Quest Diagnostics Is Named ‘Best Employer For Healthy Lifestyles’
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, announced today that the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), an association of more than 300 large U.S. employers, has presented its 2008 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles Gold Award to the company for its HealthyQuest employee wellness program. In its […]
Surgeon Sews for Fun, Sutures for a Living
Surgeons are known for the knots they tie. For Ramona Bates, that is doubly true: Not only is she a plastic surgeon, but she also has a passion for quilting. Lately she’s been sharing her personal and professional interests at her Web site, Suture for a Living. I had the chance to correspond with Dr. […]
Concurrent Epidural and IV Opioids Safe for Pain in Children
Postoperative pain in children with cancer can be safely managed with simultaneous epidural and intravenous opioids, according to researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. In the April Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Dr. Doralina L. Anghelescu and colleagues review their center’s experience with this practice. Because antipyretic agents can mask […]
Breast Cancer and Implants: Surgery Options
There’s reassuring news for women with breast implants who develop breast cancer. Despite earlier concerns, many can be effectively treated with breast-conserving treatment rather than a more disfiguring mastectomy to remove the entire affected breast, researchers say. Breast-conserving treatment consists of surgical removal of the cancerous area of the breast, followed by radiation to kill […]
Perspective: Carotid Stenting and the History of Disruptive Technology in Vascular Surgery
Introduction A disruptive technology can be defined as one that displaces a standard old method for performing certain functions because the new one is so clearly better. Examples of disruptive technologies would be the electric light displacing candle light, steam power displacing sail power for ships, jet engines displacing piston engines for long distance aircraft, […]
Review Addresses Strategies for Patient Adherence to Medications
A review published in the April 16 Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews provides various methods of encouraging patients to adhere to their medications, but the reviewers suggest that there are significant limitations and that more research is needed. “People who are prescribed self-administered medications typically take less than half the prescribed doses,” write R.B. Haynes, […]
Recommendations for Primary Care of the Patient With Cancer
A review published in the April 15 issue of American Family Physician recommends effective practice strategies for the primary care clinician when treating patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. “Care of patients with cancer can be enhanced by continued involvement of the primary care physician,” write George F. Smith, MD, from the University of […]
HHS Deputy Secretary Tevi Troy Visits Northern Ireland
Deputy Secretary Troy joined Michael McGimpsey, Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety in opening “Connected Health Expo Day” in Northern Ireland. They also met and discussed public health issues, investment in Northern Ireland and other issues of mutual interest. After a working luncheon with pharmaceutical stakeholders and scientists at the U.S. Consul General’s […]
Study Launched to Uncover the Mysteries of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta recently launched the most comprehensive population-based clinical study to date of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The study includes about 90 patients from Atlanta who will participate in the three-day in-patient clinical trial. Researchers hope results […]
Announcing the Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Section of The Medscape Journal of Medicine
I am proud to introduce the Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (OTO-HNS) section of The Medscape Journal of Medicine. This is the first exclusively online, open access, MEDLINE-indexed journal dedicated to otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. Not to be mislabeled as “just another Web site” or an “online textbook,” the OTO-HNS section of The Medscape Journal of […]