Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Karen Murphy and Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera today announced plans by the departments to revise the immunization regulations for school children to ensure all students are better protected from illness. Current state regulations require Pennsylvania children to get immunized against certain diseases in order to attend school.
Culture
Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a medical condition that requires a lifetime of management, barely half of health care providers follow the clinical practice guidelines established on how to evaluate and manage patients with the condition.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- If you need health care in rural Michigan, and you don't have insurance or money, you can turn to a free clinic -- like the one University of Michigan medical students run each Saturday in the tiny town of Pinckney.
Fewer people need this kind of help these days, because of new insurance options made possible by the Affordable Care Act.
But hundreds of people still rely on free primary care from the students and the U-M doctors who volunteer with them, because they still lack health insurance.
November 5, 2015 - Training in meditation and other mindfulness-based techniques brings lasting improvements in mental health and quality of life for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), according to a study in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, official journal of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA). The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
Edoxaban (trade name: Lixiana) has been approved since June 2015 for two therapeutic indications in adults: on the one hand, for prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in adults with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) with other risk factors for stroke; on the other, for treatment and prevention of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined in a dossier assessment whether this drug offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy.
SAN ANTONIO, TX (November 5, 2015) - Pregnant women and new mothers receive many messages regarding the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for babies in the first year of life. Breastfeeding is thought to reduce the risk of allergic rhinitis (hay fever), asthma, food allergies and eczema in children.
According to a new study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting, no significant difference in allergies were found between children who were ever breast fed versus those formula fed.
SAN ANTONIO, TX (November 5, 2015) - Anyone suffering with seasonal allergies knows the local pharmacy carries shelves full of over-the-counter medications to help manage symptoms. Unfortunately, most seasonal allergy sufferers take over-the counter (OTC) products rather than the treatments they actually prefer - prescription medications.
SAN ANTONIO, TX (November 5, 2015) - Most people who think they're allergic to penicillin have been told so by a doctor after they've had a reaction to the drug. And the majority, even though they've never been allergy tested, never take penicillin again.
A study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting, examined the records of 15 patients who, after being told they were penicillin-allergic, tested negative for penicillin allergy, and were then able to be treated with intravenous penicillin on multiple occasions.
SAN ANTONIO, TX (November 5, 2015) - Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children, and one of the most difficult to manage, which is one of the reasons there are so many emergency department visits for asthma sufferers in the US. A new study has determined that the probability of future acute care visits increased from 30 percent with one historical acute care visit to 87 percent with more than five acute care visits.
SAN ANTONIO, TX (November 5, 2015) - Many patients with cardiovascular disease are treated with aspirin because it is effective, low-cost and has few side effects. Some patients who have a reaction to aspirin are told they are allergic without being tested by an allergist, and stop an otherwise effective therapy.
In an era of economic crisis, growth seems indispensable. Not so, argues "Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era", which distinguishes recession from degrowth.
Degrowth involves new ways of organizing society to live prosperously without being obsessed with growth. “Degrowth” includes 50 chapters on the limits and pitfalls of growth as well as on concrete social and policy alternatives.
The prescription only sleeping tablet zopiclone, that can become addictive if used for more than a few weeks, is easily available online, warn experts in The BMJ today.
Paul Dargan and colleagues from the clinical toxicology unit at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London, say regulatory authorities "must take measures to ensure that these websites comply with medicines and other regulations for the supply of this prescription only drug."
In The BMJ this week, experts discuss whether hospitals should ban smoking for psychiatric patients outside as well as indoors.
Banning smoking in the outdoor areas of psychiatric hospitals as well as indoors helps patients to quit smoking and leads to better engagement with psychiatric treatment, argue Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, and Simon Wessely, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Higher-spending physicians face fewer malpractice claims, a study led by researchers at Harvard Medical School has found.
Nearly three-quarters of physicians report practicing defensive medicine, which is broadly defined as the ordering of tests, procedures, physician consultations and other medical services solely to reduce risk of malpractice claims. Defensive medicine is estimated to cost the U.S. as much as $50 billion annually.
Physicians who spend more money and resources conducting tests and procedures for patients are less likely to be sued for malpractice, according to a new study that indicates "defensive medicine" may work.