Enough with the tests already

If I ask my doctor for a test, he will almost always grant my request. He will also ship me off to a specialist if it looks like I have something spooky. Now this is what family dcotors are trained to do.

When I go to a specialist this begins a whole new relationship, mostly involving "I'd like to see you again in six months."

The last time I went to see such a specialist, I said, "Look, I"m not going to sue you. Don't practice defensive medicine with me. I like you, but I'd rather not ever come back here again.

I've calculated that there's about a 75 percent overlap between physical therapy and yoga -- meaning that yoga, which is not covered by insurance, is good enough for most of my aches and pains.

These are some of the reasons our healthcare system is so screwed up. Despite its thousands of pages, Obamacare has nothing to say about doctors' liiability. Most doctors aren't trained in nutrition or exercise or yoga or any of the wellness things. They are trained to spot symptoms and order a drug, a specialist or surgery. Marcus Welby is long dead.

All of this also pushes up costs, which Obamacare intends to deal with by denying you certain types of care. Some bureaucrats in Washington are going to make those decisions. Bad as your insurance company is in saying no, imagine that coming from some committee in Washington.

Today comes yet another example of our current system at work.

Doctors in urology groups that profit from tests for prostate cancer order more of them than doctors who send samples to independent laboratories, according to a study in the journal Health Affairs. 

The study found that doctors' practices that do their own lab work bill the federal Medicare program for analyzing 72% more prostate tissue samples per biopsy while detecting fewer cases of cancer than counterparts who send specimens to outside labs. 

Hiring pathologists boosts revenue for a practice and creates a potential incentive to increase the number of tests ordered, said Jean Mitchell, a Georgetown University economist and author of the study.

Given how many urologists want to biopsy my prostate, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that a) they don't want to get sued, and b) they may be trying to pay for some expensive biopsy equipment they've bought.

Maybe this is why Eve

Eat this, live forever.

gave Adam the apple.

Men who eat flavonoid-rich foods such as berries, tea, apples and red wine significantly reduce their risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to new research by Harvard University and the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Around 130,000 men and women took part in the research. More than 800 had developed Parkinson's disease within 20 years of follow-up. After a detailed analysis of their diets and adjusting for age and lifestyle, male participants who ate the most flavonoids were shown to be 40 per cent less likely to develop the disease than those who ate the least. No similar link was found for total flavonoid intake in women.

This is the first study in humans to look at the associations between the range of flavonoids in the diet and the risk of developing Parkinson's disease and our findings suggest that a sub-class of flavonoids called anthocyanins may have neuroprotective effects. 

Prof. XiangGao said: "Interestingly, anthocyanins and berry fruits, which are rich in anthocyanins, seem to be associated with a lower risk of Parkinson's disease in pooled analyses. Participants who consumed one or more portions of berry fruits each week were around 25 per cent less likely to develop Parkinson's disease, relative to those who did not eat berry fruits. Given the other potential health effects of berry fruits, such as lowering risk of hypertension as reported in our previous studies, it is good to regularly add these fruits to your diet." 

Flavonoids are a group of naturally occurring, bioactive compunds found in many plant-based foods and drinks. In this study the main protective effect was from higher intake of anthocyanins, which are present in berries and other fruits and vegetables including aubergines, blackcurrants and blackberries. Those who consumed the most anthocyanins had a 24 per cent reduction in risk of developing Parkinson's disease and strawberries and blueberries were the top two sources in the US diet.

Basically, men have to start eating like women.

Supreme irony

(via American Digest)

Miracles and wonders: a healing "lamprey"

Swimming in your body?

Here is a glimpse into the future of medicine.

Tiny microelectromechanical machines running through our bodies are the pursuit of nano labs across the globe, but a team of researchers wants something more: a tiny biomimicking robot that functions like a living creature loaded with sensors derived from animal cells. Called “Cyberplasm,” this robot would mash up biomimicking robotic components with actual mammalian cells to create robot systems and sensors that respond to stimuli like chemicals and light the way living organisms do. “Eye” and “nose” sensors would be derived from animal cells, while an artificial electronic nervous system will record data from Cyberplasm’s surroundings and respond to external stimuli via artificial muscles that are powered by glucose.The whole Cyberplasm system would be modeled on the sea lamprey, an Atlantic-dwelling creature with a simple nervous system that should be relatively easy to mimic. Using the lamprey as a model, the researchers hope to produce a one-centimeter-long prototype capable of swimming around and sensing on its own.

