We always advise people to understand the risks as well as the benefits of any procedure or treatment they are considering, but getting your arms around the idea of “risk” – much less being able to quantify it – is a challenge all its own. Last month, “Risk and Reason,” a multipart series on NPR,….
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More Muscle for Medical Sleuths
This summer, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) began a campaign to define, explain and find support for disorders whose origins and treatments are unknown. The Undiagnosed Disease Network is composed of six medical centers around the country focused on the most difficult-to-solve medical cases. They will conduct clinical evaluation and scientific investigation in cases….
Continue ReadingCaution: Bad Medical Reporting Ahead
Although much of the media continue to issue breathless reports about new drugs, new lab findings, new this, new that, some watchdogs remain vigilant about identifying inflated claims and cozy researcher-business relationships. Two such reports that recently came under this welcome scrutiny involved treatments for cystic fibrosis and heart disease. The reporter for both was….
Continue ReadingPet Health Insurance Is Far Easier to Understand than Policies for People
A family rescued a dog from a local shelter, took him to the vet to treat a minor ear problem and learned a profound lesson: “It tells you everything you need to know about the U.S. health-care system that you can get more comprehensive coverage for a dog than you can for a human being.”….
Continue ReadingYour Toothbrush — An Essential Health Tool, a Potential Threat
We all brush our teeth every day, sometimes several times. But most of us remain unaware that the humble toothbrush can carry a medical textbook’s worth of nasty bugs. A toothbrush can play host to Staphylococci (commonly from mucus membranes and skin), yeasts, intestinal bacteria and even fecal germs. But instead of tossing it into….
Continue ReadingTreating Kidney Stones Often Has Complications
People who have suffered kidney stones say there’s nothing more painful. But according to new research, for a disturbing number of patients, treating them can cause complications requiring emergency follow-up. All the more reason to heed some good advice about how to prevent them in the first place. Kidney stones are small, hard pebbles formed….
Continue ReadingCompensation for Medical Executives Puts Priority on Paper Pushing, Not Patient Care
Doctors are high wage earners, but would it surprise you to know that, compared with medical industry executives, their incomes look rather ordinary? A news analysis last week in the New York Times questioned why physicians, the most highly trained members in the industry’s work force and the ones primarily responsible for actually making ill….
Continue ReadingStudies Raise Concern About Health Status of U.S. Residents
Two reports issued last week have raised eyebrows because they seem to indicate a disturbing prevalence of illness. In California, according to one study, about 1 in 3 hospitalized people older than 34 has diabetes. And a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that about half of all Americans have….
Continue ReadingDisabled People Get Inferior Care
The report covered only one state, but its conclusion is disturbing: People with disabilities “fare worse” than other people in terms of physical and mental health and in their access to high-quality medical care from providers who are sensitive to their needs. The report, “Health Needs Assessment of People With Disabilities in Massachusetts, 2013,” pretty….
Continue ReadingSuggested Reading — Willful Ignorance Has a High Social Cost
Too often, people make medical decisions based on fear, ignorance, convenience or a combination of them. We’ve often written (here and here) about the need to understand the basics about a health condition you might have, to understand proven practices to address it, and not just pop cultural attitudes about it. Michael Hiltzik recently wrote….
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