Volunteer doctors operates on 126 people during free medical camp in Kisii County. – Video

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Volunteer doctors operates on 126 people during free medical camp in Kisii County.
Volunteer doctors treated and operated on 126 people during a week long free medical camp in Kisii County. The services were organized by the Kisii level 6 hospital and the health care rescue...

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Volunteer doctors operates on 126 people during free medical camp in Kisii County. - Video

Delivering Health Care To The Uninsured For $15 A Pop

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In the documentary Remote Area Medical, a boy chooses a new pair of glasses after receiving an eye exam. Remote Area Medical/Courtesy of Cinedigm hide caption

What happens when you break a leg and you live hundreds of miles from the nearest hospital? Or when you can't afford to get a new pair of glasses because you don't have health insurance?

For many, the answer is to go without help. That's why the organization Remote Area Medical was conceived. As we've reported before, the team travels across the United States and abroad to provide health care to those in need. That's a lot of people about 16 percent of Americans are uninsured, according to the latest Gallup poll.

The plight of those without access to health care is the focus of a new documentary, Remote Area Medical. The film, to be released nationwide on Saturday, follows a team of doctors, dentists and nurses over three days in April 2012 as they treated thousands of people at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.

Shots spoke to Stan Brock, the founder of Remote Area Medical, about the state of U.S. health care and why his organization isn't going away. This is an edited version of the conversation.

Your charity started out in the upper Amazon. Why did you decide to bring it to the United States?

I got a call from one of the poorest counties in the nation, Hancock County, Tenn. little place called Sneedville which at the time had to close their little hospital and the only dentist in the neighborhood had left town. And so I got a call, "Hey, can you come here and help us out?"

I remember putting a couple of heavy dental chairs that we borrowed in the back of a pickup truck and going up to Sneedville and there was quite a long line of people who needed help. And about a week after that, I got another call from the next county over, and pretty soon we were doing stuff in Tennessee and Kentucky on a regular basis.

And it's just grown from there. So now 90-odd percent of what we do is in the United States. We've done 744 of these special expeditions, as we call them, all over the country: Los Angeles, recently Seattle, and we hoped also in New York but unfortunately, that's not gonna come to pass. So the need is everywhere.

How do you choose which medical specialties to provide?

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Delivering Health Care To The Uninsured For $15 A Pop

Are Europeans Spending Too Little on Health Care Compared to the US?

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It is common for health policy experts to argue that US health care spending is wasteful compared to its European counterparts because we are not getting better health for the larger amount of spending taking place here. There is limited evidence to support this claim, and existing evidence in the case of cancer care actually indicates Europeans under-spending rather than US over-spending. Arguments of waste in health care must be more nuanced and distinguish between waste in the public and private sectors.

The United States spends more on health care than other developed countries, about 18% of GDP, but some argue that US patients do not derive sufficient benefit from this extra spending. The high costs of cancer care in the United States are frequently cited as evidence of a poorly functioning health care system, compared to those of other developed countries, e.g. Europe. A common but misguided argument is that, since Americans are not healthier and do not live longer than Europeans, the additional spending in the US represents wasted resources. This assumes that health care is the main driver of health and longevity (which it is not) and that other factors such as genes, diet and exercise, accidents, violence, and harmful drug use are the same across countries.

Therefore, to better judge the relative productivity of health care in the US and Europe, it is necessary to examine the effects of spending in a specific disease area conditional on the same diagnosis. However, in the debate about whether higher US healthcare spending, compared to Europe, is wasteful, little reliable evidence of the comparative benefits of spending in specific disease areas has been generated. Cancer is a good case to consider because it is a leading cause of death across many developed nations. Conditional on a cancer diagnosis, it is plausible that a relationship between spending and survival exists because of differences in cancer care rather than other factors leading to the diagnosis. Nontreatment-related investments by patientsin healthy behavior such as exercise and in other types of preventive activitiesare likely to have a smaller impact on survival compared to actual treatment.

