The Health Show: The Chart

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Don't call it the war room

The WHO is preparing its response team for the possibility of an influenza pandemic, even as the experts involved acknowledge it very well might not be enough. [WP]
posted 12:29 PM Nov 28

Go drugs!

The fact that drug reps tend to be good-looking and enthusiastic has been noted in the health biz for some time. So if drug companies are looking to recruit a bunch of these people, where might they find a bunch of them? [NYT]
posted 12:26 PM Nov 28

Medicare drug benefit sign-ups start

And it still doesn't seem to be any easier to understand. [WP]
posted 11:28 AM Nov 15

There just might be something about this exercise stuff

All sorts of research has indicated that exercise can help stave a range of health problems. And now a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine reports that regular exercise helps people live longer. [WP]
posted 11:25 AM Nov 15

Research supports mammograms

There had been some doubt as to whether mammograms reduced death rates for breast cancer, but a study published in NEJM indicates the screens are useful. [NYT]
posted 4:41 PM Oct 27

Understanding the flu

Three physicians break down the health risks related to a typical influenza season and the effectiveness of the vaccine. Their conclusion: both the risk of death and the benefits of the vaccine are probably overstated. [WP]
posted 4:34 PM Oct 27

McDonald's pushes nutrition info... a little

The burger chain announced it will be adding nutritional info to its packaging, including little pictograms indicating what percentage of daily intake the items represent. [USAT]
posted 4:27 PM Oct 27

Nobel Prize for Medicine winners announced

This year's prize goes to two Australians who were involved in figuing out that H. pylori causes stomach ulcers. [AP]
posted 4:04 PM Oct 3

Speaking of food and cancer

A link to this article was posted on the front page of MSN today. Here's the thing about that...
posted 3:47 PM Oct 3

Not so fast

There have been a lot of theories regarding food and cancer. Unfortunately, many of them don't seem to be panning out. [NYT]
posted 3:44 PM Oct 3

Post-Katrina public health challenges abound

You name it -- medicine shortages, infectious diseases, accidents -- it's a problem right now throughout the affected area. [NYT]
posted 4:19 PM Aug 31

Healthy school lunches are possible

Just ask the folks in Opelika, Alabama. They made a commitment to serve healthier lunches ten years ago. The first step they took: getting rid of the deep fryers. And this is the South. [AP]
posted 5:21 PM Aug 30

Grass roots health coverage

Fewer than 10 percent of people in Africa have health insurance. Many governments there have been slow to extend what little coverage already exists, so people are forming their own health plans. [NYT]
posted 2:13 PM Aug 30

If bird flu strikes, who's in charge?

If you said public health officials, you'd be wrong. It's the Department of Homeland Security, according to the DHS secretary. [AJC]
posted 5:23 PM Aug 25

Another instrument disinfection mishap

This time it was in Virginia, and it involved an endoscope. No surprise, as The Health Show found out early this year, endoscopes are not easy to clean. [WP]
posted 5:19 PM Aug 25

Merck loses first Vioxx trial

The jury awarded more than $250 million in damages, but that figure will almost certainly be reduced. [AP]
posted 5:30 PM Aug 19

When MRIs attack

Sort of. MRI machines contain very powerful magnets (the "M" stands for magnetic), which can be a real problem if objects made of iron, nickel or cobalt are around. Accidents have become surprisingly common, prompting calls for stricter regulations. [NYT]
posted 10:06 AM Aug 19

Pseudoephedrine falls victim to meth war

This week Oregon became the first state in the nation to move the common over-the-counter decongestant pseudoephedrine back behind the counter. Pseudoephedrine is a key ingredient for making methamphetamine and officials hope the new law will cut down on production of the illicit drug. The market may have other ideas. [AP]
posted 5:12 PM Aug 17

Zoned out

There are no sure-fire ways to eliminate jet lag, but there are a few things you can do to lessen its effects. Maybe. [BS]
posted 5:06 PM Aug 17

Word on the street

An investigation by the Seattle Times concludes that hedge funds are essentially buying information about drug trials from doctors -- before that information is made public. [ST]
posted 4:05 PM Aug 8

Can you see me now?

Two hospitals in Boston will soon be experimenting with online "house calls" for patients with acne. The Boston area has one of the nation's longest waits for seeing a dermatologist. The hope is this new arrangement could get patients seen faster. [BG]
posted 3:31 PM Aug 8

Sweet, sweeter, sweetest

The artificial sweetener biz is more than a hundred years old, and there's still nothing like sugar. [LAT]
posted 3:09 PM Aug 8

Milk for sale

And it's not 2%. A company called Prolacta wants to sell breast milk to hospitals. The California-based company also wants to develop breast milk therapies for sick babies. [BBC]
posted 4:38 PM Aug 4

Dentists to the rescue

Dentists haven't typically figured into plans for disaster response, but a professor from NYU asks, "Why not?" [NYT]
posted 4:11 PM Aug 2

Strike!

Rafael Palmeiro, one of major league baseball's most accomplished players, recently tested positive for steroids. His response: I didn't know what I was taking! Doping experts' response: you're kidding, right? [BS]
posted 3:19 PM Aug 2

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1050
There are millions of Americans today with eating disorders. Most, but by no means all, are teenage girls. Many, but far fewer than you think, have that tell-tale “too thin” appearance. And just about all will need help from multiple providers to recover. On this week’s Health Show, we’ll visit a new treatment center that puts all of those providers under one roof. We’ll also hear from the author of a book that promotes a positive body image for woman by explaining, and illustrating, every nook, cranny, wart and burp. And we’ll also hear how the guidelines used to treat Lyme Disease are coming under fire just as tick season starts to heat up.

EATING DISORDER TREATMENT - A Comprehensive Approach
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, eating disorders are marked by extremes...such as extreme reduction of food intake or extreme overeating, or feelings of extreme distress or concern about body weight or shape. These are complex disorders and take a lot of time and commitment to treat by both the patient and the health care providers. And we do mean providers...plural. Professionals to treat the mental and physical consequences and causes of an eating disorder are essential to recovery. But coordinating treatments and appointments with professionals in offices located miles apart can be, at best an inconvenience...and at worst, a great excuse for a patient to give up on their recovery. Now, some of those professionals are combining their practices and services under one roof. Bob Barrett recently had a chance to visit the Comprehensive Care Center for Eating Disorders of Northeastern New York.

Body Drama
Some experts believe that having a poor body image is a major cause of eating disorders. But with the media bombarding young women with sleek, air-brushed images of “the perfect woman”...getting information about how a real live human female body looks isn’t very easy. That’s why former Miss America Swimsuit winner Nancy Amanda Redd wrote the book “Body Drama - Real Girls, Real Bodies, Real Issues, Real Answers”. The book is a comprehensive guide to the mystifying and sometimes mortifying body issues that all young women face. I asked her why she started this project.

HEALTH UPDATE with Dr. Philip Stieg
There is widespread agreement among scientists that stress causes chemical changes in the brain which can influence the state of your health….which is why finding ways to manage stress can be vital to your overall health. On this week’s Health Update, Dr. Philip Stieg offers some simple strategies for dealing with stress.

Trying To Reason With Lyme Disease Season
With summer just around the corner, health officials are keeping an eye on the tick population…and on the number of cases of Lyme Disease. For people who’ve already been diagnosed with the disease, this year may mark a turning point in how they’re treated. The Health Show’s Susan Barnett reports.

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