Researchers have designed a new treatment approach that appears to halt the spread of cancer cells into normal brain tissue in animal models. The researchers treated animals possessing an invasive tumor with a vesicle carrying a molecule called imipramine blue, followed by conventional doxorubicin chemotherapy. The tumors ceased their invasion of healthy tissue and the animals survived longer than animals treated with chemotherapy alone.

A vaccine delivered in an injection or nasal spray to prevent heart attacks could be available within five years. Scientists have discovered that the drug stimulates the body's immune system to produce antibodies which prevent heart disease by stopping fat building up in the arteries. The vaccine can cut the build up of fat in arteries by up to 70 per cent.

Researchers have found a "universal" vaccine that could for the first time allow for the effective, wide-scale prevention of flu by limiting the influenza virus's ability to spread and mutate. Universal, or cross-protective, vaccines — so named for their effectiveness against several flu strains — are being developed in various labs worldwide and some are already in clinical trials. The new vaccines would make a bout with influenza less severe, making it more difficult for the virus to spread. At the same time, the vaccines would target relatively unchanging parts of the virus and hamper the virus's notorious ability to evolve and evade immunity.

Have a cup

(Happy to Serve You via American Digest)

An aspirin a day keeps the apple away

Taking aspirin every day may significantly reduce the risk of many cancers and prevent tumors from spreading, according to two new studies.

Researchers at the University of Oxford found that after three years of daily aspirin use, the risk of developing cancer was reduced by almost 25 percent when compared with a control group not taking aspirin. After five years, the risk of dying of cancer was reduced by 37 percent among those taking aspirin.

A second paper that analyzed five large randomized controlled studies in Britain found that over six and a half years on average, daily aspirin use reduced the risk of metastatic cancer by 36 percent and the risk of adenocarcinomas — common solid cancers including colon, lung and prostate cancer — by 46 percent.

“What really jumps out at you in terms of prevention is the striking 75 percent reduction in esophageal cancer and a 40 to 50 percent reduction in colorectal cancer, which is the most common cancer right now,” Dr. Peter M. Rothwell, a professor of clinical neurology at the University of Oxford, said. “In terms of prevention, anyone with a family history would be sensible to take aspirin.” 

But you have to talk to your doctor, because aspirin raises the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, but of hemorrhagic strokes.

A glimpse at the future of medicine

Michael Snyder knows his body better than anyone in history.

For two-and-a-half years, he's had regular blood samples drawn, and tracked the ebb and flow of 40,000 different molecules within his cells, from hormones to blood sugar, to the proteins of the immune system and mutated genes. Snyder also watched as his genetic vulnerability to diabetes turned into actual disease.

His story marks the first time anyone's physiology has ever been followed this closely, and portends the future of personalized medicine, according to Snyder and others.

"The future is now," says Charis Eng, a professor of genomic medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. "I think we're heading in this direction, and I think we must prepare in every way, not just scientifically, not just medically, but as a society—[considering] all the ethical, moral, and regulatory issues." 

During the course of the study, Snyder had his genome sequenced. The DNA testing suggested he was at risk for type 2 diabetes. Although his doctors didn't see any outward signs that he might be developing the condition, his self-testing revealed early signs. He later developed the disease.

A close reading of his body's data suggested to Snyder that his diabetes could have been triggered by a "pretty nasty cold" that forced him to skip work for a few days. 

Betul Hatipoglu, an endocrinologist at the Cleveland Clinic, doesn't think any specific virus caused Snyder's diabetes. But she says the coincident timing supports the idea that stress can unmask underlying vulnerabilities. "It could have been any other kind of stress that turned on that event," she says. "If you carry these genes, a big stress like a huge car accident could turn that on. The body uses many pathways to respond to stress."

Everybody needs to chill.