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NEWS ABOUT: medicine

New Drug Promises Better Sleep for the Jet-Lagged

Substance works a lot like today's popular but unregulated melatonin supplements

(Newser) - A new drug promises to put an end to jet lag and enable better sleep for travelers, swing-shift crews, and insomniacs, the Economist reports. Tasimelteon works a lot like today's popular but unregulated melatonin supplements, bonding with brain receptors to stimulate melatonin production and REM sleep. The distinction is significant... More »

Surgeon Amputates Using Texted Instructions

Phone helps save Congolese teen

(Newser) - A volunteer surgeon in a Congolese war zone followed texted instructions to perform an amputation that saved a 16-year-old boy's life. The teen's badly injured and infected arm required that his collar bone and shoulder blade be immediately removed, but Dr. David Nott had never conducted such a procedure. He... More »

Warning Labels Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

Prescription labels, doctor's cues can trigger symptoms

(Newser) - Ignorance truly is bliss when it comes to prescription drugs. The side effects listed on warning labels have a self-fulfilling quality, researchers tell the Wall Street Journal. People sensitive to this "nocebo effect" should think twice before reading that their pills can cause nausea, vomiting, irritability, or difficulty concentrating.... More »

Chronically Ill Worse Off in US Than Elsewhere: Study

Health costs, medical errors scare more than in other rich nations

(Newser) - Chronically ill Americans are more likely to forgo medical care because of high costs or bad experiences than counterparts in a number of other rich nations, a study finds. Researchers interviewed 7,500 adults with conditions like cancer, arthritis, depression, and diabetes, and the Americans led the complaints. Dutch patients... More »

Docs Stop Taking Insurance, Offer 'Boutique' Care

More doctors offer "boutique" care to make ends meet, provide better service

(Newser) - Increasing numbers of doctors are bagging the insurance model to offer much better service to fewer patients, at a much higher cost, the Baltimore Sun reports. Many doctors are struggling to pay their own bills, and the quality of service they offer patients is suffering. But such “boutique” care... More »

Half of US Docs Prescribe Placebos

Many physicians believe in psychological impact of prescriptions

(Newser) - Half of US doctors admit prescribing drugs to patients just for the placebo effect—to make them think they are taking something beneficial, reports the Chicago Tribune. As many as 56% prescribed antibiotics, painkillers, vitamins, and sedatives in cases where they didn't expect them to have any benefit physically, but... More »

Eggbeater Helps Scientists Whip Disease

Harvard researchers fashion a household item into a diagnostic device

(Newser) - Centrifuges separate blood from plasma—but at considerable expense, in a bulky package. That leaves them beyond the reach of underfunded medical facilities that could use the help in diagnosing blood-borne ailments, such as hepatitis and other diseases. The solution, Discover reports, could be as close as the nearest kitchen.... More »

3 Virologists Share Medicine Nobel Prize

Discoverers of HIV, human papilloma virus win $1.4M award

(Newser) - The Nobel Prize for medicine was awarded today to three scientists who discovered two of the world's deadliest sexually transmitted viruses. Half the prize goes to Harald zur Hausen, a German who discovered the human papilloma virus, which causes cervical cancer in women. The other half goes to Françoise... More »

Combo Heart Pills Enter Trials in London

The cheap drugs could halve deaths from heart attack, stroke

(Newser) - Trials begin this week in London on a cheap "polypill" that could cut heart attack and stroke deaths in half worldwide, the Guardian reports. The pill combines four drugs—aspirin, a cholesterol-lowering statin, an ACE inhibitor, and thiazine to battle high blood pressure. The aim is to sell it—... More »

Patients Could Polish Their Bedside Manner, Docs Say

Lousy rapport impairs treatment, survey finds

(Newser) - Odds are you're annoying your doctor, according to a Canadian study that asked nearly 300 physicians about their daily frustrations. As the Globe and Mail reports, many had difficulty establishing rapports with patients, who routinely resisted or flouted their advice —which can lead to patient safety problems. “When... More »

