by Deborah Franklin

Be extra careful with Extra-strength Tylenol -- and a lot of other drugs /istockphoto.com

With the FDA in deep talks today about Tylenol, Nyquil, and all other drugstore remedies that contain acetaminophen, NPR's Joanne Silberner hurried off this morning to cover the hearing, and I scurried off to....the drugstore to check medicine labels.

Which products contain acetaminophen, and how much? The answer may surprise you.

But first, a little background: Current drug labels warn that no adult should take more than four grams of acetaminophen a day. (That's 4,000 milligrams). More than that has been shown to cause liver damage in some people. So, how much would you have to take to run into trouble?

When I reported on this issue several years ago, liver toxicity experts told me this:

A vast majority of people can safely take the four-gram daily maximum that labels recommend for adults - the equivalent of eight Extra Strength Tylenol spread across 24 hours - and some people swallow much more without harm.

But by eight grams in a single day, a significant number of people whose livers have been stressed by a virus, medication, alcohol or other factors would run into serious trouble. Without intervention, about half the people who swallowed a single dose of 12 to 15 grams could die.

The problem then and now is that the amount of acetaminophen in each dose of the dozens of pain relievers and cold and allergy meds on the market vary widely, and in surprising ways.

A quick check of store shelves today turned up this:

(Find out how much is in your medicine after the jump)

Continue reading "Acetaminophen: How Much Is Too Much?" >

As public health workers know too well, most battles against microbes are more tense negotiation than flame war -- the goal isn't to eradicate the bug necessarily, but to find and contain it, all the while hoping whatever treatment you throw at it doesn't make things worse. Today's headlines -- with updates in the investigations of contaminated cookie dough and swine flu -- are notes from the barricade.

First, the cookies: FDA officials yesterday searching the Nestle plant in Danville, Virginia turned up a package of refrigerated dough that does, indeed, contain E:coli 0157:H7. They're still awaiting genetic confirmation that it's the same strain that's made at least 59 people across the U.S. sick, but that seems very likely.

The central mystery continues: How did the E.coli get into the mix? We've all been told for years not to eat raw dough--but that's because of the risk of salmonella, a relatively frequent bacterial passenger on the shells of raw eggs. E.coli, an intestinal bug from cattle, is a surprise. Officials yesterday told reporters that a careful check of the plant workers and equipment turned up no traces of the bacteria. The dough ingredients--eggs, milk, flour, chocolate, and butter -- have never been thought to harbor E.Coli. Today's Washington Post quotes the FDA's David Acheson:

It raises the likelihood that it was an ingredient. And it really means that industry has to be constantly vigilant, because foods we think of as low risk could be contaminated with a deadly pathogen.

Translation: Your cookies may be safe, but the FDA's turning up the heat on manufacturers.

Meanwhile, lab workers in Denmark are reporting the first known case of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, the main anti-viral drug that governments have been stockpiling in case this strain of H1N1 turns nasty this summer. The single case of drug resistance is worth noting but not yet cause for alarm, according to the CDC. NPR's Richard Knox sent this background note to explain why:

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Updates on Swine Flu and Cookie Dough" >

by Deborah Franklin

What do this sleeping babe and Iggy Pop have in common? Podcast subscribers already know. /istockphoto.com

Stop whatever you're doing right now and take a deep, relaxed belly breath.

Now, look out the nearest window and revel in whatever tree or vista of nature you see.

Both these exercises -- according to the experts that NPR's Allison Aubrey talks to in this week's podcast On Health -- can immediately turn down momentary stress, and start you on a more relaxed and healthy path.

"Chronic stress makes it hard to breathe," Aubrey learned. "But when people practice or cultivate relaxation breathing in their daily lives, it affects the whole body."

Aubrey also talks to Esther Sternberg, a mind-body researcher and author of the new book, Healing Spaces. Sternberg explains how and why simply tweaking the layout of your office, home, or other surroundings can actually influence your immune system.

Click here to download and listen to our latest podcast (or subscribe!). You'll hear how simply learning to breathe better and seeking out "healing spaces" transformed the lives of an opera singer, a physician, and even the godfather of punk, Iggy Pop.

by Richard Harris

Now you see it -- with Twitter's help /NASA

The International Space Station whizzes over our heads at the speed of more than 17,000 miles per hour. Even though it's more than 200 miles overhead, you can occasionally catch a glimpse of it.

Want to see it? Well, you need a dark sky, probably a view that reaches close to the horizon, and some data.

Data? Yep. The space station eventually passes over most points of the globe (Sorry, Alaska, you're out of luck). But the question is, when does it reach that sweet spot... not only above the place where you live, but at a time when the space station is lit by sunlight and you are in the dark?

NASA's happy to help you find the sweet spot. Check here and choose your location to get a list of upcoming space station appearances.

You can also get an alert via Twitter (follow @twisst) when the manned satellite is about to be overhead where you live.

Dutch science reporter Govert Schilling and journalist Jaap Meijers have built a Twitter service that will alert you to every upcoming encounter, based on the location you put in your Twitter profile. (Note: This particular service has already proved so popular that the site has repeatedly reached its limit of permitted "followers" this week. The founders say they're in negotiations with Twittter to increase that limit. In the meantime, check the website to figure out when to look up).

It's a fun way to see your tax dollars at work. Or at least in orbit.

by Deborah Franklin

Never underestimate the power of the mind to shape reality.

One study making headlines this morning finds that teens who think they'll die young are more likely to engage in risky behavior. A different survey finds that 60 percent of people age 65 or older feel much younger than the calendar would suggest. And a harrowing tale -- told in video and print -- in this morning's Los Angeles Times details the struggle of a six-year-old with schizophrenia.

First the teens: Psychologists at the University of Minnesota queried 20,000 students from grades seven through 12, then followed up five years later. A surprisingly high number -- nearly 15 percent -- told the researchers they expect to die before age 35.

What's more, those adolescents who figured they'd die young were more likely to run into trouble in ensuing years. As the AP reports

Over seven years, kids who thought they would die early were seven times more likely than optimistic kids to be subsequently diagnosed with AIDS. They also were more likely to attempt suicide and get in fights resulting in serious injuries.

Lead psychologist Iris Borowsky, tells the Minneapolis Tribune that her study gives the lie to the common notion that teen recklessness is driven by a "feeling of invulnerability."

If we can just get the kids to hang in there: A big new demographic survey from the Pew Research Foundation finds that America's elders seem to be having a better time health-wise than many expect of someone their age.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Teens, Elders, And Expectations" >

by April Fulton

I'm talking to you Pink Sherbet Photography/Flickr

I'll admit it. When I walk by the board room after a meeting, I snarf up a leftover muffin. And I hunch over my computer desk to eat a quick sandwich rather than walk out of the building to get a salad and some fresh air. I don't micro exercise, because I just found out what it is.

But I know I am not alone.

Not only is this behavior undermining our diet and exercise plans, it may end up costing big health care bucks. Medical costs for obese workers are between 29 and 117 percent greater than those for workers with normal weight, CDC says. We're talking about greater risks for diabetes, stroke, heart disease and more.

Today the CDC announced LEAN Works!, a website designed to help your company set up a fitness and nutrition program from start to finish. They also offer this handy but slightly terrifying obesity cost calculator so you can compute your specific risks.

