Former Senator Tom Daschle
Former Senator Tom Daschle, President Elect Obama’s pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services, had a chance to sit down with his ex-colleagues on Thursday. Daschle moved one step closer to the new president’s cabinet after completing his first Senate confirmation hearing. Read the rest of this entry »
When we go to a surgeon, we often don’t ask them how many surgery he has done for the same disease but may be we should.
For colon cancer, there is in fact a specialization fellowship to become a colorectal surgeon. A recent analysis of 17 studies from nine countries has shown that the quality of the surgeon and the surgery is associated with better outcome.
How can you evaluate the surgeon? Read the rest of this entry »
In order to bring you more news and colorectal cancer research reports, we’ve developed short reviews of research and other news that has not been covered on the rest of the blog this week. We’re including connecting links where you can find additional information. Watch for the News in Brief at the end of the week.
Women who have taken hormone replacement therapy after menopause had reduced risk of colorectal cancer, as high as 44 percent in those who took estrogen plus progestin using a sequential regimen for more than five years. However, higher risks for breast cancer and for heart attack and stroke need to be considered in deciding on HRT. Jill Johnson MPH, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention, January 1, 2009.
Patients who were at high risk of developing depression or anxiety after their cancer diagnosis benefited from a brief psychological intervention at the beginning of their treatment. After a year they were less likely to have developed depression or anxiety than a control group who received usual care. However, those with low risk had no benefit from the nonspecialist treatment. C. Pitceathly, MSc., Annals of Oncology, Advance Access, January 6, 2008.
Errors in giving chemotherapy and associated medicines were found in over seven percent of adult outpatient visits and nearly twenty percent of children’s visits in a recent study. Most often, mistakes were made when changes were made to the original prescription on the day chemo was administered. For children, about a third of mistakes happened when medicines were given at home.
Over nine months and nearly 1,400 visits, researchers found 112 medication errors. Sixty-four of them had a the potential to harm the patient, and 15 actually did. About 5 percent of the time, someone discovered the mistake before the medicine was actually given. Read the rest of this entry »
Although US health care spending grew more slowly in 2007, its rate still outpaced general economic growth. Total health care costs in 2007 reached $2.2 trillion or $7,421 for every American.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a report from the CMS Office of the Actuary on Tuesday that showed overall health care spending grew at a 6.1 percent rate in 2007, down from 6.7 in 2006 and the slowest rate of growth since 1998. Overall economic growth was 4.8 percent.
Health care spending’s share of the Gross Domestic Product continued to increase, reaching 16.2 percent, an increase of 0.2 percent over 2006. Read the rest of this entry »
