When Optimism Is Unrealistic
When Optimism Is Unrealistic
But despite clearly understanding the purpose, and limits, of early-phase trials, the patients were also blinded by what researchers called an “unrealistic optimism,” or an optimistic bias, when it came to applying that knowledge to their own particular situations. A majority of patients assumed that the experimental drugs would control their cancer and that they would experience benefits but not complications.
In essence, they believed they would fare better than the average patient enrolled in the same trial.
NY Times 3/3/11
8/01/2010 Nurse Navigators – A New Patients Advocate
Navigating through the emotional, medical, social and financial process after being diagnosed with a serious disease is completely foreign to most people. The feeling of being alone, scared and confused is typical. Realizing just how intimidating this is, hospitals have started patient advocacy programs that enable patients with experts to navigate them from diagnosis to treatment and hopefully a cure.
7/11/10 Medicare Supplemental Insurance – Sam Deibler
Insurance companies offering coverage under Medigap or the Medicare Supplemental Insurance plan have premiums that vary by as mush as 400% in Connecticut. This may also apply to other states. What are the differences? Are there any differences? Sam Deibler, Director of the Commission on Aging in Greenwich CT discusses Medicare and in particular Medigap. Buyer beware applies here, Listen and learn.
Air 07-11-10 Sam Diebler – Medigap Part1
Air 07-11-10 Sam Diebler – Medigap Part2
What Broke My Father’s Heart
How putting in a pacemaker wrecked a family’s life. When (the doctor) suggested the pacemaker for the second time, my father was too stroke-damaged to discuss, and perhaps even to weigh, his tradeoffs. The decision fell to my mother — anxious to relieve my father’s pain, exhausted with caregiving, deferential to doctors and no expert on high-tech medicine. She said yes. One of the most important medical decisions of my father’s life was over in minutes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/magazine/20pacemaker-t.html
Abnormal Test Results May Not Get to Patients
If you think your doctor will automatically tell you if you have an abnormal test result, think again. Researchers studying office procedures among primary care physicians found evidence that more than 7 percent of clinically significant findings were never reported to the patient.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/health/23patient.html
Prostate Test Found to Save Few Lives
The PSA blood test, used to screen for prostate cancer, saves few lives and leads to risky and unnecessary treatments for large numbers of men, two large studies have found. But it has been difficult to know whether finding prostate cancer early saves lives. Most of the cancers tend to grow very slowly and are never a threat and, with the faster-growing ones, even early diagnosis might be too late.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/health/19cancer.html?ref=health
On ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Health Can Take Back Seat
The series also highlights the difference between the pursuit of engaging television and the sometimes frenzied efforts of contestants to win, perhaps at the risk of their own health.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/business/media/25loser.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
Body for the Ages
Body for the Ages – Look around and it’s easy to see how you don’t want to age. When it comes to quality of life, unless your genetically blessed you have to take the initiative. Here is a good start.
For Cancer Patients, Empathy Goes a Long Way
For Cancer Patients, Empathy Goes a Long Way- Marcus Wellby may have only been a TV show, but lessons of bedside manner work. Emotional support from the doctor goes a long way to helping the patient. The Journal of Clinical Oncology reported that too few doctors were able to convey empathy and training them would improve patients outcomes.
Abnormal Test Results May Not Get to Patients
Research published in the journal Neurology, finds that being too thin in later years-especially for those who lose weight rapidly or who had been overweight-may well be an early sign of dementia.
