Ultraviolet and Red Light Kill Infections in Donor Organs
Donor organs are hard to come by partially because of ischemic damage, physical damage, presence of infection, and other reasons. Researcher at the University of Toronto in Canada and University of São Paulo in Brazil have developed a method of getting rid of bacteria and viruses from donor organs using only light.
The technique involves first removing all donor blood from the organ, running a preservation liquid through the organ, and illuminating organs using ultraviolet and red light for about a half hour or so. In order to boost effectiveness, a photosensitizing drug is introduced into the liquid that is activated by ...
Source: Medgadget - April 15, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: News Source Type: blogs
Patients Win When Payers and Providers Speak the Same Language
By CECI CONNOLLY
Discouraging headlines remind us daily of the ugly battles between payers and providers. Fighting for their slice of the $3.5 trillion health care pie, these companies often seem to leave the consumer out of the equation. But it is not the case across the board. Our latest research documents that when doctors and health plans drop their guards, align incentives and focus on the mutual goal of delivering the best possible care, patients win.
For example, when SelectHealth in Utah
partnered with obstetricians and refused to pay for medically unnecessary — often
dangerous — early induc...
Source: The Health Care Blog - April 9, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: Hospitals Patients The Business of Health Care Alliance of Community Health Plans Ceci Connolly Partnership to Improve Patient Care partnerships Source Type: blogs
2019 Health Law Professors Conference
Conclusion (Source: blog.bioethics.net)
Source: blog.bioethics.net - March 27, 2019 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD Tags: Health Care syndicated Source Type: blogs
The Cruelty of Managed Medicare
By HANS DUVEFELT MD
Jeanette Brown had lost twenty pounds, and she was worried.
“I’m not trying,” she told me at her regular diabetes visit as I pored over her lab results. What I saw sent a chill down my spine:
A normal weight, diet controlled diabetic for many years, her glycosylated hemoglobin had jumped from 6.9 to 9.3 in three months while losing that much weight.
That is exactly what happened to my mother some years ago, before she was diagnosed with the pancreatic cancer that took her life in less than two years.
Jeanette had a normal physical exam and all her bloodwork except for the sugar num...
Source: The Health Care Blog - March 18, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Matthew Holt Tags: Health Policy Medicare Hans Duvefelt Managed Care Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, March 11th 2019
Fight Aging! provides a weekly digest of news and commentary for thousands of subscribers interested in the latest longevity science: progress towards the medical control of aging in order to prevent age-related frailty, suffering, and disease, as well as improvements in the present understanding of what works and what doesn't work when it comes to extending healthy life. Expect to see summaries of recent advances in medical research, news from the scientific community, advocacy and fundraising initiatives to help speed work on the repair and reversal of aging, links to online resources, and much more.
This content is...
Source: Fight Aging! - March 10, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Video of Investor Jim Mellon Presenting at Abundance 360 Summit 2019
Jim Mellon's Juvenescence venture is at present one of the few major venture organizations focused on approaches to treat aging as a medical condition. Mellon and his colleagues outlined their take on the field in a 2017 book, also called Juvenescence. We are fortunate in that he is among the first few high net worth individuals to both agree with the SENS philosophy of damage repair, and then, much more importantly, follow through in action as well as word. He is not just seeing a massive market opportunity in treating aging, though that is certainly there, but is doing this because he wishes to achieve the goal of radica...
Source: Fight Aging! - March 4, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Healthy Life Extension Community Source Type: blogs
Podcast: How to Stay on Track to Make Lasting Change
When it comes to making big changes in our lives, most of us fail. Oh, the change might stick for a while, but eventually we go back to our unchanged selves. Why is that? Why can’t we maintain change for the long-term? In this episode, you’ll learn different reasons for this, but even better, how to make the long-term changes stick.
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About Our Guest
Eric Zimmer is a dad, serial entrepreneur, podcast host, behavior coach, and author. He is endlessly inspired by the quest for a greater understanding of how our minds work and how to intentionally creat...