As Congress looks for ways to save money on health care, we call all save a little money ourselves, starting by taking the stairs and putting down the donuts.

by Deborah Franklin

Don't forget the patient /istockphoto.com

Now, I ask this with love, truly I do: Why must some budding doctors -- any doctors -- be trained to be human?

A commentary in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that med students be offered this handy mnemonic (CAPTURES*) to jog their memories on how to interact with patients:

C = Curiosity/interest
Adopt a warm, sincere, friendly Curiosity or interest about your Patient's personal aspects

A = Appreciate/Admire
Find something to warmly Appreciate or Admire in your patient

P = Point of view
Always try to see things from the Patient's Perspective/Point of View

TU = Touch and Use
Touch the patient and Use other body language (proximity, attention, smile) to show caring

RE = React
React to what the patient says or does and how

S = Support and Stress
Support the patient by Stressing any positive aspects, providing reassurance and hope as much as possible

* = Continue
Continue with this approach in future encounters: When there is more to be accomplished than time allows, postponement and organizing a further appointment will relieve stress and facilitate the relationship.

Oh, dear.

It's one thing to need this sort of memory crutch to recall all the branches of the carotid artery or the tributaries of the internal jugular vein. "To Zanzibar By Motor Car" is a heck of a lot easier to remember than the facial nerve's branches (temporal, zygomatic, buccal, masseteric, and cervical, btw).

Dr. Ami Schattner of Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical School promises in the Archives commentary:

These simple, easily mastered, and time-frugal techniques, all in the realm of human interaction, can be regularly used to add a sincere humane touch to the beleaguered medical encounter.

Translation: Act like a human and patients will think you are one.

There's a better way.

(Look after the jump for insights from the late poet/psychiatrist Kenneth Gorelick)

Continue reading "Helping Doctors Be More Human" >

by Deborah Franklin

Even before his cause of death was confirmed last night, pop icon Michael Jackson had become yet another poster boy -- this time for the risks of cardiac arrest.

Interestingly, there were fewer medical sidebars to stories of actor Farrah Fawcett's death yesterday, though the form of cancer that killed her may be largely preventable -- with condoms and/or the HPV vaccine -- and is often curable with prompt treatment.

First, Jackson: The Huffington Post suggests the legendary performer might have had a better chance of surviving if he'd collapsed onstage -- in a casino. Automated external defibrillators (foolproof heart zappers designed to be used by a novice in an emergency) are now standard issue in slots caves, and becoming more common in malls, gyms, and sports arenas.

USA Today has an explainer, too, on why the electrical short known as "sudden cardiac arrest" is even more dangerous than a heart attack. "When you look at the heart in ventricular fibrillation, it looks like a bag of squiggly worms," Indiana cardiologist Douglas Zipes told the paper. "The contractions are totally ineffective...Therefore, no blood is pumped to the brain, causing him to black out."

Dr. Zipes even had a musical metaphor befitting the King of Pop:

The heart's pacemaker is the sinus node," Zipes says. "It's the conductor of the orchestra, coordinating the heart's electrical rhythm. When all the instruments are playing in a coordinated manner, the result is music. In ventricular fibrillation, it's as if the orchestra is warming up and what you hear is cacophony.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Celebrity Deaths as Teaching Moments" >

by Deborah Franklin

Bumblebees need love, too. /istockphoto.com

In celebration of National Pollinator Week, NPR's Melissa Block checked in this afternoon with Tucson entomologist Steve Buchmann about the status of America's imperiled honeybees, and what backyard gardeners can do to help save them.

The precise cause of "colony collapse" among honeybees is still a mystery, Buchmann says. But he cites a glimmer of good news for farmers and produce lovers:

Mother Nature has lots of other pollinators -- typically five to ten types -- that visit a single plant.

Still, bumblebees and bats could use tending, too, he says. To improve their lives, try to plant local wildflowers and heirloom fruits and veggies. Native plants suited to the local climate and soil are likelier to flourish and feed bees. Steer clear of the ornately ruffled sophisticates that have spent generations in a hothouse.

Continue reading "All Hail Honeybees (And Their Pollinating Pals)" >

by Jon Hamilton

Genetically challenged /istockphoto.com

If a sleepless night makes it hard to think, blame your brain -- and your genes.

Scientists from Belgium and the UK say people with a gene that lets them stay out all night and still ace the final have brains that become more active as they get tired.
In contrast, people who are genetically vulnerable to the effects of sleeplessness have brains that become less active with fatigue.

The finding, published in this week's issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, comes from a study that compared the brains of people with two different forms of a gene called PER3. The "short" version of PER3 makes you resilient to sleep deprivation. The "long" one leaves you vulnerable.

Researchers had a couple of dozen people with long and short versions of the gene stay up all night. Then they slid the sleepy volunteers into a brain scanner and asked them to do some simple memory tests.

Genetically resilient people did a lot better than the vulnerable people. In fact, one person with the vulnerable version of PER3 got booted from the study because he nodded off inside the scanner.

Continue reading "Night Owls Have Different Brains" >

by Richard Knox

You're not alone. /istockphoto.com

Judging from the many comments on my story this week on patient advocates, we could all use more help navigating the health system.

Tim Grizzard writes that every time he's dealt with a severe illness,

it is like no one has ownership of the problem. In the hospital, treatment is so disjointed from one shift to the next and from one doctor to the next.

Dr. Samuel J. Williams, a semi-retired surgeon in Virginia, says he's "learned the hard way" that patients and families need advocates to help them understand what's happening and make informed decisions.

"I believe that such professionals will become more necessary, not less," Williams writes. He's interested in starting such a service in southwest Virginia, and suggests churches might test the idea of a "parish doctor" or "parish nurse."

A number of others around the nation (I've posted their links at the bottom) tell us they're already doing patient advocacy -- either on a volunteer or paid basis.

Continue reading "Patient Advocates: Tips From You" >

by Deborah Franklin

It's true there are no magic pills in medicine, but some are more transformative than others. Today's headlines bring news of two drugs definitely worth watching -- one to prevent pregnancy, and the other to stop often deadly, inherited forms of breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice department continues its crackdown on Medicare fraud rings across the country. This week's snag: Detroit.

First, the pill to fight cancer: This week's New England Journal of Medicine has a report of a small, experimental test of a drug called a "PARP-inhibitor" among 19 patients with inherited forms of cancer that are caused by mutations in genes known as BRCA1 and BRCA2. As the BBC reports:

In 12 of the patients--none of whom had responded to other therapies -- tumors shrank or stabilized.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Pills and Politics" >

by Julie Rovner

Pollster Stan Greenberg channels famed N.Y. Yankees Coach Yogi Berra Ron Frehm/AP

Yogi Berra's famous tagline sums up how former President Clinton pollster Stanley Greenberg sees the state-of-play on health care this year: "Deja vu all over again."

"People want change, but they know if it's not done right they will pay the price," Greenberg tells NPR's Melissa Block in an interview today.

Greenberg, who recently polled the public on the very same questions that he did back in 1993, just before Bill Clinton's big health care overhaul push, got back many of the very same answers. The American people, he said, are dissatisfied with the health care system. Yet, three-quarters are satisfied with their own care.

Continue reading "Hello, Haven't We Met Before?" >

by Deborah Franklin

Sure he was the sun god, but what did he eat? /istockphoto.com

It's easy to eat like a Greek in the summer. A drizzle of olive oil over ripe veggies, lightly grilled fish, glass of wine, maybe some fruit and you're done. Who needs Ben and Jerry?

