The actual prevalence of environmentally induced cancer has been “grossly underestimated,” declared (.pdf) a president’s advisory panel a little more than a month ago. "The …
Month: June 2010
African measles deaths from vaccination gap
Amid all the debate in the United States about whether vaccines are safe, people sometimes lose sight of what happens when children miss their measles …
Pro-eating disorders on the web? That doesn't make sense, does it?
I really couldn't imagine it: Web sites that promote eating disorders. Yet, they proliferate on the Internet. Researchers who conducted the first large-scale analysis of …
Blasting your personal music player may induce short-term hearing loss
My iPod nano is more than a nifty portable device filled with my favorite songs for relaxing, working and running. It's my go-to-gadget for drowning …
On the funding of biomedical research
This isn't a new piece, but it's among most well-written perspectives I've seen about the challenges (to put it mildly) in getting biomedical research funded. …
New research confirms connection between loneliness, poor health
The quality, rather than the quantity, of your relationships appears to matter more when it comes to staving off feelings of loneliness and certain health-related …
When giving a helping hand is good for you, too
Over the weekend, I read Katy Butler’s devastating essay “What Broke My Father’s Heart.” The piece, which appeared last week in the New York Times …
MD proposes guidelines for physician-journalists reporting on disasters
This winter, in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, MD, and other doctor-reporters deployed to cover the …
George Lundberg on what's driving health care costs
Insured patients, immune to the cost consequences of care, are driving the price of medical attention skyward. That's according to George Lundberg, MD, who edited …
Bacterial balance in gut tied to colon cancer risk
It’s a fact that has opened many a press release: The human body is made of more bacterial cells than human ones. (The ratio by …
Breastfeeding called a "secret weapon to save billions of dollars"
Articles on the importance of breastfeeding are hardly novel - the well-established benefits are oft-discussed by medical reporters and mommy bloggers - but a Huffington …
91 days of health-care reform
The landmark health-care reform package took effect 91 days ago - on March 23 - and the Obama administration now is trying to turn the …
Adjustment is the Achilles heel of overseas ventures
Year: 1986 Place: Lome, Togo Position: Consultant in tropical diseases, Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris I have been sent to West Africa by a French multinational …
Brainstorming on how FDA can promote device innovation
The United States is the world leader in creating lifesaving medical devices, but can we get even better at it? The U.S. Food and Drug …
Dan Brown casualties, neurosurgery edition
Last summer, on a cross-country road trip, I listened to 17 grueling hours of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. The experience had two notable …
Why some autoimmune diseases go into remission during pregnancy
Though two healthy babies would have been enough for me, my two pregnancies yielded another gift: a break from a blood disorder I've been living …