In a paper we published in Health Affairs,*we compared the value of US vs European cancer care in the 1980s and 1990s.** As shown in Figures 1 and 2, we examined survival and spending differences for cancer patients in the United States compared to a similar group of patients from ten European countries.

As the figures illustrate, our study found that US cancer patients both lived longer and spent more than European patients in every year. In addition, the absolute growth in survival gains and costs was larger in the US over the period considered from 1984 to 1999. We calculated the financial value of the additional years of survival in US in order to compare these gains to the costs of cancer care in these countries. The key finding was that, if one utilizes standard value measures for longevity, the value of survival gains in the US exceeded the higher cost growth compared to Europe. In short, the extra spending for the extra living was worth it. In fact, US cancer care generated about $600 billion of additional value compared to Europe for patients who were diagnosed with cancer during this period. The value of that additional survival gain was highest for prostate cancer patients ($627 billion) and breast cancer patients ($173 billion), partly because of their larger prevalence.

Some criticized this study, without carefully reading it, for being driven by earlier diagnosis in the US. If longevity, measured as survival from time of diagnosis, rises faster simply because patients are diagnosed relatively earlier in US, this may create lead-time bias. However, in a companion study we found that the overall gain in survival of US cancer patients was only 20% due to detection of cancers in earlier stages, and 80% due to treatment once detected.*** Quantitatively, early detection does not negate our main conclusion: US cancer patients get more value than Europeans.

To exemplify these findings at the country level, consider Slovakia, which spent $39 per capita on cancer care and averaged 5.5 years life expectancy after cancer diagnosis. Compare this to Sweden, which spent $134 per capita on cancer care and averaged 9.9 years life expectancy after diagnosis. Now consider the US, which spent $207 per capita on cancer care and saw 10.8 years of life expectancy from the point of diagnosis.

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Are Europeans Spending Too Little on Health Care Compared to the US?

Genetic Errors Linked to More ALS Cases Than Scientists Had Thought

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Newswise Genetic mutations may cause more cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) than scientists previously had realized, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The scientists also showed that the number of mutated genes influences the age when the fatal paralyzing disorder first appears.

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease, destroys the nerve cells that control muscles, leading to loss of mobility, difficulty breathing and swallowing, and eventually paralysis and death. Understanding the many ways genes contribute to ALS helps scientists seek new treatments.

The study appears online in Annals of Neurology.

Scientists have linked mutations in more than 30 genes to ALS. Alone or in combination, mutations in any of these genes can cause the disease in family members who inherit them.

Roughly 90 percent of patients with ALS have no family history of the disease, and their condition is referred to as sporadic ALS. Scientists had thought mutations contributed to barely more than one in every 10 cases of sporadic ALS.

But researchers recently started to suspect that patients with sporadic ALS carry mutations in the 30 genes linked to ALS more often than previously thought. The new study is among the first to prove this suspicion correct.

To our surprise, we found that 26 percent of sporadic ALS patients had potential mutations in one of the known ALS genes we analyzed, said co-senior author Matthew Harms, MD, assistant professor of neurology at Washington University. This suggests that mutations may be contributing to significantly more ALS cases.

The scientists used a sequencing technique devised at Washington University to look at 17 known ALS genes in the DNA of 391 patients with ALS. Like the overall ALS patient population, 90 percent of the patients had no family history of disease.

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Genetic Errors Linked to More ALS Cases Than Scientists Had Thought

Study shows more patients with ALS have genetic origin than previously thought

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5-Dec-2014

Contact: Sandy Van sandy@prpacific.com 808-526-1708 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center @cedarssinai

LOS ANGELES (Dec. 4, 2014) - Genetics may play a larger role in causing Lou Gehrig's disease than previously believed, potentially accounting for more than one-third of all cases, according to one of the most comprehensive genetic studies to date of patients who suffer from the condition also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

The study, conducted by investigators at Cedars-Sinai and Washington University in St. Louis, also showed that patients with defects in two or more ALS-associated genes experience disease onset about 10 years earlier than patients with single-gene mutations.

