Tomah VA uses mobile technology to enhance care

Dr. Sarah Niles was one of the Tomah VA providers who received an iPad as part of the VA Mobile Health Provider Program, an effort to provide VA health care teams with mobile devices to enhance the way they deliver care. As a hospitalist at the Tomah VA Medical Center in Wisconsin, Dr. Sarah Niles’s 13 to 14-hour days are spent on the move within the hospital, which consists of a series of buildings connected by walkways. Depending on where she...

Read More

VA Announces Single Regional Framework under MyVA

New regions will enhance service to Veterans Internal Organizations to Realign Their Existing Structures Washington – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced that it is taking the first steps under the MyVA initiative to realign its many organizational maps into one map with five regions to better serve Veterans.  The new regions under the MyVA alignment will allow VA to begin the process of integrating disparate organizational...

Read More

Veterans Integrated Health Care Addition Opening

Veterans Integrated Health Care Addition Opening Manchester VA Medical Center (Manchester VAMC) is proud to announce the opening of a Veterans Integrated Health Care Addition. The new addition is a 13,000 square foot state-of-the-art space dedicated to the delivery of Veteran health care, including Nurse First (expedited care provided by a registered nurse to resolve minor health concerns), Primary Care, and Mental Health services. The new...

Read More

World of Women

Dr. Veronica Ades Daughter of a Colombian mother and Puerto-Rican born Syrian Jew, Dr. Veronica Ades has always felt like a citizen of the world. The new Gynecologist at VA New York Harbor Healthcare System says she was bought up to understand the importance of community service. As a physician, her specific interest in Global Health and the disparities in wealth brought her to Uganda, South Sudan and Jordan with Doctors Without Borders and her...

Read More

Heat Sensitivity & Multiple Sclerosis

The Australian summer can be very challenging for people living with multiple sclerosis.  Nerves that are damaged by multiple sclerosis can become sensitive to heat and even a small increase in temperature of 0.5oC can temporarily make symptoms worse. By resting and cooling, symptoms will usually settle down again once the nerves return to normal temperature.  It’s important for people living with multiple sclerosis to...

Read More

As smokers spark up e-cigs to quit, traditional aids suffer

Luna, an electronic cigarette vaporizer, and its components are seen at Thermo-Essence Technologies in San Carlos, California May 2, 2014. NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Marty Weinstein decided to quit smoking, he took a friend's advice and tried electronic cigarettes rather than government-approved nicotine replacement products. Weinstein, 58, has gone from a pack a day nine months ago to the equivalent in nicotine of four...

Read More

Trial finds GSK Ebola shot is safe and provokes immune response

LONDON (Reuters) - First results from a human trial of an Ebola vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline show it is safe and generates an immune response, scientists said on Wednesday, but larger trials are needed to see if it protects and if a booster is needed. The vaccine is being developed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and GSK against the Zaire strain of Ebola -- the one circulating in West Africa -- and the first doses for a larger trial arrived in Liberia last week.That trial is the first of several mid-stage studies planned for...

Read More

AstraZeneca bets on gene editing for broad range of new drugs

A sign is seen at an AstraZeneca site in Macclesfield, central England May 19, 2014. LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca said on Thursday it had struck four research collaborations in the hot area of genome editing as it bets on a new technology to deliver better and more precise drugs for a range of diseases. The academic and commercial tie-ups will allow British-based AstraZeneca to use so-called CRISPR technology across...

Read More

UnitedHealth backs Gilead's Harvoni as preferred hepatitis C treatment

(Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group Inc, the largest U.S. health insurer, on Wednesday backed Gilead Sciences Inc's Harvoni as the preferred hepatitis C treatment on its 2015 commercial drug coverage list, another victory for Gilead over competitor AbbVie Inc. Gilead and AbbVie have been battling for hepatitis C market share since the approval in December for an AbbVie drug that challenges Gilead's blockbusters. Insurers and pharmacy benefit managers have been striking deals for preferred or exclusive status in exchange for discounts for 2015.UnitedHealth's...

Read More

Some Obamacare insurers discriminate against AIDS patients: study

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some insurers selling policies under Obamacare may be structuring drug coverage in a way that dissuades people with HIV-AIDS from becoming their customers, according to a study published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. President Barack Obama's 2010 Affordable Care Act outlawed discrimination based on pre-existing conditions. Insurers cannot ask about current or past illnesses, charge people with, say, diabetes or cancer more than healthy people, or deny coverage.Some, however, have found a way to discriminate...

Read More

Why being a doctor is one of the best jobs in the world

Dr Mark Cavill has been one of the dedicated doctors working for National Home Doctor Service for more than ten years.  Below he shares what it’s like to be on the road visiting patients and what he enjoys most about his job every day.  The variety each day brings:  Ask any GP if treating patients is all coughs and colds and they'll probably laugh and say “if only”! The persity of patients and symptoms that you...

Read More

Chickenpox 101 from Huggies

  Did you know approximately nine in ten people will catch chickenpox if they haven’t been vaccinated against it?    Chickenpox is a disease caused by the herpes zoster virus, Varicella Zoster. It spreads from person to person through direct contact and can be very contagious.    If your child has chickenpox, he or she might have: An elevated temperature ...

Read More

Vaccinations Are Agony For Mummies! VACCINATIONS ARE ESSENTIAL KEEP CALM AND TAKE LOLLIPOPS

By Abi Gold, Family and Parenting Expert, Juggle Family and Parenting Consultancy When you take your kids for their essential vaccination jabs, keep calm and take lollipops writes Family and Parenting Expert, Abi Gold. What's the worst bit about being a mum? Is it the relentless fatigue, the tantrums, or perhaps finding poo in the bath?   For me, it's vaccinations, or rather being the one who takes my children...

Read More

Good practice characteristics of diet and physical activity interventions and policies: an umbrella review

Background This umbrella review aimed at eliciting good practice characteristics of interventions and policies aiming at healthy diet, increasing physical activity, and lowering sedentary behaviors. Applying the World Health Organization’s framework, we sought for 3 types of characteristics, reflecting: (1) main intervention/policy characteristics, referring to the design, targets, and participants, (2) monitoring and evaluation...

Read More