Bayer Sued Over Unsupported Prostate Cancer Claims on One A Day

September 30, 2009

b>Drug Giant Tries to Silence CSPI With Threat of Libel Suit/b>br/>WASHINGTON—The Center for Science in the Public Interest has sued the German drug company Bayer for falsely claiming that the selenium in Mens One A Day multivitamins might reduce the risk of prostate cancer. The lawsuit is filed in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco.

Filed under: News | Comments (0)

Alternative treatments for your arthritis pain. Tai chi, fish oil, and capsaicin gel might be effective, drug-free alternatives to NSAIDs.

September 30, 2009

Alternative treatments for your arthritis pain. Tai chi, fish oil, and capsaicin gel might be effective, drug-free alternatives to NSAIDs.

Duke Med Health News. 2009 Sep;15(9):4-5

Authors:

PMID: 19785079 [PubMed - in process]

Filed under: News | Comments (0)

Promising Results In Reducing Neuropathic Pain With Combined Drug Treatment, Than With Either Drug Alone

September 30, 2009

An article published Online First and in a future edition of The Lancet reports that combination treatment using gabapentin and nortriptyline reduces neuropathic pain more than either drug alone. This treatment could be used in patients that only partly respond to one drug or the other. The article is the work of Professor Ian Gilron, Director of Clinical Pain Research, Queen’s University, and Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues.

Filed under: BODY, News | Comments (0)

Taxing Soda Could Trim State Deficits (and Waistlines), Says Report

September 29, 2009

b>I actually think its an idea that we should be exploring.Theres no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda. — President Barack Obama to Mens Health/b>br/>WASHINGTON—Even as 48 states and the District of Columbia are facing grim budget shortfalls, only 25 states currently impose special taxes on soda and other beverages with added sugar, and all of those taxes are very small. And according to a new paper from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, states could generate a total of more than $10 billion per year by levying a tax of 7 cents per 12-ounce can of Coke or Mountain Dew. If implemented by Congress in the form of a national excise tax, that $10 billion could make an important contribution toward paying for health coverage for all Americans.

Filed under: News | Comments (0)

Intractable pruritus after traumatic spinal cord injury.

September 29, 2009

Intractable pruritus after traumatic spinal cord injury.

J Spinal Cord Med. 2009;32(4):436-9

Authors: Crane DA, Jaffee KM, Kundu A

BACKGROUND: This report describes a young woman with incomplete traumatic cervical spinal cord injury and intractable pruritus involving her dorsal forearm. METHOD: Case report. FINDINGS: Anatomic distribution of the pruritus corresponded to the dermatomal distribution of her level of spinal cord injury and vertebral fusion. Symptoms were attributed to the spinal cord injury and possible cervical root injury. Pruritus was refractory to all treatments, including topical lidocaine, gabapentin, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, intravenous Bier block, stellate ganglion block, and acupuncture. CONCLUSIONS: Further understanding of neuropathic pruritus is needed. Diagnostic workup of intractable pruritus should include advanced imaging to detect ongoing nerve root compression. If diagnostic studies suggest radiculopathy, epidural steroid injection should be considered. Because the autonomic nervous system may be involved in complex chronic pain or pruritic syndromes, sympatholysis via such techniques as stellate ganglion block might be effective.

PMID: 19777867 [PubMed - in process]

Filed under: News | Comments (0)

Costs of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Enhanced Lifestyle Modification Programs.

September 28, 2009

Costs of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Enhanced Lifestyle Modification Programs.

J Cardiopulm Rehabil Prev. 2009 Sep 22;

Authors: Lee AJ, Shepard DS

PURPOSE: Inadequate payment to providers for traditional cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and lifestyle modification programs may contribute to low utilization, but little systematic evidence exists. This article estimates and compares the per-patient costs and revenues for 3 types of secondary prevention programs: the Dr Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease (Ornish), the Benson-Henry Mind/Body Medical Institute’s Cardiac Wellness Program (M/BMI), and CR. METHODS: The authors developed an Excel spreadsheet template for the costs of a secondary prevention program and calibrated it to 7 programs that provided the necessary data. The calibration was based on budgets, cost accounting, statistical reports, and structured interviews (in person or by telephone). RESULTS: The 4 lifestyle programs (2 Ornish and 2 M/BMI) cost almost 4 times as much per patient as the 3 traditional CR programs (means of $7,176 and $1,828, respectively; difference P < .05). The Ornish program costs averaged more than twice those of M/BMI ($9,895 and $4,458, respectively; difference P < .10). Medicare-allowed charges (including co-payments) were $5,650 for Ornish, $4,800 for M/BMI, and about $32.50 per session or $683 overall for CR. CONCLUSIONS: Programs achieved the lowest costs per patient by carefully matching program capacity to demand. In none of the programs did net revenues cover costs. The findings suggest that 4 patients could attend a traditional CR program for the cost of 1 patient in an enhanced program.

