested that the pursuit of good health is implied and imbedded in the aspirational and idealistic wording of our U.S. Constitution, and that the active pursuit of health as a nation is essential if we wish to rise to Hamilton’s challenge in Federalist #1 and prove that we are “capable of establishing good government from reflection and choice.” So why are native white males lagging behind in health?
...
Source: The Health Care Blog - January 30, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy antebellum paradox health informatics Mike Magee Population Health Source Type: blogs
The Death Cult
While there has always been an anti-vaccination fringe, ever since there was such a thing as vaccination (and no, I ' m not sure why) the Republican party and conservatives have never as a class been hostile to the vaccine mandates that have been in place in every state for decades.Until now. The ginned up hysteria about Covid-19 vaccine, based on batshit insane conspiracy theories about microchips and alterations to DNA and lizard people, was just one more manufactured outrage to stir up the MAGAts, like Critical Race Theory, the castration of Mr. Potatohead, and of course the Big Steal, better known as the Big...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 25, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
The Miracle of Modern Medical Research
Marian L. TupyHumanity has suffered from deadly diseases for millennia without fully knowing what they were, how they were transmitted, or how they could be cured. Smallpox, which killed between 300 million and 500 million people in the 20th century alone, originated in either India or Egypt at least 3,000 years ago. But it was not until the late 18th century that the English physician Edward Jenner vaccinated his first patient against the disease. It took another two centuries before smallpox was finally eradicated in 1980. Similar stories can be told about other killer diseases. The fate of humanity, our ancestors t...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 4, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Marian L. Tupy Source Type: blogs
Nasal Endoscopy for Urgent and Complex ED Cases
Fiberoptics and endoscopy have changed the way we treat patients in the emergency department. Endoscopes are relatively easy to use, and can aid your diagnosis and treatment plan. Endoscopy may be useful in urgent cases, such as epistaxis, nasal foreign bodies, and ear debridement. It may also be helpful when dealing with more complicated presentations and critically ill patients, such as those with Ludwig's angina, epiglottis, tracheostomies, or those who need intubation.Fiberoptic tools are not just for surgeons and consultants. The endoscope has many uses in the emergency department, and we have a few tips and tricks...
Source: The Procedural Pause - October 28, 2020 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Penicillin: the accident that saved many lives
Alexander Fleming in his laboratory, 1881 – 1955
There have been many happy accidents in science. Several of these were of great benefit to medicine.
For example, in 1895, a German physicist working with a cathode ray tube happened to place his hand in front of the rays and found that he could see his bones in the image projected onto the screen. Soon after that, the first X-ray images were produced.
There have been other instances where serendipity played a role in unearthing effective treatments against diseases.
THE FIND OF THE 20TH CENTURY
The most famous of these happy accidents is the discovery ...
Source: GIDEON blog - September 28, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Kristina Symes Tags: Microbiology News Source Type: blogs
FDA Determined Convalescent Plasma Is Safe, Leaves Decisions on Efficacy up to Clinicians/ Patients. That’s the Way It Should Always Be
Jeffrey A. SingerYesterday the Food and Drug Administration released a clinical memorandum giving Emergency Use Authorization for COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma (CCP) therapy, a previously unapproved biological product. Forseveral months clinicians treating severely ill COVID-19 patients have transfused plasma donated by convalescing COVID-19 patients, rich with the antibodies to the virus produced by their immune system, hoping that these same antibodies can help patients suffering from active infection. Early results have been promising but, as somecritics of the FDA decision have stated, more data is needed befo...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - August 24, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
Vaccines for COVID-19 moving closer
As the world reels from illnesses and deaths due to COVID-19, the race is on for a safe, effective, long-lasting vaccine to help the body block the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The three vaccine approaches discussed here are among the first to be tested clinically in the United States.
How vaccines induce immunity: The starting line
In 1796, in a pastoral corner of England, and during a far more feudal and ethically less enlightened time, Edward Jenner, an English country surgeon, inoculated James Phipps, his gardener’s eight-year-old son, with cowpox pustules obtained from the arm of a milkmaid. It was widely believed ...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - July 21, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Shiv Pillai, PhD, MBBS Tags: Coronavirus and COVID-19 Health Infectious diseases Vaccines Source Type: blogs
Do adults really need tetanus booster shots?
If you haven’t had a tetanus booster shot in the past decade, your doctor may recommend getting one. Many people think of a tetanus shot as something you only need if you step on a rusty nail. Yet even in the absence of a puncture wound, this vaccine is recommended for all adults at least every 10 years. But why? A group of researchers recently questioned whether you need to repeat tetanus vaccines on a regular schedule.
What is a tetanus booster?
Booster shots are repeat vaccinations you receive after your first series of immunizations as a child. Protection from certain vaccines can wane over time, which is why doctors...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - May 12, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Sara W. Dong, MD Tags: Health Men's Health Vaccines Women's Health Source Type: blogs
No Relationship Between Notifiable Diseases and Immigrant Populations
Alex Nowrasteh andAndrew C. ForresterThe international spread of the SARS ‐CoV‐2 virus that causes the disease COVID-19 has prompted many governments to close their borders. Immigration policy plays an important role in limiting the international spread of contagious diseases.Prior to the COVID-19 crisis,several commentators were concerned that immigrants – especially illegal immigrants – were spreading serious diseases in the United States. This blog post is the first in a series to answer the question of whether immigrants spread serious notifiable diseases other than COVID-19 in the United States. This ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 13, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Alex Nowrasteh, Andrew C. Forrester Source Type: blogs
Why follow a vaccine schedule?
Right now, many people are hoping for a vaccine to protect against the new coronavirus. While that’s still on the horizon, new research suggests that families who do vaccinate their children may not be following the recommended schedule.
Vaccines are given on a schedule for a reason: to protect children from vaccine-preventable disease. Experts designed the schedule so that children get protection when they need it — and the doses are timed so the vaccine itself can have the best effect. When parents don’t follow the schedule, their children may not be protected.
And yet, many parents do not follow the schedule.
A th...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - March 26, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Claire McCarthy, MD Tags: Adolescent health Children's Health Parenting Vaccines Source Type: blogs
Vaccines for women: Before conception, during pregnancy, and after a birth
The rise of vaccine-preventable illnesses, such as measles and hepatitis, in the United States and around the globe has been alarming in recent years. For women — especially those hoping to become pregnant, as well as women who are pregnant or have recently had a baby — vaccines can be a worrisome topic. There are many misconceptions about vaccine safety in and around pregnancy that can lead to confusion and unnecessary fear of a lifesaving medical tool. As a practicing ob/gyn, I often discuss vaccines with my patients and help them sort out fears versus facts.
Which vaccines should you consider before conception?
The ...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - January 10, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ilona T. Goldfarb, MD, MPH Tags: Health Parenting Pregnancy Vaccines Women's Health Source Type: blogs
India: Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus
Although global incidences of Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus declined dramatically during the second half of the twentieth century, relatively high rates for these diseases continue to be reported from India. India accounted for 17.7% of the total World’s population in 2018, but reported 46% of global Tetanus, 53% of global Diphtheria (and only 10.2% of global Pertussis) that year. Similarly, 68% of the population of Southeast Asia (SEA) live in India, while that country accounted for 85% of Diphtheria, 75% of Pertussis and 90% of tetanus for SEA in 2018. [1-4] Trends for these data are charted in the foll...
Source: GIDEON blog - August 16, 2019 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Dr. Stephen Berger Tags: Ebooks Epidemiology General Graphs ProMED Source Type: blogs
