Getting Better

Better than those silly pink things

Everyone should have these, though maybe they shouldn't be applied when hungry.  (They look pretty real.)  Bacon bandages, from Archie McPhee via Medgadget.

Information Therapy;getting better by knowing more.

By Lola Butcher, for Managed Care Magazine; the idea that sharing information with a patient will help doctors provide better care.  In other words, if that person on the table understands what's wrong and why you're doing what you're doing to fix it, they're more likely to do what they're supposed to.

What the Devil Is Information Therapy?

This drug will work. Guaranteed.

Johnson & Johnson breaks ground with a "money-back" guarantee to insurers for its new drug, Velcade; if it doesn't work, you don't pay. 

NPR has the story.

Hey, we try to cover the health landscape here. Including bad chili sauce for hot dogs.

OK, so it's not a big policy initiative, or medical research that'll make you feel better.

But I'll tell you what; botulinum poisoning is no laughing matter, and it can really ruin a good chili dog.

FDA Links Hot Dog Chili Sauce to Botulism Poisoning

Restless legs...not just a made-up syndrome

It was too easy to believe the makers of drugs that claim to help created the whole idea of "restless legs syndrome" in the first place, but as it turns out the problem really is real--and genetic.

German researchers have discovered 3 genes--that are implemental in early formation of limbs and development of the central nervous system in human embryos--are to blame for RLS.

"The function of the identified genes MEIS1, BTBD9 and LBXCOR1 surprised everybody involved: they are genes which are known in connection with the embryonic development of an organism. During this activity phase they are involved in the pattern formation of the extremities and the central nervous system."

Two TB patients in one (place)

Andrew Speaker, the itinerant flying TB patient, has company in his quarantine; an Arizona TB patient who's already been quarantined for a year.

AP story

Children's Health Insurance; really a big anti-government plot

A statement by HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt is posted on their website today, clarifying--in admirably brief language--just exactly why the Bush Administration doesn't want to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).  It's because "...we cannot agree to a gradual government take-over of health care."

Draw your own conclusions.  Let's see, Medicare is ...health insurance provided by the Federal government...

What the uninsured want (in CA, at least)

All the talking about what should be done for the uninsured has been among those of us who are...well...insured.  We think we know what those poor people want who don't have healthcare coverage.

Maybe the discussion should include the folks we're trying to help.

The California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) has made an effort to do just that.

Global health care...and costs

The latest issue of Health Affairs is all about the global picture of health care, including discussion of the reality that getting good care often costs too much for the people who need it.  Health Affairs charges for access to articles, but their blog post gives good information for free.

Eat healthy whether or not it stops cancer.

New research is showing that a high-fruit and -vegetable diet doesn't seem to affect the likelihood that a woman's breast cancer will return.  But do it anyway; there are too many benefits to eating the right stuff not to do it.  (Preventing diabetes, heart disease, obesity...)