Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Instrumental Variable Analysis: Is The Cure Worse Than The Disease?
Causal inference is challenging in all non-experimental studies because of the possibility of hidden bias. Hidden bias may exist as a result of failure to control for unobservable factors, such as doctors" practice/prescription patterns.

'Pro-choice Community' Should Find New 'Way Of Talking About Reproductive Freedom,' Opinion Piece Says
"Most of the push-back" from antiabortion-rights advocates to a recent e-mail message from author Judy Blume on behalf of Planned Parenthood -- which asked mailing list subscribers for donations -- was generated by an article in the antiabortion-rights publication LifeNews, columnist Meghan Daum writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece. The article put a "heavy, misrepresentative spin" on Blume"s message, which urged donors to "do all [they] can to support" the increasing number of women turning to Planned Parenthood centers for health care during the economic downturn.The LifeNews article said, "Blume notes how more women are seeking abortions from Planned Parenthood because of the difficult economy, and she urges readers of the e-mail to use that as a reason to support the abortion business." According to Daum, "this is just the kind of thing that makes abortion-rights advocates apoplectic," noting that abortion-rights advocates "fired-back" in the "blogosphere ... imparting the statistic about abortion making up only 3% of Planned Parenthood"s services and pointing out that many of the women being yelled at by picketers in clinic parking lots aren"t even pregnant but, rather, trying to avoid getting pregnant." Daum continues that the organization, much like Blume, "occupies a clear position on the post-Roe cultural map," adding, "Generally speaking, if you"re on board with abortion rights, you"re on board with Planned Parenthood." In addition, if you are against abortion rights, the "organization is the headquarters of Godlessness," she adds. Daum writes that it is not difficult to see why Planned Parenthood enlisted Blume -- an "icon of 1970s-era feminism and its efforts on behalf of sex education and women"s health" -- because she conjures "nostalgia for the early days of the fight that makes pro-choicers want to keep fighting today."Daum writes that as she watched this "saga unfold in [her] inbox," she was "struck by a troubling question. Even though Blume may not be associated with abortion in and of itself … is there something about her persona that signals a lack of dispassion about its ramifications? Is she reminding people of a time when, in the relief of Roe being decided, there was a cultural perception that abortion was a simple procedure that needn"t come with attendant emotional baggage?"Daum adds that there is "no denying that the language and overall tone around abortion has changed. Despite what many pro-life groups seem to think, most abortion-rights advocates prefer "safe, legal and rare" to "no big deal."" According to Daum, President Obama, "pro-choice though he is, is hardly strident -- and even a little evasive -- on the issue." She adds that Obama favors language about reducing the need for abortions and "finding common ground with the other side." Daum notes that the pop cultural arena "has become downright allergic to the issue" of abortion, with a recent movie coining the term "shmashmortion" because the characters "can"t even get the word out." Daum adds that although Blume "was undoubtedly effective" at bringing in funding for Planned Parenthood, perhaps what might have been "even more radical is if the pro-choice community could find a way of talking about reproductive freedom that neither reverts to the perceived casualness of the 1970s nor panders to the "shmashmortion" dialect of today. "Safe, legal and rare" comes close. But "safe, legal, rare and a big deal" might be even better" (Daum, Los Angeles Times, 5/14).
News of the day
L.A. County, Calif., Offers Home Delivery Of Chlamydia, Gonorrhea Test Kits
Los Angeles County health officials on Wednesday announced a program that will offer young women home delivery of chlamydia and gonorrhea testing kits and send them a text message when the results are available, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports. The $450,000 program aims to curb the rapid spread of sexually transmitted infections in the county while also reducing clinic wait times and costs.According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, Los Angeles County in 2007 led the nation in reported chlamydia cases with 44,030 and ranked second for reported gonorrhea cases with 10,063. CDC has labeled chlamydia a hidden epidemic because women often display no symptoms. It is estimated that three million men and women contract the infection annually. Although chlamydia is treatable with antibiotics, women with untreated cases can experience infertility, higher risk for ectopic pregnancy and other problems. Peter Kerndt, director of the county"s STI program, said that the number of reported cases is expected to rise after the program"s implementation. According to county Health Director Jonathan Fielding, more than 50% of reported cases involve women younger than age 25, many of whom are black and Hispanic teens. It is recommended that women younger than age 25 receive annual testing.Under the program, 10,000 chlamydia and gonorrhea testing kits will be immediately available, with more offered as needed, according to county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. To request a kit, women can visit a Web site or call a toll-free number to have the kits mailed to them. Women can administer the tests at home by inserting a vaginal swab for 10 seconds, sealing the swab in a plastic tube and mailing it to the testing center. They can opt to have a text message sent to their phone alerting them when their results are ready, which can be checked by phone or online. Women will then be referred to a local health clinic if needed. Similar programs have been implemented in Denver, Maryland, Washington, D.C., West Virginia and some Illinois counties. The Los Angeles County program is modeled on a Baltimore pilot program led by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Mohajer, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 6/11).
Nutrition

Farmed Fish May Pose Risk For Mad Cow Disease

University of Louisville neurologist Robert P. Friedland, M.D., questions the safety of eating farmed fish in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer"s Disease, adding a new worry to concerns about the nation"s food supply. Friedland and his co-authors suggest farmed fish could transmit Creutzfeldt Jakob disease--commonly known as mad cow disease--if they are fed byproducts rendered from cows. The scientists urge government regulators to ban feeding cow meat or bone meal to fish until the safety of this common practice can be confirmed. "We have not proven that it"s possible for fish to transmit the disease to humans. Still, we believe that out of reasonable caution for public health, the practice of feeding rendered cows to fish should be prohibited," Friedland said. "Fish do very well in the seas without eating cows," he added. Creutzfeldt Jakob disease is an untreatable, universally-fatal disease that can be contracted by eating parts of an animal infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease). An outbreak in England attributed to infected beef prompted most countries to outlaw feeding rendered cow material to other cattle because the disease is so easily spread within the same species. The risk of transmission of BSE to humans who eat farmed fish would appear to be low because of perceived barriers between species. But, according to the authors, it is possible for a disease to be spread by eating a carrier that is not infected itself. It"s also possible that eating diseased cow parts could cause fish to experience a pathological change that allows the infection to be passed between the two species. "The fact that no cases of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease have been linked to eating farmed fish does not assure that feeding rendered cow parts to fish is safe. The incubation period of these diseases may last for decades, which makes the association between feeding practices and infection difficult. Enhanced safeguards need to be put in place to protect the public," Friedland said. There have been 163 deaths from Creutzfeldt Jakob disease in the United Kingdom attributed to eating infected beef. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy has been identified in nine Canadian and three U.S. cattle. Anne Eldridge IOS Press


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009