"These findings shed new light on the genetic origins of ALS, especially in patients who had no prior family history of the disease," said Robert H. Baloh, MD, PhD, director of neuromuscular medicine in the Department of Neurology and director of the ALS Program at Cedars-Sinai. Baloh is senior author of the study, published online in Annals of Neurology.

Typically, researchers classify 90 percent of ALS cases as "sporadic," meaning they occur in patients without a family history of the disease. In their study, however, the researchers found a significant degree of genetic involvement in patients with no family history. Examining DNA from 391 individuals, they identified numerous new or very rare ALS gene mutations in such people. Added to the 10 percent of cases already known to be genetic because of family history, the study suggested that more than one-third of all ALS could be genetic in origin.

Baloh said the presence of the new and rare mutations, found among 17 genes already known to be associated with ALS, does not necessarily mean they all cause the disease. But they are considered likely suspects - especially in combination. ALS often is caused by well-known defects in single genes, but recent studies have suggested that some cases could be brought on by the simultaneous occurrence of two or more "lesser" genetic defects. In theory, each mutation alone might be tolerated without initiating disease, but in combination they exceed the threshold required for disease development.

This study strengthens that possibility: Fifteen patients - nine of whom had no previous family history of ALS - had mutations in two or more ALS-associated genes. The research also takes an important next step, showing that multiple genetic defects can influence the way disease manifests in individual patients. Those with mutations in two or more genes had onset about 10 years earlier than those with defects in only one gene.

Matthew B. Harms, MD, assistant professor of neurology at Washington University and co-corresponding author of the article, said that unknown factors still accounted for the majority of ALS cases.

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Study shows more patients with ALS have genetic origin than previously thought

More patients with Lou Gehrig's disease have genetic origin than previously thought

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Genetics may play a larger role in causing Lou Gehrig's disease than previously believed, potentially accounting for more than one-third of all cases, according to one of the most comprehensive genetic studies to date of patients who suffer from the condition also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

The study, conducted by investigators at Cedars-Sinai and Washington University in St. Louis, also showed that patients with defects in two or more ALS-associated genes experience disease onset about 10 years earlier than patients with single-gene mutations.

"These findings shed new light on the genetic origins of ALS, especially in patients who had no prior family history of the disease," said Robert H. Baloh, MD, PhD, director of neuromuscular medicine in the Department of Neurology and director of the ALS Program at Cedars-Sinai. Baloh is senior author of the study, published online in Annals of Neurology.

Typically, researchers classify 90 percent of ALS cases as "sporadic," meaning they occur in patients without a family history of the disease. In their study, however, the researchers found a significant degree of genetic involvement in patients with no family history. Examining DNA from 391 individuals, they identified numerous new or very rare ALS gene mutations in such people. Added to the 10 percent of cases already known to be genetic because of family history, the study suggested that more than one-third of all ALS could be genetic in origin.

Baloh said the presence of the new and rare mutations, found among 17 genes already known to be associated with ALS, does not necessarily mean they all cause the disease. But they are considered likely suspects -- especially in combination. ALS often is caused by well-known defects in single genes, but recent studies have suggested that some cases could be brought on by the simultaneous occurrence of two or more "lesser" genetic defects. In theory, each mutation alone might be tolerated without initiating disease, but in combination they exceed the threshold required for disease development.

This study strengthens that possibility: Fifteen patients -- nine of whom had no previous family history of ALS -- had mutations in two or more ALS-associated genes. The research also takes an important next step, showing that multiple genetic defects can influence the way disease manifests in individual patients. Those with mutations in two or more genes had onset about 10 years earlier than those with defects in only one gene.

Matthew B. Harms, MD, assistant professor of neurology at Washington University and co-corresponding author of the article, said that unknown factors still accounted for the majority of ALS cases.

"This tells us that more research is needed to identify other genes that influence ALS risk, and that ultimately, individuals may have more than one gene contributing toward developing disease," Harms said.

