RedScrubs
The Resource for Medical Professionals

According to the March 15 Journal of Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, women who are overweight or obese have a lower breast cancer survival rate and the cancer appears to be more aggressive.

Prion diseases are responsible for many of our neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s and Alzheimers. Some process, as yet unidentified, causes the normal prions to fold over into an alternatively formed isoform that we call a PrPSC. It is this substance that is found in the brains of people who have died with a neurodegenerative disease. It is known that many of the neurodegenerative diseases are modified by the administration of drugs that inhibit cholesterol synthesis, so scientists set out to examine the effects of cholesterol balance within the neuronal cells themselves.

The next 10 to 15 years will produce major changes in the clinical laboratory regarding the use and application of molecular diagnostics. Today, molecular genetic testing promises to provide an entirely new means for individualizing and personalizing patient care at a level never imagined before. While currently utilization of molecular genetic tests is applied to 1 percent of the general population, it is estimated that molecular genetic testing in the era of personalized medicine will be applied to 60 percent of the general population. Molecular genetic testing is being touted as a new tool to provide clinicians with information needed to predict the risk of developing disease and therapeutic outcome before treatment.

Come one, Come all! Get your free set of Red Scrubs when you win the Scrubby! Yes, we’ve partnered with NW Scrubs company, who has agreed to donate a pair of Red Scrubs to the winner of each week’s Scrubby Award. The winner will be notified that he, she or they have won the Scrubby Award. All the winner needs to do is respond with their name and shipping information. That’s it. No strings and not a catch involved. We are simply honoring your commitment to the medical blogging community.

Periodically the news enlightens us with not so glamorous stories of individuals seeking medical care outside the borders of the United States (U.S.). These reports are usually about everyday people seeking cosmetic surgery, dental care, or some other medical treatment that they are unable to access in the U.S., usually due to the associated costs or their insurance status.

Short form documentary on John Spannhake, who overcame the horrifying effects of the nervous system disorder known as Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

The old adage of “things will get worse before they get better” seems more and more to be the mantra of healthcare today. The troubles effecting today’s healthcare system are numerous and highly complex to the point that they must be hampering strategic planning. Several large issues are on the horizon for healthcare that if not addressed in the foreseeable future could spell out devastating problems.

More than 70 million Americans have sickle cell anemia, also known as sickle cell disease. Five to ten percent of those are candidates for a new treatment for the disease.

An article in Medical News Today, March 10, 2008, stated that the first meta-analysis had been conducted between the glycemic index (g.i.), glycemic load (g.l.) and risk of diabetes/heart disease. However, an earlier meta-analysis was found in Diabetes Care, 2003. In the meta-analysis done in 2003, 356 subjects were looked at for HbA1c and fructosamine as it related to blood sugar control while eating low g.i. foods. Systematically taking out each study did not change the results.