Endocrinology

More than half (62.4%) of US adults with type 2 diabetes were found to be obese, and 20.7% are morbidly obese. Among African-Americans with type 2 diabetes, one out of three are morbidly obese.

A national health information technology infrastructure (NHITI) is not only necessary, but it is cardinal to improving delivery and reducing costs of healthcare in the United States.

The powerful vendor-lobbying group, HIMSS, has been extremely successful over the last 8 years lobbying our elected political leaders about HIT.

On-demand aerosol spray increased ejaculatory latency and improved patient and partner reported outcomes of sexual satisfaction over three months.

I have been following with interest all the discussions about the new Medical Home (aka, the Patient Centered Medical Home) concept. This is our silver bullet that will improve patient access, raise quality levels, increase overall satisfaction and save billions of healthcare dollars - all at the same time!

Women with high testosterone levels are at an elevated risk--as much as three times those with lower levels--of coronary heart disease and the metabolic syndrome.

Researchers are finding that interactive game systems like Nintendo's Wii are especially helpful for people with chronic health conditions. Playing the games increases physical activity and can even improve the ability to care for oneself.

The Highmark Foundation released a report detailing the impact of more than $1.6 million in grants that it issued on diabetes care and services for Pennsylvanians.

Participants in a recent study who took the full 30 minutes to finish a test meal had higher concentrations of gut hormones that induce satiety and meal termination.

The pundits are going to have their field day with this one. "The danger [with this Bill] is that as costs continue to rise and coverage becomes less comprehensive, people will conclude that we've tried health reform and it didn't work. But the real problem will be that we didn't really try it.

The AMA adopted a resolution calling on the federal government to enact new policies to decrease the public’s exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals through a single regulatory overseer to ensure coordination among agencies.

Though researchers observed improvement among patients as early as four weeks following their first infusion, they caution that the results came from a small case series. However, given the substantial benefits for patients treated with rituximab, they see good reason to proceed with a large-scale clinical trial.

A $1.8 million grant will help the University of Michigan investigate the use of herpes simplex virus-based vectors to deliver genes to sensory nerves from application in the skin, which researchers believe hold promise not only for the treatment of pain but also ultimately for the treatment of peripheral neuropathy itself.

The Institute of Medicine released its "To Err is Human" report in 2000. Now that we're nearing the end of 2009, safety experts are examining the extent to which the IOM's recommendations have been implemented.

We rank 19th among industrialized countries in preventable deaths in such conditions as diabetes, epilepsy, stroke, influenza, ulcers, pneumonia, infant mortality, and appendicitis.

The Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study finds that moderate health improvements such as modest weight loss or the use of anti-diabetic drugs can prevent or lower the incidence of type 2 diabetes in high risk populations.

Researchers traced a molecular cascade that ends up increasing the expression of a novel target, the protein SHP-1, which de-activates PDGF activity and thus triggers cell death.

Shock-wave therapy appears to prompt a metabolic reaction similar to what occurs during the natural bone-healing process, resulting in complete healing of nonunions for approximately 70% of patients in an Italian study within six months.

The new health Internet being designed by federal officials will hopefully be up and running by next year, a move that will allow physicians and patients to more easily exchange health information.

A study examining the efficacy of Kaiser Permanente Southern California's Healthy Bones Program found that an aggressive, multi-disciplinary approach that more closely involves orthopedic surgeons prevented 970 hip fractures in 2007.

The answer may surprise you.

In contrast to earlier research, new findings from the American Academy of Neurology show that diabetes may slow the progression of memory loss in Alzheimer's patients, not increase it.

In addition to seeking increase in the number of embryonic stem cell lines available for NIH-funded research, the organization hopes to utilize federal funding to enhance research efforts using cells generated through somatic cell nuclear transfer.

A recent study from Kaiser Permanente shows that women with diabetes face a 26% greater risk of also developing atrial fibrillation.

Long-term exposure to cell phone electromagnetic fields could weaken bones, potentially affecting the outcomes of surgical procedures using bone grafts.

Remember, we have essentially 2 options; All we can do is pick the lesser of the evils. Example: Federal control is bad; corporate control is worse.

Great for healthcare providers, but bad for patients?

I was out of town on business and had a 'slip & fall.' After many tries and many hours on the phone, Oxford could not direct us to a plan orthopedist—hand surgeon? Yes; Foot and ankle? Didn't happen. Ironically (or was it?), that bureaucratic hurdle saved them a bundle.