From Nov. 7-14, the country’s sentinel health care providers reported 639,565 visits from patients complaining of an “influenza-like illness,” or the fever, headache, nausea, fatigue and general weakness common to both the swine flu and the seasonal flu. That figure represents 5.5 percent of the total
number of patients seen by those doctors across the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At first glance this story seems hopeful, but in some parts of the country, like California, we have yet to see the worst of the winter/flu season. Several famous gatherings are coming up soon, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of H1N1.
A new controversy over mammograms could figure big as the health care bill reaches the Senate. (ABC News Photo Illustration)
The new mammography guidelines, released by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Monday, suggest fewer mammograms for those 50 and older and no routine mammograms at all for those younger than 50. For those opposed to the health care bill going before the Senate this Saturday, the guidelines have become a rallying cry against comparative effectiveness -- which, simply put, means the comparison of different medical approaches to determine which one delivers the best balance of benefits with the fewest possible downsides.
I invite any comments on this issue, it should be up to doctors and patients to discuss risks and benefits, but what do you think, doctors? Ave you going to suggest fewer mammograms?
The momentum of the H1N1 flu outbreak has fallen off, but flu activity is still high and Tamiflu-resistant virus may have begun to spread. USA TODAY'S Steve Sternberg asks experts for their perspective.
Q: What is the latest about Tamiflu-resistant cases?
A: Four patients at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and at least five in an unidentified hospital in Wales have become infected with H1N1, or swine flu, viruses that no longer respond to treatment with Tamiflu. Flu viruses swap genes as part of their normal evolution; that means resistant viruses could quickly spread worldwide, says Duke's Daniel Sexton.
This article also brought up the fact that the holidays are a time for young and old to get together and sometimes spread the flu. Hope you all have flu-free feasts this year.
Billy Hoover carries a box of food at the First Baptist Church in Charlotte last year.
More than 20 Southern Baptist churches in Mecklenburg County are banding together this Thanksgiving week in hopes of feeding 2,700 families. That translates into more than 13,000 people.
"Feeding the Multitude," they're calling the program to help many in need during these tough times. It's a reference to a Bible story in which Jesus fed a big crowd by miraculously multiplying a few loaves and fishes.
Holiday spirit like this is hard to ignore, this is the best side of us, feeding the poor, if we could just keep that feeling all year long.
Patients with a rare and incurable eye disease that causes blindness early in adulthood are expected to become the first people to benefit from an embryonic stem-cell therapy.
Clinical trials of the treatment for Stargardt’s disease are expected to begin next spring, after an American company applied yesterday for regulatory permission to proceed. If the research is cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the 12 patients with Stargardt’s disease included in the trial could become the first in the world to receive any kind of treatment based on embryonic stem cells.
This would be the first trial to use embryonic stem cells in any type of therapy, since the trial on spinal-damaged patients has been delayed.
National Survivors of Suicide Day
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
It may shock some of you to realize that suicide is now the fourth leading cause of death for adults between 18-65 years old in the United States, with over 33,000 cases reported annually. It is also the fifth leading cause of death among children 5-14 years old, and third among those 15-24. In fact, it is said that someone attempts suicide every minute, while someone actually dies by it approximately every fifteen minutes in the U.S. It is also reported that four times as many men than women die by suicide, although three times as many women make an attempt to kill themselves.
Every year about this time, we hear the stats on suicide, and they are always shocking to me. How hard is this on a family? Very hard.
Posted
Nov 23 2009, 02:02 AM
by
Robert Gleeman