After becoming the first state to cover almost everyone, they now confront cost control and prevention with no choice but to make further changes. With Washington watching, the state’s leaders are again blazing new trails. Both Gov. Deval Patrick, Mr. Romney’s Democratic successor, and a high-level state commission have set out to revamp the [...]
Archive for March, 2009
Massachusetts Health Plan Approaches Day of Reckoning
Posted in Uncategorized on March 16, 2009 |
Nuts and Popcorn May Reduce Diverticulitis Risk
Posted in Uncategorized on March 15, 2009 |
Over the years many patients have been told that nuts and popcorn are likely to cause or aggravate diverticulitis, an irritation of the lower intestinal tract. New evidence indicates that the opposite may be true, according to the Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter. Popular wisdom has long held that people at risk for diverticulitis should avoid [...]
Sitting in Traffic May Trigger Heart Attacks
Posted in Uncategorized on March 15, 2009 |
The mechanism isn’t clear but a German study flags the connection. It may be a toxic mix of air pollution and road rage. Doctors have long known that anger and stress contribute to long- and short-term heart problems. Stress narrows arteries, boosts blood pressure and even alters the electrical rhythm of the heart. Air pollution [...]
Pathogens in Pork
Posted in Uncategorized on March 15, 2009 |
Nicholas Kristof shares the alarming facts in today’s New York Times: Unlike Europe and even South Korea, the United States still bows to agribusiness interests by permitting the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in animal feed. That’s unconscionable. The peer-reviewed Medical Clinics of North America concluded last year that antibiotics in livestock feed were “a major [...]
Not the Way Science Is Supposed to Work
Posted in Uncategorized on March 14, 2009 |
Top editors of the Journal of the American Medical Association responded to straightforward, fact-based criticism with what appears to be unvarnished academic thuggery. Read it here on the Wall Street Journal Health Blog: Jonathan Leo, a professor of neuro-anatomy at tiny Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., posted a letter on the Web site of [...]
Department of Unintended Positive Side Effects
Posted in Uncategorized on March 14, 2009 |
The economic downturn has yielded a bumper crop of new vegetable gardeners. Amid the Washington talk of “shovel-ready” recession projects, it appears few projects are more shovel-ready than backyard gardens. Veggie seed sales are up double-digits at the nation’s biggest seed sellers this year. What’s more, the number of homes growing vegetables will jump more [...]
Privatizing of Medical Research Has Its Risks
Posted in Uncategorized on March 11, 2009 |
This is a case study in the risks of privatizing the development of health research. Greed is a powerful motivator and some researchers are not immune to its siren song. Those were the days. New pain relief medications known as Cox-2 inhibitors had just received Food and Drug Administration approval and the post-approval research money [...]
Drowning in a River of Corn Calories
Posted in Uncategorized on March 11, 2009 |
In today’s Chicago Tribune, columnist George Will points out some key problems with America’s agricultural policies and their effects on our health, drawing from the writings of Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food. “All flesh is grass” says Scripture. Much of the too-ample flesh of Americans (three of five [...]
Folate Supplements May Increase Prostate Cancer Risk
Posted in Uncategorized on March 11, 2009 |
Supplementation of isolated nutrients is a more complex subject than generally realized. Folate (or folic acid) is an important nutrient found in many sources (green vegetables key among them). In foods, it is an essential nutrient and there is no evidence of harm. It has also been added to many foods, and is available in [...]
Michelle Obama Makes Healthy Eating a Public Priority
Posted in Uncategorized on March 10, 2009 |
This is an excellent example of using the public spotlight to serve the health of the public. The First Lady, serving food at a DC homeless shelter, makes some excellent points about healthy eating and says we should spread the message far and wide. In her first weeks in the White House, Mrs. Obama has emerged [...]
