Common sense says that putting stents into blocked arteries in the brain should help prevent strokes, just like propping open heart arteries cuts heart attacks. But Medicare asked for a scientific study before it started paying for widespread use of the brain stents. So doctors tested stents versus medical therapy in high-risk patients. After one….
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Better Treatment Decisions From More Accessible Research
You have lupus, the chronic inflammatory disease in which the body’s immune system attacks its tissues and organs. Sometimes the symptoms resemble the joint stiffness and swelling of arthritis; sometimes they present as skin rashes; sometimes your kidneys malfunction. There are four different kinds of lupus whose treatment might involve a variety of behavioral interventions….
Continue ReadingThe Difference between Pharmaceutical Research and Marketing Blurs Yet Again
The road from conception to useful application for a new drug therapy, when properly navigated, is fully mapped, carefully followed, scientfically rigorous and honestly appraised. Not so with a big study of the lucrative drug Neurontin, according to Yale researchers. In the case of Neurontin, a drug to treat epilepsy, critical parts of that journey….
Continue ReadingAsthma Study Shows the Importance of the Doctor “Being There” for the Patient
Only someone who suffers from asthma can understand the panic that comes with a sudden attack that feels as though you’re suffocating. Many such victims reach for an inhaler to dispense the drug albuterol, which provides lung relief. Now, a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine confirms not only the drug’s….
Continue ReadingGender Differences in Who Survives Abdominal Surgery
Generally, a gut-check is an informal, instinctive assessment. But researchers at the University of San Diego Health System took matters literally in studying the impact of gender in major gastrointestinal surgery. They found that women are more likely than men to survive the procedure. Published in the Journal of Surgical Research, “The Battle of the….
Continue ReadingStudy Says Stop-Smoking Drug Carries Cardiovascular Risk
A drug prescribed for smoking cessation is linked to an increased risk of heart problems, according to a study published July 4 in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Varenicline, known by the brand name Chantix, was associated with a 72% increased risk of a serious cardiovascular “event.” That sounds huge, but the scientific number-crunching shakes….
Continue ReadingLung Cancer Screening–Did You Get the Full Story?
Nobody wants to get lung cancer. Nobody who has it looks forward to the radical treatment such a diagnosis usually demands. But a recent research study lifted a bit of the dark cloud hovering over these patients. It found a significant decrease–20%–in deaths among lung cancer patients screened annually for three years with a certain….
Continue ReadingOnce Again, the FDA and Avastin Are Doing the Hokey Pokey
A couple of months ago we gave a shout-out to a physician who had written a commentary about Genentech’s efforts to have the FDA bless the use of its drug Avastin for treatment of certain breast cancers. He had objected to the use of patient testimonials as compelling evidence to support such appeals because they’re….
Continue ReadingAccurate quality measures needed to improve health care quality and safety
The push to make hospitals and doctors more accountable for health care quality means more attention must be paid to the accuracy and reliability of measures used to evaluate caregivers, according to Johns Hopkins patient safety expert Peter Pronovost. There is little consensus as to which measures are scientifically valid and accurate assessments of quality,….
Continue ReadingAs much as 45% of all U.S. health care costs due to medical errors, studies show
Medical mistakes account for between 18 and 45 cents of every health care dollar spent in the U.S., and a medical error or adverse effect occurs in one out of every three hospital admissions, researchers say. According to studies published in the journal Health Affairs, the single most expensive cause of harm is infection after….
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