But a new study from Greek researchers who are intent on teasing out the best of the best diet suggests that some parts of the Mediterranean cooking and eating style may be more important than others.

In their ongoing, multi-year survey of 23,000 Greek men and women, Harvard professor Dimitrios Trichopoulos and several colleagues were surprised to find that eating more fish, seafood and cereal, and limiting dairy seemed to have little influence on longevity. Instead, the diet's keys to long life seemed to be the extra olive oil, the lack of meat, and the moderate drinking of wine.

Now, this is only one study with a number of limitations (Chief among them: It's a survey that asked people to recount what they ate. Survey respondents sometimes forget and lie.) Nutrition science especially, tacks and jibes like a sailboat in a shifting wind. Overhauling your diet based on just one bit of research is never a good idea, the best scientists will tell you.

Continue reading "Eat Like A Greek (And Drink Like One, Too)" >

by Deborah Franklin

President Obama took his health plan to the people --and ABC's Dianne Sawyer-- on Good Morning America this morning, insisting that he "absolutely believes" he'll be able to get a health overhaul bill out of Congress by the end of the year.

The President wouldn't say whether he now supports mandating insurance, or would sign a bill that taxes employer-provided health benefits. But did say he'd prefer to help pay for the overhaul by reducing tax deductions for the wealthiest Americans.

Meanwhile, one of the very wealthiest --Apple's CEO Steve Jobs-- wants you all to know that he's feeling much better, thanks very much, and he didn't steal his new liver either, so get out there and buy another iPhone.

Ever since word broke late Friday night that Jobs had quietly received a liver transplant two months ago at a hospital in Tennessee, there's been some less quiet grumbling and speculation that he might have used his cash or cache to jump the line.

The CBS affiliate (WREG) in Memphis talked to locals outside Methodist University Hospital.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Rich People Get Sick, Too" >

by April Fulton

President Obama patiently explains his support for the public health option /istockphoto.com

With the tone of a patient but firm elementary school teacher, President Obama today poked critics who fear that the "public option" -- the creation of a government-run health plan that would compete with private health plans for beneficiaries -- would kill the private insurance system.

"If private insurers say that marketplace provides the best quality health care, then why is it that the government, which they say can't run anything, is suddenly going to drive them out of business? That's not logic," Obama said.

You could almost hear the ruler being raised gently up and down, calmly but slightly threateningly, in his palm as he spoke.

Continue reading "President Raps Knuckles Of Public Plan Critics" >

by Deborah Franklin

If the doc forgets to relay your test results, who's to blame? /istockphoto.com

If you haven't heard back about the results of a mammogram, PSA, or cholesterol check, don't assume you're fine.

A new study from Weill Cornell Medical College suggests there's a good chance, instead, that your test results got lost in a swamp of paperwork.

Dr. Lawrence Casalino and several colleagues at Cornell reviewed the medical records of a random sampling of more than 5,000 patients at 23 primary care clinics across the U.S. The researchers were distressed, but not surprised, to find that one of every 14 abnormal test results was never reported to the patient. And in some practices, the reporting rate was significantly worse.

Failure rates were highest in offices that use a combination of electronic and paper records.

Casalino urges patients to take charge.
"If you don't get the result you're waiting for," he tells HealthDay, "you really should call the doctor's office and ask for it."

He tells Science News that he decided to do the study after a close family member's doctor failed to relay results that could have been life-threatening.

It's one thing to ask somebody who's healthy to "take charge" of their medical care. Quite another for someone old or sick.

Have any of you had a similar experience --- some time when important medical info about you or a loved one fell through the cracks? What happened? And what would have helped?

Hey!
We knew we could count on you. Many thanks to all who've offered new names for this blog. "Daily Apple," "Take Two," and "The Pulse," are new contenders. (Bonus points to David Hollis for pulling out the high school Latin with "nPRN"--and almost a palindrome, too. Yowza.) Please keep those suggestions coming! Some names will turn out to be taken already, so we need a jolly bowlful of choices.

Speaking of names and choices:

Thanks to President Obama's signature on the tobacco bill yesterday, cigarette labels with descriptors like "light," "low-tar," and "mild" will indeed disappear. (No prohibition of "smooth" or "easy" though. Expect a run on synonyms in tobacco country.) The Chicago Tribune has a good run-down today on what changes to expect --and not-- with the new law.

Many longtime tobacco battlers were on-hand for the signing ceremony, of course, but the weirdest celebratory note we got was a press release from Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris (which, I guess makes it a grandparent of Marlboro, Benson & Hedges and Virginia Slims--among the biggest of Big Tobacco).

Altria called the new law which may or may not solidify its market share, by the way) a "historic achievement." The note quotes Altria CEO Michael E. Szymanczyk:

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Blogs and Tobacco. " >

by April Fulton

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) is, by several accounts, facing the political fight of his life as he bids to keep his Senate seat in 2010. He has been unable to distance himself from the awarding of insurance executive bonuses that caused so much populist outrage earlier this year and he trails three Republican challengers in the polls.

Now, his long-time friend and colleague, the ailing Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), has either thrown him a lifeline or an anchor -- he's appointed Dodd the captain on health care for the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee this year. Dodd is attempting to steer Kennedy's bill through committee as we speak.

Check out the new campaign video above in which Kennedy calls Dodd his "closest ally" in the fight for health care rights for all.

by Deborah Franklin

Sure it smells sweet. Now, what's its name? /istockphoto.com

You think you're so smart -- and, frankly, so do we. Also clever, creative, and highly opinionated, which is why we very much need your help in coming up with a new name for the "NPR Health Blog."

In the two months since its inception, this blog has already morphed from FluShots, a running news wire of all things swine-fluish, to a more varied discussion of daily medical news and features. We're still tracking swine flu, of course, and the healthcare debate that's now roiling across the country and on Capitol Hill.

But take a look over the last few weeks and you'll also find news about cookie dough recalls, the origins of fingerprints, and a provocative debate about the power of beauty to heal. Plus limericks from listeners, and live color commentary by our own reporters on the day's events, large and small.

In other words: Help! We need a new name.

Here's a list of our current strong contenders:

Antidote
NPRx
ZAP
Naked Health
Beats Per Minute
Vitals
Inside Out

Come on -- we know you can do better. Please comment on these blog names or (even better!) send us more ideas NOW. We're on deadline and long overdue.

Thanks!

Good Morning.

Three medical mysteries that have experts scrambling today sound more like financial headlines than health: They're all about dough, raw deals, and jobs.

First up, raw dough: Microbiologists from the FDA are in Danville, Va. this morning, scouring a Nestle factory for clues. The plant is thought to be the source of the contaminated raw cookie dough (recalled last Friday) that has sickened at least 65 people in 29 states. The big question: How did E.coli 0157 -- an especially nasty intestinal bug usually limited to cattle -- get into the pre-packaged dough?

According to the Washington Post, federal investigators are checking "a broad range of possible factors," including all ingredients, worker health, plant equipment and location. The Post says:

Federal officials are also considering whether the dough might have been intentionally contaminated.

Meanwhile, outraged veterans and radiation oncologists around the country are wondering why it took six years for regulators to discover that at least one surgeon at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center was routinely botching surgeries to treat prostrate cancer, and then covering up his mistakes.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Raw Deals and Medical Mysteries" >

by Alison Richards

This tiny mussel shrimp's extinct cousin showed the ladies love with his giant sperm /Renate Matzke-Karasz

Guys do anything to get the girl. It was the same 100 million years ago.

