Category: Hospitals

MEwens
The overall economy added 243,000 jobs last month — with the health-care sector continuing to show strength — while the unemployment rate fell to 8.3%.
As the WSJ reports, that’s the lowest the jobless rate has been since Feb. 2009. (Here’s the full report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.)
The health-care industry added 30,900 […]

MEwens
Keeping Birth-Control Rule: The Obama administration refused to scrap a rule that will require most employers to offer health insurance that provides FDA-approved contraceptives with no copayments or deductibles, the WSJ reports. There is an exemption for certain employers if birth control violates their religious beliefs, and those who object but don’t qualify […]

MEwens
The jobs picture last month improved overall — and the health-care sector, which has been a bright spot throughout the downturn, continued to grow.
As the WSJ reports, nonfarm payrolls rose by 200,000 people in December as the unemployment rate, calculated using a separate survey, fell to 8.5% from 8.7% in November.
Here’s […]

MEwens
Weight-Loss Research: Want to lose body fat? A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that focusing on calories — not the balance of protein, fat and carbohydrate — is the key, the WSJ reports. Those on a low-protein diet did gain less weight than those on regimens with […]

MEwens
Questioning the Use of a Genetic Test: A review of previously published research appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that a genetic test for patients taking the anti-clotting drug Plavix doesn’t identify people at greater risk for a heart attack or other cardiac event, the WSJ reports. The FDA, […]

MEwens
“Health and medicine books tend to be long on advice and how-to, and short on compelling narrative and literary merit,” writes Laura Landro in her Informed Patient column today.
But the books she’s picked as her top five of the year prove to be exceptions. They range from a gripping history of surgical practice […]

MEwens
Easing Heart Fears?: Research published online by the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests no increased risk for serious heart problems in adults stemming from drugs to treat attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, the WSJ reports. While a study author notes the research doesn’t prove the drugs are safe, it could — especially when […]

MEwens
Gene Therapy Advance: Researchers reported online in the New England Journal of Medicine that they saw success in using gene therapy to treat hemophilia B, with four of six patients making enough of a crucial blood-clotting factor to skip their usual protein injections and the other two requiring injections less frequently, the WSJ […]

MEwens
Hospital chaplains are bringing more scientific research to the practice of spiritual care, while physicians are learning to bring spirituality to the practice of medicine, today’s Informed Patient column reports.
In recent years, a growing body of research investigating the relationship between religion, spirituality and health has led to a number of evidence-based guidelines […]

MEwens
Once again, the health-care sector was one of the bright spots in the monthly employment report.
As the WSJ reports, nonfarm payrolls rose by 120,000 people in November as the unemployment rate, calculated using a separate survey, fell to 8.6% from 9.0% in October.
Here’s the full report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Private employers […]