Three Washington, D.C.-area teaching hospitals have ranked in the lowest-scoring group nationally on preventing infections when their patients are hooked up to central lines, intravenous tubes that supply fluids, medications, and nutrients to those in dire need. Two institutions in the region rated highly. Consumer Reports deserves credit for its continuing reporting on hospital acquired….
Continue ReadingArchives for November 2016
Dementia rates are dropping, but a key Alzheimer’s drug fails
There’s more encouraging news about dementia rates, which a new study has found fell 24 percent between 2000 and 2012, decreasing among Americans 65 and older from 11.6 percent to 8.8 percent. The experts aren’t sure why the rates declined. But it means that 1.5 million or so seniors will be spared the severe cognitive….
Continue ReadingBe wary of counterfactual assertions about Obamacare, Medicare, Medicaid
As speculation explodes about what the GOP and the president-elect will or won’t do with the Affordable Health Care Act (aka Obamacare), Medicare, and Medicaid, skeptical citizens would be well-served to learn as much as they can about critical policy concerns. Ask tough questions and be wary of counterfactual contentions. Here are a few prime….
Continue ReadingFor Kentucky’s sick and poor, health policy controversies are harsh realities
Although the partisan wrangling over what’s next with American health care seems to ignore the maddening realities confronting patient-consumers, a new look at the plight of poor Kentuckians provides a harsh look at the collision of many major health policy controversies including soaring drug prices, the Affordable Care Act, and the prescription drug abuse crisis…..
Continue ReadingWith 1 in 5 ER patients affected, it’s time to stop ‘surprise’ medical bills
Your kid takes a tumble and breaks an arm at a sleep-over. Your spouse, on a business trip, suffers sudden chest pain and shortness of breath. You’re in beach slippers and step by accident on a shard of glass stuck in the sand. Now, you’ve got oodles of time to check your insurance policy to….
Continue ReadingFlurry of new heart health research requires careful, skeptical reading
Heart health news grabbed a lot of headlines in recent days, especially as experts gathered for a major national conference in New Orleans. But skeptical readers would do well to scrutinize the reports on topics like: who should take statins, what’s the role of lifestyle and genetics in heart disease, and how heart-safe is a….
Continue ReadingQuick tips for a safe and healthy Thanksgiving
As tens of millions of us set out to feast and give thanks, some thoughts about making the holiday safe and healthy: Turn off the e-devices when driving When driving to see friends and family, shut off the electronic devices, please, and forgo the apps on them, as long as you’re the one behind the….
Continue ReadingThe eyes have it: Young athletes may need more protection against eye injury
Basketball legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy donned them, as did pro football superstar Eric Dickerson, and onetime Reds third-baseman Chris Sabo. Goggles may make athletes look goofy, but new research suggests that young players and their parents and coaches might want to give these and other protective eye-wear a second look. That’s because caregivers….
Continue ReadingAs cancer care advances, costs and concerns keep rising, too
Although doctors and hospitals report potentially sunnier news by the day about novel cancer treatments, it’s also worth keeping in mind that difficult obstacles like data misinterpretation still must be worked out to avoid endangering patients. The therapies themselves as well as cancer care overall can be crushing in their costs. And some experts also are….
Continue ReadingAdults’ cigarette smoking declines more but its health toll remains huge
American adults’ cigarette smoking keeps declining, but this “persistent and preventable health threat” takes a terrible toll on those who still light up, with 40 percent of cancer diagnoses in the country linked to tobacco use, public health experts say. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that between 2005 and 2015, “smoking….
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