Longevity science

LONDON (Reuters) - Up to 100,000 Britons suffering from cancer and rare diseases are to have their genetic codes fully sequenced and mapped as part of government efforts to boost drug development and improve...

Medical records that patients can access online may encourage more people to get recommended screening tests and immunizations, a new study suggests.

In a clinical trial at eight primary care practices, researchers found that patients who used such "interactive" health records were more likely to become up-to-date on recommended preventive care.

That included screening tests for breast, colon and cervical cancers, and immunizations like the yearly flu shot

Nokia is sponsoring the Nokia Sensing X CHALLENGE. The US$2.25 million global competition is intended to “stimulate the development of sensors and sensing technology to drastically improve and expand the quality and access to healthcare across a wide variety of settings for consumers all around the globe.

Teams are required to submit a system, device, or component that can detect a physical value and record or interpret it. Those physical values could be applied to things such as biofluid and tissue samples, bodily structures, a patient’s external environment, body movements, mood/emotion, and body physics – that last category would include the measurement of vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate.

Recently had or soon planning a procedure? Are you wondering how well the local hospitals have handled previous patients? Just need to find a convenient hospital for treatment?

This tool helps you find hospitals near you.

More importanly, it allows you to compare selected hospitals on factors such as:

--patient satisfaction

--accuracy of care

--readmission rates 

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, accounting for one of every four deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It also is very expensive. AHA estimates that annual U.S. medical costs of cardiovascular disease will reach $800 billion by 2030 - nearly triple the $272 billion spent in 2010.

Twenty years ago U.S. healthcare cost $2800, on average, per person. Ten years ago, that figure had risen to $4700 per person. And four years ago, in 2008, it was $7500 per person. (From exhibit 4A in this Kaiser Family Foundation Report.) Over the same period, the portion of Americans without insurance has risen. In 1990, 14.1 percent of Americans were uninsured. In 2000, 13.1 percent were uninsured.

Today, 16.3% of Americans are uninsured (approximately 50 million people), in part because of job losses and employers cutting back on coverage.

At the same time the number of uninsured has risen, there have been stunning innovations in healthcare

Some two-thirds of cancer are caused by lifestyle choices, says Otis Brawley, chief medical offer of the American Cancer Society.

But routine screening, which causes over-diagnosing, is not the answer.

"People worldwide are living three years longer than expected on average, pushing up the costs of aging by 50 percent, and governments and pension funds are ill prepared, the International Monetary Fund said.

Already the cost of caring for aging baby boomers is beginning to strain government budgets, particularly in advanced economies where by 2050 the elderly will match the numbers of workers almost one for one. The IMF study shows that the problem is global and that longevity is a bigger risk than thought.”

By detecting the presence of certain cells, a research study led by Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) has identified a new technique to predict an impending heart attack or stroke in advance.