medicine – Page 5 – Impact Lab

Analysis, Health & Fitness, Latest Trend

The epidemic of overtreatment is taking a harmful toll

August 28, 2012

There’s an epidemic of overtreatment.

Many patients and doctors believe more is better when it comes to medical care.

But there’s an epidemic of overtreatment. Doctors are ordering too many scans, too many blood tests, too many procedures for their patients and it is costing the nation’s health care system at least $210 billion a year, according to the Institute of Medicine. It is also taking a human toll in pain, emotional suffering, severe complications and even death.

Continue reading… “The epidemic of overtreatment is taking a harmful toll”

Analysis, Business, Health & Fitness

5 things you don’t know about healthcare in America

August 8, 2012

America spends $2.4 trillion each year on medical care.

Your head is probably full of facts and a few distortions thanks to the seemingly endless debate about how best to fix healthcare in the United States and what exactly the problem is with American medicine. In his new book Fractured, Ted Epperly, M.D., a former Army doctor and professor of community medicine at the University of Washinton (and Men’s Health‘s family medicine advisor), breaks it down for you. Here, Epperly cuts through the politics and explains just how big a hole we’ve dug for ourselves—and how you can make it out sooner than you think.

Continue reading… “5 things you don’t know about healthcare in America”

Analysis, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

The obstacles faced by transformative technologies in medicine

July 18, 2012

A smart-phone add-on enables at-home diagnosis of ear infections.

There is a post on The Health Care Blog written by Eric Topol where he looks to a future enabled by emerging technology: “Just as the little mobile wireless devices radically transformed our day-to-day lives, so will such devices have a seismic impact on the future of health care. It’s already taking off at a pace that parallels the explosion of another unanticipated digital force — social networks.

Continue reading… “The obstacles faced by transformative technologies in medicine”

Big Problems, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

Lifesaving drug supplies used to treat children could run out in two weeks

February 11, 2012

Shortage of lifesaving drugs.

There is such short supply of a crucial medicine to treat childhood leukemia that hospitals across the country may exhaust their stores within the next two weeks, leaving hundreds and perhaps thousands of children at risk of dying from a largely curable disease, federal officials and cancer doctors say.

Continue reading… “Lifesaving drug supplies used to treat children could run out in two weeks”

Analysis, Health & Fitness, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

5 advanced in medicine predicted for 2012

January 3, 2012

What significant advances can we expect in 2012?

In 2011 some great medical feats were accomplished. Dallas Wiens became the first recipient of a full-face transplant in the United States, Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords survived a gunshot to her brain, and HIV researchers found a way to lower an infected person’s chance of transmitting the virus to sexual partners by 96 percent.

Continue reading… “5 advanced in medicine predicted for 2012”

Great New Product, Health & Fitness, New Inventions, Photo Perspectives, Science & Technology News

Medi-Ring – customizable ring to identify prescription medication bottles

September 27, 2011

Featured invention at the DaVinci Inventor Showcase 2011

MEDI-RING® was developed by a pharmacist to help eliminate errors when taking prescription medications at home. In 2008, nearly 1.9 million people were treated or hospitalized in the U.S. for illness and injuries related to taking medicines, a 54% increase in incidents over previous years. The growing number of such errors can be attributed to an increase in the number of medications being prescribed, and the fact that many pharmacy labels indicate dosages, but fail to identify specifically what the medication treats. Also, according to the National Community of Pharmacists Association, “as many as 75% of Americans admit they don’t take medications as directed.” MEDI-RING® is a user-friendly device that snaps onto prescription bottles presenting a space on which the patient may write what the medication controls, and any other information they feel is necessary to take the drug correctly.

Continue reading… “Medi-Ring – customizable ring to identify prescription medication bottles”

Analysis, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

Spoonful of Sugar Can Help the Medicine Go Down – Sugar Improves Effectiveness of Antibiotics

May 12, 2011

Antibiotics made more effective with sugar.

A spoonful of sugar, it seems, can do more than help the medicine go down – it can also help make it work. Sugar can improve the effectiveness of antibiotics against infections, according to researchers.

Continue reading… “Spoonful of Sugar Can Help the Medicine Go Down – Sugar Improves Effectiveness of Antibiotics”

Analysis, Health & Fitness, Latest Trend

Widening Gender Gap in Salaries for Female Doctors

February 4, 2011

Women physicians make less than male physicians.

Newly trained female doctors in the United States make nearly $17,000 less than their male counterparts, even though women increasingly are choosing careers in higher-paying medical specialties, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

Continue reading… “Widening Gender Gap in Salaries for Female Doctors”