MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'health and clinical'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:55:01 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4775561&cid=t_356414_136_f&fid=37846&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthinfoispower.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2F02%2Fu-k-nice-issues-new-clinical-guidelines-re-recognition-initial-management-of-ovarian-cancer%2F On April 27, 2011, the U.K. National Institute For Health and Clinical Excellence issued new clinical guidelines regarding the recognition and initial management of ovarian cancer. On April 27, 2011, the U.K. National Institute For Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued new clinical guidelines regarding the recognition and initial management of ovarian cancer. In the [...] (Source: Libby's H*O*P*E*) Libby's H*O*P*E* blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4775561 Mon, 02 May 2011 21:14:09 +0100 4775561 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4549937&cid=t_356414_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fakf6ENsJfZk%2F How is this for timing? The UK’s NICE has rejected Roche’s Lucentis med for treating diabetic macular oedema because of insufficient value for the price. And the decision comes shortly before the US National Eye Institute releases results of a trial of 1,200 patients with age-related macular degeneration given Lucentis or Avastin, another Roche drug that costs less to treat eye problems. The rejection by the UK agency underscores the difficulties Roche has encountered with Lucentis, a newer medication the drugmaker has marketed for different eye ailments. And price has been a big issue. There are “reservations about the cost effectiveness estimates provided in the manufacturer‟s submission,” stated the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellen... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4549937 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:44:41 +0100 4549937 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4186941&cid=t_356414_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2FfHj2BX2mD_M%2Fstress-and-education-967.html Guy Brandon is a counsellor, author and the founder of www.StressingOut.org, a website dedicated to resources for stress, depression, anxiety and related conditions. Stress is a very normal and natural occurrence which happens in response to a wide variety of circumstances. It is an evolutionary response that it triggered by feelings of a lack of control, priming our bodies to react to a challenging situation. Stress has numerous effects on the body, but essentially prepares us for immediate action: fight or flight. The processes involved also affect the mind, altering decision- making processes and enabling us to take swift and decisive action. Reasons for stress Although stress evolved to keep us safe from physical threats, it is most commonly experienced for social reasons nowadays – ... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4186941 Sat, 20 Nov 2010 10:30:36 +0100 4186941 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3595894&cid=t_356414_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FOQTzwXd50pc%2F The UK’s new Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition has proposed moving to a so-called ‘value-based pricing’ model for medicines, which means drugmakers would no longer be free to set prices. At the same time, a reform of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, which evaluates cost effectiveness, is also being considered, although details have not yet emerged. The plan comes as other European governments raise drug prices in the face of huge deficits. The UK’s National Health Service, for instance, is predicted to face a shortfall of more than $28 billion, suggesting the willingness to set price controls will add significant pressure on the pharmaceutical industry sooner than later. The notion, however, isn’t news. Back in 2007, the UK Offi... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3595894 Tue, 25 May 2010 12:07:28 +0100 3595894 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3254722&cid=t_356414_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FZ8O21d4mzQ8%2F The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellent declined to recommend two expensive cancer drugs from Novartis and another from Bristol-Myers Squibb from being used within the state-run health service, Reuters writes. NICE rebuffed Afinitor as a second-line treatment for kidney cancer, adding there was limited data about how long it could extend life. And the agency declined to recommend Tasigna and Bristol’s Sprycel for chronic myeloid leukaemia in patients who are intolerant to Gleevec - an older drug from Novartis - because effectiveness evidence was “very poor” and their cost was “extremely high”. “It would be heartening to hear that the pharmaceutical company manufacturers are prepared to share some of the very high cost of the drugs with ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3254722 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:36:48 +0100 3254722 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2398788&cid=t_356414_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2FImI5Gq1RntI%2Fis-a-home-smoking-ban-enough-to-stop-teen-smoking-808.html We all know the power of role models and I have written about the effect of role modes on behaviour many times before: from the moving ‘Children See, Children Do‘ campaign to talking about the effectiveness of the pictures of death and destruction that now adorn our fag packets. All these ideas are supported by the Behaviourist Bandura and his Social Learning Theory which proposes that children especially learn their behaviours through the observation and imitation of role models.  Bandura demonstrated this in his 1961 research where he exposed children to aggressive role models who acted violently (both physical and verbal violence) towards an inflatable bobo-doll. He found that children who were passive witnesses to this violent act were more likely to imitate this behaviour... