New Superpixel Imaging of the Optic Disc to Allow Screening of Population for Glaucoma
Using images of the optic disc in the eye, the cup-to-disc ratio (CDR) can be calculated by dividing the vertical cup diameter (VCD) by the vertical disc diameter (VDD).
Glaucoma is a progressive eye disease that eventually causes blindness and has no true cure. Yet, early detection of glaucoma offers options to slow down its development, but too many people notice symptoms much too late for effective therapy. Intraocular pressure sensing is currently the go-to method, but it’s not effective for screening the general public before any symptoms are reported.
Scientists at A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research in Sin...
Source: Medgadget - September 11, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Editors Tags: Ophthalmology Source Type: blogs
A Chemical Peek at Modern Marijuana
Researchers ponder whether ditch weed is better for you than sinsemilla.
Australia has one of the highest rates of marijuana use in the world, but until recently, nobody could say for certain what, exactly, Australians were smoking. Researchers at the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales recently analyzed hundreds of cannabis samples seized by Australian police, and put together comprehensive data on street-level marijuana potency across the country. They sampled police seizures and plants from crop eradication operations. The mean THC content of the samples was 14.88%, while absolute levels varie...
Source: Addiction Inbox - September 3, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Dirk Hanson Source Type: blogs
More on Dawn’s big wheat-free success!
We’ve lately been parading out some pretty spectacular success stories of people engaging in the Wheat Belly wheat-free lifestyle on the Wheat Belly Facebook page. Dawn wowed us with her story and photos:
“75 lbs off, high blood pressure meds gone, no longer pre-diabetic–sugar levels normal!. No more anti-depressants. I have gone from a tight size 16 to size 2/4!!
Weight has been off over a year, the longest I’ve ever maintained a loss!!!
This tidal wave of success stories like Dawn’s has prompted many readers to ask for the details. Many people enjoying success are doing so with slightly d...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - August 21, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
An Interview With Vladimir Skulachev
I recently noticed a two-part interview with researcher Vladimir Skulachev on a Russian language medical news site. Long-time readers will recognize the name in connection with work on plastoquinone-based mitochondrially targeted antioxidants: Skulachev's group produces the SkQ series of compounds that in recent years have been shown to generate benefits and extend life in mice. These are noteworthy for working though dietary intake, rather than requiring injection like the SS class of mitochondrially targeted antioxidants.
Mitochondrially targeted antioxidants are thought to work by soaking up a usefully large portion of...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 8, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Reason Tags: Healthy Life Extension Community Source Type: blogs
ISTA Settlement Includes Divestiture and Debarment
In what has been one of the less prominent drug-settlements in recent times, the federal government recently entered into an agreement with ISTA Pharmaceuticals Inc. to resolve criminal liability and False Claims Act (FCA) allegations. This settlement, while not as widely covered as others, nevertheless has several important considerations that are likely to demonstrate the government's continued focus on finding new ways to punish companies.
Specifically, ISTA pled guilty to conspiracy to introduce a misbranded drug into interstate commerce and conspiracy to pay illegal remuneration in violation of the Federal Anti-Ki...
Source: Policy and Medicine - July 2, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Endos: 3 Optos: 11
Confession: I don’t have an endo. Yeah, I know, I know—we are all supposed to have one. But, frankly, I don’t see the point. Don’t get me wrong, my original endo back when I was first Dx’d was a big help. But once I got my sea legs with the disease I didn’t find the one hour a year with the endo (fifteen minutes every three months) to be very helpful. I had two endos retire on me—you should always seek out a doctor much younger than yourself—and after test-driving a third whom I didn’t like, I just threw in the towel.But speaking of seeing, the annual visit to my eye doc is a different story. I hate going...
Source: LifeAfterDx--The Guardian Chronicles - June 26, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Wil Source Type: blogs
GIGO: Will the Benefits of EHRs Outweigh the Trash They (Might) Create?
GIGO.
I don’t hear that very often these days. It was a common refrain, though, when computer-enabled calculations became accessible to the “average” academic researcher for the first time. I was there. We were near giddy with enthusiasm. With more power to crunch more numbers came a sense of security – and even arrogance – that we could solve more problems with less effort, faster. At last, we thought, we’d find truth!
No doubt, sometimes we did. But critics warned us: GIGO – Garbage In Garbage Out. If the data we used were garbage, so were our conclusions.
I’ve already blogged in this space about an error...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - June 3, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: HIT/Health Gaming Innovation Policy Technology EHR Electronic health record GIGO Source Type: blogs
Ghosts in the Criminal Machine - How a Drug Company Can Plead Guilty to Federal Fraud, Yet No One is Held Responsible
We have often discussed how leaders of health care organizations have become increasingly unaccountable for their actions. A recent, slightly obscure story shows how a corporate admission of guilt to a felony can be used to prevent anyone, including anyone in corporate management, from being held responsible for that fraud.Basics of the SettlementThe case was that of ISTA Pharmaceuticals. The basics appeared in brief wire service articles, like this one from Rueters (via Fox News):Ista Pharmaceuticals pleaded guilty on Friday to charges it used kickbacks and improper marketing to boost sales of a drug meant to...
