The why and how of public distrust of vaccines…Surely, questions worth asking
One of the biggest changes in healthcare in recent times is the emphasis on decision-making. Patients and doctors now work with big menus. It’s mostly a good thing, but a certainty with increased choice is increased conflict.
As a doctor who works in a field–electrophysiology–that is almost exclusively preference-sensitive, I’ve grown increasingly interested in why and how humans choose things. After twenty years of bearing witness to medicine’s wins and loses, I’ve come to realize how little I know about this central theme of doctoring.
The list of mysteries I think about is a long one:...
Source: Dr John M - April 28, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr John Source Type: blogs
Hiv Less Deadly Than Viral Hepatitis In Europe | Medindia
GBD 2010 is the most recent version of a large epidemiological study funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. In the EU, in 2010, there were more than 10 times as many deaths due to viral hepatitis as there were HIV-attributable deaths. Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) are estimated to have caused nearly 90,000 deaths that year in the EU (HCV nearly 57,000 deaths, HBV nearly 31,000 deaths), while there were just over 8,000 deaths from HIV/AIDS. Presenting these thought-provoking figures, EASL...
Source: aids-write.org - April 12, 2014 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: aidswrite Tags: current news Source Type: blogs
Next case: Just one doctor this time.
We've spent a lot of time recently focusing on how high-ranking people decided to let a private medical device company use the name and reputation of the University of Illinois in support of its product.But there are smaller versions of this happening all the time. These cases raise the same set of issues: How can the public have trust that a doctor who has publicly endorsed a company or its products will use appropriate clinical judgment when caring for a patient?I offer one recent example forwarded to me by a friend from Seattle, Washington. On a Facebook post about the U of I, she asks:How is this any ...
Source: Running a hospital - March 21, 2014 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Washington School of Law Summer Institute
The University of Washington School of Law will be holding a week-long Global Health Law Summer Institute, from July 14-18, 2014. The theme is “The Access Challenges.” The summer institute will focus on the following: Access to Global Health: The... (Source: HealthLawProf Blog)
Source: HealthLawProf Blog - March 12, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Authors: Katharine Van Tassel Source Type: blogs
Save the dates / preliminary program for Lake Arrowhead Microbial Genomes Meeting
Preliminary information for the The Lake Arrowhead Microbial Genomes - which is going to be great (note - I am on the planning committee) is below. Registration information and Abstract Submission details will be coming soon.Preliminary Program of Confirmed SpeakersLake Arrowhead International Microbial Genomics ConferenceSeptember 14-18, 2014Keynote Speaker: Julia A. Segre, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD (skin microbiome; tracking outbreaks through genomic sequencing)Mirobial Communities I: MicrobiomesPeter Turnbaugh, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (human microbiome)Noa...
Source: The Tree of Life - March 2, 2014 Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Jonathan Eisen Source Type: blogs
Online course in Public Health Emergency Risk Communication
In conclusion, it’s definitely a course worth spending 2,5 hours on. As said it is not very theoretical or academic oriented, but it has great references if one feels like digging into more of that, and is relevant for students as well as public health professionals proned to get involved in public health emergencies in one way or the other. You get a nice little diploma when passing the final assessment test and can, if relevant also apply for official credits for the course. (Source: Biomedicine on Display)
Source: Biomedicine on Display - February 7, 2014 Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Nina Bjerglund Andersen Tags: public health science communication emergency risk communication Northwest Center for Public Health Practice online course public health emergencies public health professionals Public Health Risk Communication Social media university of wa Source Type: blogs
Alzheimer’s Risk for Older Adults is on the Decline
“Our findings suggest that, even if we don't find a cure for Alzheimer's disease and dementia, there are social and lifestyle factors we can address to decrease our risk.”+Alzheimer's Reading RoomPeople are less likely to experience dementia and Alzheimer's disease today than they were 20 years ago.And, those who do may be developing it later in life – says a new perspective article in the New England Journal of Medicine that examines the positive trends in dementia.“Of course, people are tending to live longer, with worldwide populations aging, so there are many new cases of dementia; but, some seem to be developi...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - December 2, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs
Best Post of August 2013: Profile of Wash U NP Fellow Dr. PJ Cimino
The next in our "Best of the Month" series is from August 1, 2013, when I profiled Dr. PJ Cimino, a prominent first-year neuropathology fellow at Washington University in St. Louis. After a short biographical sketch, Dr. Cimino answers a few of my questions:Dr. PJ CiminoP.J. Cimino grew up in Seattle, WA, where he did both his undergraduate studies (double major in neurobiology and biochemistry) and Medical Scientist Training Program (combined MD/PhD program) at the University of Washington. He earned his PhD in Neurobiology and Behavior while working in the laboratory of Tom Montine MD, PhD in the Department of Pathology....
