Given that suicides by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars could outnumber the combat deaths, the Veteran’s Administration (VA) has been under a lot of pressure to do more prevention. The VA recently launched a Suicide Prevention Website. The site is not ideal, but there is plenty of information there and some useful downloads. [...]
Who should get priority access to swine flu (H1N1) vaccine this fall? An advisory committee has decided: pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, health care and emergency services personnel, persons between the ages of 6 months through 24 years of age, and people from ages [...]
A study just published in The New England Journal of Medicine illustrates how growing health care costs, added to stagnant wages, are making middle class Americans poorer and poorer. The most affluent households, the study finds, will be able to absorb the steady growth in health care costs. Middle income families, however, are starting to [...]
Physician and novelist Abraham Verghese is pleading for real doctors to to get involved in the discussions about health care reform, before the lobbyists get their way. In an essay in The Wall Street Journal, he writes: “Before we are irretrievably sucked into Washington’s political maneuvering, we desperately need doctors and nurses to speak for [...]
The American Heart Association’s “Pocket First Aid and CPR” iPhone application sells for $3.99. Built using JiveMedia technology, the app provides a quick reference through video and detailed instructions on how to perform first aid for CPR, choking, bites, bruises, burns, seizures, diabetic emergencies, and more. You can also enter your and your loved ones’ [...]
Feeding Rhesus monkeys a low calorie diet can greatly extend their lives, a long-term study shows. The study began in 1989 with an analysis of the monkeys’ usual diets. Then, the researchers broke the monkeys into two groups, and started cutting calories from one group’s diet. The group on the restricted diet were eventually eating [...]
President Barack Obama has nominated genomics pioneer Francis Collins as head of the National Institutes of Health, Health and Human Services. According to a White House Press release, Obama said: “The National Institutes of Health stands as a model when it comes to science and research. My administration is committed to promoting scientific integrity and [...]
The most popular paid iPhone applications for health and fitness this week include calorie trackers, a comprehensive guide to proper exercise technique, a white noise maker, and a calendar that lets women track their periods and everything else that’s related to picking the right day to make a baby. See the entire top ten list [...]
Disease foundations have been taking a larger role in drug discovery and development. The financial crisis has made it easier for such groups to get partnerships with biotech firms, who have seen venture capital and big pharma deals decline drastically. But this new role also brings more risk to the foundations. A recent article in [...]
At CaringBridge, caregivers or patients can quickly set up a personalized website where family and friends can easily get updates and leave messages. This is a must-have tool for anyone facing a critical illness or recovering from one. I became aware of this great tool a couple of weeks ago, when I emailed Julie (not [...]
