Category: Medical Research - Part 3

Prostate test cost-benefit clash gets to heart of health care debate

By Diane Carman Peering into the controversy over routine use of the blood test to screen for the prostate-specific antigen is like falling down, down, down into the dark and bewildering rabbit hole that is the health care system in the United States. In many ways the debate over the PSA test illustrates why the system is so confounding, expensive, unmanageable and resistant to change. As men, their providers and policy experts wrestle with the PSA conundrum, recent battles over mammography and hormone replacement therapy illustrate key lessons. When women learned that there was potential harm from annual breast screening…

The real obesity cure: small, permanent lifestyle changes

By Diane Carman The average American is fat, sedentary, drinks too many sweetened soft drinks, eats too many French fries and knows it all too well. Most people in the U.S. want to lose weight, said Elizabeth Kealey, a registered dietician and professional research assistant at the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center. The problem is they just dont know how. Researchers at the center are testing strategies and documenting results, and while they dont claim to have the obesity cure at their fingertips, they have identified several approaches that appear to work for a significant population that wants to lose…

Opinion: Medical marijuana industry welcomes regulation

By Michael Elliott and Norton Arbelaez Staff Sergeant Mary McNeely joined the military, went to Iraq and served her country with honor. While there, she was injured in a car bombing. Upon returning to Colorado Springs, physicians at the Veterans Administration prescribed her narcotic pain medications to treat her various injuries. Nonetheless, her health kept deteriorating. The drugs did not effectively treat her pain, made her irritable, nauseous and unable to function. She grew distant from her daughter and husband. Through Colorados medical marijuana system, she discovered that cannabis controlled her pain and nausea with minimal side-effects. As a result,…

Health and wellness center breaking new ground in obesity treatment

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon AURORA — Colorado is aiming to become the “Silicon Valley for obesity research” with the opening of a new health and wellness center at the Anschutz medical campus on April 1. Now under construction, the center will combine multiple functions in one building: state-of-the-art research, education, patient care facilities and a high-end fitness center. The concept is to unite cutting-edge science with direct patient intervention. “We think we will set a new standard. We’ve put things together in a seamless way from discovery of research to taking that research out and impacting people’s lives,” said Dr….

Book review: Basic elements of science and humanity still at odds

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot (Crown, 366 pages) By Diane Carman The first time that author Rebecca Skloot heard of Henrietta Lacks was in a biology class. Her teacher mentioned the name of the woman whose cells had been used in thousands of scientific experiments over decades, and had enabled scientists to discover breakthroughs in prevention of polio, gene mapping, chemotherapy, in vitro fertilization and advancements in the understanding of a vast array of medical conditions. Skloots curiosity was piqued. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the culmination of a decade of dogged reporting and…

Colorado Health Symposium forums available online

Student bloggers and live video streaming via the Internet will expand the reach of the sold-out Colorado Health Symposium, which runs Wednesday through Friday at the Keystone Conference Center. The agenda includes debates and discussions on health policy at both the national and regional levels. Live streaming of the forums will be broadcast via Ustream. Symposium Universityis designed to extend the content from the seminar into the classroom. Seven student bloggers will provide information throughout the three-day event. Comments are encouraged via Facebook and Twitter.

Opinion: Mammography guidelines have chilling effect on breast cancer screening

By Lara Hardesty, M.D. New studies show that women in their 40s are getting mammograms less frequently after much-publicized new guidelines came out in 2009. I am greatly concerned that these guidelines are subjecting women to unnecessary risk. I have been director of Breast Imaging at the University of Colorado since 2005 and have been sub-specializing in all aspects of breast imaging (mammography, breast ultrasound, breast MRI, breast needle biopsies) since 1997. As such, I recommend annual screening mammography for my patients beginning at age 40, as recommended by the American Cancer Society and the American College of Radiology. In…

DeGette renews push for stem cell research

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette visited Craig Hospital on Wednesday to build momentum once again for bipartisan stem cell research legislation. DeGette, a Denver Democrat, and her new Republican cosponsor, U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Penn.), introduced H.R. 2376 on June 24. Twice, DeGette successfully shepherded stem cell research legislation through Congress only to have former President George W. Bush veto the measures. DeGette is hoping to win support from new Republicans in the House, then eventually send the Stem Cell Research Advancement Act to President Obama. Disease doesnt know any partisan boundaries, DeGette said, noting that her…

New understanding of genetics helps doctors prevent anorexia

By Mikaila Altenbern In 1975, Dr. Craig Johnson, then a medical student at the University of Minnesota, first encountered anorexia nervosa. Johnson found the illness intriguing and realized that there were very few people paying attention to it. It was rare to come across an anorexia patient, said Johnson, who added, It is easy to become an expert in a field where there arent a lot of cases. Today Johnson is one of many experts in eating disorder recovery and prevention working in Denver. Johnson is the chief clinical officer at the Eating Recovery Center in Denver. Specialists in the…

Report Details Sabotage of Birth Control

Men who abuse women physically and emotionally may also sabotage their partners birth control, pressuring them to become pregnant against their will, new reports suggest. Read full report from New York Times.