News from across the pond
As we mentioned late last year every couple of weeks we will post a roundup of health news from across the pond. Enjoy!
According to estimates more than two-fifths of UK health spending is spent on people over 65. With the increase in the nation’s aging demographic this is likely to grow. The data shows that an 85-year-old man costs the NHS about seven times more on average than a man in his late 30s. For more on this read The Guardian’s coverage here.
To reduce the risk of miscarriage pregnant women in the UK will get a safer and more accurate test for Down’s syndrome on the NHS. The test would prevent thousands...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - February 8, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: DW UK Source Type: blogs
UK approves gene editing
This week, UK regulators gave approval to a group of scientists in London to genetically modify human embryos. Dr. Kathy Niakan, the researcher who will be performing the experiments, said, “We would really like to understand the genes needed for a human embryo to develop successfully into a healthy baby. The reason why it is so important is because miscarriages and infertility are extremely common,... // Read More » (Source: blog.bioethics.net)
Source: blog.bioethics.net - February 5, 2016 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Joe Gibes Tags: Genetics Health Care bioethics embryos gene editing human dignity syndicated Source Type: blogs
The story of how a NICU nurse became a NICU mom
My son Acton is truly a miracle baby because he was not even supposed to be here. I had gone through four years of infertility with three miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy in my fallopian tube), causing my left tube to be removed. After my last miscarriage, I was told I was in perimenopause and had less than 1 percent chance of ever getting pregnant again, let alone carrying to term. We went to one more infertility doctor to investigate embryo or egg donation, but after finding out the cost, my husband and I decided it was too expensive, and we would possibly be throwing our money away since I could not carr...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 21, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Linda Merritt, RN Tags: Conditions Intensive care OB/GYN Source Type: blogs
Prevent your baby from dying: 9 tips every parent should know
Dead babies aren’t something anybody likes to talk about. But while it may be an uncomfortable topic, it’s also an important one — because there are things we can do to make it happen less frequently. The loss of an infant is something parents never really get over, and something that no parent should have to experience. Here’s a look at the most common causes of infant mortality and some things you can do to reduce your baby’s risk. (Warning: This is about to get real, and maybe a bit uncomfortable. But stick with me; it’s important.)
Babies die — a lot of them. And no matter how hard we try, babi...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 11, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Chad Hayes, MD Tags: Conditions Pediatrics Source Type: blogs
Measles
I wasn't paying complete attention, but in Christmas Day's Call the Midwife, there were cases of measles. At least one was fatal. Local schools were closed early for Christmas and quarantine was imposed by the Board of Health.The (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that measles was declared eliminated from the USA in 2000. However, in the decade before vaccination became available in the USA, almost all children caught it (3 - 4 million cases annually) and 400 to 500 people died. 48000 people were hospitalised and 4000 suffered encephalitis.Clinical Knowledge Summaries (a resourc...
Source: Browsing - December 28, 2015 Category: Databases & Libraries Tags: measles Source Type: blogs
4 ways to handle unsolicited health advice
Here’s the most distressing piece of unsolicited advice I’ve received to date. It showed up in my Inbox two days after I’d completed a course of radiation for breast cancer. The email was in response to an article I’d written about this new, unexpected turn my life had taken; the article included the fact that, at the time, I was in the middle of a course of radiation treatment. Here’s what the woman said in her email: “I’m sorry to hear you have breast cancer. However, because you’re already chronically ill, do not, under any circumstances, continue with radiation. It will destroy your immune system.”
In...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 6, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Toni Bernhard, JD Tags: Patient Patients Source Type: blogs
MPTs Combine Contraception With HIV And Other STI Prevention
The world became a better place recently when world leaders adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a milestone United Nations statement that will shape world policy for the next 15 years to reduce poverty and set us on a more equitable and sustainable trajectory. Sewn centrally into this extensive policy fabric is improving the status of women through expanding reproductive health and rights, achievements that clearly impact equity, educational attainment, and the well-being of women and families. Women’s ability to determine the timing and spacing of children and to avoid sexually transmitted infections (STIs...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - November 2, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Bethany Young Holt and Helen Rees Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Technology Equity and Disparities Featured Global Health Long-term Services and Supports Public Health Quality family planning HIV/AIDS Reproductive Health sexually transmitted infections sustai Source Type: blogs
Protecting The Women’s Health Movement On A Global Scale
This article is part of a series of blog posts by leaders in health and health care who participated in Spotlight Health from June 25-28, the opening segment of the Aspen Ideas Festival. This year’s theme was Smart Solutions to the World’s Toughest Challenges. Stayed tuned for more.
