Category Archives: medical news

medical news, national news

Breakthrough in Alzheimer's research? Yes … maybe

For more than three decades I’ve had this intensely personal fascination with Alzheimer’s disease.

My mother died of complications from this horrific affliction. I’ve seen friends waste away and succumb to it, just as Mom did.

And just recently I learned that another member of my family has been diagnosed with it.

I am dreading what lies ahead on the road for this beloved family member.

Then I saw an item out of Florida that suggests a breakthrough might be at hand.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/30/blood-pressure-drug-alzheimers-disease/18186177/

USA Today reports that scientists believe a common blood pressure medication might hold the key to treating a “trigger” that causes the disease to begin destroying a person’s brain.

Here’s how the newspaper reported it: “Scientists at the Roskamp Institute in Sarasota, Fla., have discovered a common enzyme in all three known triggers of the disease. The enzyme is shut off by the key chemical in Nilvadipine, a blood pressure medication used overseas for the last 20 years.”

It sounds rather complicated. It’s not a cure, per se. It’s not even the discovery of a drug that arrests the advance of the disease. The findings suggest that scientists have found a way to stop one of those so-called “triggers” through the use of a common drug to treat high blood pressure.

The disease affects more than 5 million Americans. The number is going to accelerate as the Baby Boom generation — that includes my wife and me — continues to age.

One doesn’t see telethons or lots of celebrities lining up to proclaim their desire to stop this killer. It just does its dirty work and people die quietly. Yes, plenty of famous folks have been taken from us by this monstrous disease.

The news out of Sarasota, though, heartens me and I’ll continue to raise awareness of findings as they occur.

I’ll also say prayers for the researchers to stay on the hunt for more potential miracles. I can tell you that millions upon millions of American families — not to mention others around the world — are cheering them on.

 

medical news, national news, political news, State news

Sexual orientation or preference?

Apple boss Tim Cook has just burst out of the closet by declaring he is homosexual.

OK. That’s a big deal? I think not. He is who he is and that’s all fine and dandy.

Then comes U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Loony Bin, to suggest something else is at work here.

“Those are his personal choices,” Cruz said of Cook’s sexual orientation, meaning, I reckon, that Cook chose to be gay.

Cruz then added, “I love my iPhone.”

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/222300-cruz-on-apple-ceo-being-gay-personal-decision

Is there any doubt now as to why Cruz and other outspoken Republicans are having trouble connecting with gay Americans?

I keep coming back to this notion a person’s sexuality is pre-determined. One doesn’t come into this world, in my view, grow toward adolescence, and then, when puberty kicks in, decide to become attracted to individuals of the same sex.

One’s sexuality is part of who they are. It’s in their genetic code, in their DNA.

For the freshman senator from Texas to ridicule someone’s sexual orientation by comparing it to his “love” for his iPhone cheapens the discussion.

As a friend once said to after me he revealed to the world many years ago that he had become infected with HIV/AIDS while also disclosing his own homosexuality, “Why would I ever choose to become the object of scorn and revulsion?”

He answered his own question. He didn’t choose it at all.

 

 

medical news, national news, State news

Perry to N.Y.: Learn from us

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has placed an important phone call to his colleague in New York and offered a critical piece of advice.

Don’t make the mistakes we made in Texas when handling an Ebola case, Perry reportedly told Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Good advice, governor.

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/texas-politics/2014/10/perry-offers-ebola-advice-to-new-york-officials/

The Texas Ebola case ended tragically for the Liberian man who brought the disease to the state. He died under the care of medical professionals in Dallas. A nurse who cared for him has just been released from medical care after she came down with the virus. Now  New York doctor who was in West Africa treating Ebola patients has been diagnosed with the disease and he apparently is responding to treatment.

Perry called Cuomo and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to offer his assistance on how to handle the disease. Gov. Perry’s prime advice? Follow all the necessary medical protocols to the letter. A breach in protocol in Dallas apparently led to the nurse getting infected, according to the governor’s office.

The good news is that the nurse, Nina Pham, is now Ebola free.

There was some more advice Perry gave to Cuomo and de Blasio, according to the San Antonio Express-News:

“Perry shared some more lessons in separate Friday phone conversations with the officials, including regarding ‘the importance of informing the public about the realities of the Ebola virus in order to reduce misconceptions about its transmissions,’ his office said.”

Ah, yes. Public information.

A lack of accurate information has helped lead to the near-hysterical response in some quarters to the arrival of this disease.

A thorough dissemination of facts always should be of prime concern.

It’s good to remember that Ebola likely wasn’t on medical professionals’ radar when the patient arrived from Liberia. It’s on everyone’s mind now.

Gov. Perry has some valuable experience to share and it’s good that he’s sharing it.

 

International news, medical news, national news, political news

Hey, what about that lawsuit?

Politico asks an important question: Why haven’t congressional Republicans filed that lawsuit against President Obama, contending that the president has misused his executive authority regarding the Affordable Care Act?

