Information for Vitamin C
A Guide to the C Vitamin The c vitamin has got to be the most widely known vitamin these days. It is not surprising because the body needs c vitamin for over 300 functions. In fact, the c vitamin has been proved to help protect against heart disease, cancer and other serious illnesses. Without the [...]
Haldol and torsades in hospitalized patients—do you always need continuous electocardiographic monitoring?
Here’s what a review in The Journal of Hospital Medicine says (my italics):While administration of IV haloperidol can be associated with QTP/TdP, this complication most often took place in the setting of concomitant risk factors. Importantly, the available data suggest that a total cumulative dose of IV haloperidol of less than 2 mg can safely [...]
Acyclovir reduces risk of HIV-1 disease progression, if positive for HIV-1 and HSV-2
Most people infected with HIV-1 are dually infected with herpes simplex virus type 2. Daily suppression of this herpes virus reduces plasma HIV-1 concentrations, but whether it delays HIV-1 disease progression is unknown. In this study, the median CD4 cell count at enrollment was 462 cells per μL and median HIV-1 plasma RNA was 4 [...]
For Profit Healthways and Harvard’s David Cutler Agree: It’s Bending the Curve Stupid
In yesterday′s posting, the Disease Management Care Blog briefly touched on David Cutler’s recent Health Affairs article on the Obama Administration’s cost-reducing logic in the recently passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In it, Dr. Cutler writes that over the short term, lowering costs is all about reducing Medicare Advantage payments, reducing hospital payment [...]
Risk of Hastening Death vs. Risk of Prolonging Dying
The one thing from Tuesday’s hearing that surprised me most was the failure of witnesses testifying both for and against H.B. 3520 to present “compelling evidence” to support their positions.  Yes, the personal stories (from both families and physicians) were compelling.  They help the legislators and the public better understand what is at stake.  But [...]
