Ivanhoe Insider
Newsletter
4/28/08
It’s In Your Hands
If you’re one of the more than 60 million Americans who are tossing and turning each night trying to get a good night’s sleep, you’ll be happy to know the answer to insomnia may well be in your own hands – literally! Read this week’s report from the Center for Sleep Medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Medical College of Cornell University where sleep specialist, Matthew Ebben, Ph.D. says using the biofeedback technique of warming one’s hands has worked for about 90-percent of the study participants.
In other stories this week, we have some exciting news from the University of Maryland Medical Center about a new electrical stimulation device which is helping stroke patients walk again sooner than using the old ace wrap or plastic ankle/foot orthotic approach; a new imaging technique for more accurately mapping the brain of epilepsy patients, pinpointing the source of the seizure down to the centimeter; and an interesting full-length interview with Dr. Lee Rosen about how a certain class of drugs is helping patients with advanced thyroid cancer.
I was also pleased to see our report on a new medication for high blood pressure, given one in four Americans is living with what they’re now calling a silent epidemic: hypertension. According to Dr. Giovanni Baula, the new drug option, Tekturna, is the first high blood pressure medication approved by the FDA in ten years and has almost zero side-effects. A story that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck was about wrong site surgeries – where patients go into the operating room for a specific surgery and end up getting another. Read the story to find out the one thing your doctor is now required to do before you go into the operating room to make sure this doesn’t happen to you!
In case you missed them, you may want to check our past reports, Omega-3 Fatty Acid Slows Alzheimer's or Nanoparticles may Increase Cancer Risk Premium Content in the Archives may be purchased for as little as $9 for 24-hour, unlimited access. If you would like to access Premium Content for the first time click here.
Finally, here are some excellent sites you may want to check out to help you make your health care decisions:
http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/Hospital/Search/Welcome.asp?version=d – This site provides you with information on how well the hospitals care for their adult patients and will help you compare the quality and price of care hospitals provide.
http://www.floridahealthnews.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article – Includes news about the Dartmouth study which concludes that what’s done for patients near the end of their lives is unnecessary, potentially harmful and a waste of money.
http://www.jointcommission.org/qualitycheck/06_about_qc.htm – Quality Check is a comprehensive guide to health care organizations in the United States where visitors can search by city and state, or by name and zip code (up to 250 miles) for information about the organizations’ comparative performance.