May 9, 2012
‘This is a nose we’re growing for a patient next month,’ Professor Alexander Seifalian says matter-of-factly, plucking a Petri dish from the bench beside him. Inside is an utterly lifelike appendage, swimming in red goo. (Daily Mail)
May 9, 2012
On Feb. 6, 2010, the prestigious medical journal the Lancet published one of the most anticipated papers in its 187-year history. Yet the paper was not a medical study, and provided no new medical information. (Vancouver Sun)
May 9, 2012
Proponents of euthanasia and aborting chronically ill fetuses use the same arguments that were once used by the Nazis to promote their eugenics program of mass extermination, according to the Vatican’s semiofficial newspaper. (Washington Post)
May 9, 2012
Almost halfway through a $600 million state program supporting stem cell research, eight medical schools around New York are reporting progress on projects such as replicating liver cells and eradicating leukemia cells. (Wall Street Journal)
May 9, 2012
The last time your doctor gave you a prescription, it likely came with specific information on the correct and safe dosage to take, determined  from years of clinical trials. But when kids need certain prescription drugs, such as statins, morphine, anesthetic or the … Read More
May 9, 2012
The unattended steering wheel on the 15-ton military truck jerked sharply back and forth as the vehicle’s huge tires bounced down a rain-scarred ravine through mounds of mine rubble on a rugged hillside near Pittsburgh. (Reuters)
May 9, 2012
A researcher in the US has died of a disease caused by the bacteria he was studying. The tragedy highlights the dangers of research on human respiratory germs. Research on airborne mutants of H5N1 bird flu is currently under an … Read More
May 8, 2012
Most clinical trials for cancer, heart disease and mental health are too small to offer adequate medical evidence, said a review of the US database of such studies released on Tuesday. (New York Daily News)
May 8, 2012
Given the lifelong ramifications involved, choosing whether or not to undergo cosmetic surgery is by definition a serious decision. Yet a fair number of Germany’s nip-and-tuck procedures — things like breast enlargement, nose jobs and abdominal liposuction — are performed … Read More
May 8, 2012
Patients on dialysis are subject to much more intensive medical care in the last month of life than are patients dying of cancer or heart failure, said an analysis of Medicare data that is raising concerns about the end-of-life care … Read More
May 8, 2012
A paralysed Leicestershire woman has become the first person to complete a marathon in a “bionic” suit. (BBC News)
May 8, 2012
Several weeks after making history with the world’s first live-tweeted open heart surgery, Houston’s Memorial Hermann hospital is dusting off its social media chops again. (CNN)
May 8, 2012
States that require immunizations for students entering middle school have significantly higher numbers of adolescents who actually get recommended vaccinations compared with states that simply require that parents be informed about the vaccinations, according to a new study. (ABC News)
May 7, 2012
The obesity epidemic may be slowing, but don’t take in those pants yet. Today, just over a third of U.S. adults are obese. By 2030, 42 percent will be, says a forecast released Monday. (Washington Post)
May 7, 2012
For centuries, doctors have pretty much relied on a universal, and incredibly flawed, technique to diagnose a patient’s pain: “One a scale of 1 to 10, how bad does it hurt?†(Wired)
May 7, 2012
South Korea has seized thousands of smuggled drug capsules filled with powdered flesh from dead babies, which some people believe can cure disease, officials said Monday. (CBS News)
May 7, 2012
Quick: What’s the fattiest system in your body that has two halves and weighs between 2 and 4 pounds? It’s your brain — you know, that thing that remembers stuff. (CNN)
May 7, 2012
Babies conceived with infertility treatment methods are more likely to have certain birth defects than babies who are conceived naturally, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. (ABC News)
May 4, 2012
When Ji Yeqing awakened, she was already in the recovery room. Chinese authorities had dragged her out of her home and down four flights of stairs, she said, restraining and beating her husband as he tried to come to her … Read More
May 4, 2012
Despite the label of being “infertile,” some couples who have tried fertility treatments are later able to have a baby naturally, according to a new study from France. (Reuters)
May 4, 2012
New research shows that gene therapy can have long-lasting effects on the immune cells of HIV patients — a promising sign — even though the specific treatment being studied did not eradicate the virus. (US News and World Report)
May 4, 2012
The Obama administration is buying into an ambitious health care initiative in Oregon, announcing Thursday it has tentatively agreed to chip in $1.9 billion over five years to help get the program off the ground. (Washington Post)
May 4, 2012
The three-and-a-half-inch tumor in Cynthia Miller’s throat threatened to choke her, leaving her no choice but to have it removed. (ABC News)
May 4, 2012
The New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 366, Issue 17, April 26, 2012) is now available on-line and by subscription only. Articles include: “Performance Improvement in Health Care — Seizing the Moment” by D. Blumenthal, available on-line. “Making the Best … Read More
May 4, 2012
Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy (Volume 15, Issue 2, April 2012) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Broadening Education in Bioethics” by Henk ten Have & Bert Gordijn, 99-101. “The desired moral attitude of the physician” by Petra … Read More