Brain Pacemakers May Revolutionize Treatment

(Newser) - The precise application of electricity to certain areas of the brain—the same principles a pacemaker uses for the heart—is showing promise for people with an array of illnesses such as Parkinson's, severe depression, epilepsy, and Alzheimer's, the Chicago Tribune reports. The treatment, called deep brain stimulation, remains in... More »

Thomas Weller, Who Won Nobel for Polio Work, Dead at 93

Work paved way for Salk, Sabin vaccines

(Newser) - Thomas Weller, whose research on polio won him a share of a Nobel Prize in 1954, died this weekend at 93, the Boston Globe reports. Weller, along with colleagues John Enders and Frederick Robbins, discovered that the polio virus preyed on muscles, not nerve tissue as had been previously thought.... More »

Half in US Say God Can Save the Dying

Only 20% of doctors agree, but many want to relate

(Newser) - Many Americans believe God can intervene to save dying patients, a new survey shows. More than half say that God can revive a family member declared lost by doctors, and nearly 75% agree that patients are justified in seeking extra treatment. "Sensitivity to this belief will promote development of... More »

The Win-Win Economics of Medical Tourism

Growing trend of traveling for health care doesn't have to hurt anyone

(Newser) - The spread of “medical tourism”—uninsured and underinsured patients seeking cheap health care in Southeast Asia or Latin America—has fueled fears that developing nations will divert resources from state health systems caring for their own citizens. But, the Economist argues, “if governments make the best of... More »

Senator Told It's Unethical to Deliver Babies

Ethics panel sees conflict in Coburn's pro-bono work

(Newser) - Sen.Tom Coburn, an obstetrician by profession, is a stubborn guy. Known around the cloakroom as Dr. No, he isn't about to let anyone tell him to stop delivering babies when he's at home in Oklahoma at recess. The Senate Ethics Committee insists it's a conflict of interest, even though... More »

Blood-Cell Mix Could Help in Transplants

Combining recipient, donor blood can halt rejection process

(Newser) - Scientists have found a technique that could eliminate the need for transplant patients to endure a regimen of powerful and side-effect-inducing anti-rejection drugs, the BBC reports. By mixing the patient's infection-fighting white blood cells with modified cells from the organ donor, the rejection process can be halted. More »

New Databases Share Test Results, Prescriptions

Info used to assemble health 'credit reports'

(Newser) - The prescriptions and medical test results of more than 200 million Americans are being assembled into commercial databases, the Washington Post reports, which then sell health "credit reports" to insurance companies trying to evaluate whether to accept an individual for coverage. The companies not only disclose drug and test... More »

Doctors Fume Over Website Selling Fake Sick Notes

Australian physicians want it shut down

(Newser) - In an Internet version of a classic schoolboy trick, a website is peddling fake doctors' notes to Australians looking to get some paid time off, reports news.com.au. The $40 certificates have infuriated the medical community, which wants the police to step in. Two backpackers reportedly set up the... More »

For Skin Doctors, Cosmetics Trumps Medicine

Vanity clients trump medical patients at dermatologist's office

(Newser) - These days, dermatologists offer luxurious treatment rooms and personalized services for high-paying cosmetic clients seeking a Botox injection. But for those suffering medical conditions, the experience can be far less personal—increasingly, skin doctors are hiring assistants and nurse practitioners to handle everything from psoriasis to skin cancer. The New ... More »

Mennonites, Amish Battle Hospitals Over 'Inflated' Bills

Struggle reveals rosy financial state of nonprofit hospitals

(Newser) - Jesse Martin shuns health insurance and government aid, although nine of his kids are seriously ill. Like other self-sufficient Pennsylvania Mennonites, and Amish too, Martin avails modern medicine for the fatal diseases that are ravaging their families—but is hard-up to pay the bills, which Martin claims are inflated. "... More »

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