PMID: 19779360 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Filed under: News | Comments (0)

Contributions of myofascial pain in diagnosis and treatment of shoulder pain. A randomized control trial.

September 27, 2009

Related Articles

Contributions of myofascial pain in diagnosis and treatment of shoulder pain. A randomized control trial.

BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2009;10:92

Authors: Perez-Palomares S, Oliván-Blázquez B, Arnal-Burró AM, Mayoral-Del Moral O, Gaspar-Calvo E, de-la-Torre-Beldarraín ML, López-Lapeña E, Pérez-Benito M, Ara-Loriente V, Romo-Calvo L

BACKGROUND: Rotator cuff tendinopathy and subacromial impingement syndrome present complex patomechanical situations, frequent difficulties in clinical diagnosis and lack of effectiveness in treatment. Based on clinical experience, we have therefore considered the existence of another pathological entity as the possible origin of pain and dysfunction. The hypothesis of this study is to relate subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS) with myofascial pain syndrome (MPS), since myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) cause pain, functional limitation, lack of coordination and alterations in quality of movement, even prior to a tendinopathy. MTrPs can coexist with any degenerative subacromial condition. If they are not taken into consideration, they could perpetuate and aggravate the problem, hindering diagnosis and making the applied treatments ineffective.The aims and methods of this study are related with providing evidence of the relationship that may exist between this condition and MPS in the diagnosis and treatment of rotator cuff tendonitis and/or SIS. METHOD/DESIGN: A descriptive transversal study will be made to find the correlation between the diagnosis of SIS and rotator cuff tendonitis, positive provocation test responses, the existence of active MTrPs and the results obtained with ultrasonography (US) and Magnetic Renonance Imaging (MRI). A randomized double blinded clinical trial will be carried out in experimental conditions: A Protocolized treatment based on active and passive joint repositioning, stabilization exercises, stretching of the periarticular shoulder muscles and postural reeducation. B. The previously described protocolized treatment, with the addition of dry needling applied to active MTrPs with the purpose of isolating the efficacy of dry needling in treatment. DISCUSSION: This study aims to provide a new vision of shoulder pain, from the perspective of MPS. This syndrome can, by itself, account for shoulder pain and dysfunction, although it can coexist with real conditions involving the tendons. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN Number: 30907460.

PMID: 19630975 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Filed under: News | Comments (0)

A randomized controlled trial of Kung Fu training for metabolic health in overweight/obese adolescents: the “martial fitness” study.

September 26, 2009

A randomized controlled trial of Kung Fu training for metabolic health in overweight/obese adolescents: the “martial fitness” study.

J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Jul;22(7):595-607

Authors: Tsang TW, Kohn M, Chow CM, Singh MF

Twenty overweight/obese adolescents underwent six months of Kung Fu or placebo (Tai Chi) training, 3x.wk(-1). Outcomes included fasting insulin and insulin resistance, lipids, glucose and HbA(1c), and C-reactive protein (CRP). CRP decreased significantly (p = 0.03) in both groups over time at six months. Although insulin sensitivity did not change, HbA(1c) tended to decrease over time (p = 0.09), again with no group difference (p = 0.60). Reduced CRP was related to increased upper body strength (p = 0.01). Increased lean body mass was related to reductions in HbA(1c), insulin resistance, triglycerides, and total cholesterol. Improvements in lean body mass appear to have a potential role in favorable metabolic outcomes, independent of changes in fat mass. Further research in this area is warranted before definite conclusions can be drawn about the efficacy of martial arts training for metabolic outcomes in this cohort.

PMID: 19774841 [PubMed - in process]

Filed under: News | Comments (0)

Austinite anchored by two traditions: Judaism and Buddhism

September 25, 2009

By Eileen Flynn
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Saturday

Jordana Raiskin traveled from the Jewish faith of her father to Zen Buddhism and back, not an uncommon journey. There’s such a well-worn path between Judaism and Buddhism, people came up with the shorthand Jew-Bu.

But Raiskin’s story is not just another example of that phenomenon. It’s a personal quest for meaning in the face of loss. A sorting out of a childhood colored by contradictory worldviews. A spiritual homecoming with a new appreciation for her roots. Raiskin sought – and found — community and ritual in two different traditions that had more in common than she thought. Today she draws on both to guide her life, to inform her work as a therapist and to mother her 3-year-old so

The daughter of a rabbi, Jordana Raiskin (with son Theo, 3) found similarities when she delved into meditation and study: ‘A lot of the Buddhist stories began to sound like a lot of the Jewish stories.’

Read more…

Filed under: MIND, News, SPIRIT | Comments (0)