Some of the hottest studs around during the Cretaceous Period were tiny creatures a bit like mussels called ostracodes. And even though they were only a few millimeters in size, researchers have just discovered that their sperm cells were gigantic - up to ten times as big as the crustaceans themselves.

To peek at what this guy's machinery looked like in a short 3-D movie, click here.

Continue reading "Size Does Matter" >

by Deborah Franklin

Don't eat the raw dough /istockphotos.com

Spread the word: Nestle is recalling its pre-packaged Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough because some packages may have been contaminated with a nasty form of E.coli.

The FDA and CDC strongly urge anyone who already has the stuff in the fridge not to eat it. Their investigations show that the pre-packaged dough seems the likely culprit behind the illnesses of 66 people in 28 states who've become sick over the last couple of months with cramping, vomiting and bloody diarrhea traced to the bacteria E.coli 0157:H7.

Continue reading "Recall Of Pre-packaged Cookie Dough" >

by Deborah Franklin

Everybody needs somebody sometime /istockphoto.com

You've got to see this morning's sweet BBC story about a British construction worker and his unusual pal.

But don't get any ideas about your own squirrel shampoo. Yes, we know about all the health benefits of pets. But experts say feral animals are called "wildlife" for a reason. Think rabies, hantavirus, and more.

If you do encounter a motherless baby squirrel in the garden (keep those cats inside, already!), here are a few tips from professional squirrel wranglers on how best to "rehabilitate" the little guy, and keep him comfy.

by Deborah Franklin

Good Morning.

Members of Congress are still huddled in cloakrooms, sweating over how best to pay for healthcare, but that doesn't mean the rest of us have to stay inside. Today's headlines include a little health news you can use in the great outdoors.

First, a cautionary note to high school coaches from America's athletic trainers: Go easier on the kids in the heat of summer -- especially at the start--to keep them alive all season long. "Acclimatization" is key to preventing heat stroke and death in young athletes, research shows. That means work up gradually -- over a couple of weeks -- to those two-a-day, full-pad practices, and push water and other fluids all day long and into the evening. Already, some coaches are balking.

Now, what about camp? In its H1N1 flu update yesterday, the CDC said the new flu is sticking around beyond the usual season, so now that most schools are closed, it's not surprising to see outbreaks at kids' camps in North Carolina, Georgia, and elsewhere.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Taming The Great Outdoors" >

by Richard Knox

Harvard docs learning to say no /istockphoto.com

Harvard Medical School has been a late-bloomer when it comes to shielding its faculty and students from the undue influence of drug companies. But the school has apparently been buckling down. In the last year it has improved its ethics score from a shameful "F" to a solid "B."

Says who? The Pew Prescription Project. The non-profit watchdog has just published its second annual conflict of interest report card on medical schools. The project's a collaboration with the American Medical Student Association.

The scorecard's grades are based on a med school's performance in 11 areas, including whether the school allows faculty to take speaking fees or freebies from drug companies (gifts, meals, or drug samples); whether it allows industry to fund seminars on campus; and whether it limits the amount of access that industry sales reps have to med-students and faculty.

Continue reading "Rx Drug Money And Med Schools Don't Mix" >

by April Fulton

This early Arctic explorer might have needed a cold remedy State Library of New South Wales

In response to our recent post on the impact of FDA's recall of Zicam nasal products containing zinc and its potential impact on professional singers, we got this perfectly-tuned comment from JFD8:

My nose got all runny & pink/Relieved it with something from zinc/But now my olfact'ry/Is unsatisfact'ry/& I just sniff, 'Zicam, U stink!'

Apparently, JFD8 (John F Dillon) frequently sets the news of the day to the rhythm of a limerick and tweets them. Topics range from Cher's daughter's sex change:

That the child of a musical pair/Is a girl is a source of despair/She spent time & money/So she can B Sonny/& her gown she is willing 2 Cher

to nuclear test bans:

To sanction's a false panacea/To nuke testing in North Korea/For the only result/From its leadership cult/Is menacing word diarrhea.

Hey JFD8, did you enter The Two-Way Blog's haiku contest recently? You might be a ringer.

by Alison Richards

Hey! I feel a theory coming on. /istockphoto.com

Scientists, apparently, are just as sentimental as the rest of us.

Tufts University announced this week that cosmologist Alex Vilenkin hopes to plant an apple tree this Fall whose lineage goes back to the English farm where Sir Isaac Newton lived in the 1600s -- Woolsthorpe Manor.

This isn't Vilenkin's first tribute to the fabled event that inspired Newton's theory of gravitation. According to Tufts, the professor drops an apple onto the heads of his graduating PhD students every year.

Not that the Tufts tree will provide fruit for that ceremony any time soon. The cuttings -- which came from a tree planted at MIT -- have only just been grafted onto a rootstock in a local orchard .

I must admit, though I wrote a book about apples a few years ago, I'd never heard of this scientific soft spot for Newton's apple tree. It turns out there are august research institutes all over the world boasting trees thought to be descended from Isaac's own.

Continue reading "A Scientific Soft Spot for Newton's Apple" >

by Deborah Franklin

Good morning.

As Congressional leaders today continue their horse-trading over healthcare, dissenting voices are getting louder, threatening to sink any chances that President Obama will get a bill to his liking approved by August. Meanwhile, the EPA has stepped in to help pay the medical bills of a Montana town, and NPR's Joe Shapiro pays tribute to a 104-year-old woman who cared day in and out for ill friends and family.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Healthcare Public and Personal" >

by Julie Rovner

Facing a long hot summer drafting a health overhaul bill, those working on the issue had only one desire when the opening bell rang today in the Senate: Find the perfect soundbite that will make it into the papers.

In the interest of fairness, we bring you both contenders, and a Star Wars Lego video we like (above.)

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) expressing his party's general disdain for the version of the bill put before the panel:

"I don't know who wrote it, but if it had been Rube Goldberg, Ira Magaziner, and Karl Marx you might have gotten this product."

Gregg, however, was immediately challenged by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD):

"But our current system is a combination of Adam Smith, Darth Vader, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

by Joanne Silberner

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. /Evan Vucci/AP

New FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg has a reputation for being what my Yiddishe Mama would call a macher -- a person who gets things done. And she's got a lot to do at FDA, she tells NPR's Robert Siegel in an interview that will air on All Things Considered tonight.

When she headed the New York City Health Department, she stopped a tuberculosis epidemic in part by implementing "directly observed therapy" -- requiring health workers to watch people with TB take their medicine to ensure compliance.

Now she's got to get the FDA to take its medicine. Her agency has been accused of being too close to the industries it regulates and too slow to react to dangers like foodborne illness outbreaks. At the same time it's been spurred on by Congress to take up many new duties, such as tobacco regulation.

Continue reading "Hamburg And Her Full Plate" >

by Richard Knox

Some pains don't require an X-ray. /istockphoto.com

Amazing response to my Monday post about my cracked ribs. Many thanks to all who sent in your stories.

Your comments are moving testament to the terrible choices Americans have to make every day to forego necessary care because they don't have health insurance.

I feel for Micki LeCronier, who declined an ambulance trip as she was falling into anaphylactic shock. For Lorraine Seirer, who couldn't afford follow-up treatment after a bad auto accident. For Paros Goodwyn, who's suffering from an untreated wrist that's probably fractured. For Cindy Meegan, who had to stop taking medicine for severe depression. And for so many others.

