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7297. robertjayb - 4/8/2008 4:20:19 AM Alligator blood studied for antibiotic effects...(HouChron)
Researchers in Louisiana say they've discovered unique antibiotic proteins in the blood of American alligators that can kill a wide range of deadly bacteria, halt the spread of common infections, and perhaps even stop the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
If they're right, and they're able to sequence the genetics of alligator blood, the researchers say superdrugs based on their findings might be available within 10 years.
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Researcher Lancia Darville explained that alligators have developed unique immune systems during the course of their long evolution.
"If you think about alligators, they usually get into a lot of fights and get cuts and bruises and torn limbs, and they live in swamps that have a whole lot of bacteria," she said. "But even in the presence of all that bacteria, they (almost) never get any infections."
The reason, Darville explained, is that alligators have unusually strong immune systems. Unlike humans, their immune systems can fight off different types of bacteria, viruses and fungi without having been previously exposed to them.
7298. robertjayb - 4/14/2008 8:58:48 PM Watch out for soaring co-payments...(NYTimes)
Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs, asking patients to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for prescriptions for medications that may save their lives or slow the progress of serious diseases.
With the new pricing system, insurers abandoned the traditional arrangement that has patients pay a fixed amount, like $10, $20 or $30 for a prescription, no matter what the drug’s actual cost. Instead, they are charging patients a percentage of the cost of certain high-priced drugs, usually 20 to 33 percent, which can amount to thousands of dollars a month.
7299. wonkers2 - 4/14/2008 10:53:51 PM I just paid a $20 copay for a tiny bottle of eye drops. When I complained, the pharmacist said the insurer paid $50 for a total of $70. 7300. Ms. No - 4/14/2008 11:03:43 PM Did you ask what the price was for the uninsured? 7301. wonkers2 - 4/14/2008 11:31:23 PM No. I didn't but I know that hospitals bill uninsured patients at ridiculously higher rates than they charge BC-BS which is the biggest insurer in Michigan. 7302. Ms. No - 4/14/2008 11:40:57 PM Yeah, but sometimes your co-pay for drugs at the pharmacy is actually higher than what they charge normally. It has something to do with the bulk manner in which they negotiate the prices with the insurance companies. 7303. wonkers2 - 4/15/2008 1:01:24 AM I think my friendly pharmacist would have told me if I could have gotten the prescription filled cheaper by paying for it entirely myself. I'll check next time I'm in the store. A friend of mind told me about an experience where he was able to fill a prescription at Costco cheaper by paying for it himself than at a regular pharmacy. I don't remember the details. As I recall the drugstore wouldn't even tell him what the insurance company was paying. 7304. wonkers2 - 4/15/2008 1:01:53 AM This is our great "free" market system. 7305. judithathome - 4/16/2008 2:33:37 PM Heck, the other day I had a pharmacy claim they couldn't quote me a price on a drug unless I brought in a prescription for it! 7306. magoseph - 4/22/2008 8:24:57 PM An Atlas of the Human Body
7307. robertjayb - 4/22/2008 10:09:38 PM Ezra Klein on the curious case of dental insurance...
Imagine if your health insurance -- and for the purposes of this thought experiment, you have health insurance, and it's decent -- covered everything save your liver. For that, you need liver insurance. Or maybe it does cover your liver, but not your right foot. That requires right foot insurance. Or maybe it covers everything but your brain. Got some brain insurance?
That's the odd space dental insurance occupies... 7308. thoughtful - 4/23/2008 4:54:33 PM Yes very curious, esp since they now recognize a correlation between dental health and heart health. In fact in our area is a dentist who works on overall physical health based on what he finds from your oral health. 7309. thoughtful - 4/23/2008 4:58:25 PM Have any of you heard of or tried this foot ionization therapy? I see now they're even selling overnight pads that you attach to your feet overnight and in the am the pads are dark supposedly from the ions pulling toxins and such from your body. The foot ionization bath is offered by the same lady who does my facials. It looks like so much voodoo to me, but then again, why does the water turn so dark? Is it just a chemical reaction?
 7310. thoughtful - 4/25/2008 2:06:39 PM Well apparently, after a little more research, the feet have nothing to do with the water color change...that's a result of the metals used in the process. All bunk, as I suspected. 7311. thoughtful - 4/25/2008 2:24:49 PM Check out www.bluezones.com
Based on studies of long-lived peoples around the world, they have come up with common factors that they believe are associated with the longer life. The intersection of those factors among the various groups is called the blue zone.
You can sign up and take a survey that asks you lifestyle questions (diet, exercise, outlook, social life) to determine if you are in the blue zone.
My survey results tell me that I am biologically 7 years younger than my physical age, that my life expectancy is 96.5 years with a healthy life expectancy of 87.5 years (life without heart disease, diabetes, or cancer), that I have accrued 13.3 years due to my lifestyle and that if i optimized my lifestyle, I could add an additional 2 years.
How about that! I'm in the blue zone! 7312. robertjayb - 4/28/2008 4:24:31 AM Doctors' group wants single-payer healthcare...(HouChron)
By LEONARD A. ZWELLING and ANA MALINOW
We have all heard it before. The health care system in the United States is broken. We have all heard it, but when is someone going to do something about it?
Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) is a group of 15,000 physicians who believe that there is a solution and it is currently working for Americans — if they are over 65. It is, of course, Medicare, part of the 60 percent of our current health care system that is paid for and administered by the government.
We believe a single-payer system (Medicare for everyone) would be less costly, more efficient and provide all Americans with the health care they need without an increase in overall dollars spent (an amount that is increasing at a rate of 7 percent per year). This would include the 47 million who are currently uninsured and the estimated 50.3 million who are "underinsured" (spending 10 percent or more of their pretax income on health care).
7313. alistairConnor - 4/30/2008 9:05:38 PM I always thought we'd see this sort of technology in my lifetime. (which proves I mis-spent my adolescence reading science fiction)
Pixie dust will make your finger grow back 7314. robertjayb - 5/1/2008 12:42:23 AM Amazing... 7315. arkymalarky - 5/3/2008 3:21:39 AM Got my ENT appt. It's all I can do to keep from calling and canceling. 7316. jexster - 5/5/2008 2:39:41 AM More Needing Major Surgery in US Going Overseas
Bet they aren't going to Baghdad
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