Recently, I took part in the second annual Spotlight Health at the Aspen Ideas Festival, which gathered an amazing audience and speakers from around the world to talk about the most pressing global health challenges and to propose innovative solutions for these issues. I had the pleasure to share panels and discussions with more than...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - September 14, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Estefania Palomino Tags: Equity and Disparities Featured Global Health Population Health Public Health Quality Abortion Aspen Ideas Festival Colombia Purvi Patel Reproductive Health Spotlight Health Women's Health Source Type: blogs
A Simple Slice of Bread. Staff of Life for You. Poison for Me.
Celiac Disease. Know of it?
Even if you do, you may not know it’s a serious genetic autoimmune condition. Because it can cause over 100 symptoms, it often masquerades as other conditions. For that reason, and despite availability of simple blood test to detect it, the average time to diagnosis is ten years for women and six years for men. The consequences in the meantime can be significant: miscarriage, stillbirth, osteopenia, neurological conditions, gastrointestinal symptoms, headache, fatigue, failure to thrive and stunted growth in children and, over the long term, increased risk of esophageal, stomach and colon canc...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - August 28, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Chronic Conditions Food Nutrition Source Type: blogs
You might be missing a PCOS diagnosis. Here are 10 reasons why.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is becoming a significant problem in women’s health. Between 1 in 10 to 20 women have the condition, although more than 50 percent remain undiagnosed. PCOS is the leading cause of female infertility and women who do become pregnant have higher rates of miscarriage, preterm birth, and gestational diabetes.
Women with PCOS have a greater likelihood of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and endometrial cancer than women without the condition. Glucose intolerance is caused by associated insulin resistance that frequently, but not always, causes weight gain. Although there are diag...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - July 31, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Poppy Daniels, MD Tags: Conditions OB/GYN Source Type: blogs
The taboo nature of miscarriage must end
Thankfully, many medical conditions that once were never discussed in public, such as cancer, AIDS, and even infertility, have largely shed their stigma and sense of secrecy.
Miscarriage holds an unusual place in medicine in being both common and something that many in society thinks is rare. One in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage, and there are 1,000,000 miscarriages each year in the U.S. — yet miscarriage remains shrouded in privacy and self-blame. Thus, there are huge numbers of women and couples who feel isolated and alone.
Continue reading ...
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage y...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 24, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Zev Williams, MD, PhD Tags: Conditions OB/GYN Source Type: blogs
Police Misconduct: The Worst Case in March
Tim Lynch
Over at Cato’s Police Misconduct website, we have identified the worst case of the month for March: the conspiracy to frame an innocent man, Douglas Dendinger, in Bogalusa, LA.
Here’s the story: Dendinger agreed to take on the task of a “process server.” That is, he would hand-deliver legal papers to a person who has been sued, putting that person on notice about the legal action. In this instance, Dendinger was to serve papers on a former police officer, Chad Cassard, who was being sued for police brutality.
Dendinger found Cassard as he was leaving the local courthouse and made the delivery. At that...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 10, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Tim Lynch Source Type: blogs
Have a Miscarriage and Go to Jail? Potential Consequences of Personhood Amendments
Bertha Alvarez Manninen (Source: blog.bioethics.net)
Source: blog.bioethics.net - January 27, 2015 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Susan Gilbert Tags: Health Care syndicated Source Type: blogs
You Won’t Believe Which Big-Name Groups are Opposed to Flu Vaccine Mandates
Conclusion
Millions of people are refusing vaccines, in record numbers, as they realize that vaccines are dangerous and ineffective. Now, unions and professional organizations are joining the ranks of anti-vaxers, at least with regard to mandatory vaccination. Those organizations value their members and know that they deserve choices about their bodies and their health care.
In return, those groups will be rewarded with a collectively healthier, more innovative work force, because their employees will not be forced to receive injections laced with toxic chemicals. Their employees will also know their ideas and opinions are...
Source: vactruth.com - January 17, 2015 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Missy Fluegge Tags: Missy Fluegge Top Stories American Medical Association (AMA) Mandatory Vaccination National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act truth about vaccines Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) Source Type: blogs
Infertility and the joint family
For god’s sake, infertility is not a sin!For infertile couples living in a joint family, coping with the stress of infertility could be nothing less than a nightmare. Many such couples are derided because of their infertility, and are often excluded from family functions because they are considered to be “inauspicious”. And if that was not enough, they are treated as second-class citizens simply because they don’t have a baby, while preferential treatment is provided for the daughter-in-law who does have a child. The Hum Aapke Hain Kaun familyOn the other hand, there are many joint families who are extremely suppor...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 17, 2015 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