Source: neuropathology blog - November 22, 2013 Category: Pathologists Tags: Best of the Month series neuropathologists Source Type: blogs
FutureMed Day 3: From Google’s Science Fair Winner to Microsoft’s Top MD
Day three of FutureMed began with a session on the Future of Intervention and a talk by Intuitive Surgical’s Dr. Catherine Mohr. She spoke at FutureMed earlier this year (where we were able to interview her) and repeated her message that even though robotic surgery is sleek, we have not yet reached the zenith of where intervention should go since we still have to make incisions. Her vision is for a future where surgery will be unnecessary, or at least made even less invasive.
Next up was Stanford’s Dr. Peter Fitzgerald who echoed his remarks from earlier this year by speaking optimistically about the ...
Source: Medgadget - November 6, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Shiv Gaglani Tags: Medgadget Exclusive Source Type: blogs
Interventions That Really Work for College Drinking
When a student heads off to college, friends, family members and loved ones hope that they are prepared both emotionally and academically for transitions and the independence that comes with college life. But for some students, drinking problems emerge with potentially serious consequences for a student’s academics, relationships and mental and physical health.
Colleges have long struggled to identify who is most at risk for developing drinking problems and which interventions best treat problems once they emerge.
With more than 1,825 college student deaths from alcohol-related accidents, according to a 2009 study in ...
Source: World of Psychology - October 27, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Christy Matta, MA Tags: Addiction Alcoholism College Disorders Friends General Habits Health-related Mental Health and Wellness Personality Psychology Recovery Research Self-Esteem Self-Help Students Substance Abuse Treatment assault BASICS Source Type: blogs
Do You Know Your Insulin Level?
By David Spero
People often keep close watch on their glucose numbers. But how many of us know our insulin level? Dr. Joseph Mercola says fasting insulin is "the number that may best predict your sudden death." Sounds important. But what does it mean?
Our bodies need some circulating insulin at all times, even when we don't eat. Otherwise, our livers keep making glucose and dumping it into the blood. Livers do this to prevent blood glucose from going too low.
So a fasting insulin level should never be 0, which it might be in a person with untreated Type 1. It shouldn't go below 3. But a high insulin level is just as prob...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - October 23, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: David Spero Source Type: blogs
2013 SPSP Awards
From SPSP Website:
September 18, 2013 – When you pass by a stranger in need of help, do you stop to lend a hand? Maybe not… A landmark 1973 study found that seminary students in a hurry were less likely to help someone in distress, even when they were on their way to deliver a talk on the Parable of the Good Samaritan. A co-author of that study and several other distinguished researchers are the recipients of the 2013 annual awards from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP). The contributions of these scientists to personality and social psychology include furthering our understanding of how pers...
Source: The Situationist - October 11, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: The Situationist Staff Tags: Awards Situationist Contributors Social Psychology Source Type: blogs
Editorial: FDA seems too cozy with manufacturers of pain pills
Oct. 11, 2013 @ 12:00 AMPain pill abuse is arguably today's most devastating drug abuse trend.Illicit marijuana use is more prevalent, with an estimated 31 million saying they have used pot or hash in the past year, according to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.But the number of people abusing pain pills has risen to about 12.5 million -- about three times the level of cocaine or hallucinogens, according to the survey -- and the impact on families and crime is much more severe. The link between prescription drug addiction and rising rates of heroin use only makes it worse.Even more disturbing is that these a...
Source: PharmaGossip - October 11, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Chemical Programming Language May Enable the Development of Synthetic DNA
Programming languages, such as Java and C, may no longer necessitate a computer as the platform to carry out a set of instructions. Researchers at University of Washington believe they have developed a chemical programming language for use in networks that can guide the behavior of chemical reactions. The engineering and design process that goes into creating a molecular network is extremely complex, which is why UW engineers set out to create a framework to be used in such endeavors. The framework would consist of synthetically designed DNA molecules, which code for specific molecules with very narrowly defined functions....
Source: Medgadget - October 7, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Yona Gidalevitz Tags: in the news... Source Type: blogs
Pay To Play? Drugmakers Paid To Attend Panel That Advised FDA
How much impact did Immpact have in shaping FDA thinking on testing the safety and effectiveness of prescription painkillers? For those unaware, Immpact is a behind-the-scenes panel run privately by a pair of academics, who have regularly invited agency officials, academics and drugmakers to Washington DC hotels for brainstorming sessions on fine tuning clinical trials. The panel acronym stands for Initiative on Methods, Measurement and Pain Assessment in Clinical Trials (look here).
The drugmakers, however, were required to pay big fees to participate – as much as $35,000 to attend a single meeting. And this has raised ...
Source: Pharmalot - October 7, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
