Category: Consumerhealth

MEwens
Heart Unhealthy Kids: A new analysis of federal data of nearly 5,500 adolescents shows that not a single one met recommended standards for healthy diet, reports the WSJ. They also scored dismally low as a group on six other criteria for heart health, including exercise, smoking and blood pressure. The findings led one […]

MEwens
Hospitals that use a computerized medical-information tool to help doctors make decisions at the point of care have better patient outcomes than those who don’t, according to a new study in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
Researchers at Harvard University examined data for Medicare beneficiaries at 1,017 hospitals between 2004 and 2006 as […]

MEwens
A tie in the statin wars: Cholesterol fighter Crestor, considered by some doctors to be the most potent statin, didn’t fare significantly better than rival Lipitor, a new study finds. The results, presented at the American Heart Association’s meeting, will make it harder for Crestor’s maker AstraZeneca to convince payors that the drug […]

MEwens
It’s common for parents in the Netherlands to allow their older teenagers to have sleepovers with a boyfriend or girlfriend.
Can you imagine that here?
The WSJ Bonds column today explains how American parents should start teaching their children about sex from the time their children can talk.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says by age […]

MEwens
Painkiller ODs Rise: New data from the CDC show that prescription painkillers now kill more people each year than heroin and cocaine combined, the WSJ reports. Painkiller overdoses killed 14,800 people in the U.S. in 2008, compared to 4,000 in 1999, the report says. The CDC says the pills have become easier to […]

MEwens
Pacemaker wearers could soon be looking at a new world: the inside of an MRI machine.
Individuals implanted with pacemakers and defibrillators typically aren’t been able to get magnetic resonance imaging because of the fear that the MRI will interfere with the heart devices, but the WSJ reports that Johns Hopkins’ researchers are trying […]

MEwens
Judy A. Mikovits, the embattled scientist who led the research team that found a possible link between the retrovirus XMRV and patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, has been terminated from her job as director of research at the Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease in Reno, Nev.
The controversial finding, published in a 2009 […]

MEwens
The outbreak of listeriosis linked to cantaloupes from a Colorado farm field is heightening concerns over its presence in other foods–especially those founds behind the deli counter.
Food-safety experts warn consumers to be aware that listeria, a common environmental bacterium, is linked primarily with meat and animal products, as well as with dairy products […]

MEwens
No Coverage for Avastin: Blue Shield of California will no longer pay for the use of the drug Avastin to treat breast cancer, the New York Times reports.  Blue Shield is apparently the first large insurance company to end payments since a federal advisory committee recommended in June that the Food and Drug […]

MEwens
A new online tool to prepare patients for surgery and other invasive procedures aims to reduce the stress and anxiety that accompanies many medical decisions.
Boston-based Health Dialog today launched HD Care Compass, a web and mobile site with patient guides on what to expect before, during and after seven major procedures, including cardiac […]