Diet and Nutrition. Natural Health, and Healthy Living

Whole milk is as effective as diluted barium when used as an oral contrast agent for patients undergoing a gastrointestinal CT scan.  It's cheaper and safer for patients, according to a new study published in a recent edition of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Radiologists reviewing abdominal and pelvic CT images of 215 patients, some given whole milk and the others 0.1 percent barium suspension, determined that the images were equally useful for diagnostic purposes, regardless of which drink the patient consumed.  All the patients also received an IV contrast agent whether they drank milk or barium.

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Health care reform is at the top of California’s agenda, and everyone agrees the system is broken. It’s harder to know which problems are the most important, and easy to lose sight of what’s really at stake in the abstract policy debates. That’s why CALPIRG recently conducted an email survey of 575 of our members, to find out what kind of reforms are most important to them, and gather their stories about the health care system. (more...)

Two years ago lawmakers in Massachusetts made the state the first in the nation to mandate that residents purchase health insurance. The proposal quickly caught on, inspiring similar efforts on the state level and eventually becoming the blueprint for the national health reform efforts of Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

More than a year into the experiment the first returns are in. And reviews are mixed. Not surprisingly, the program is costing far more than backers had initially predicted. On the other hand, the ranks of the uninsured in the state have dropped sharply. (See Matthew's podcast with Jon Kingsdale, executive director of the Massachusetts Connector, the agency created to administer the program, for more on the back story.) The Massachusetts experiment is clearly not something to be dismissed -- nor is it something to defend for the sake of argument.

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The Houston Chronicle reports that more than 700,000 Americans suffer strokes each year and more than one-third will develop depression in the next two years.  Previous research indicates that stroke patients with depression recover more slowly and are more likely to die.  However, new research suggests that doctors may want to give stroke victims antidepressants right away instead of waiting until they develop depression. 

According to a new study appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), stroke patients who received low doses of the antidepressant escitalopram (Lexapro), were 4.5 time less likely to develop depression than patients taking a placebo.  These results were adjusted for history of mood disorders and remained significant considering possible confounders such age, sex, treatment site, and severity of impairment. 

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If the Radiance Medical Spa here is any indication of the state of this medical spa franchise, it's on it's last legs.

Via Plasticized:

"Radiance Medspa is a national franchise that has run into trouble with disgruntled owners and office closures.