Initial excitement turned to disappointment.  There was a report today from a Miami dermatology conference that a turmeric skin cream improved wrinkles.

From a cosmetically-minded MD colleague (thanks, New Skin Laser Center) came the inevitable pooh-pooh.

The real bone of contention was the trial design: comparing before and after photos.  The study size was small, only 89 patients.  It was not clear as to whether investigators were blinded. 

There are not too many drugs that improve overall survival in prostate cancer.  Right now, the list is pretty short: Taxotere.

So the announcement that researchers have survival improvement with a new drug, cabazitaxel, is pretty exciting for us oncologists.

It's easy to become discouraged, but once in a while we get something to be happy about.  Today is one of those moments.

I wanted to call attention to this excellent post, which not only reviews a pertinent clinical question, but also provides citations and is reviewed by an NYU faculty member.

The site is called Clinicalcorrelations.org, and this week, they take on the tough question of why some patients delay coming in to the hospital for a suspected heart attack or stroke.

Can anyone really be surprised?  I remember Dr. Brawley talking to us young fellows about the hazards of prostate cancer screening as far back as 2003.  As I recall, he was even mad that there was a prostate cancer postage stamp! 

Today in the office,  someone came out of left field and asked me what I thought about the use of cinnamon for the control of their hypertension.  Keeping a somewhat straight face, I said I would look into it, but hadn't heard much about it.

Not that I'm ranting, but the two week delay CMS has instituted for Medicare claims doesn't really help us docs much.  the issue is that Congress couldn't reach an agreement to reverse the cuts scheduled for March 1, so CMS holds the claims until there is some sort of agreement.  It's easier for them to retoactively pay claims than it is for them to figure out how to make a cut whole again after p

It's funny how the news cycle can turn regular people just doing their jobs into overnight celebrities.

The Chile quake, obviously, is a huge catastrophe, and it will be days before we fully understand the magnitude of the damage.  As a resident of a quake-prone part of the world, I commiserate with residents near Santiago.

This was all the better for the fact that the reporter had a personal stake in this: his brother is autistic.  I thought the piece took a critical look at what McCarthy and Co. are saying, and what's harmful about it.

What amazes me is that there is official funding for homeopathic remedies and even hospitals (!) in the British healthcare system, the NHS.

I applaud the NHS for issuing a strongly-worded statement about homeopathy.  Perhaps they are still smarting over the Wakefield MMR autism scandal, and looking for low-hanging fruit to go after.

Homeopathy is founded on several non-rational tenets such as the law of similars, and the concept of "miasms." 

I have long maintained that the FDA REMS programs mainly serve the purpose of big drug companies looking to avoid class-action litigation, while they limit access to drugs and create additional administrative tasks for clinicians.