Source: Health Care Renewal - May 28, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: Bausch and Lomb conspiracy Warburg Pincus impunity crime felony legal settlements fraud Source Type: blogs
Bausch & Lomb unit pays US$33.5M to settle claims over using kickbacks and improper marketing to boost sales
Reuters | 13/05/27 | Last Updated: 13/05/27 11:22 AM ETMore from Reuters
John Moore/Getty ImagesA drug used for treating pain and inflammation after eye-cataract surgery was being promoted by Ista, a unit of Bausch & Lomb, for non-approved uses related to laser eye surgery and glaucoma treatments, the U.S. said.
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Valeant Pharmaceuticals International’s $8.7-billion deal to buy U.S. eyecare giant Bausch & Lomb, announced Monday, comes just days after a unit of the latter pleaded guilty to using kick...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 27, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
The LITFL Review 103
Welcome to the 103rd edition!
The LITFL Review is your regular and reliable source for the highest highlights, sneakiest sneak peaks and loudest shout-outs from the webbed world of emergency medicine and critical care. Each week the LITFL team casts the spotlight on the best and brightest from the blogosphere, the podcast video/audiosphere and the rest of the Web 2.0 social media jungle to find the most fantastic EM/CC FOAM (Free Open Access Meducation) around.
The Most Fair Dinkum Ripper Beaut of the Week
The Sono Cave
For those of you that love ultrasound or just learning – The Sono Cave is the ultimate EM blog fo...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - May 7, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Kane Guthrie Tags: Education eLearning Emergency Medicine Featured Health Intensive Care LITFL review LITFL R/V Source Type: blogs
The LITFL Review 103
Welcome to the 103rd edition!
The LITFL Review is your regular and reliable source for the highest highlights, sneakiest sneak peaks and loudest shout-outs from the webbed world of emergency medicine and critical care. Each week the LITFL team casts the spotlight on the best and brightest from the blogosphere, the podcast video/audiosphere and the rest of the Web 2.0 social media jungle to find the most fantastic EM/CC FOAM (Free Open Access Meducation) around.
The Most Fair Dinkum Ripper Beaut of the Week
The Sono Cave
For those of you that love ultrasound or just learning – The Sono Cave is the ultimate EM blog fo...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - May 7, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Kane Guthrie Tags: Education eLearning Emergency Medicine Featured Health Intensive Care LITFL review LITFL R/V Source Type: blogs
Making Hearing Instruments Useful in Challenging Listening Environments
By Jennifer Groth
ReSound Global Audiology
My teenage daughter and I were visiting my father, who lives in rural Iowa. We decided to check out a new restaurant for dinner, and Dad drove, with me in the passenger seat and my daughter in the back. There are four miles of gravel road to get to the highway from his house, and, apart from kicking up a lot of dust, it’s pretty noisy. And you’ll usually meet a tractor or two on the road, not to mention cows and deer. So it’s pretty important to keep your eyes on the road if you want to stay out of the ditch.
“What have you been doing this summer?” Dad yells ...
Source: R&D Blog - April 11, 2013 Category: ENT & OMF Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Making Hearing Instruments Useful in Challenging Listening Environments
By Jennifer Groth
ReSound Global Audiology
My teenage daughter and I were visiting my father, who lives in rural Iowa. We decided to check out a new restaurant for dinner, and Dad drove, with me in the passenger seat and my daughter in the back. There are four miles of gravel road to get to the highway from his house, and, apart from kicking up a lot of dust, it’s pretty noisy. And you’ll usually meet a tractor or two on the road, not to mention cows and deer. So it’s pretty important to keep your eyes on the road if you want to stay out of the ditch.
“What have you been doing this summer?” Dad yells over ...
Source: R&D Blog - April 11, 2013 Category: ENT & OMF Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Weight Loss And Weight Ramblings
I've felt better, much better the last few days. The irritation has subsided, mostly. I'm still taking two Lamitcal daily instead of one which I will continue to do for awhile, although I have no idea if it has had time to have had any effect on me whatsover. I don't really care either way, I just want to feel and be better and that is one thing that has worked in the past so I will continue to do it.Friday was my weigh day, and I was shocked to see I had lost another 3.1 pounds! I am so surprised that the weight loss is really not slowing down at all. So in about seven weeks I've lost a...
Source: bipolar.and.me - April 7, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Source Type: blogs
A “No portion control, no calorie counting” success!
Read Jim’s wonderful story of health and weight transformed, minus wheat:
I am a 61-year old male, retired (but still working part time) early childhood educator. I am 5′ 7″ and medium-framed. Picked up your book in August via Amazon after a Google search for “diet to lose abdominal fat.” My wife, an RN, had been concerned that the 25 lbs I had gained since my retirement in 2007 had gone straight to my gut.
For years I had been a recreational runner and had held a weight of about 185 lbs. Slowed down a bit in the 1990′s due to a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Weight began to climb and, by r...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - March 7, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat-elimination success stories Source Type: blogs