My situation is the other side of their coin. I have good insurance. But I'm opposed in principle to unnecessary tests and treatments that cost my fellow premium-payers money for no good reason.

Taken together, my situation and your responses capture the essence of what's wrong with the US medical system.

Continue reading "Insurance Battles: More Reports From The Trenches" >

by Joanne Silberner

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, before she broke her foot. Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

What's with all the crutches in Congress?

First there was Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who limped to a hearing after tripping over a curb. And this week Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), just back from a Congressional trip to Guantanamo Bay, shows up to a subcommittee meeting with a bad limp.

"I wish there was a dramatic story," she told her fellow committee members yesterday. "I went to Guantanamo and fell, and broke my foot in two places."

But it wasn't her own pain she was feeling in that committee hearing, Schakowsky told me later. Instead she had pangs of sympathy (and anger) listening to the stories of three people who thought they had health insurance -- until they got sick.

Continue reading "Feeling Someone Else's Pain" >

by Deborah Franklin

Good morning.

Most successful people learn this lesson early: Half the game is knowing when you've blundered or just hit a dead-end and need to regroup. This morning's headlines are full of that kind of success.

NASA has had to scrub this week's launch of it's aging space shuttle, geneticists are rethinking depression, and the FDA's new chief is vowing to take a harder look at drugs and devices before they get to market.

First, depression: Six years ago, geneticists were thrilled to find what they thought was the key link between the nature and nurture of the disorder. Inheriting a handful of genes seemed to explain as the New York Times says, "why some people bounce back after a stressful life event, while others plunge into lasting despair."

But a new analysis of those early studies suggests that those genes may not play a role after all. Why the false lead?

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: FDA, NASA, And Depression Geneticists Regroup" >

by Julie Rovner

President Obama waves from the stage before speaking to the American Medical Association on Monday Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

 

Thanks for watching our first live-blogging effort yesterday. And thanks for your comments on our coverage of President Obama's speech to the American Medical Association. I'll respond here to a few.

To Dr. Kahn, who says:

"I dont think there is any thing wrong with govt. backed health insurance plan. After all medicare is a govt [plan] and my patients love it."

Yes, that's the paradox. Medicare is government-funded and government-run and generally patients love it, but doctors not so much -- because Medicare limits how much they can charge.

Continue reading "A Coda On Obama's AMA Speech" >

by April Fulton

Some singers may mourn loss of cold remedies that zap sense of smell /istockphoto.com

FDA's announcement today that it is recalling Zicam nasal gels and swabs containing zinc because they may lead to permanent loss of smell is leaving some folks sniffling, especially singers.

Professional vocalists know better than anyone that getting a cold could mean losing a gig, so they are often "willing to resort to anything" to minimize the impact of a stuffy nose, says Kyle Burke, 46, a Washington, D.C. tenor who performs solos and in ensembles around town.

Burke and others like him perform up to four times a week during peak music season, September through May, often while holding down day jobs. So, many swear by nasal products like Zicam to stave off symptoms that could turn that sweet Irish tenor into a bellowing bullfrog.

Continue reading "The Nose Knows Sound And Smell" >

by Deborah Franklin

New book probes the power of beauty to heal /istockphoto.com

The very question seems a throwback to darker times. But that was the assertion of a 31-year-old Czech nurse in the New York Times on Sunday, and it's been bugging me ever since.

The quote was part of an NYT story about how Prague hospitals and clinics are coping with their nursing shortage by offering an unusual bonus to nurses who commit to a long-term contract: Free face lifts and breast implants.

Now, we can all argue (and please do send us your thoughts) about whether an employer's offer of cosmetic surgery is different from any other signing bonus -- extra vacation say, or cash.

But what caught me up short was the quote by a young Czech nurse, Petra Kalivodova, who justified her surgery this way:

We were always taught that if a nurse is nice, intelligent, loves her work and looks attractive, then patients will recover faster.

Continue reading "Will A Good-Looking Nurse Help You Heal Faster?" >

by Deborah Franklin

Good Morning. You could say today's health headlines are all about the jitters.

As President Obama tries to soothe doctors' and insurers' fears that he's pushing for government-run health care (no really, he's not--just ask HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius), the FDA has a new warning out on the risks of the stimulant Ritalin to some kids. Meanwhile, down south in the land of tobacco, state prisons are poised to outlaw smoking by inmates and staff, prompting a little nervousness about the prospect of already cranky prisoners jonesing for a nicotine fix.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Nerves Jangled By Health Care Costs, Possible Risks of Ritalin, And A Prison Smoking Ban" >

by Deborah Franklin

Hey--There's a great debate continuing in the comments following my post last week on the origin of fingerprints. Thanks to all those weighing in!

Kathryn Olszowy (katiemego) reminds us there may be no "purpose" to fingerprints at all:

Evolution is not purpose driven; it's the result of random mutations, and sometimes those mutations are beneficial and selected for in a population, and sometimes they are neutral and stick around for eons.

Excellent point. Check the full discussion here.

Other ideas? And while you're at it, let us know if you think NPR's Dick Knox was right on Saturday to forego a costly trip to the hospital for X-rays when he fell from a ladder.

Sometimes the debate on the cost of health care gets personal. Where do you draw the line in judging when to seek emergency care?

Live Blogging of Obama's speech

by Julie Rovner

by Richard Knox

A trip to the E.R. can cost thousands. When is it OK to say no? /istockphoto.com

I broke a rib or two this weekend. And I saved the US medical system thousands of dollars.

Here's how:

Breaking the rib(s) was amazingly easy. I fell backwards off the third step of a ladder, landing with full force directly on the vacuum cleaner. A stupid fall, as all falls are. But you don't know that until it's too late.

My daughter, alarmed by my gray-ish hue, called 911. Within about seven minutes, it seemed, a volunteer rescue squad appeared at my side -- this was 11 p.m. on a Saturday night in the woods of New Hampshire.

The lead EMT knew what she was doing. Blood pressure and heart rate normal. Neurologic signs, check. Medication history. Then an extensive mental status check.
At one point one of the other EMTs asked if I could recite the Declaration of Independence. "The what?" I replied. "Could you?"

(Should Knox have headed to the E.R.? Find out what he did after the jump.)

Continue reading "One Reporter's Painful Decision" >

by April Fulton

Good Morning.

When drug companies ghostwrite journal articles.../istockphoto.com

What happens when drugmakers ghostwrite journal articles in favor of their products to gin up prescribing?

Answer: Nothing so far, but the practice appears to be raising eyebrows because it calls into question the sanctity of medical journals.

A recent revelation of this type of marketing was made in lawsuits involving Eli Lilly & Co. and its antipsychotic drug Zyprexa. As Bloomberg reports, the practice of aggressive marketing through targeted journal publication is nothing new.

Lilly says the data has been cherry-picked and stands ready to defend itself.

Seems this issue will soon be added to FDA's already full plate.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Gilding Lilly Drugs, Chavez' Zero Coke Tolerance, Obama And The Docs" >

by Richard Harris

New apartments in southeast China's Fuzhou. Housing boom means a boom in coal plants, too. /dnkb/AP/ImagineChina

Together, the US and China are now responsible for 40 percent of the world's emissions of carbon dioxide, with China now in the lead. That means even if everybody else stops emitting carbon entirely, the earth will still continue to heat rapidly unless these two giants can get their emissions under control.

