Archive for 2016

Drug Laws Not Associated With Reduction in Harmful Opioid Use, Overdose Among Disabled – Healio

Read article – Quotes Ellen Meara, professor of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and adjunct professor of economics, about a recent study she co-authored that found the adoption of controlled-substance laws since 2006 was not associated with a decrease in potentially hazardous opioid use, or in the number of opioid overdoses, among disabled Medicare beneficiaries.

Cancer Hospital Advertising Triples Since 2005 – Reuters

Read article – Quotes Steven Woloshin, professor of medicine, community and family medicine, and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, about how ads may make big-name cancer centers look unrealistically good, giving the impression that a cancer patient who does not go to one of these centers is making a mistake. “The people who these ads are targeting are really vulnerable,” so it is incumbent on the cancer centers themselves to be responsible, Woloshin said.

6 Surprising Ways to Boost the Effectiveness of Antidepressants – The Huffington Post

Read article – Quotes James Greenblatt, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry, about how working out is one of the most talked-about ways to combat depression. When you exercise, your body releases “feel good” chemicals known as endorphins, which interact with receptors in your brain that reduce the perception of pain or sadness, explains Greenblatt.

Newsmaker: Dr. Freddie H. Fu – Trib Live

Read article – The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine inducted Freddie Fu ’74, Geisel ’75, a member of the Geisel School of Medicine’s Board of Overseers, into its Hall of Fame on Friday during its annual meeting in Colorado Springs. The society chooses inductees based on their contribution to the sports medicine field.

A Medical Mystery of the Best Kind: Major Diseases Are in Decline – The New York Times

Read article – Cites a paper by H. Gilbert Welch, professor of medicine, community and family medicine, and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and Douglas Robertson, associate professor of medicine and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, which found that the rate of colon cancer deaths has fallen by nearly 50 percent since its peak in the 1980s. “The magnitude of the changes alone suggests that other factors must be involved,” say Welch and Robertson. “None of the studies showing the effect of increased screening for colon cancer have indicated a 50 percent reduction in mortality, they wrote, “nor have trials for screening for any type of cancer.”

Newton Startup Seeks to Purge the Unpleasantness From Colonoscopy Prep – Boston Business Journal

Read article – Story features Corey Siegel, associate professor of medicine and community and family medicine, about new bar and beverage products he and partners are developing to help people prep for colonoscopies. The goal, he says, is to provide a more palatable alternative to the salty, sludgy liquid patients must imbibe ahead of the procedure.