Paleopathology

From the New York Times article "Unearthing Prehistoric Tumors, and Debate":

Often thought of as a modern disease, cancer has always been with us. Where scientists disagree is on how much it has been amplified by the sweet and bitter fruits of civilization. Over the decades archaeologists have made about 200 possible cancer sightings dating to prehistoric times. But considering the difficulties of extracting statistics from old bones, is that a little or a lot?
...
As scientists continue to investigate, there may be comfort in knowing that cancer is not entirely civilization’s fault. In the normal course of life a creature’s cells must be constantly dividing — millions of times a second. Sometimes something will go wrong.

Click here to access the NYT article...interesting stuff.

Fantastic Voyage?...Google's The Body Browser

Google "Body Browser" to access.  I haven't looked at it yet but it might be a good patient education tool.

Rethinking the placebo effect

From the Plos One article "Placebos without Deception: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Irritable Bowel Syndrome":

Placebos administered without deception may be an effective treatment for IBS. Further research is warranted in IBS, and perhaps other conditions, to elucidate whether physicians can benefit patients using placebos consistent with informed consent.

Click here to access this interesting article.

November/December 2010 Issue of The ACCME Report now online

Included in this issue is the executive summary of the ACCME Board of Directors meeting, held November 18 – 19, 2010.  Click here to access the newsletter.

To stent or not to stent or if I could turn back time...

From the New York Times article "Doctor Faces Suits Over Cardiac Stents":

The Senate Finance Committee, which oversees Medicare, started investigating Dr. Midei in February after a series of articles in The Baltimore Sun said that Dr. Midei at St. Joseph Medical Center, in Towson, Md., had inserted stents in patients who did not need them, reaping high reimbursements from Medicare and private insurance.

The senators solicited 10,000 documents from Abbott and St. Joseph. Their report, provided in advance to The New York Times, concludes that Dr. Midei “may have implanted 585 stents which were medically unnecessary” from 2007 to 2009. Medicare paid $3.8 million of the $6.6 million charged for those procedures.

Click here to access the NYT article.

Patty Cake Cats