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Prescribing attention-boosting drugs for healthy kids is misguided

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN), the world's largest professional association of neurologists, is releasing a position paper on how the practice of prescribing drugs to boost cognitive function, or memory and thinking abilities, in healthy children and teens is misguided.

14 Mar 2013

Physician gender has no impact on patients’ healthcare costs or mortality

Female doctors' patients do not use health-care services more or die less frequently than patients treated by male doctors, a prospective, observational study by researchers at UC Davis Health System has found.

14 Mar 2013

Advanced gene sequencing test helps clinicians treat cancer

The University of Washington and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) partnered to launch UW-OncoPlex - an advanced gene sequencing test to help clinicians treat cancer. The new diagnostic tool is a significant milestone in the development of precision medicine and empowers doctors to predict which treatment therapies will be most effective for an individual patient's cancer.

14 Mar 2013

First Edition: March 14, 2013

Today's headlines include reports that compare and contrast how the two budget blueprints released this week -- one by House Republicans, the other from Senate Democrats -- would treat Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs.

14 Mar 2013

New research shows dystextia may become vital tool for diagnosing stroke

Difficulty or inability to write a coherent text message, even in patients who have no problem speaking, may become a "vital" tool in diagnosing a type of crippling stroke, according to new research at Henry Ford Hospital.

14 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: 'Grim' backlog at VA; Feds should stay away from reforming medical malpractice

A new report based on previously unreleased data from the Department of Veterans Affairs paints a distressing portrait of an agency buried helplessly in paperwork -- with a claims backlog that has gotten far worse in the past four years.

13 Mar 2013

Recently employees from SCCA and Fred Hutch receive health care awards

Recently employees from both Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch) and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) were recognized with industry awards for being leading innovators in health care.

13 Mar 2013

Report: Patients with mental health problems need culturally sensitive treatment

Members of the Deaf community who suffer from mental health problems need culturally sensitive treatment to avoid misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment, according to a report in the March Journal of Psychiatric Practice.

13 Mar 2013

Patients challenge hospital fees

The Boston Globe reports on this trend. In other news, CQ HealthBeat reports that the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission gave a nod to shared-decision making between doctors and patients.

12 Mar 2013

Patients with neck injuries incur increased health and social costs

Patients with neck injuries incur increased health and social costs-which also affect their spouses and may begin years before the initial injury, reports a study in the March 1 issue of Spine.

12 Mar 2013

Dueling budget blueprints to be unveiled this week, will show partisan differences on size of government, Medicare and Medicaid

At the same time, President Barack Obama appears to be harboring hopes of reaching a big deficit-reduction deal that could include some of the money-saving changes that Republicans favor. The idea worries some congressional Democrats.

12 Mar 2013

First Edition: March 11, 2013

Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers a reader question about insurance options for people with pre-existing conditions.

11 Mar 2013

Only 1 in 5 central Pennsylvania women receive preventive counseling about partner abuse

Only about one in five central Pennsylvania women who have experienced intimate partner violence is asked or counseled by a health care provider about abuse, according to Penn State medicine and public health science researchers. Overall, approximately only one in nine women has received preventive counseling about violence and safety.

11 Mar 2013

Medication use and doctor visits drive up jaw necrosis-related costs

Long-term medication use and follow-up visits are the main drivers affecting costs associated with cancer-related bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw, report researchers in Oral Diseases.

8 Mar 2013

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) inflammatory subtypes: an interview with Dr Vanessa McDonald, University of Newcastle, Australia

COPD is defined as a preventable and treatable disease associated with significant extrapulmonary consequences that may contribute to severity. The pulmonary component of COPD is characterised by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. The airflow limitation is usually progressive with an abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs to noxious particles (GOLD Strategy Document). Airflow obstruction in COPD is not highly variable and largely irreversible.

8 Mar 2013

Telemedicine use appears to help urban communities achieve blood pressure goals

Using a telemedicine system to engage people in underserved, urban communities to measure and report their blood pressure remotely-outside of the doctor's office-appears to help them achieve blood pressure goals and improve adherence to lifestyle changes and medication recommendations, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session.

8 Mar 2013

Researchers discover significant crisis-period spike in heart attacks in Greece

Heart attack rates have spiked in Greece since the start of the country's financial crisis, especially among women and residents older than 45, according to a study of patient records being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session.

8 Mar 2013

House Republicans, Senate Democrats to release competing budget plans next week

As President Barack Obama courts Republican lawmakers who might be interested in a "grand bargain," the chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees are expected to release competing budget proposals. Some hope a conference committee might be able to work out the differences on taxes and spending, including changes to Medicare.

8 Mar 2013

TV ads may drive over-diagnosis of high cholesterol and over-treatment with statins

Television advertising may drive over-diagnosis of high cholesterol and over-treatment with statins, according to a new study¹ by Dr. Jeff Niederdeppe from Cornell University in the US and colleagues. It appears that a trip to the doctor enquiring about statins advertised on TV often leads to a prescription.

8 Mar 2013

Researchers explore genetic testing to identify people at high risk for preventable disease

In ten years time, routine preventive health care for adults may include genetic testing alongside the now familiar tests for cholesterol levels, mammography and colonoscopy.

8 Mar 2013