Brand-name drug prices rise sharply while generic drug prices plummet.
Brand-name prescription drug prices are rising faster than the rate of inflation, while the price of generic drugs has plummeted, creating the largest gap so far between the two,according to a report published Wednesday by the pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts.
Continue reading… “Price of brand-name drugs rises sharply”
3D bio-printer
In the growing field of desktop 3-D printers they can already pump out a little trinket, a gear set or even parts to make another printer. Researchers in the medical field are also taking advantage of this accelerating technology to expand their options for regenerative medicine.
Continue reading… “Better regenerative implants with 3D bio-printing”
Exercise seems to help children with ADHD focus.
Just 20 minutes of physical activity per day may help children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to recent research.
Continue reading… “20 minutes of exercise a day may help kids with ADHD focus”
Brazil’s policies could result in as many as 7 million lives saved by 2050.
All a part of Brazil’s strong tobacco control policies are high cigarette prices, smoke-free air laws, marketing restrictions and other measures that are credited for a 50 percent reduction in smoking prevalence between 1989 and 2010. The reduction contributed to an estimated 420,000 lives saved during that time period. Those are the findings of a new study published in PLOS Medicine by a team of researchers from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Brazilian National Cancer Institute.
Continue reading… “Brazil’s strong tobacco control policies have saved more than 400,000 lives”
About a third of Americans take a daily multivitamin.
The risk of heart attack and stroke was not cut by taking a daily multivitamin in a study that followed more than 14,500 men for over a decade. There was a small reduction in cancer risk, according to results from the study released in October.
Continue reading… “Daily multivitamin does not cut risk of heart attack: Study”
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For people who are colorblind, daily life can be a challenge. Daily challenges range from not knowing whether meat is fully cooked to not being able to read whether a horizontal traffic light is showing green or red. More serious repercussions include being shut out of a dream job, like piloting planes, because misreading landing-strip lights can have life-or-death consequences.
Continue reading… “New research and tools promise to improve life for the colorblind”
Ikaria
Stamatis Moraitis, a Greek war veteran, came to the United States in 1943 for treatment of a combat-mangled arm. He’d survived a gunshot wound, escaped to Turkey and eventually talked his way onto the Queen Elizabeth, then serving as a troopship, to cross the Atlantic. Moraitis settled in Port Jefferson, N.Y., an enclave of countrymen from his native island, Ikaria. He quickly landed a job doing manual labor. Later, he moved to Boynton Beach, Fla. Along the way, Moraitis married a Greek-American woman, had three children and bought a three-bedroom house and a 1951 Chevrolet.
Continue reading… “Ikaria, the island where people forget to die”
A large majority of patients who receive this news don’t fully comprehend it, or perhaps willfully choose to ignore it.
Often times doctors are called on to deliver bad news to patients. And when they deliver that news it doesn’t get much worse than hearing a diagnosis of an advanced-stage cancer for which there is no cure.
Continue reading… “Three out of four terminal cancer patients believe a cure is possible”
The Ben Venue facility in Bedford, Ohio has spent more than $300 million to upgrade the plant.
Quality lapses as big drug companies show that contamination and shoddy practices go well beyond the loosely regulated compounding pharmacies that have attracted attention because of their link to an outbreak of meningitis..
Weevils have been found floating in vials of heparin as well as morphine cartridges that contain up to twice the labeled dose. There are manufacturing plants with rusty tools, mold in production areas and — in one memorable case — a barrel of urine.
Continue reading… “Quality lapses at big drug manufacturing plants lead to shortages and danger”
Your brain on food
New studies just released explore the neurological component of dietary disorders, uncovering evidence that the brain’s biological mechanisms may contribute to significant public health challenges — obesity, diabetes, binge eating, and the allure of the high-calorie meal. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.
Continue reading… “How diet affects brain function revealed in studies”
Are American citizens hurting themselves with bad habits? The bottom line is mixed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Americans are imbibing alcohol and overeating more yet are smoking less (black lines in center graphs).
Continue reading… “Americans are getting fatter and drunker”
Shared decision making helps patients be better informed about their treatment choices and make better decisions.
Quality-improving and cost-cutting innovations don’t sit around for years while people keep muddling through with old technology in most industries. When an innovation is ready for widespread use, it disrupts the market, whether the market wants it or not. In the process, some entrepreneur usually makes a killing.
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.