ALS is an incurable, virtually untreatable neurodegenerative disease that attacks motor neurons -- nerve cells responsible for muscle function -- in the brain and spinal cord. It causes progressive weakness and eventual failure of muscles throughout the body; patients typically survive three to five years after onset.

Investigators in this study used new-generation technology that quickly and efficiently determines the organizational structure of large numbers of genes. They expect this and similar research to usher in personalized medicine in ALS that will allow healthcare teams to analyze a patient's entire genetic makeup and deliver gene-specific therapies to correct detected defects. Cedars-Sinai researchers recently conducted a disease-in-a-dish study with cells from patients with defects in a gene that commonly causes ALS. Using small segments of genetic material to target the defects, they showed that this type of gene therapy can improve neurons from patients with the disease.

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More patients with Lou Gehrig's disease have genetic origin than previously thought

New Parents Favor In-Depth Genetic Testing, Survey Finds

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THURSDAY, Dec. 4, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Many American parents would be interested in having their newborn baby undergo in-depth genetic screening to learn about potential health risks, a new study reveals.

Newborns currently get a blood test to screen for at least 30 heritable, treatable conditions. But in-depth genetic screening, known as genomic testing, has the potential to provide more comprehensive personal information, according to the Boston-based researchers.

The researchers surveyed 514 parents within 48 hours of their baby's birth. Parents were given a brief explanation of genes and how they can affect health and medical care, and then were asked what they thought about genomic testing of newborns.

Nearly 83 percent of the parents said they were either extremely (18 percent), very (28 percent) or somewhat (36 percent) interested in in-depth newborn genetic testing, the study found.

"Several other studies have measured parents' interest in newborn genomic screening, but none focused on new parents in the first 48 hours," senior author Dr. Robert Green, a geneticist and researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said in a hospital news release.

"Since this is when genomic testing would be of the greatest value, it is especially important to study parents' attitudes immediately post-partum," he added.

The results were similar regardless of parents' age, gender, race, ethnicity, level of education, family history of genetic disease, or whether their newborn was their first child, the researchers said.

"Parents' strong interest in genomic screening for their newborns, as demonstrated by this study, underscores the importance of further research exploring the public health impacts of actually providing this testing," said Green, "particularly as it continues to become less expensive and more widely available."

Parents who'd had concerns about the health of their newborn were less likely to be interested in genomic testing, according to the study published Dec. 4 in the journal Genetics in Medicine.

-- Robert Preidt

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New Parents Favor In-Depth Genetic Testing, Survey Finds

Futurist Speaker on Mobile Technology and Banking Customers – Video

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Futurist Speaker on Mobile Technology and Banking Customers
Clip from Patrick Dixon #39;s Keynote at the Sampo Liidrite Forum in Estonia, on the Future of Mobile Technology, Mobile Payments and Banking. Estonia has advanced electronic, mobile and internet...

By: Patrick Dixon Futurist Keynote Speaker for Industry Conference

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Futurist Speaker on Mobile Technology and Banking Customers - Video

How highly talented women are driving change at work – Futurist Speaker – Video

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How highly talented women are driving change at work - Futurist Speaker
Clip from Patrick Dixon #39;s keynote at Netlaw conference to leading law firms. We are still some way off gender equality in boardrooms yet 70% of medical schoo...

By: Patrick Dixon Futurist Keynote Speaker for Industry Conference

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How highly talented women are driving change at work - Futurist Speaker - Video

Pakistanis Should Help Kashmiris in Getting ‘Freedom’: Hafiz Saeed – Video

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Pakistanis Should Help Kashmiris in Getting #39;Freedom #39;: Hafiz Saeed
Pakistanis Should Help Kashmiris in Getting #39;Freedom #39;: Hafiz Saeed Subscribe to Official India TV YouTube channel here: http://goo.gl/5Mcn62 Social Media Links: Facebook : https://www.facebook...

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Pakistanis Should Help Kashmiris in Getting 'Freedom': Hafiz Saeed - Video