What are the health risks of eyelash extensions?

“Something bad has happened. I’ve got eyelash extensions,” singer and actress Kristin Chenoweth confessed on the “Late Show with David Letterman” last year while wearing large dark sunglasses, and visibly drowsy on Benadryl. “Here’s the problem: The glue has formaldehyde in it, and I’m allergic,” Chenoweth said. “I swelled up[…] Read more...

There is no completely safe dose or form of alcohol

We live in a strange world. What would happen if tomorrow a common sedative was found to cause 21,000 cancer deaths every year? What if it resulted in breast cancer, mouth cancer, hepatoma and esophageal malignancies, and if the average patient lost 19 years of life?  What if the drug[…] Read more...

Top stories in health and medicine, May 20, 2013

Brought to you by MedPage Today. 1. Hospitalists Work Longer, Patients Stay Longer. Long work hours for hospitalists led to longer patient stays and unnecessary orders. 2. Automated BP Device Not Cutting It. An automated BP cuff billed as an in-office substitute for ambulatory monitoring may substantially underestimate pressures. 3.[…] Read more...

Do nurse practitioners really need physician supervision?

Every year, a Gallup survey asks Americans to rank the professionals they trust the most. With the single exception of 2001, nurses have always been in first place. According to the Gallup poll, Americans view nurses as honest people with high ethical standards. There seems to be no doubt that[…] Read more...

Why the Oregon Medicaid study is misunderstood

Much has already been written about the Oregon Medicaid study that came out in the New England Journal of Medicine. Unfortunately, the vast majority is reflex, rather than reflection.  The study seems to serve as a Rorschach test of sorts, confirming people’s biases about whether Medicaid is “good” or “bad”.  The[…] Read more...