Here, from the Financial Times, is a picture showing that the lower your income, the less increase you’ve gotten in life-expectancy the last four decades:
Income inequality is one of the largest human problems of this century.
Karen Scherr, an MD PhD student working with me, just published a paper showing that physicians don’t always give patients objective advice about the pros and cons of robotic surgery. Here is a news story on her work: Duke University research found that doctors are more enthusiastic about treatments that are readily available, calling into question…
A JAMA study shows that even though Americans are eating more nuts and whole grains than they used to (see previous post), they aren’t coming CLOSE to meeting dietary requirements: Changing what people eat takes a long time!
Today’s science lesson is sponsored by XKCD comics. You can find more at http://xkcd.com/, in case you haven’t checked it out before.
Many people with chronic pain find themselves interacting with clinicians who do not seem to trust them. Why is it hard to establish a trusting relationship with your doctor? And what can you do about it? I have been on both sides of the exam table – as a physician caring for people with chronic…
This study came out a while ago, from ICYMI. The research team called up primary care practices and tried to make appointments for Medicaid patients. When states raised reimbursement rates, it became easier: Health insurance doesn’t do much good when patients can’t find doctors willing to accept crappy reimbursement.
The other day I posted a picture on job growth in the United States, in healthcare versus other parts of the economy. It showed that most growth was healthcare related. Well here is another picture, from the Wall Street Journal, showing just how the U.S. economy has changed, and how much healthcare has come to…