It can't happen here . . .
. . . but it should. I'm talking about evaluating medical interventions in terms of their costs as well as their benefits. And I do mean monetary costs.In the UK, the Death Panel is called the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE -- in the acronym they omit the H). This blog post by Austin Frakt explains how they do it. He doesn't really explain the Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio, so I will tell you that in simple terms it's the cost per Quality Adjusted Life Year of a treatment. Here's the definition of a QALY:A quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) takes into account both the quantity and quality of ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 21, 2015 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Does Public Health Have A Future?
Ebola’s arrival in the U.S. hit Americans with a jolt. Regardless of how you feel about the response to date, it should remind everyone of the importance of public health.
Fortunately, public health in the U.S. has built an extraordinary track record of success. Smallpox, one of the most dreaded diseases in history, was eradicated worldwide. New vaccines have sharply cut the toll of deaths and disabilities from H flu meningitis, tetanus, pneumococcal sepsis and other deadly diseases.
Adding folate to foods dramatically reduced neural tube defects in newborns. Safer cars and better roadway designs cut fatal crashes per m...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - December 10, 2014 Category: Health Management Authors: Arthur Kellermann and Mark Kortepeter Tags: All Categories Environmental Health Prevention Public Health Source Type: blogs
You Ought to Have A Look: Global Warming Will Make the Earth Uninhabitable and Other Cli-Fi Funnies
This study, however, is fundamentally flawed.
Firstly, it uses climate model results that have been shown to run at least three times hotter than empirical reality (0.15◦C vs 0.04◦C per decade, respectively), despite using 27% lower greenhouse gas forcing.
Secondly, it ignores the fact that people and societies are not potted plants; that they will actually take steps to reduce, if not nullify, real or perceived threats to their life, limb and well-being. Thus, if the seas rise around them, heatwaves become more prevalent, or malaria, diarrhoeal disease and hunger spread, they will undertake adaptation measures to prot...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 8, 2014 Category: American Health Authors: Patrick J. Michaels, Paul C. "Chip" Knappenberger Source Type: blogs
Dirty Drugs
A 25-year-old man presents to the emergency department with palpitations. He reports injecting heroin, which he obtained from a new source, and is concerned that it was “not just heroin.” His initial vital signs include blood pressure 150/90 mm Hg, heart rate 130 bpm, respiratory rate 16 breaths per minute, and pulse oximetry 99% on room air. The patient appears uncomfortable, but is alert and oriented. His physical exam is remarkable for tachycardia and agitation.
The concern for an altered illicit drug is not uncommon in the ED. Cases and epidemics of tainted illicit drugs have been reported historically; the firs...
Source: The Tox Cave - December 2, 2014 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Dirty Drugs
A 25-year-old man presents to the emergency department with palpitations. He reports injecting heroin, which he obtained from a new source, and is concerned that it was “not just heroin.” His initial vital signs include blood pressure 150/90 mm Hg, heart rate 130 bpm, respiratory rate 16 breaths per minute, and pulse oximetry 99% on room air. The patient appears uncomfortable, but is alert and oriented. His physical exam is remarkable for tachycardia and agitation.
The concern for an altered illicit drug is not uncommon in the ED. Cases and epidemics of tainted illicit drugs have been reported historically; the fi...
Source: The Tox Cave - December 2, 2014 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Ebola update - two being tested in the UK
The Guardian is reporting in not a lot of detail that two children are being tested in Newcastle upon Tyne for Ebola and malaria, as a precautionary measure. They have arrived from Africa but it is not clear where, and Public Health England are of the opinion that Ebola is very unlikely.The Guardian is also reporting that trials of a vaccine look promising, according to the manufacturer.Here might be a good time and place to mention the BMJ's news piece from a few weeks ago reminding NHS staff to be on the lookout for Ebola. The news item refers to a BMJ letter from Bruce Keogh. Access to the BMJ's c...
Source: Browsing - November 28, 2014 Category: Databases & Libraries Tags: Ebola Source Type: blogs
Featured F1000Prime Report: developing tools for malaria surveillance.