What's a body to do?

State Department climate envoy Todd Stern just got back from a brainstorming session with his Chinese counterparts. At a press conference today he said the meetings didn't produce any breakthroughs, but he does now have a deeper appreciation of what China's up against.

Half of all housing in the world is going to be built in China over the course of the next couple of decades. They are building housing at the rate of two Bostons a month.

Continue reading "Two Bostons A Month: A Climate Challenge" >

by Richard Knox

Dr. Atul Gawande: Surgeon, writer, healthcare reformer /Rose Lincoln/Harvard News Office

Dr. Atul Gawande's commencement address this morning to graduating medical students at the University of Chicago reminds me of my favorite fortune-cookie saying: "All is not yet lost."

The Boston surgeon has been cited lately by everybody up to President Obama for his New Yorker article that pulled back the curtain on why doctors in McAllen, Texas, practice one of the most expensive styles of medicine in America.

It's because patients in McAllen get more "stuff," Gawande says. More tests, more procedures, more specialist visits, more hospital admissions. "But not necessarily more of what they need."

McAllen is far from alone. And health "reform" ain't gonna work if American docs keep doing that, Gawande told the newly minted physicians.

Continue reading "Atul's Heart-To-Heart With Med School Grads" >

by April Fulton

FDA's the new sheriff in town, and these are going down /istockphoto.com

A bill giving FDA the power to regulate tobacco just passed its last Congressional hurdle this afternoon, 45 years after the Surgeon General warned us that smoking is bad for us and 15 years after tobacco execs told Congress their products were not addictive.

The execs have since changed their tune.

Still, it never fails to shock when you hear a tobacco exec talk about the dangers of its products and why they still sell them, says NPR's Joanne Silberner, so we've got some bonus audio for you that didn't make it into her story earlier this week.

Philip Morris spokesman Bill Phelps tells Silberner smoking is addictive and causes disease:

After she asks him why the company doesn't just stop selling cigarettes, he says:

by Deborah Franklin

Science behind the origin of fingerprints is slippery /istockphoto.com

Those of you hanging on by your fingertips to get through the week better dig a little deeper. A new study from England suggests the familiar ridges and crevices we call a fingerprint won't do anything to help you keep a firm grip.

This notion that human fingerprints (and presumably footprints) evolved because they act like tire or boot tread--increasing the friction against a smooth surface so we don't slip or drop stuff--is a 100-year-old urban myth that, apparently, had never been put to the test.

So a pair of mechanical engineers in Manchester rigged a contraption that measured the friction exerted by a guy pushing his finger across a piece of plastic.

Continue reading "Fingerprint Myth Disproved" >

by April Fulton

Good morning.

Break it up, boys, break it up /istockphoto.com

Max Baucus, Democrat from Montana and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee overseeing the health care overhaul this year, seems to have gone a little bit mob boss this week in his quest to control the debate.

Roll Call reports that his top aides met with prominent Democratic lobbyists, warning them not to meet with Republicans on health care matters or it would be viewed as a "hostile act."

Yikes. Wonder if they were packing.

Baucus told reporters he was unaware of the threats.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Senate Dem Goes Godfather, Calories Are Counted But Who's Counting? " >

by April Fulton

Product recalls are no laughing matter, but I've noticed that FDA releases this type of bad news at 4 pm or later, usually in a bunch. This makes it awfully hard to report on them or even to distinguish really bad stuff from medium-bad stuff.

Today, the agency sent out an email at 4 p.m., notifying me that they have recalled certain Medtronic pacemakers. FDA says they may fail due to a loose wire connected to the battery, and that patient symptoms range from feeling faint to death. Sounds pretty serious to me, but if you click on it and scroll down, it will likely only affect 20,000 people. (You too can subscribe to the updates here.)

Yet this notice is jammed in with dozens and dozens of email in my inbox about alfalafa, peanut and cashew recalls that seem less serious.

How about a flagging system for what's really a big deal and what's not?

by Deborah Franklin

WHO's Margaret Chan: The Pandemic Decider has decided /Laurent Gillieron/AP/Keystone

Even the most labored decision has a tipping point--a moment when the mountain of evidence suddenly shifts in the same direction. NPR's Richard Knox was on a conference call with WHO's chief Margaret Chan this morning when she announced that (finally!) she'd decided to declare the H1N1's spread around the world worthy of the designation "pandemic."

So, how did she decide? Knox says,

She ducked questions about what new evidence has emerged in the past few days to precipitate a declaration of something that many public health experts have said is obvious. The tipping point is widely thought to be the spread of flu in southern Australia, where more than 1,200 cases of the new flu have been counted in a matter of days.

Or, Knox says, maybe it was new spurt of cases in the United Kingdom, or the way the pandemic virus is rapidly crowding out other strains in Chile, which is just now entering it's winter flu season.

Look for more insights on what's next with the pandemic from Richard Knox tonight on All Things Considered.

by Richard Knox

OK, it's official. The world has entered the first pandemic of the 21st century -- the latest in 41 years.

The World Health Organization has informed its member-states that today it's declaring a Phase 6 pandemic alert. That means a new flu virus is spreading widely in two or more regions of the world.

WHO Director-general Margaret Chan gave the news to Geneva-based ambassadors shortly after she met with her so-called emergency committee of about 20 flu experts. Chan has sole authority to declare a pandemic, but she has taken great care --- and incurred unnecesary delays, some say --- to get consensus that, in fact, a pandemic has begun.

Chan is scheduled to hold a press conference around noon today, eastern time, to make the official announcement.

She's expected to call the pandemic of 2009 "moderate." But most expect that she'll warn its impact on vulnerable populations can be severe. And she may caution the new H1N1 strain of flu could get nastier as it circulates through millions of people over the next few months.

What does the formal declaration mean?

Probably it'll goose vaccine manufacturers...and assure them of a market. Beyond that, it may not alter much. Paradoxically, WHO officials hope some countries will ratchet down severe measures aimed at keeping the new virus beyond their borders.

" With a pandemic declaration," one official says, "we're saying the virus is widespread and virtually unstoppable."

Continue reading "The Pandemic Is Now" >

by April Fulton

Good morning. Lots of health news to dissect today.

New FDA Commissioner Peggy Hamburg says she wants to take on tobacco, and it looks like she's going to get her wish.

NPR's Joanne Silberner reports that after a decade-long effort, the power to regulate cigarette content and advertising is about to fall into the agency's hands. They'll get a whole lot of new money to do it, too.

The Onion reports the fake but sadly, probably true peoples' reactions.

Flu Announcement Coming Soon

NPR's Richard Knox warns that the WHO is FINALLY about to declare its equivalent of DefCon FIve on the new H1N1 flu virus, stay tuned for details on what that really means.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Tobacco Is Topic A, Kids Drugs Are OK, Docs Diagnose Health Plan" >

by Richard Knox

Psst, have you heard, boys? We're going to the big time /CDC

Who would have thought the declaration of a flu pandemic would be an anticlimax?

But that's the way it feels as WHO gets ready to certify the first flu pandemic in 41 years. Most people expect Director-General Margaret Chan to make the announcement today after she teleconferences with a 20-member emergency committee.

She'll probably call the new H1N1 pandemic of 2009 "moderate." But she'll warn its impact on vulnerable populations can be severe. And she'll caution the new strain could get nastier as it circulates through millions of people over the next few months.

What does the formal declaration mean?