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2398788 Sun, 10 May 2009 10:22:01 +0100 2398788 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2116894&cid=t_356414_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2F9dR9UfH_w9g%2Fare-we-over-interpreting-fmri-results-762.html Recently we have looked at the impressive progression in the ability of fMRI scanners to record brain activity in ‘real time’ but are we over interpreting these results?  Over the last decade-or-two more-and-more researchers have been turning to fMRI scanners to open the ‘black box’ which is the brain. These scanners measure brain activity by measuring the amount of oxygen in the different parts of specific cortical or sub-cortical areas (this is a very simplistic view of the technology). However, there is a storm brewing about the validity of these scanners and questions being raised about the short-sightedness of using fMRI scanners to ‘pin-point’ specific areas within the brain when localising functions; asking the question are we oversimplifying t... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2116894 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:00:53 +0100 2116894 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2511016&cid=t_356414_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2F0co0Dhb0OKM%2Flooking-inside-the-brain-in-real-time.-possible-726.html Could it soon really be possible to look inside the brain in ‘real time’. Over the last three decades we have made leaps-and-bounds in developing non-invasive processes to scan brains; PET, MRI, fMRI etc. These scanning techniques have allowed psychologists an insight into the processes of the brain during specific tasks or just to investigate the size, location and use of particular brain structures, but the time needed to process the vast amount of information that is collected has meant that there’s no ‘real time’ option of seeing exactly what is happening, there-and then. However, neuroscientist and inventor Christopher deCharms demonstrates a new way to use fMRI to show brain activity – thoughts, emotions, pain – while it is happening. In othe... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2511016 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:43 +0100 2511016 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2011552&cid=t_356414_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F473610926%2F When Bruce Hardy’s kidney cancer spread to his lung, his doctor recommended an expensive new pill from Pfizer. But Hardy is British, and UK health authorities refused to buy the drug. If the Hardys lived in the US or another European country, he would most likely get the drug, although he might have to pay part of the cost, The New York Times writes about the UK controversy over paying for meds. A clinical trial showed the Pfizer pill, called Sutent, delays cancer progression for six months at an estimated treatment cost of $54,000. But at that price, Hardy’s life is not worth prolonging, according to the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, which has decided that, except in rare cases, the government can only afford about $22,750 to save six months of a ci... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2011552 Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:48:07 +0100 2011552 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2006400&cid=t_356414_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F471227544%2F A ban on drugs that can give kidney cancer patients many months of extra life is going to be lifted, The Guardian reports. At least two, and possibly all four, of the medicines that had previously been deemed too expensive to prescribe will be approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) early next year. The move is a major victory for campaigners, patients and cancer specialists, who described Nice’s refusal to approve the drugs - which cost up to $100,000 a year per patient - as unfair, inhumane and condemning patients to an unnecessarily early death, the paper writes. Oncologists believe Pfizer’s Sutent, Bayer’s Nexavar, Wyeth’s Torisel and Avastin, sold by Roche and Genentech, could benefit about half of the 7,000 people a year w... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2006400 Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:58:02 +0100 2006400 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1918201&cid=t_356414_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F434593179%2F Revlimid can extend the lives of patients with an aggressive cancer of the bone marrow by up to three years, but draft guidance from the UK’s National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence has said it is not cost effective and the estimate of three years of extra life was disputed, The Telegraph reports. The med is used to treat Myeloma, an incurable bone marrow cancer that cuts production of red and white blood cells. An estimated 20,000 people in the UK have the disease and each year around 3,800 new cases are diagnosed. The cancer has a high mortality rate, claiming more than 2,400 lives a year. But Revlimid costs $56,400 per patient per year and breaches the cost effectiveness threshold used by NICE more than twice over, the paper writes. Charities are now calling for the... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1918201 Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:41:24 +0100 1918201 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1871398&cid=t_356414_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Fpsychclips%2Fstress.avi.ff.avi.flv As we’ve evolved, the human stress response has saved our lives. Today, we turn on the same life-saving physical reaction to cope with intense, ongoing stressors - and we can’t seem to turn it off. “Stress: Portrait of a Killer” reveals just how dangerous prolonged exposure to stress can be. Is stress a saviour, tyrant or plague? This, along with many other questions are raised in a recent KPBS television programmme called ‘Stress: Portrait of a Killer’. The video starts by looking at how it may be possible to make comparisons between wild baboons and humans and their stress responses. In the video it is argued that humans have a specific problem with stress: we don’t know how to turn it off. In the wild the stress response is designed to help in times of crisis ... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1871398 Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:55 +0100 1871398 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2511020&cid=t_356414_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2F2-2ykFkoVPc%2Fgreys-anatomy-as-health-promotion-really-662.html This study shows the enormous potential for entertainment television to serve as a health educator.” This obviously raises many questions as far as health promotion goes.  Firstly, that the medium of television, and more importantly entertainment programmes can be very powerful in getting positive messages and health awareness out to the viewers. However, this power has to be used carfully – if viewers believe that the information they are ‘absorbing’ from medical entertainment programmes are accurate (as almost 60% of viewers do) we need to ensure that there’s no false or misleading information in these programmes.  A real double-edged sword. Tags: A2, adverts, health, health promotion, prevention, Research (Source: PsychBLOG.co.uk) PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2511020 Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:50 +0100 2511020 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1859775&cid=t_356414_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F412744652%2F To get the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to pay for its lung cancer treatment, Roche had to cut the price by about $1,000 in order to bring the cost more in line with Taxotere, an older medication sold by Sanofi-Aventis, Dow Jones tells us. Roche’s offer to cut Tarceva’s price was the latest effort by drugmakers to assuage insurers and health authorities about the high cost of new meds. Last year, J&J’s Janssen-Cilag unit offered to cover the cost of its Velcade cancer med if a patient fails to show adequate process (back story). NICE has stirred controversy with some decisions. Recently, NICE ruled that four drugs used to treat kidney cancer - Roche’s Avastin, Bayer’s Nexavar, Pfizer’s Sutent and Wyeth’s Torise... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1859775 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:14:03 +0100 1859775 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1834905&cid=t_356414_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2F404548561%2Fsmoking-shock-tactics-diseased-lungs-rotting-teeth-and-throat-cancer-608.html digg_url = 'http://www.psychblog.co.uk/smoking-shock-tactics-diseased-lungs-rotting-teeth-and-throat-cancer-608.html'; Graphic pictures of diseased lungs, rotting teeth and throat cancer will be placed on cigarette packets from next week to show the health dangers of smoking. As of next week cigarette packets will no longer have the ‘Smoking Kills’ or ‘Smoking harms you and those around you’ messages on their side but a much stronger image: diseased lungs, rotting teeth and throat cancer.  These are just some of the images that will soon appear on your favouriate brand to get the message of the dangers of smoking across to all.  The messages are obviously there to get the health message across to smokers and there’s a lot of psychology behind them.  B... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1834905 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:10:53 +0100 1834905 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1786185&cid=t_356414_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F388627599%2F The health-rationing watchdog has come under attack for spending more money on spin than on evaluating drugs which could save patients’ lives, The Daily Mail reports. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, which is widely criticized for banning drugs from NHS use over cost, squandered about $9 million on ‘communications’ last year. And this was $2.2 million more than the $6.8 million the controversial organization spent on assessing new meds, the paper writes. The money forked out on press officers, marketing execs and consultants included $50,000 on top public relations firm Weber Shandwick to defend NICE’s ban on Alzheimer’s drugs. It could have paid for 5,000 Alzheimer’s sufferers to get $5-a-day drugs for a year, or funded nearl... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1786185 Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:21:47 +0100 1786185 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1734258&cid=t_356414_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F375157522%2F An unprecedented attack last week on pharmaceutical prices by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence chairman Michael Rawlins, signals a controversial new role for the UK health watchdog in the forthcoming overhaul of drugs pricing, PharmaTimes reports. Rawlins’ comments were in part prompted by the fierce criticism NICE received for failing to approve a batch of new kidney cancer treatments. Some observers, however, say his outspoken attack was prompted by other motives. Joe Collier, an emeritus professor of medicines policy at St George’s, University of London, tells PharmaTimes that Rawlins (pictured above) was “jockeying for a central role in price negotiation” in the forthcoming overhaul of the UK’s Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme. ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1734258 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:59:29 +0100 1734258 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1733736&cid=t_356414_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F08%2Fnhs-meltdown-doctors-withhold.html So now some UK doctors are withholding information from patients about possible cancer treatments due to NHS funding polices. From the story: Cancer patients are being denied information about treatments that could help them live longer by their own doctors, a new survey has disclosed. A quarter of specialists in myeloma, a bone marrow cancer that claims 2,600 lives in the UK each year, admitted keeping their patients in the dark about possible therapies.They believed it was better not to talk about certain treatments not yet approved by the health service's rationing watchdog to avoid raising false hope. Primary care trusts are generally reluctant to pay for drugs not already passed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).NICE is the Orwellian-named utilitarian... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1733736 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:21:00 +0100 1733736 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1720951&cid=t_356414_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2F369807946%2Freview-mind-habits-reduce-stress-levels-and-boost-your-confidence-and-self-esteem-488.html In these days of interactive games, brain training, and other make ‘yourself better’ programs Mind Habits brings something to the table that is supported by research and looks at stress, self-esteem and confidence in a fun and practical way. Worrying about your next date or the big presentation to your boss? Feeling low? Instead of running to the closest book-store to find a trendy self-help book, get MindHabits. Find relief at the click of a mouse. A video game that is actually good for you? Now, that’s a concept! Based on social intelligence research conducted at McGill University, these stress busting, confidence boosting games use simple, fun-to-play exercises that help players develop and maintain a more positive state of mind. I’ve spent the last two weeks pla... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1720951 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:00:37 +0100 1720951 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1714172&cid=t_356414_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F368050480%2F In a scathing critique, the chair of NICE, the UK’s health watchdog, takes pharma to task over ceo pay and marketing costs, which he says prompt drugmakers to overprice their medications. The remarks by Michael Rawlins, who heads the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, came after critics last week accused NICE of ‘barbarism’ for refusing to approve expensive new kidney drugs on the grounds they were not cost effective. Background. In an interview with The Observer, Rawlins warned of ‘perverse incentives’ to hike the prices of new drugs - including linking the pay of pharma ceo’s to stock prices, which in turn relied on keeping profits healthy. “We are told we are being mean all the time, but what nobody mentions is why the drugs... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1714172 Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:56:30 +0100 1714172 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1669076&cid=t_356414_109_f&fid=37784&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fpsychblog%2F%7E3%2F350335453%2Fswitching-pain-off-384.html We all experience pain in different ways depending on individual differences, arousal at the time and habituation to chronic pain.  Some good examples of this is recent research which has shown that doctors can actually ‘turn off’ parts of their brain which would react to seeing others in pain. What is central to future research into pain and pain experience is that we’re aware: Although we typically associate pain with physical damage to the body, thinking only in terms of physical damage is counter-productive. We also need to tackle the psychology and neuroscience of pain both to fully understand it and to help people affected by it. [Mind Hacks] Going even further we could even look at the sociological influences on pain perception.  Recent research reported in the M... PsychBLOG.co.uk blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1669076 Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:43:12 +0100 1669076 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1413596&cid=t_356414_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F281502191%2F Pharma won a “stunning victory” over the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, or NICE, which a UK Court of Appeal ruled had acted unfairly in refusing to allow Pfizer and Eisai full access to a computer model that was used to assess cost-effectiveness of their Aricept drug for Alzheimer’s, The Times of London reports. NICE had decided that the drug shouldn’t be prescribed on the NHS to patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease, because it wasn’t worth the $5-a-day price tag. But Eisai and Pfizer, which jointly market Aricept, were put at a disadvantage during their appeal because NICE refused access to the data. The ruling doesn’t require NICE to make Aricept more widely available, but the drugmakers will now get full details of the com... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1413596 Thu, 01 May 2008 15:23:08 +0100 1413596 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1142702&cid=t_356414_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F214579957%2F Patients are getting a poor deal from the NHS because new meds arent being assessed efficiently or fast enough, according to a highly critical report by Members of Parliament, The Telegraph reports. They listed a raft of problems that they said were preventing the efficient workings of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), which is responsible for assessing the cost-effectiveness of drugs. The MPs say Nice was trying hard in difficult conditions to decide which drugs were best for use in a health service constrained by limited resources, growing demand and an ever-widening choice of drugs and technologies. But they found serious flaws in its workings, saying its decisions were often not based on empirical evidence nor directly related to the pressures of the NHS... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1142702 Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:55:20 +0100 1142702 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1101720&cid=t_356414_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F202139949%2F This is part of the drugmaker’s effort to work closely with so-called large customers to find ways to ensure its meds gain approval. In this case, Novartis has made an arrangement with the UK’s medicine advisory agency to jointly design a clinical trial in order to measure cost effectiveness and efficacy of an experimental new drug, according to The Financial Times. Last week, Novartis also disclosed plans to increasingly involve payers in new-drug development by asking for feedback on experimental meds to see what sort of evidence of efficacy and value the payer would need in order to cover the drug. In the US, for instance, this would involve insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. In this deal, the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, or NICE, wi... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1101720 Tue, 18 Dec 2007 11:27:42 +0100 1101720