January 27, 2012 | 8:30 AM | By

Why Safe Sex Is Easier Said Than Done

Vectorportal.com

I scrolled through my contacts, found his name, took a deep breath, and pressed call. Pacing on the sidewalk, my palms getting sweatier by the minute, I rehearsed what I wanted to say, but it was useless by this point because he was going to pick up any sec—

“Hi.”

I struggled through mundane small talk, but finally broke out with the real reason for my call: to talk about sex, or more specifically, sexual history.

Sure, it’d been a few months since we’d slept together, but, at the time, neither of us had initiated that conversation — you know, the one about past partners, risky behavior, condom use, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). It’s the conversation we all should be having but rarely do. Not only did we not talk about these things, but we didn’t use protection either. I know, I know.

I figured it was time I owned up to my mistake. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Medicine/Science, Personal Health, public health, relationships, sex, sexually transmitted diseases
January 27, 2012 | 6:53 AM | By

Daily Rounds: Biotech Bonanza; Early Use For Avastin; Pernicious Symptom Checklists; Pediatrician Sex Abuse Suit

MassBio: Mass. biotechs raised most venture capital in 2011 (Masshightech.com) – “Massachusetts had its best year to date for venture capital in 2011, beating the 2010 historic high, the head of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council told attendees at its policy leadership breakfast in Boston Wednesday. “We believe Mass.-based companies raised more than $1 billion in VC funding last year. Massachusetts companies are now getting one-quarter of all biotech venture dollars in the country,” said Robert Coughlin, president and CEO of MassBio. He said the council still is reviewing the numbers.”(Masshightech.com)

Studies: Avastin may fight early breast cancer (AP via Boston Globe) - “Surprising results from two new studies may reopen debate about the value of Avastin for breast cancer. The drug helped make tumors disappear in certain women with early-stage disease, researchers found. Avastin recently lost approval for treating advanced breast cancer, but the new studies suggest it might help women whose disease has not spread so widely. These were the first big tests of the drug for early breast cancer, and doctors were cautiously excited it showed potential to help.” (AP)

Using symptom checklists to sell drugs (The New York Times) – “The phenomenon is sometimes referred to as “disease mongering,” redefining what is normal and abnormal in a way that widens potential markets for those who sell treatments. And, as detailed in a recent study in the journal Social Science & Medicine, one marketing strategy has accomplished more in this regard than any other by using what has come to be the very symbol of quality and reliability for doctors and patients everywhere: the checklist. What makes the checklists so powerful is their ability to influence patient preferences.” (Pauline Chen in The New York Times)

Judge to decide on Children’s suit (Bostonglobe.com) – “A Suffolk Superior Court judge will decide whether to dismiss a lawsuit against Children’s Hospital Boston, after hearing arguments yesterday on the suit filed on behalf of 11 people who say they were abused by pediatrician Melvin D. Levine in North Carolina. Levine, accused of sexually abusing dozens of children during medical treatments, had been the former chief of ambulatory pediatrics at Children’s Hospital. In 1987, he became a professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill. He committed suicide last February. (The Boston Globe)

January 26, 2012 | 5:10 PM | By

‘Provocative Questions’ And More At New Science Museum Exhibit

(Museum of Science, Boston)

It sounds like a chamber straight out of Hogwarts: The Area of Provocative Questions

But no, it’s part of an ambitious, forward-thinking new exhibit that focuses on personalized health, human biology, public policy and more at Boston’s Museum of Science: The Hall of Human Life, a renovated 15,000-square-foor space that visitors will enter through a huge, semi-transparent membrane.

Paul Fontaine, the museum’s vice president of education, said the Provocative Question area will challenge visitors to explore their own own beliefs and the outside forces that shape them. The questions might include:

-Should high schools delay their start time because of sleep needs of teen-age students?
-Should genetically modified foods be acknowledged in packaging and advertising?
-Should the state of Massachusetts control fluoridation in the public water supply?
-Should the drinking age be lowered to eighteen?
-Should the FDA regulate natural supplements and herbal remedies?
-Should cell phone use in cars be banned?

The exhibit, slated to open in July 2013, will also house a “living lab,” where working scientists in biology, neuroscience, cognitive development and other areas will conduct research with consenting museum-goers. “People will get a chance to talk to real scientists and researchers,” Fontaine said, and it will also give lab-bound scientists an opportunity to get out into the real world a bit.

