Posted in Uncategorized, tagged economics, Personalized medicine on July 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Was bummed to hear Nick Haymenn say (download & listen to minute 10 on this Bloomberg News podcast) that GE healthcare has abandoned its molecular & imaging diagnostics program aimed at early detection and intervention.
Crap, that sets things back quite a bit across the medical universe I suspect.
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Posted in Uncategorized, tagged comics on July 16, 2009| 1 Comment »
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Evidence-based-medicine on July 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »
pointer to David Healy’s lecture, “The Future of Medical Care: Can Industrialized and Marketized Healthcare be Made Universally Available?” I enjoyed this very much. He places the notion of “caring” and “doing no harm” as a top priority in medicine (his focus is largely on psychiatric care) and then lays out a way for this old fashioned value to fit within the large-scale science-driven, evidence-based healthcare system of today (mainly by adequately considering the side-effects of medication treatment). Dr. Healy is well known for taking the pharma industry to task for selective-presentation of data, ghost-writing and other aspects of profiteering behavior – and does not disappoint here.
As a personal observation, I often hear psychiatrists and researchers say that, “Schizophrenia is (someday will be classified into) 10 separate disorders” – which, after listening to Dr. Healy’s lecture, seems like code for, “if we increase the complexity of the diagnostic criteria, we can create more separate avenues for treatment”, which seems like code for, “we can pull in more revenue“. Perhaps systems neuroscience (perhaps even genetics?) will reveal that there are many common networks that are disrupted across disorders and might help counteract additional splintering of diagnostic criteria. I don’t know, but certainly an issue worth exploring in more detail.
UPDATE: Here’s an example of common genetic variation that accounts for risk of both Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder. The current head of the NIMH says, “These new results recommend a fresh look at our diagnostic categories” Nice to see this!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged economics on July 11, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Just feeling inspired by this short interview with Tyler Cowen. I share his feeling that blogging is mainly just a way to share your enthusiasm … but certainly would be nice to have Professor Cowen’s brain power on top of the enthusiasm!
Posted in Uncategorized on July 11, 2009| 1 Comment »
pointer to Jonah Lehrer’s post on the neurobiology of Swoopo, the auction site where you purchase a “bid” for $0.60 and then swoop in at the last second to outbid rivals by a mere $0.02 – until they swoop back in and outbid you back – ad infinitum. I tried Swoopo, and found it tedious and maddening – so clearly rigged to bleed its poor bidders dry $0.60 at a time (you have to buy bids in blocks of $24 or more). One could (and some do) rashly sink tens or hundreds of dollars into the process of bidding and then walk away with nothing. There are known to be genetic influences on an individual’s sensitivity to the magnitude of immediate vs. delayed rewards (sure some people do win a $1,300 macbook for $250 which can raise one’s expectations of such a sweet reward) but it seems Swoopo is geared to folks on the extreme right tail of the distribution here. Like most, I’d rather be outbid on ebay and salve my bruised dignity with the money I didn’t blow on a netbook computer I didn’t really need.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Genetic testing on July 8, 2009| Leave a Comment »
pointer to Mark Henderson’s coverage of how the British NHS may adapt to the rise of direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Among the complexities mentioned were its ubiquity, potential (yet mostly future) benefits and costs of retraining and implementing. Also, tighter regulatory standards for DTC vendors.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Health insurance on July 7, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Just discovered FORA.tv media channel – happened on this discussion with Joe Pantoliano on his advocacy for mental illness.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Functional magnetic resonance imaging, Genetic testing on June 29, 2009| 1 Comment »
Amidst the steady stream of basic imaging and genetic science that pours forth into the literature each day (or in response to Eric Kandel‘s latest update on the state of brain science and mental health), how could anyone remain glum? In Hamlet, the King asks, “How is it that the clouds still hang on you?” to which Hamlet replies, “Not so, my lord, I am too much in the sun“. So it seems the case with John M. Grohol, whose recent article, “Chasing the Genetic Ghosts of Mental Illness” which rightly maintains an evenly skeptical long-term perspective on the (as-yet-unrealized-over) promise of genetic and brain imaging research. Certainly, patients may be encouraged by new findings, but as Grohol points out, there is a notorious 1-step forward, 2-steps back dynamic to basic research that can undermine the time-line of promise delivery. Indeed, from a patient’s perspective, basic research that characterizes empirical therapeutic effects may only deliver marginal benefits at best. Thus, there may be some need to better communicate on the fruits of basic research now – abundant or sparse as they may be. I will keep Grohol’s perspective in mind.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged economics on June 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »
pointer to — Financial analyst Andy Kessler’s recent article “Technology Review: A Pound of Cure” discusses whether several $billion of government incentives for digitizing health information is enough to root out inefficiencies in a $2.4 trillion industry. Not if hospitals have any say, suggests Kessler. However, the long-run prospects of digitizing should help eventually wring inefficiency out of the system.
I’ve enjoyed his previous books on finance and very much enjoyed his keen financial analyst insights into healthcare in “The End of Medicine: How Silicon Valley (and Naked Mice) Will Reboot Your Doctor“.
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Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Health care, Health insurance, law on June 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »
pointer to — Dr. John Grohol, the CEO and founder of Psych Central, has a great post “You have the right to your health data” and introduces the Declaration of Health Data Rights, a simple statement of fundamental patient rights. Check it out and endorse!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged economics, Health insurance on June 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Just a pointer to an amazing analysis on the politics of moving forward with a more comprehensive government sponsored healthcare option. Sadly, but not surprisingly, the flow of lobbying funds predicts who will vote to maintain the status quo.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Genetic testing on June 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Just a pointer to a new step-by-step guide video showing Promethease in action – nice!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged comics on June 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Depression, interviews, Mental health, podcasts, Suicide on June 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »
In this podcast, Michael Corbin, founder of everyminute.org, shares some of his personal background, interests and efforts in the area of suicide prevention and mental health advocacy.
You can reach Michael via email or the website contact page.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged comics on June 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged podcasts on June 9, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Just a place holder for future podcasts – short informal phone chats – with current scientists and social entrepreneurs working in the area of mental health … here’s the link and introductory passage. Hope this will inspire cross-disciplinary interactions from science to mental healthcare macro-policy. Hosted by libsyn.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Art, meme-art on June 7, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged economics on June 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Just a pointer to management expert Michael Porter’s new article in the NEJM.
“… expanded access without improved value is unsustainable and sure to fail.”
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged comics on June 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Uncategorized on May 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Just joining in on the “blog rally” as per Scott Shreeve’s suggestion. I hope team Orszag will follow the contest with interest.
-join the rally & raise awareness for this topic!
Genes 2 Brains 2 Mind 2 Me 