Probably it'll goose vaccine manufacturers... and assure them of a market. Beyond that, it doesn't alter much. Paradoxically, WHO officials hope some countries will ratchet down severe measures (i.e. quarantining mayors, killing swine) to keep the new flu virus out.

" With a pandemic declaration," one official says, "we're saying the virus is widespread and virtually unstoppable."

By Deborah Franklin

First Mother-in-Law Marian Robinson /M.Spencer Green/AP

By all acounts, Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, is enjoying living in the White House. But she'd better take care: A new study of family living arrangements suggests that moving in with grown-up kids may not be best for the older person's health.

Doctors at Northwestern University looked into the medical records of about 13,000 patients over age 65, to see if they were getting routine preventive care. The recommended list of treatments included routine flu shots, physicals, checks of cholesterol and blood pressure, regular dental check-ups, and screenings for diabetes and colon cancer.

Now, it's no surprise they found that people living alone were more likely to neglect their health than couples who had a spouse to nudge them to the doctor. It's long been known that men especially benefit from marriage.

But anyone--whether single or coupled--who added adult kids to the household got no more preventive care than if they lived alone.

Continue reading "Home, But Not Alone" >

by Deborah Franklin

More than just pretty, these didgeridoos--like oboes, and French horns--may help players breathe better /istockphoto.com

It all began with a didgeridoo.

A couple of years ago, a Swiss sleep researcher with musician friends discovered that some snorers with sleep apnea who took up the Aboriginal wind instrument were suddenly resting better at night. Quieter sleep (happier mate). Much less snoring and gasping for air. And less exhaustion during the day.

Best of all, no need for surgery to fix the source of their problem--flapping, flabby tissue at the back of the throat. And no need to be tethered by a mask to a forced air compressor all night long, which is the standard method for keeping the airway open.

Somehow, playing the didgeridoo every day was toning the flabby muscles in the mouth and neck.

A small, randomized study confirmed the benefit in volunteers with mild and moderate apnea, after just six weeks of music practice. But could other wind instruments work, too?

This week, at a big sleep meeting in Seattle, we got a hint of an answer from a guy who's been studying hundreds of professional musicians of all types, looking to see who gets sleep apnea and who doesn't.

Continue reading "Sleep Apnea: Lessons From The Outback" >

by April Fulton

Good morning.

Reports of an imminent swine flu pandemic declaration have reached pandemic levels. We mean it this time -- WHO might pull the trigger today due to the spike in cases in Australia.

NPR's Richard Knox reports that it's getting harder for officials to deny that H1N1 is a full-blown pandemic.

Yesterday, WHO's Keiji Fukuda said the official declaration was getting closer:

If the highest WHO threat level is reached, it triggers all kinds of emergency plans, release of medical supplies and funds to combat the virus.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Inching Forward on Flu, Tobacco, Health Overhaul" >

by Julie Rovner

I know the information's around here somewhere... /istockphoto.com

It seems that turning Obama volunteers into lobbyists takes more than a name change.

I took a very unscientific look for All Things Considered yesterday at one of the many meetings sponsored around the nation this weekend by Organizing for America -- formerly Obama for America.

One thing was clear: Volunteers need more information if they are going to press Obama's health care overhaul plan.

Continue reading "Wanted: Health Data For The Masses" >

by April Fulton

Coral jewelry display at a jewelry stall in Volendam, Netherlands, in February 2007. Andrew3000/via Too Precious to Wear

 

Coral jewelry displays like this one haven't graced a Tiffany's window in at least seven years. That's because the jewelry giant stopped selling coral in 2002.

Corals are animals that join together to form reefs that provide marine life with places to hide, mate and search for food. They help feed people, protect coastlines, and form the basis for development of drugs to treat HIV and cancer.

But they are disappearing, in large part, because they are so pretty. Ancient people even thought they had magical powers. Although there's a pretty significant global warming impact, too.

Continue reading "Compassion For Coral" >

by Deborah Franklin

Ouch! Computers don't bounce. /istockphoto.com

Increase in computer ownership in the U.S. from 1994 to 2006: 309 percent

Increase in injuries in that same period from tripping over the computer, cracking your head on the screen, or pulling the monitor over onto a child's head: 732 percent.

According to stat-keepers at the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, hospital E.R.s treated more than 78,000 cases of acute computer-related injuries in that period. And you thought Blackberry thumb was bad.

Continue reading "Another Reason To Switch To A Laptop" >

by April Fulton

Cairo doc says no more of this /istockphoto.com

Good morning.

Egypt, the country that slaughtered its entire pig population in April to ward off swine flu, now has a handful of confirmed H1N1 flu cases.

Gulf News reports that a Cairo doctor is on a campaign to stop the region's traditional kiss-kiss-kiss greetings in favor of dry versions, like handshakes.

Wait, aren't handshakes a problem, too?

Health Care: Talk To Me

We've been hearing that health care is heating up on Capitol Hill. Really, it is. But we'd like to see some actual bills, please, not just speeches.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Kissing Off Flu, Health Care Talking, FDA Weighs Drug Risks" >

by Deborah Franklin

Too much skin for some flu-scared high schools /istockphoto.com

Grads at two high schools in Bloomington, MN will sit side by side at commencement ceremonies this week to hear speeches, toss mortarboards, and walk away with diplomas. But forget the photo-op handshake afterward from the principal or anybody else.

With two confirmed cases of swine flu in the district, school officials are taking a new approach to commencement, the district's Rick Kaufman told the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "We're just going to do sort of a head nod and a verbal 'congratulations' to students."

Most StarTrib readers weren't impressed. One scoffed in comments to the online story:

Just what kids these days need, less interaction. Are we going to "Tweet" them a congrats or Txt them "OMG Gr8 job!" Toughen up...

Continue reading "No Handshakes For Bloomington Grads" >

by Deborah Franklin

Mike Begier and Allen Gosser of USDA Wildlife Services pull feathers from jet engine for analysis. /National Transportation Safety Board

The flock of Canadian geese that knocked out two jet engines and forced a US Airways Airbus A320 into the Hudson River in January, were just passing through--not locals--according to a chemical analysis of their feathers by the Smithsonian Institution.

The analysis tracked the relative amounts of stable hydrogen isotopes, which turns out to be a telltale sign of what the birds ate, and where that food came from. Apparently, these geese were based in Newfoundland, not Queens.

That's an important distinction, and not just for chauvinistic New Yorkers, according to Peter Marra, a migratory bird specialist at the Smithsonian National Zoo.

Continue reading "Tracking the Geese That Kill Planes" >

by April Fulton

Are more young adults these days eschewing dating for casual hook ups, which means anything goes, including sex, no strings attached? Seems so, reports NPR's Brenda Wilson on Morning Edition today, because they are focused on friends and careers, not marriage.

"Going out on a date to dinner and a move? It's so cliche -- isn't that funny?" 25-year-old Elizabeth Walsh of Boston, who graduated from college in 2005, tells Wilson.

Hear the story here, then take our quiz on your reaction. We'll get back to you with the results soon.

by April Fulton

Health care moves to a tweet, tweet beat wonderferret/Flickr

Good Morning. The business of overhauling health care, or at least talking about it, moves up to warp speed. A European-touring President Obama gets an earful of tweets from the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.