Perhaps the coolest part of the exhibit, which just received a $5 million grant from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, is an interactive exploration of personalized health and how to manage it. Each visitor will get a bar-coded bracelet Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Medicine/Science, Personal Health, Museum of Science, personalized medicine
January 26, 2012 | 1:51 PM | By

Huge Similarities Between ObamaCare And RomneyCare, Group Finds

(Families USA)

Many people focus on the “individual mandate” (the requirement that folks must purchase health insurance) as the chief similarity between the 2006 health reform law passed in Massachusetts under then-Gov. Mitt Romney, and the 2010 national health law signed by President Obama. But the similarities between RomneyCare and ObamaCare go far, far beyond that, according to a new side-by-side analysis by the liberal-leaning nonprofit advocacy organization, Families USA (with help from Harvard School of Public Health’s John McDonough and Brian Rosman, Research Director of Health Care For All).

From insurance exchanges to new rules for insurers and employers and beyond, the two plans really do have a deep twin-like resemblance according to this analysis, if not identical, then at least fraternal. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Insurance, Medicine/Science, Politics, obamacare, romneycare
January 26, 2012 | 11:05 AM | By

Emergency Department Visits Down For First Time Since Health Reform, Survey Finds

xparxy/flickr

One of the key goals of health reform here in Massachusetts was to improve people’s health through prevention and primary care to the point that costly trips to the emergency room would decline. Until now, that hasn’t happened, according to several earlier reports.

But a just-released analysis, by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation found, for the first time, that ER visits (among non-elderly adults) have started to drop. Here, according to the report, which is also published in the current issue of the journal Health Affairs are the numbers:

Between fall 2006 and fall 2010, there were reductions in emergency department use overall (down 3.8 percentage points), frequent emergency department visits (down 1.9 percentage points), and the use of the emergency department for non-emergency conditions (down 3.8 percentage points). This is the first reduction in emergency department use among nonelderly adults in Massachusetts observed in the MHRS.

The reduced reliance on the emergency department among nonelderly adults may reflect many factors, including the increases in use of other types of health care (e.g., increases in preventive care visits, multiple doctor visits, specialist visits, and dental care) or increases in cost sharing under their health plans.

I asked John McDonough, Professor of Public Health Practice & Director of the Center for Public Health Leadership at the Harvard School of Public Health for his thoughts on the apparent drop in emergency department visits. Here’s his email response:

First, on the face of it, it’s good news to see ED use going down after so many years of no changes, and especially because that was an outcome many expected out of MA health reform. We expected this to happen, and when it did not, many were puzzled, and many used the non-drop as evidence of health reform’s failure.

Second, given the time lag, it’s not clear this most recent drop is because of MA health reform or because of other factors. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Insurance, Medicine/Science, Money, Personal Health, emergency department, health reform
January 26, 2012 | 10:35 AM | By

Why To Exercise Today: 10 HelloGiggles Tough-Girl Reasons To Run

clappstar/Flickr


Oh my, my, this is something I never would have written myself but did enjoy reading: Reason #4 in a list of “10 reasons running doesn’t suck as much as you think” on HelloGiggles.com:

When your boss, your melodramatic friend and your nagging to-do list won’t leave you alone, calmly put on your running shoes and head out the door. They won’t follow you. It’s a safer alternative to storming out with both middle fingers in the air.

The name of triathlete Susan Lacke’s HelloGiggles fitness feature is “Boob Sweat.” I feel so old and staid. But I highly recommend reading the whole list, which could apply to many sorts of exercise beyond running and includes promises of sex, ogling hard bodies, and lululemon pants.

Hat-tip to Katie Zezima for the tweet.

FILED UNDER: Personal Health, why to exercise today
January 26, 2012 | 8:54 AM | By

Poll: Americans Believe Justices’ Ideology Will Drive Health Law Decision

mafleen/flickr

Unlike members of Congress, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court didn’t stand or clap during President Obama’s State of the Union Address Tuesday. This, presumably, is a measure of their objectivity, a visible demonstration of the notion that “justice is blind,” delivered fairly, without “fear or favor.”

Well, apparently the American public doesn’t buy it — at least when it comes to determining the constitutionality of the national health law.