Source: World of Psychology - February 28, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: The Psych Central Show Tags: Brain and Behavior General Habits The Psych Central Show change Gabe Howard Vincent M. Wales Source Type: blogs
Opioids and a Crisis of Unintended Consequences
The reformulation of OxyContin in 2010 made it more difficult to abuse, but has been linked to an increase in Hepatitis C infections. As policymakers consider additional approaches to curb opioid abuse, they should be mindful that any strategy may have unintended consequences, and be prepared to respond. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - February 20, 2019 Category: Health Management Authors: David Powell Source Type: blogs
Add Hepatitis C to the List of Unintended Consequences of Abuse-Deterrent Opioids
One year ago Cato published my policy analysis, “Abuse-Deterrent Opioids and the Law of Unintended Consequences, ” which provided strong evidence that reformulating opioids, so that they could not be crushed for snorting or dissolved for injecting by nonmedical users, only served to drive nonmedical users to more dangerous, readily available, and cheaper heroin provided by the efficient black market. The evidence included a RAND study that found “a substantial share of the dramatic increase in heroin deaths since 2010 can be attributed to the reformulation of OxyContin” which replaced regular OxyContin in 2010....
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 5, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
Checking Boxes
By HANS DUVEFELT MD
I pay $500 per year for UpToDate, the online reference that helps me stay current on diagnostic criteria and best treatment options for most diseases I might run into in my practice. They also have a rich library of patient information, which I often print out during office visits.
I don’t get any “credit” for doing that, but I do if I print the, often paltry, patient handouts built into my EMR. That was how the rules governing meaningful use of subsidized computer technology for medical offices were written.
If I describe in great detail in my office note how I motivated a patient to quit smoki...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 1, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Patients Physicians EMR Hans Duvefelt primary care Source Type: blogs
Hepatocellular carcinoma risk, cirrhosis and hepatitis C
High profile public health strategy needed Related items fromOnMedica Overweight teens more likely to have severe liver disease later Scotland reveals target of halving child obesity by 2030 JCVI recommends universal HPV vaccination Lower cancer risk in people with higher vitamin D levels Public drastically underestimates cannabis risks (Source: OnMedica Blogs)
Source: OnMedica Blogs - December 3, 2018 Category: General Medicine Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, October 15th 2018
This study suggests that exocrine glands can be induced from pluripotent stem cells for organ replacement regenerative therapy.
Replacement of Aged Microglia Partially Reverses Cognitive Decline in Mice
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2018/10/replacement-of-aged-microglia-partially-reverses-cognitive-decline-in-mice/
Researchers here report on a compelling demonstration that shows the degree to which dysfunctional microglia contribute to age-related neurodegeneration. The scientists use a pharmacological approach to greatly deplete the microglial population and then allow it to recover naturally. Th...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 14, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Immune System Aging and Risk of Lymphoma
Cancer is an age-related condition in large part because the immune system declines with age. One of the many important tasks undertaken by the immune system is suppression of cancer. This is achieved by destroying cancerous and potentially cancerous cells quickly, before they can establish a tumor that will go on to subvert the immune system's normal responses to errant cells. This process of cancer eradication (and tumor development when eradication fails) is enormously complex in detail, but straightforward enough to understand at the high level. How does this interaction between aging, the immune system, and cancer ris...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 11, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Why this gastroenterologist decided to treat hepatitis C patients
In a prior post, I shared my heretofore reluctance to prescribe medications for my hepatitis C (HCV) patients. In summary, after consideration of the risks and benefits of the available options, I could not persuade myself — or my patients — to pull the trigger. These patients were made aware of my conservative philosophy of medical practice. I offered every one of them an opportunity to consult with another specialist who had a different view on the value of HCV treatment.
I do believe that there is a medical industrial complex that is flowing across the country like hot steaming lava. While I have ev...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - August 24, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/michael-kirsch" rel="tag" > Michael Kirsch, MD < /a > Tags: Conditions Gastroenterology Source Type: blogs