Sunday morning, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) let it be known, from his Blackberry in shorthand to the world via Twitter, that he was none too pleased with the President's tone in his weekly radio address:

Pres Obama while u sightseeing in Paris u said 'time to delivr on healthcare' When you are a 'hammer' u think evrything is NAIL I'm no NAIL

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Grassley Tweets, Tobacco and Food Safety Coming Up" >

by Deborah Franklin

Will the real journalist please stand up? /istockphoto.com

Many scientists see "tweeting" brief news updates from research conferences as just a hobby--a good way to tell pals at home about something cool they've just learned.

But tweets are public, which makes these mini-reports sort of like journalism. So Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories now says it wants any scientist sending these spot blog posts from its meetings to abide by the same restrictions it imposes on the mainstream media (such as checking with a speaker before posting study results).

ScienceInsider has the story of who complained. Daniel MacArthur of Genetic Future responds here. And blogging scientist Andrew Maynard explains why he thinks the lab's new "citizen journalist" rules shouldn't apply to him.

You be the judge.

by Richard Knox

Kids likely to get swine flu shots before the elderly. /istockphoto.com

It's never been done before but it is the official goal: Vaccinate every American against a new flu virus between next fall and the following spring.

A tall order, and costly. How does $17 billion strike you?

Continue reading "Vaccinating Everybody Will Cost You" >

by April Fulton

It's going to be a long, hot, summer of late night health negotiations. takomabibelot/flickr

 

President Obama wants a health care overhaul bill ready to sign by October. That's a tall order for a bill that affects one-sixth of our economy, so we're expecting a summer full of late nights and political fistfights.

The basement rooms of the Capitol will hum with the sounds of negotiations over buzzwords like tax increase, subsidies, exemptions, carveouts, employer mandate, public plans and private competition, but we want to know, how's it going to go?

Brand-spanking new Kaiser Health News has a roundup of the opinions of Washington's health experts, predicting the shape of the debate to come. Check it out here.

by Allison Aubrey

E.R.'s hot doc James Carter (Noah Wylie) needed no help looking sharp in his labcoat and tie--but are those long sleeves and layers a hazard to patients?

At its annual meeting later this month, the American Medical Association will consider a wardrobe revolution that many believe could limit the spread of MRSA and other dangerous infections in hospitals.

"I think the ties should go" says Peter Ragusa, a 4th year medical student at the University of Minnesota. Ragusa explains that neck ties as well as the long-sleeves on the standard white-doctor jackets can harbor bacteria.

He's a fan of the "bare below the elbows" approach recently adopted in the United Kingdom.

Continue reading "Should Docs Ditch Their Neckties?" >

by April Fulton

How many times did we invent this? The world may never know istockphoto.com

Why are humans so smart? It's not because we started memorizing our multiplication tables, but apparently math played a big role in our evolution.

On All Things Considered this morning, NPR's Chris Joyce reports on an article from the journal Science about archaeological evidence and a new mathematical model showing that new inventions caught on faster and lasted longer in the collective memory when our ancestors started living together in larger groups.

Hear Evolutionary Geneticist Mark Thomas explain his theory using the example of a guitar audition:

Brush up on your calculus skills first, if you must, but hear Joyce's full story here.

by April Fulton

Good Morning. At the World Pork Expo in Des Moines this week, swine flu is on everyone's minds, if not their lips -- H1N1 is the preferred term.

The Washington Post says the name of the flu is only one of the problems facing the pork industry, which is facing a serious price drop and questions about its animal husbandry practices.

While the virus still appears to be deadly in some cases, the good news is that there are no known mutant strains so far, making pursuit of a vaccine easier.

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: No-Flu Fair, Smoke Out, Happy Harry Gets Sad" >

by Allison Aubrey

Pick me! Pick me! specialkrb/flickr

It's a growing trend: Ditch High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) for something consumers THINK is healthier. From Pepperidge Farm breads to Keebler Sandies Cookies, major food companies are falling for the food fad.

Starbucks is the latest adopter. According to Reuters, the ubiquitous coffee chain will offer HFCS-free bakery goods as part of its "Real Food. Simply Delicious Campaign" starting June 30.

But here's the real skinny: Experts have found there's little nutritional difference between table sugar and HFCS.

And what about all those calories?

"An apple fritter is an apple fritter." says the Center for Consumer Freedom. And even if the HFCS is replaced with another sweetener -- it still has 420 calories and 20 grams of fat.

And that may make it too tough to swallow.

by April Fulton

I don't often turn to MSNBC political maven Rachel Maddow for health and science ideas, but when she tweeted today about a website where we can learn about animals by what they left "behind," I stood up and took notice.

If you're a five-year old boy, there's no question about why you would study poop, but scientists do, too.

Turns out you can learn a lot about an animal, like its travels, diet, and pregnancy status, through its waste, says the Minnesota Zoo, which put together the above video and this interactive website.

The website lets you guess which animal made which poop and track your results by feeding the animals and watching them do their thing. All this to the gentle beat of African drums.

Plus, "It's free, there's plenty of it, and the animals don't mind if we take it," says the perky zookeeper.

by Deborah Franklin

This video of giggling quadruplets has been racing around the Web for months now, and it still makes us chuckle. Never mind speech, or the ability to dance. Surely it's contagious laughter that makes us human, right?

Well, maybe not.

NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce has a fun story tonight on All Things Considered about British scientists who recorded the breathy titters and hoots of young chimps, gorillas, and other apes in response to friendly tickles. (Listen to the recordings after the jump!)

Continue reading "Laugh Like the Animals" >

By April Fulton

Want to pay less for that proceedure? Haggle. There's a new service to help. /istockphoto.com

Tired of paying top dollar for health care? You probably can and should negotiate the cost of that root canal, but if you have good insurance, it may not seem worth the effort.

Since the economic forecast continues to be cloudy and employer-sponsored health care is becoming increasingly expensive, this laissez-faire approach may not be the best strategy anymore.

A new free web service launched in January called the Healthcare Blue Book offers consumers who pay cash for health care services the tools to shop around for the cheapest services in their area.

Continue reading "Stop Paying Too Much For That Bypass" >

by April Fulton

Good morning.

New FDA Commissioner Peggy Hamburg came charging out of the gate yesterday at a House committee appearance, endorsing legislation that would require food companies should pay a fee to the agency to help offset food safety costs, says the Wall Street Journal.

But she also criticized the bill, which calls for significant increases in the number of inspections, as too ambitious and asked for more money.

Meanwhile, thanks to FDA, our canine friends got their first cancer drug approval yesterday, U.S. News & World Report says. It's Palladia, developed by Pfizer Animal Health Inc. in New York.

FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine Director Bernadette Dunham:

"Prior to this approval, veterinarians had to rely on human oncology drugs, without knowledge of how safe or effective they would be for dogs. Today's approval offers dog owners, in consultation with their veterinarian, an option for treatment of their dog's cancer."

Continue reading "Morning Rounds: Food Fees, Doggie Drug Approval, Health Momentum" >

By Deborah Franklin

What's in your portfolio? Big Insurance has a lot of Big Tobacco /New England Journal of Medicine, 2009

 

Three Harvard doctors have done a little digging through the investment portfolios of several leading U.S. and British health and life insurance companies, and are crowing today about what they've learned.

"In case there is any doubt that insurers place profit above health, consider their investments in tobacco," the docs write in their letter published in the June 4 New England Journal of Medicine.

Continue reading "Health Insurers Have Billions in Tobacco Stocks" >

categories: Doctors, Public Health, Tobacco