Thanks again for your insatiable desire to learn and share. On the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, I'm good-naturedly laughing at the writing of anything that happened so recently with "I'm old enough to remember...", but it's never a waste of time to remind all that the coming Presidential election outcome could threaten that much needed program. That's not politics, that's an ethical issue. For me it's I remember when there was no managed healthcare, doctors could afford private practices, and then HMO's started, and that led to mismanaged healthcare. My Dad was a CEO in the med insurance biz in the late 1970's in Baltimore, and quit his upper level job because he was being asked to do unethical things. In 1985 I was diagnosed with Progressive MS at 27 and then RA a year later. At that age we barely had time to make ends meet with both working, a 3 year-old child who was very asthmatic and got pneumonia every winter, let alone accrue savings. My husband needed to switch jobs to advance and move into a job closer to his true profession. We were scared to death the new job would find out about his very sick wife. Our HMO did not let us go to a good specialist and we had to go to Johns Hopkins out of pocket for my first visit to the neuro that diagnosed the MS. Fortunately, my personnel director was able to switch us to a better plan (for more $$) instead of having to wait for a formal enrollment period. Not likely to happen today. All my life we had to be careful to hide my disability from my husband's co-workers and bosses for fear he would lose his job or be bypassed for promotions. I got sicker and lost my ability to work a full time job income, while getting assaulted by massive healthcare costs even while paying insurance premiums. Thank god for Obamacare addressing pre-existing conditions for women (unlike me) who are sick or have sick children and are abused by their husbands who carry their health insurance so they stay in that abusive relationship. And the ACA made sure more people are insured. For those of us who had older children at the time who were still dependents finishing undergraduate work full time, they could still be covered by their parents' plan till age 25 thanks to ACA. Things have become much worse for medical staff and even worse for their patients as we move to private equity firms and CEO's running our healthcare, but am so grateful for the ACA. (And I'll be lighting a birthday candle for the ACA). But we've still got a long way to go.
Hard to see anything make the claim "91% greater chance of mortality" and not wonder about reliability. Thank you for covering this. It is a great reminder for us science communicators about the importance of evaluating method (or contacting other subject matter experts to weigh in on methods) before making headlines.
Thanks for the interview with Dr. Offit. I had not heard of Ala Stanford before, will look for more about her.
On the topic of public health, seems to me its problems are a sign of general distrust in any collective action which is disturbing. Working together is an attribute of our species and I believe if we only engage in it when individual monetary gain is involved, we are in trouble.
Thank you! Part of me thinks that I could also just turn these into daily posts. (Short daily newsletters) rather than the rundown of Fridays, but I think this really keeps me disciplined on each item being short and sweet. Thoughts?
I am a recent subscriber and non MD with interest in all things medical. Lately, part of my arsenal to avoid Covid has been nitric oxide nasal spray (Enovid). Love to see a deep dive into its actual efficacy against any viruses (Covid or others, as well as bacteria) and whether it is worth using to protect against and/or treat illness.Thanks!
I have to say, I’ve spent very little time in the topical nasal antiviral space. And I haven’t seen much on it amongst my colleagues who do this kind of analyses either. I’ll poke around.
Lots of good information here. I especially appreciated Dr Offit’s explanation of long vs short incubation and lasting immunity. In all my reading on viruses since Covid arrived, I had never encountered that clear explanation. Thanks for all the info you share!
I'd like to see you analyze the difference between colonoscopy and Stool DNA test. My mother died of colon cancer (at age 83). My insurer, Kaiser, refused my petition for colonoscopy screening instead of Stool DNA test. Should I be concerned?
Sorry, Tracy. Regarding the tests for someone over 80, I think it has to do with personal history and family risks. (Had she had normal colonoscopies in the past, who else in the family had issues, etc). I think there are studies comparing these and basically found that the stool tests are *almost as good as colonoscopy. And there’s also sigmoidoscopy and a comparator. I am not sure there’s a universal answer. I tend to see the utility of the dna test as a way to increase yield. A test that is 90% as effective but has 2x the adherence…may be the better test for the population. But on an individual level, not always the case.
