New Research Shows Physician Work Intensity Is Similar Among Specialties

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Contrary to longstanding assumptions, new findings suggest the work intensity of physicians across several specialties is fairly equal. The study, funded by the American Academy of Neurology along with several other medical associations and published online ahead of print in the journal Medical Care, provides the groundwork for the development of a more reliable, scientific measurement of physician work intensity that may guide future national policy in patient safety, practice management and payment.

The results represent the second phase of the two-phase project, and measured the work intensity associated with actual patient care of 108 neurologists, family physicians, general internists and surgeons in the southeast United States.

The American Academy of Pain Medicine Applauds IOM Findings Calling for Major Changes in Pain Research, Care, Education and Treatment

GLENVIEW, IL - For the one of every four American adults who suffers from chronic pain, the findings released today by the Institute of Medicine in its report, "Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education and Research" will evoke a sigh of relief. More people suffer with pain than the number afflicted by cancer, diabetes and heart disease combined, the IOM committee noted.

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act required the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to enlist the IOM in examining pain as a public health problem. The results of their efforts was a 300-plus page report that calls for major changes in pain prevention, intervention, assessment and treatment.

People With Allergies May Have Lower Risk of Brain Tumors

New study strengthens scientists’ belief that something about having allergies or a related factor lowers the risk for this cancer

COLUMBUS, Ohio - New research adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that there’s a link between allergies and reduced risk of a serious type of cancer that starts in the brain. This study suggests the reduced risk is stronger among women than men, although men with certain allergy profiles also have a lower tumor risk.

The study also strengthens scientists’ belief that something about having allergies or a related factor lowers the risk for this cancer. Because these tumors, called glioma, have the potential to suppress the immune system to allow them to grow, researchers have never been sure whether allergies reduce cancer risk or if, before diagnosis, these tumors interfere with the hypersensitive immune response to allergens.

Scientists conducting this study were able to analyze stored blood samples that were taken from patients decades before they were diagnosed with glioma. Men and women whose blood samples contained allergy-related antibodies had an almost 50 percent lower risk of developing glioma 20 years later compared to people without signs of allergies.

Add a comment Add a comment

Learning How Gut Bacteria Influence Health: Scientists Crack Sparse Genome of Microbe Linked to Autoimmunity

Scientists have deciphered the genome of a bacterium implicated as a key player in regulating the immune system of mice

The genomic analysis provides the first glimpse of its unusually sparse genetic blueprint and offers hints about how it may activate a powerful immune response that protects mice from infection but also spurs harmful inflammation.

The researchers, led by Dan Littman, the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Professor of Molecular Immunology at NYU School of Medicine and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and Ivaylo Ivanov, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center, published their findings in the September 15, 2011, issue of Cell Host and Microbe. The study suggests that the gut-dwelling microorganism, named segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB), is genetically distinct from all 1,200 bacterial genomes studied so far, reflecting its relatively unique role in the gut.

Add a comment Add a comment