Last-minute gift idea (in time for under the tree!)
December 20th, 2008
Hi! It’s Leigh Ann, managing editor, again.
Scrambling for the perfect gift? Need something for under the tree? Well, scramble no more! Here’s what you do.
Thank you, bloggers! (Plus: New health, mom and Boomer sites to discover.)
December 19th, 2008
Hi. It’s managing editor Leigh Ann Hubbard. I’m hijacking the blog again.
We’ve had some wonderful mentions online lately, and I wanted to share them with you. Sites that feature us usually have some readers similar to ours, so I thought some of these blogs might interest you. Happy browsing!
Hormones, breast cancer and other medical misconceptions
December 18th, 2008
News flash. Medicine is not perfect. A few years ago, I finished my advice to a patient by saying, I might be wrong. She sarcastically said she was going to go straight home and call her doctor son-in-law to give him the news. “A doctor said he might be wrong. Who knew?”
Reading the recent news about colonoscopies made me think of this. Why do we need scientific studies to document that therapies work? Because we can’t rely on our intuitions and preconceived notions. Every diagnostic test and treatment needs to be scrutinized objectively. Even the ones we’re sure of.
Colonoscopy prevents colon cancer? New study shows, not as well as we thought. (Video included.)
December 17th, 2008
by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
We thought colonoscopy could prevent 90 percent of colon cancers. We were wrong. If the results in the new Annals of Internal Medicine hold up, it’s more like 60 percent. A colonoscopy is still excellent for a screening test, but far from perfect, we discover.
The investigators did a case-control study. That’s when you find people with a diagnosis and work your way backwards. In this case, the researchers found people with colorectal cancer and looked back to see whether they’d had a normal colonoscopy six months to seven years before their diagnosis. They compared them to similar people who didn’t have colorectal cancer.
What the investigators found surprised them so much, they asked that the data be looked at a second time.
Consumers Union suggests major FDA overhaul. Cites mercury, BPA, more.
December 16th, 2008
by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
Consumers Union is upset with the FDA, calling for an overhaul of the agency.
Consumers Union, which publishes the popular Consumer Reports magazine, describes itself as “an expert, independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves.” I have always found them to be just that.
Complementary and alternative medicine: Many use CAM–but what is it? A family doctor’s opinion.
December 15th, 2008
by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
A government survey recently revealed that 38 percent of adults and 12 percent of children used complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) in the U.S. in 2007. But how did they define CAM? What is conventional medicine? And why do people use CAM, anyway?
These and more answered by your favorite family doctor :). OK, second best, I’ll give you my opinions.
CDC: HIV rates down, but new cases steady. What gives?
December 12th, 2008
by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
The CDC reports HIV transmission is down. Great news. I found out when I read an interesting post on a Chicago Tribune blog. I suggest you read it, also. But wait a minute. A few days ago, I posted that the rate of new HIV cases has been steady for the past few years. Not great. What gives?
See if you can follow me on this.
Lose weight with cash incentives: Do overweight people need a bailout?
December 11th, 2008
by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
Yes, you can lose weight, at least for a price.
A study in this week’s JAMA proves, if you show them the money, they show you the weight loss.
Understand medical news? Put it in perspective. (Check out what I found!)
December 10th, 2008
by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
I was scanning the medical news headlines today and I could not stop thinking how misleading some can be, and why you need information like James Hubbard’s My Family Doctor website and magazine, along with like sources, to sort out the confusion.
In just a few minutes, I found:
How to warm up smarter to prevent injuries
December 9th, 2008
by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
Everyone’s heard you should get a little loose and do some slow exercises before you start the real stuff. But investigators in Norway went way beyond stretching and showed a significant decrease in injuries in teenage, female soccer players (pdf file) by doing so. They were concerned there were too many injuries in these young athletes and decided to try a rigid, 20-minute exercise program prior to practices and games, called the 11 Injury Prevention Program.
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