There's been a lot of buzz and dropped jaws this week due to new recommendations from a goverment panel regarding breast cancer screening (published in the Annals of Internal Medicine Nov 17) Previous recommendations were that women should have a mammogram every year starting at… Read full post »

Last night, the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress passed their health care bill. 220 representatives, including 1 Republican (Cao of Louisiana), decided that the bill they had before them was what they wanted to contribute to health care reform in this country. The v… Read full post »

The House vote on health care reform, along with an amendment regarding federal subsidies to abortions and a Republican alternative, is happening right now. But you can see any time after now how your Reps voted by visiting the House of Representatives roll call. (Stupak was the abortion funding amen… Read full post »

DrugWonks, the blog for the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, was the first to report that Dr. Peter Lurie, a painful thorn in the side of the FDA for many years and most recently the Deputy Director of Public Citizen's health research group, has been hired by the FDA.… Read full post »

The Public Library of Science (PLoS), an open scientific journal, has been part of an information gathering campaign to bring to light the extent of ghostwriting in journal publications. What they've uncovered shows a systematic abuse of the system to promote pharmaceuticals by… Read full post »

I wrote previously about Gardasil, the so-called cervical cancer vaccine. Stemming from that was a conversation with someone who actually works at Merck and worked with the vaccine. I truly believe and accept that the researchers are trying to help medicine and patients. I truly believe and accept th… Read full post »

I got my seasonal flu shot this morning. We went to our local pharmacy in a hurry because when I called yesterday to inquire about hours they said they only had 20 doses left. Normally I don't get the flu vaccine - I'm a relatively young and healthy… Read full post »

Work funded by the NIH is required to be available in an open access database within 6-12 months of publication. A bill that would require all research funded by 11 federal agencies to do the same is stalled in Congress....again.

 The Federal Research Public Access Act of… Read full post »

A hollywood secret (or not so secret) to produce tears on cue is to use tear replacement drops or some sort of lubricant to get the water works effect, but to really produce the eye response of tearing up an irritant is needed. Like that used by Fox News' Glenn Beck.… Read full post »

There are a number of videos on YouTube of news reports about health care workers refusing H1N1 or flu vaccinations this year. These are really big with the anti-vaccine, H1N1 was manmade, and "the gubment wants to kill me" crowds. I understand why. Here are the very people… Read full post »

As you've probably noticed, I haven't posted here on OS in awhile. I also have not written any articles in 2 months. I have been updating some older ones, but as my 3 month deadline approaches next month (this is the cycle I'm on currently) I will be playing catch up… Read full post »

The cost of education was high when I started college - $300-500 a semester for books, $2000 per semester tuition, $12000 a year total cost of attendance - and this was a public university. My sister is entering college this week, a state university, and her books alone… Read full post »

I've been attempting to let everything about the healthcare reform debate sink in rather than simply bolting at it with words, postures, or fits of rage. I've been involved in a few discussions on various forums I frequent, been following the cable news channels, been reading a Twitter feed of a… Read full post »

I read a lot throughout the day, both for work and leisure. One thing that seems increasingly clear is that everyone has something about which they would like to enlighten others. The problem, though, is that most of it is steps backwards in thinking.

Many ideas are actually… Read full post »

The Human Genre Project is attempting to establish the poetryome.

 Yes, you read that right - accumulating submissions from writers, scientists, and genetic entthusiasts the project is attempting to spread the word about the human genome via poetry, short stories, and refl… Read full post »

Having a sick cat has given me a rare opportunity to compare my knowledge of human anatomy and pathology to that of animals, marveling at the similarities and becoming frustrated with the differences. In early March our 15-year old was diagnosed with an enlarged heart following an episode of… Read full post »

I once again saw a commercial last night for Cylapril from the Adrenal Fatigue Institute (AFI) to treat adrenal fatigue. Something about both the terminology and symptoms did not mesh with what I learned in graduate school. My suspicions were well-founded:

1) Adrenal fatigue is NOT a real me… Read full post »

I ran across this interesting, though intuitive, study in the International Journal of Obesity. It is currently open access, so I wanted to share it while you can still read it.

The researchers looked at twins in Finland to determine the extent physical activity can overcome ob… Read full post »

I missed this news when it came out in May. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a spending program to push research on rare diseases, the ones that affect less than 200,000 Americans. They also want to include research on neglected diseases, those that affect low income or undeveloped r… Read full post »

This is the time of year when people blow off fingers*, burn their hair**, lose their hearing***, and get hurt while escaping from idiots**** - all to celebrate our independence!

Please, if using fireworks, use them safely and minimize the danger to yourself and others. We all love a good… Read full post »

There's been some hype garnered for a new genetics test seeking licensure in the UK. It would test embryos for genetic abnormalities, alerting parents to disease. The exact effect of the test on the embryo (do they remove a cell?) isn't stated. It uses karyomapping, which is a… Read full post »

There are many conditions known to be the result of both genetics and environment. Despite extreme environmental variations that can overcome genetics, and genetics that can overcome environment - the majority of individuals who are susceptible lie somewhere in the middle, strad… Read full post »

Although the government (both state and federal) has been one of the constant players in the tobacco sale game, even making money off of it, there's been a slow war waged against smokers. It started with laws banning smoking in certain establishments, slowly in some cities and states. Then there were… Read full post »

In the movie 50 First Dates, a patient at a memory clinic is called 10-second Tom because he can't remember anything that just happened to him. It makes for some funny, yet sad in concept, moments.

Amazingly, the concept has been duplicated in mice.

A Japanese Research group… Read full post »

The past few days have been surreal. We've been thrown out of our normal routine due to a litter of baby mice.

My significant other (otherwise known as Courtney) works at a store that had a mouse problem earlier this month.  So they caught the mouse in a trap, cleaned… Read full post »