It’s just a short distance from Capitol Hill to the federal courthouse. The House GOP could file the lawsuit and get this thing started, yes?

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/obama-lawsuit-house-republicans-112196.html?hp=t1

Well, I have a two-part theory: First, the lawsuit lacks merit and, second, filing the lawsuit now with the world focused on much more grave issues, such as international terrorism, makes Republicans look petulant.

Politico also points out that the employer mandate, which is what the president delayed through his executive action, is set to kick in on Jan. 1. If the mandate starts — requiring employers to offer insurance to employees — then the lawsuit becomes moot.

House Speaker John Boehner announced his intention to sue Barack Obama with great fanfare. Then the world went up in flames in Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Nigeria, Ukraine — have I missed anything?

The president has been tested time and again by real crises, not pestered by made-up problems brought to bear by political opponents at home whose sole intent is to stick it to him.

I still contend the speaker is a reasonable man. He knows how it would look for him to pursue this lawsuit now.

Almost no one in Washington believes that the ACA will be repealed. It’s working. It is providing insurance to millions of Americans.

If the Republicans were going to strike a blow against what they say is executive abuse of power, well, the time has passed.

Let’s move on to things that really matter.

Let’s try governing.

medical news

Alzheimer's marches on and on and on

Readers of this blog know that I’ve commented several times over the years about the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease.

It struck down my mother at an early age. She was 61 when she died 30 years ago. She never got the chance to grow old, to watch her grandchildren grow up and to enjoy those so-called “golden years.”

I’ve noted with dismay that research for Alzheimer’s disease — a degenerative condition that eats away at a person’s brain — has been given the short shrift. Public attention has turned to HIV/AIDS, various forms of cancer and even chronic depression.

Why, I learned this week that Congress is planning a hearing to discuss the dangers of drowsy driving.

Drowsy driving is dangerous? Who knew?

Meanwhile, 5 million Americans are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Their loved ones will suffer the most. Eventually, Alzheimer’s patients lose all cognitive ability. They won’t know their names, or the names of those who love them. They tend to become incontinent. The effects of this disease are ghastly in the extreme.

The numbers are going to grow as the nation continues to age.

Well, another member of my family has announced that he has been diagnosed with early onset of this disease. I won’t reveal who it is because he doesn’t yet know that I am disclosing this news.

He said in an email that he has “a long way to go prior to ‘losing it.’ and now I’m on medication to slow the progression even further.”

This family member is very dear to my wife, our sons and to me.

My intention is to use this forum as a bully pulpit to keep calling attention to the need to step up Alzheimer’s disease research, to find a cure, perhaps a vaccine and to improve therapies that can arrest the inevitable deterioration that this disease brings upon those who suffer it.

While the media keep hyping an Ebola “crisis” that doesn’t exist in this country, they are giving scant attention to an actual crisis that is claiming the lives of Americans every day.

International news, medical news, national news

NIH boss blames budget cuts for Ebola mess

5 Comments

A dose of self-awareness is in order for critics of the Obama administration’s response to this Ebola matter.

Pay attention, congressional Republicans. I’m talking about you.

The head of the National Institutes for Health says budget cuts have derailed efforts to find a vaccine for the deadly disease that has killed thousands of people in West Africa — and one in the United States.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/12/ebola-vaccine_n_5974148.html

As the Huffington Post reported: “Dr. Francis Collins, the head of the National Institutes of Health, said that a decade of stagnant spending has ‘slowed down’ research on all items, including vaccinations for infectious diseases. As a result, he said, the international community has been left playing catch-up on a potentially avoidable humanitarian catastrophe.”

The Post goes on: “Money, or rather the lack of it, is a big part of the problem. NIH’s purchasing power is down 23 percent from what it was a decade ago, and its budget has remained almost static. In fiscal year 2004, the agency’s budget was $28.03 billion. In FY 2013, it was $29.31 billion — barely a change, even before adjusting for inflation. The situation is even more pronounced at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a subdivision of NIH, where the budget has fallen from $4.30 billion in FY 2004 to $4.25 billion in FY 2013.”

Here’s the maddening part, from my perspective.

The very people who now complain about government’s inability to deal with this matter (I refuse to call it a “crisis” in the United States) are the same folks who keep slashing money because — they contend — the United States cannot afford to spend it. They are critical of the NIH, calling it some sort of “liberal-leaning arm of government” that pushes “agendas.”

And yet these are the folks who are feeding much of the hysteria that keeps showing up on right-wing mainstream media outlets by contending that Ebola is about to break out badly in this country, even though health professionals insist that is not the case.

What can be done? How about giving the NIH the resources it needs to find a vaccine for Ebola before it becomes a crisis in the United States?

medical news, national news, political news

Oops! GOP governor tells truth, then backs off

Hey, I always thought Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich was a straight shooter.

Turns out he needs to get his sights re-set.