From this month’s batch of F1000Prime Reports, the peer-reviewed open-access review series on emerging themes in biology and medicine, we thought we’d feature a report dealing with one of the deadliest killers in human history: malaria. In “Research priorities for … Continue reading → (Source: Naturally Selected)
Source: Naturally Selected - November 26, 2014 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Samuel Winthrop Tags: Infectious diseases Medicine Reports James Beeson malaria Source Type: blogs
Another Look at Blood Groups and Longevity
Evidence for blood group differences to be meaningfully involved in natural variations in longevity is nebulous at best. Nonetheless, papers emerge every so often on this topic to theorize and collect more evidence, but continue to reinforce the lack of compelling data:
ABO antigens have been known for a long time and yet their biological meaning is still largely obscure. Based on the available knowledge of the genes involved in their biosynthesis and their tissue distribution, their polymorphism has been suggested to provide intraspecies diversity allowing to cope with diverse and rapidly evolving pathogens. Accordingly,...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 12, 2014 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Ebola: If Nigeria can do it, so can we
In June, a man became very ill during a flight into Lagos, Nigeria. On the plane, he developed vomiting and diarrhea, and he collapsed in the very busy airport. Contacts on the plane and on the ground had no idea that he had Ebola — initially, he was treated for malaria — and many health care workers and bystanders on the plane and in the airport were exposed to his infectious body fluids. One of his close contacts, while ill, flew across the country to consult with a private physician.
Continue reading ...
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - October 31, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Roy Benaroch, MD Tags: Conditions Infectious disease Source Type: blogs
Health Affairs Web First: Vietnam’s Health Care System, Explained By Its Minister Of Health
In August, Vietnam’s Minister of Health, Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, was interviewed for Health Affairs by Tsung-Mei Cheng, recently released as a Health Affairs Web First.
Among the topics discussed was an overview of the unique characteristics of Vietnam’s health system; its strengths and weaknesses; health financing reform aimed at reaching the goal of universal health coverage; the prevention and control of infectious diseases; and how Vietnam has performed in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Cheng is a health policy research analyst at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton U...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - October 30, 2014 Category: Health Management Authors: Chris Fleming Tags: All Categories Global Health Public Health Source Type: blogs
Send The International Nanny Packing
This article proposes four concrete steps for a long-term solution: creating a dedicated fund for NCD control and prevention; regulating industry to improve nutrition and restrict alcohol and tobacco marketing; altering the built environment to promote physical activity; and prioritizing prevention in all sectors of government and in the global regimes that govern NCD risk factors.
Barriers to quick adoption of such measures, Gostin laments, include “philanthropic action favoring swift wins in infectious disease control, and the framing of NCDs as an individual rather than collective problem.” That second point you mig...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - October 24, 2014 Category: American Health Authors: Walter Olson Source Type: blogs
Bill Gates Recognizes the Improving State of Humanity
Chelsea German
With the newspapers full of crises, it can be hard to maintain a proper perspective on the progress humanity has made, and to remember that there are individuals striving every day to make the world a better place. In a recent interview, businessman and philanthropist Bill Gates discussed the improving state of humanity, and the work that he is doing through private charity to help those in need. He said,
I think the idea that people are worried about problems, like climate change or terrorism or these challenges of the future, that’s okay. But boy, they really lose perspective of what’s happened ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - October 23, 2014 Category: American Health Authors: Chelsea German Source Type: blogs
Proportionality
Sorry for my absence, I needed a few days to clear my head and the muse just didn't inspire, not for this blog at least . . .Anyway, it's something of a repeating theme for me that we humans just aren't very good at deciding what is important, or what we ought to be worried about more than something else. So, of course the ebola virus is worrisome. Lots of people have already suffered and died and many more will. But the attention it deserves is mostly because the incidence is increasing in the fairly restricted geographic region where the outbreak is occurring, and nobody can be sure how it's going to play out.Here, Andre...
Source: Stayin' Alive - October 14, 2014 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
AppStudio Humanitarian Challenge
Save the World by Developing or Donating!
September 3, 2014 — The number of smart phones in third world is growing at the almost the same rate as Malaria, Ebola, Tuberculosis and AIDS.
Nedzad Demirovic, an AppStudio user, had a great idea. Could we motivate our developer community to create some great apps to help people? He made a generous contribution to get this started. We here at NS BASIC Corporation have matched it, and we’re looking for more.
We are organizing a Challenge for the best mobile application that will warn and educate users how to avoid the threats of diseases in the friendly game like mann...
Source: The Palmdoc Chronicles - October 7, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: palmdoc Tags: Software News AppStudio Javascript NSBasic Source Type: blogs
500 Days And Counting: Critical Steps In The Countdown To Achieving MDG 6
Editor’s note: For more on global health, see the September issue of Health Affairs.
We are now less than 500 days away from December 31, 2015, the target date for reaching the world’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG). This includes MDG 6, the goal of combatting HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
Astonishing progress has been made to date (as mentioned previously in our Health Affairs Blog post): AIDS-related deaths have fallen 35 percent since their peak in 2005; global mortality from tuberculosis has fallen by 45 percent since 1990; and global malaria mortality rates dropped 42 percent globally between 200...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - October 6, 2014 Category: Health Management Authors: Deb Derrick and Peter Yeo Tags: All Categories Global Health Public Health Source Type: blogs
