Science, not science fiction: Two flu drugs studied at UNC

When Scott Pelley of “60 Minutes” asked HHS Secretary Katheleen Sebelius about political punditry critical of the public health response to novel H1N1, she pointedly said, “I tend to like to get my health advice from doctors and scientists.”
She’ll be getting some of her advice about treating flu from UNC. Charlie van der Horst and [...]

AIDS in the U.S.; the patient profile has changed, so should testing practices

Clinton wrote this …
There is growing sentiment, and evidence, that attention to HIV and AIDS has shifted so far abroad, to Africa and in developing countries elsewhere, that Americans have overlooked a growing epidemic in our own collective backyard.
But even in the US we’re looking through bleary eyes. This isn’t the 1980s. We need to [...]

Graduating from high school, at the hospital

Ginger wrote this…
On Oct. 23 I attended a graduation ceremony – in the NC Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals. I watched Ryan Frias, a burn patient, precess down the hospital hall, lined with staff clapping and cheering, to “Pomp and Circumstance.”
Ryan’s story is an inspiring one. He was admitted to UNC almost a year [...]

Another “best” list?

Clinton wrote this …
They’re at it again. US News & World Report published online Oct. 20 a new list of “Best Hospitals” rankings based on patient satisfaction.
This is a new one. Sort of. The magazine extracted data from a list that’s already available to the public on the Hospital Compare Web site, managed by [...]

Appropriate surgical care: Who gets it? Who doesn’t, and why?

Tom wrote this …
Consider this: For many years now there has been a broad consensus among medical experts that far too many babies in the U.S. are being delivered by cesarean section. But repeated attempts to bring the number of c-sections down have hardly made a dent. At the same time, many morbidly obese people [...]

The eyes have it

Stephanie wrote this…
It seems inevitable that as we age things on our bodies tend to fall apart. I think it’s a part of life’s instruction manual that we fail to read. Between forgetting the simplest of things or needing to buy a pair of reading glasses, we tend to blame it on age.
I was comfortable [...]

An update on Patrick Kahuma

Tom wrote this …
Back in May, I wrote about how Patrick Kahuma, an 18-year-old from Uganda, came to the N.C. Children’s Heart Center at N.C. Children’s Hospital for treatment from Dr. Elman Frantz to correct heart problems that had greatly limited the quality of his life up to that point.
The procedures were a great success, [...]

Reinvesting in research one scientist at a time

Stephanie wrote this…
Remember the billions of  dollars that the federal government released to reinvest in the country’s future? Well a piece of that pie went to universities throughout the U.S. towards basic research.  And it could not have come too soon.  The well of research money available from the National Institutes of Health has been [...]

It takes two (or more)…

They have multidisciplinary care down to a science; like a fine tuned 1966 MG B V8 Roadster, or a well orchestrated Tchaikovsky symphony piece. Two young surgeons willing to push past traditional surgical techniques to zero in on innovation through minimally invasive approaches.

How does health care in Canada & U.K. compare to U.S.?

Tom wrote this …
People on both sides of the current health care reform debate in the U.S. point to both Canada and the U.K. as examples to buttress their arguments.
To advocates of the proposed public option, the universal health care coverage provided in both countries is held up as a shining beacon of goodness that, [...]