Just two months before the court is to hear the case, nearly 60 percent of the public “expect the justices to depend more on personal ideology than a legal analysis of the individual mandate,” the core of the law that requires most people to buy health insurance, according to a just-released Kaiser Family Foundation health tracking poll. A story on the poll in Kaiser Health News explains:

Just 28 percent of those surveyed believe the justices will base their decision on the mandate without regard to politics and ideology, according to the survey. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Insurance, Politics, health law, supreme court
January 26, 2012 | 8:13 AM | By

Daily Rounds: Gates Boosts Global Fund; Health Coverage, Costs Rising; High-Heeled Dangers; Libido Supplements Flawed

Bill Gates injects $750 million into troubled AIDS fund (Reuters) “Microsoft chairman and philanthropist Bill Gates pledged a further $750 million to the troubled global AIDS fund on Thursday and urged governments to continue their support to save lives. “These are tough economic times, but that is no excuse for cutting aid to the world’s poorest,” he said in Davos at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.”

Mass. health insurance law: More coverage, more expensive – Boston.com (articles.boston.com) “Between fall 2006 and fall 2010, emergency department use fell 3.8 percent overall, and the use of emergency departments for non-emergency conditions also dropped 3.8 percent. At the same time, health care costs were an important issue for many families in Massachusetts in fall 2010. About half adults surveyed reported their family was spending more on health care in 2010 than in the prior year and a quarter were not confident in their ability to afford care in the coming year, the survey found.”

Phys Ed: The Dangers of High Heels – NYTimes.com (well.blogs.nytimes.com) “In results published last week in The Journal of Applied Physiology, the scientists found that heel wearers moved with shorter, more forceful strides than the control group, their feet perpetually in a flexed, toes-pointed position. This movement pattern continued even when the women kicked off their heels and walked barefoot. As a result, the fibers in their calf muscles had shortened and they put much greater mechanical strain on their calf muscles than the control group did.”

Herbal supplements marketed as libido aids: The Healthy Skeptic – latimes.com (Los Angeles Times) “A few specific ingredients do seem to have some sexual effects, Lue says, although not necessarily the effects that companies claim. He says horny goat weed works “like Viagra, only it’s not as powerful.” Viagra, a prescription drug, improves blood flow to the penis during arousal. But as Lue points out, it has never been shown to improve desire or arousal in the first place. Ginseng, found in Steel-Libido Red, has a longstanding reputation for improving energy. But Lue says he can personally attest that it has no effect on libido. “My mother used to make me take ginseng whenever I got sick,” he says. “So I know.”

January 25, 2012 | 11:43 AM | By

Dana-Farber: ‘How To Tell Your Boss You Have Cancer’

schaver.com/Flickr


This still makes me burn. My friend’s brother was diagnosed with colon cancer. He told his bosses and heroically worked as best he could through his chemotherapy treatments, despite all the nausea and exhaustion. But he still got fired for underperforming.

He might have benefited from the advice posted here by Nancy Borstelmann, the director of patient and family support and education at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In a post titled “How to tell your boss you have cancer,” she runs down recommended steps, from finding out what to expect from your treatment to deciding whom to tell at work. But because of my friend’s brother, I’d emphasize this:

Keep a record. Employers are usually very supportive of employees going through cancer treatment, but this isn’t true 100 percent of the time. It’s a good idea to keep track of discussions you have with your boss or human resources office. Hang on to copies of work reviews, emails or letters about your performance, or requests for accommodations. This documentation will be helpful if you need to take action to uphold your rights in the workplace.

FILED UNDER: Medicine/Science, Personal Health, cancer, dana-farber cancer institute
January 25, 2012 | 11:16 AM | By

Why To Exercise Today If You’re An XL Person

crowbert/Flickr

Am I bragging? Oh, yes. I’m pretending to be concerned but I’m definitely, undeniably bragging. Here’s my disingenuous worry: I’m starting to fear that I’ll run out of weights at the gym.

I’ve only been working the weight machines for a couple-three months, but I’m already up to 240 on the leg press, and it only goes up to 400.  And I’m pushing 110 on the abductor machine, and it only goes up to 160.

In the midst of a grunt on the leg-press, I had this revelation: Well, of course my legs are stronger than most women’s! I’ve been carrying more weight than most women ever since I reached my full height — nearly 5’9″ — and weight — around 170. I don’t mind being tall, but being all-around big has sometimes made me feel mountainous, hulking, oversized. (Especially on certain long-ago dates. And in countries where people tend to be smaller. A Thai driver: “Why are you American women so large?”)

Of course it doesn’t matter how many pounds you lift during strength training — all that matters is that you challenge your own muscles. But still, we are numerical beings. There’s a whole movement called “The Quantified Self” that involves all kinds of geeky self-monitoring. And I must say it gives me a definite charge to lift weights well over 100 or 200 pounds. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Personal Health, why to exercise today