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Today's Selection Of Opinions And Editorials
Congress Needs To Think Big About Medicare Fix Politico

Consumers Rate Medicare Higher Than Employer-Sponsored Insurance
Elderly Medicare beneficiaries are more satisfied with their health care, and experience fewer problems accessing and paying for care, than Americans with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI), according to a study by Commonwealth Fund researchers published May 12 on the Health Affairs Web site. If given the opportunity, many adults under age 65 would likely select a public health insurance option, say lead author Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, and colleagues.
News of the day
HOWARU(R) Protect Clinically Shown To Reduce The Incidence And Severity Of Cold And Flu Symptoms In Children
In today"s health environment, harmful cold and flu strains can travel the globe and pose serious risk to young children. And, at the same time, the FDA has issued warnings about administering over-the-counter cough and cold medications to children under the age of four. Parents of young children are in a quandary as to how to keep their kids safe and healthy. Many are embracing preventative measures to improve their child"s immune system and ward off illness.
Diagnostics

Personalizing Medical Care: An Inner 'Fingerprint'

Fingerprints move over. Scientists are reporting evidence that people have another defining trait that may distinguish each of the 6.7 billion humans on Earth from one another almost as surely as the arches, loops, and whorls on their fingertips. In a study scheduled for the Aug. 7 issue of ACS" monthly publication the Journal of Proteome Research, they report evidence from studies in humans for the existence of unique patterns in metabolism. Metabolism is a whole caboodle of chemical processes. The body uses to turn food into energy, grow, repair damage from diseases and injuries, use medicines, and carry out other functions necessary to continue living. In the new study, Ivano Bertini and colleagues cite growing evidence that each individual has a unique metabolic profile. It"s a biochemical counterpart to fingerprints that can be detected by analyzing the chemical whorls and grooves that result from metabolism and can be detected in the urine. Doctors have dreamed of using such tests for the early diagnosis of disease and personalized medical care. They could pick drugs and treatments that are best for each individual, rather than today"s one-size-fits all medicine. To do so, however, doctors need evidence that the metabolic fingerprint remains stable over a period of years, with changes due to disease or medications, for instance, but not advancing age or other factors. The new study provides that evidence, based on the analysis of over 1,800 urine samples from people monitored for 2-3 years. Researchers could identify individual patients from their metabolic profiles with an accuracy of over 99 percent. The study could pave the way for using metabolic profiling to apply personalized medical care, the researchers suggest. Article: "Individual Human Phenotypes in Metabolic Space and Time" http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/pr900344m Michael Woods American Chemical Society


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