Thanks again for your insatiable desire to learn and share. On the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, I'm good-naturedly laughing at the writing of anything that happened so recently with "I'm old enough to remember...", but it's never a waste of time to remind all that the coming Presidential election outcome could threaten that much needed program. That's not politics, that's an ethical issue. For me it's I remember when there was no managed healthcare, doctors could afford private practices, and then HMO's started, and that led to mismanaged healthcare. My Dad was a CEO in the med insurance biz in the late 1970's in Baltimore, and quit his upper level job because he was being asked to do unethical things. In 1985 I was diagnosed with Progressive MS at 27 and then RA a year later. At that age we barely had time to make ends meet with both working, a 3 year-old child who was very asthmatic and got pneumonia every winter, let alone accrue savings. My husband needed to switch jobs to advance and move into a job closer to his true profession. We were scared to death the new job would find out about his very sick wife. Our HMO did not let us go to a good specialist and we had to go to Johns Hopkins out of pocket for my first visit to the neuro that diagnosed the MS. Fortunately, my personnel director was able to switch us to a better plan (for more $$) instead of having to wait for a formal enrollment period. Not likely to happen today. All my life we had to be careful to hide my disability from my husband's co-workers and bosses for fear he would lose his job or be bypassed for promotions. I got sicker and lost my ability to work a full time job income, while getting assaulted by massive healthcare costs even while paying insurance premiums. Thank god for Obamacare addressing pre-existing conditions for women (unlike me) who are sick or have sick children and are abused by their husbands who carry their health insurance so they stay in that abusive relationship. And the ACA made sure more people are insured. For those of us who had older children at the time who were still dependents finishing undergraduate work full time, they could still be covered by their parents' plan till age 25 thanks to ACA. Things have become much worse for medical staff and even worse for their patients as we move to private equity firms and CEO's running our healthcare, but am so grateful for the ACA. (And I'll be lighting a birthday candle for the ACA). But we've still got a long way to go.
You’ve been through a lot!! I agree the business of modern medicine is quite troublesome. The ACA is one of the few bright spots.
I very much liked 5 on Fridays!
Thank you!
Hard to see anything make the claim "91% greater chance of mortality" and not wonder about reliability. Thank you for covering this. It is a great reminder for us science communicators about the importance of evaluating method (or contacting other subject matter experts to weigh in on methods) before making headlines.
Unfortunately many people are far less alert than you are.
Thank you for your support!
Thanks for the interview with Dr. Offit. I had not heard of Ala Stanford before, will look for more about her.
On the topic of public health, seems to me its problems are a sign of general distrust in any collective action which is disturbing. Working together is an attribute of our species and I believe if we only engage in it when individual monetary gain is involved, we are in trouble.
Amen to that. Too bad places like Texas are considering *banning* health depts from encouraging vaccines. Sigh.
I like 5 on Fridays!
Thank you! Part of me thinks that I could also just turn these into daily posts. (Short daily newsletters) rather than the rundown of Fridays, but I think this really keeps me disciplined on each item being short and sweet. Thoughts?
If it helps you, I definitely feel like it helps me to stay up on things and gain new perspectives.
It does :) just always wrestling with format, etc.
I’m just so happy to get this information so whatever works best for you!
Thank you!
I am a recent subscriber and non MD with interest in all things medical. Lately, part of my arsenal to avoid Covid has been nitric oxide nasal spray (Enovid). Love to see a deep dive into its actual efficacy against any viruses (Covid or others, as well as bacteria) and whether it is worth using to protect against and/or treat illness.Thanks!
I have to say, I’ve spent very little time in the topical nasal antiviral space. And I haven’t seen much on it amongst my colleagues who do this kind of analyses either. I’ll poke around.
Here, here for 5 on Fridays!
Lots of good information here. I especially appreciated Dr Offit’s explanation of long vs short incubation and lasting immunity. In all my reading on viruses since Covid arrived, I had never encountered that clear explanation. Thanks for all the info you share!
I'd like to see you analyze the difference between colonoscopy and Stool DNA test. My mother died of colon cancer (at age 83). My insurer, Kaiser, refused my petition for colonoscopy screening instead of Stool DNA test. Should I be concerned?
Sorry, Tracy. Regarding the tests for someone over 80, I think it has to do with personal history and family risks. (Had she had normal colonoscopies in the past, who else in the family had issues, etc). I think there are studies comparing these and basically found that the stool tests are *almost as good as colonoscopy. And there’s also sigmoidoscopy and a comparator. I am not sure there’s a universal answer. I tend to see the utility of the dna test as a way to increase yield. A test that is 90% as effective but has 2x the adherence…may be the better test for the population. But on an individual level, not always the case.
Haha(sort of) ….up to date on colonoscopies as I had colorectal cancer aged 40!!
Oof! Hope all is okay!
Thanks…all good 20+ years later!!