Highlight HEALTH

Health Highlights is a biweekly summary of particularly interesting articles from credible sources of health and medical information that we follow & read. For a complete list of recommeded sources, see our links page.

• Health Sites: Some Are More Equal Than Others | e-Patients.net

  One of Google’s initiatives is to guide consumers to credible health information. However, Google Health’s OneBox doesn’t treat all health sites the same.

• Alcohol causes cancer, and here’s the evidence | Cancer Research UK – Science Update

  Although everyone knows about the short-term effects of excessive drinking, the long-term effects are often overlooked. Ed Yong at Cancer Research UK discusses the science of al

• iPad For Medicine Is About The Software | Doctor Anonymous

  In the midst of excitement surrounding the Apple iPad, Dr. Anonymous reminds us that, when it comes to medicine, it’s all about the software.

• 5 Ideas About Feedback & Behavior Change, Supported by Evidence | The Decision Tree

  Thomas Goetz discusses the benefits of feedback and behavior change, and the research to support each claim.

• What kind of Internet user are you? | BPS Research Digest

  Does your Internet use reflect your personality? BPS Research Digest reviews a study that evaluated how people with certain personality types use the Web.

• Exercise Today, Reap The Benefits Later In Life! | Healthcare Hacks

  A new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that development of age-related chronic diseases and disabilities is not inevitable if people are physically active in their midlives.

• Andrew Wakefield “Acted Unethically” | NeuroLogica Blog

  Following a two-and-a-half year ethics investigation, the General Medical Council (GMC), which registers doctors to practice medicine in the UK, has concluded that Andrew Wakefield, the UK researcher who suggested a link between autism spectrum disorders and MMR vaccination, acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly” in his research.

• 17 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight | Mark’s Daily Apple

  Do you exercise? Are you currently on a diet but can’t seem to shed the pounds? Mark Sisson runs down the reasons you’re not losing weight.

• Two drugs show best treatment possibility for MS | Mind Hacks

  A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine reports on two new drugs for the treatment of multiple sclerosis that are more effective than existing modalities. Vaughan Bell reviews the findings.

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Health Highlights is a biweekly summary of particularly interesting articles from credible sources of health and medical information that we follow & read. For a complete list of recommeded sources, see our links page.

• Journal of Participatory Medicine Launches at Connected Health | e-Patients.net

  A new academic journal is being launched this week. The Journal of Participatory Medicine will move the field from anecdote to science, with articles on principles, methods and evidence-based outcomes.

• Doctors have a duty to engage in social media | KevinMD.com

  This is how we fight health misinformation on the Web. Are you a physician, nurse or medical professional? It’s time to start using social media.

• What happens to neurology patients with symptoms “unexplained”? | BPS Research Digest

  What happens when neurology patients are told that their symptoms have no identifiable physical cause? Researchers followed patients for a year and a half to see if and how their diagnoses changed.

• Clean Those Surfaces! More Ways to Prevent Flu | Pulse + Signal

  No matter how many times you wash your hands, if your keyboard, desk or doorknob has flu germs on it, you have a problem.

• What the FDA sees that doctors and patients may never know | Schwitzer health news blog

  Gary Schwitzer notes a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine that focused on how critical drug information from the FDA may fail to be included on the drug label or in relevant journal articles.

• New PubMed Video (U of Manitoba) | davidrothman.net

  The PubMed website has been redesigned. David Rothman posts a short video tutorial showing where you can find some useful tools in the new interface.

• In The U.S., Where You Live Determines The Healthcare That You Get | Healthcare Hacks

  The State Scorecard study shows that there are wide variations among states in the areas of access, quality, cost, equity and ability to live long and healthy lives.

• More About Patients and the Press | Doctor David’s Blog

  Participatory medicine is a model of medical care in which the active role of the patient is emphasized. Some patients not only take an active role, they push the boundaries of medicine and publish a case report describing their experience.

• Side-effects from placebos can be drug specific | Mind Hacks

  Have you ever wondered if patients given a placebo during a clinical trial experience side effects? It turns out they do. What’s more, a recent study examining the side effects reported by patients taking placebos in clinical trials to test migraine medications found that the placebo side effects are specific to the side effects that would be expected from the comparison drug.

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Health Highlights is a biweekly summary of particularly interesting articles from credible sources of health and medical information that we follow & read. For a complete list of recommeded sources, see our links page.

• HIPAA’s Broken Promise | e-Patients.net

  When researchers have access to private health information, they can use it to develop treatments and therapies. However, there's a danger to all that identifying information floating around. Susannah Fox weighs the costs and benefits of anonymizing personal health data.

• Solidarity (at High Costs): The French Health Care System | Healthcare Hacks

  How les francais manage healthcare – high quality, universal coverage without reliance on a single-payer system.

• The Trouble with Wikipedia as a Source for Medical Information | Laika’s MedLibLog

  Jacqueline provides an in-depth review on the use of Wikipedia as a source of health information, citing several reasons why health consumers should use the resourc with caution.

• Science versus pseudoscience | Science-Based Medicine

  Homeopathy and nutritionists vs. real science.

• Interview: Susannah Fox, Pew Internet Project | Pulse + Signal

  Andre Blackman interviews Susannah Fox of the Pew Internet Project about new media advances in public health.

• Anti-"publication bias" efforts not panning out for science | Ars Technica

  Negative results can be useful, especially when it comes to drugs that don't work. However, a recent JAMA study shows that many clinical trial results published differ significantly from their proposed experimental design.

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