Kasich told The Associated Press that the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, is here to stay, that Republicans have no hope of repealing it, even if they win control of the U.S. Senate after the Nov. 4 mid-term election.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/20/politics/kasich-obamacare-here-to-stay/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

‘AP reported this: “‘The opposition to it was really either political or ideological,’ Kasich said of Obamacare. “I don’t think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people’s lives.'”

That sounds pretty darn reasonable. But wait! Gov. Kasich’s people said AP got it wrong. The governor was referring to the ACA’s Medicaid expansion.

The ACA should be repealed and replaced, the governor’s office said — speaking for Kasich.

Here’s the deal, folks.

The ACA is working. Millions of Americans have signed up for health insurance who didn’t have it before. It’s providing comfort to those who prior to the law’s enactment couldn’t afford to be insured.

The ACA rollout was a Keystone Kops affair, to be sure. The computerized system crashed. It was a mess.

Then it got fixed. Yes, the rollout likely caused Kathleen Sebelius her job as health and human services secretary.

I’ll stick with Kasich’s initial view that repeal of the ACA ain’t going to happen.

Congressional Republicans, I’m quite certain, will have no trouble finding other issues with which to pick fights with the president. It’s in their DNA.

International news, medical news, national news

Hysteria czar? Why not?

Todd Roberson’s blog for the Dallas Morning News is spot on.

The United States doesn’t need an Ebola czar as much as it needs a “Hysteria czar.”

http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/10/we-need-a-hysteria-czar-not-an-ebola-czar.html/

The worst fomenters of the hysteria gripping some Americans appear to be the cable news networks. Roberson singles out CNN, with its endless “Breaking News” alerts and its ominous-sounding music.

He writes about images of men walking around in hazmat suits, helicopters flying over Dallas-area housing complexes and a Nigerian student being denied admission to Navarro College because the school no longer accepts applications from students who come from countries with confirmed cases of Ebola.

I don’t think I’m going to say much more about this hysteria nonsense. I’m spent. No one at CNN, Fox, MSNBC, CNBC or the broadcast networks are paying attention. I feel as though I’m talking to myself.

Ebola is not a “crisis” in the U.S. of A. We’ve had precisely one death of someone who came into this country from a country infected with the deadly disease.

I’m with Roberson. President Obama needs to appoint a Hysteria czar.

medical news, national news

Let's quell the Ebola fear

Will we listen to the president of the United States on this one?

Let us not allow fear to overtake the nation as the world seeks a way to head off Ebola, the deadly virus that has killed thousands of people in West Africa.

It has taken the life of precisely one person in the United States. But the media are making it seem as though it is running rampant throughout the country.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/president-obama-ebola-112001.html?hp=l4_b1

President Obama used his weekly radio address today to try to put this issue into its proper perspective.

“Meeting a public health challenge like this isn’t just a job for government,” he said, just days after two Dallas nurses were diagnosed with the disease. “All of us — citizens, leaders, the media — have a responsibility and a role to play.”

That role shouldn’t be to push panic buttons.

“We can’t give in to hysteria or fear, because that only makes it harder to get people the accurate information they need,” Obama said.

As for the administration’s response to this situation (I refuse to call it a “crisis” in the United States), it needs to be tightened up. To that end, the president has selected an Ebola “czar” who is tasked with coordinating the national effort. Ronald Klain is that man. He’s a trusted aide and friend of the president. He is known as a fixer.

I’m willing to let the man do his job. No, he lacks a medical background, but he has access to the best medical minds in the world.

Meanwhile, let’s keep our cool.

medical news, national news, political news

Ebola 'czar' gets expected criticism

4 Comments

Is there any better example of being “damned if you do, or don’t” than President Obama’s appointment of an Ebola “czar”?

Let’s meet Ronald Klain, who is the new manager of the government’s response to the Ebola situation. Klain is a trusted adviser to the president, a Mr. Fix-It sort of individual. He is known as a master government technician who knows how to make things work.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/obama-names-ebola-point-person-211624626.html

He’s not a medical professional. However, he comes into the game reportedly with a good deal of nuts-and-bolts know-how.

Republicans in Congress have been yapping about the president’s propensity for naming these “czars.” He’s got a czar for all kinds of things.

Yet … the GOP wanted him to name an Ebola czar because, they contend, the government’s response to this so-called “crisis” has been tepid, ineffective, milquetoast.

So then Obama puts Klain on the job.

GOP leaders now contend that Klain is the wrong person for the job. I haven’t yet heard who they think is the right person, or even how they would describe that individual.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/17/politics/ebola-czar-gop-reaction/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

I’m not at all certain the president even needed to appoint a czar to do this job.

A surgeon general would have been an appropriate person to lead the nation’s response to this matter, but Republicans have blocked the naming of that individual for reasons that have nothing to do with his or her medical qualifications. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is run by someone who’s qualified to coordinate the effort; but Dr. Thomas Frieden has been criticized — again, by Republicans mostly — his own agency’s failure to manage this “crisis.”

The president is damned yet again for doing what his critics have demanded he do.