GINA COBB

The Utopia of Nationalized Healthcare in Britain

More fun, fun, fun in Britain's nationalized health care system -- you know, the same kind of system that Democrats want to bring to America.

Incredible as it may seem, many patients in Brtain are denied life-saving treatments because the nationalized health care system just can't afford it.  For patients who are denied treatment, what options are left?  They can try to pay for some treatment themselves, but the government health care system may also slap them down for it.  From the New York Times:

Manure May Reduce Likelihood of Lung Cancer

From the Daily Telegraph:

WORKING with manure can drastically reduce chances of developing lung cancer, scientists have discovered.

Dairy farmers are five times less likely than the general populace to develop the disease, New Scientist magazine reports.

The study found farmers typically breathed in dust that consisted largely of dried manure, and all the bacteria that grew in it.

New Scientist said adults who had a greater exposure to germs than usual might build up a better resistance to bugs, including cancer.

See -- I knew there was a pony in there somewhere!

Attention Couch Potatoes

Just walk a little!

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Even a moderate amount of exercise can dramatically prolong a man's life, new research on middle-aged and elderly American veterans reveals.

The government-sponsored analysis -- the largest such study ever -- found that a regimen of brisk walking 30 minutes a day at least four to six days a week was enough to halve the risk of premature death from all causes.

"As you increase your ability to exercise -- increase your fitness -- you are decreasing in a step-wise fashion the risk of death," said study author Peter Kokkinos, director of the exercise testing and research lab in the cardiology department of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

. . . .  In the study, Kokkinos and his team reviewed information gathered by the VA from 15,660 black and white male patients treated either in Palo Alto, Calif., or in Washington, D.C.

The men ranged in age from 47 to 71 and had been referred to a VA medical facility for a clinically prescribed treadmill exercise test sometime between 1983 and 2006. All participants were asked to run until fatigued, at which point the researchers recorded the total amount of energy expended and oxygen consumed.

The numbers were then crunched into "metabolic equivalents," or METS. In turn, the researchers graded the fitness of each man according to his MET score, ranging from "low-fit" (below 5 METS) to "very-high fit" (above 10 METS).

By tracking fatalities through June 2007, Kokkinos and his colleagues found that for both black and white men it was their fitness level, rather than their age, blood pressure or body-mass index, that was most strongly linked to their future risk for death.

You Might Want to Stand Up While You Read This

Scientists say just standing up may be as important as exercise, when it comes to controlling weight.

"It was hard to believe at first," said Marc Hamilton, associate professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia and leader of the research team. He said the team didn't expect to find a strong signal when they began researching what happens to fat when we remain seated. But the effect, both in laboratory animals and humans, turned out to be huge.

The solution, Hamilton said, is to stand up and "putter."

The research was published this month in the peer-reviewed journal Diabetes, and it will be presented by Hamilton's post-doctoral researcher, Theodore Zderic, at the upcoming Second International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health in Amsterdam.

Hamilton is not suggesting that anyone quit exercising. But he says his work shows that exercise alone won't get the job done. We have to pay more attention to what's happening when we aren't in the gym, because the body's ability to dispose of fat virtually shuts down, he says, at least if we're sitting down.

Full story here.

Canada's Nationalized Health Care Continues Jeopardizing Patients' Lives

Yet another near disaster in Canada's socialized health care system, as a man desperately searched for a hospital to give him an emergency appendectomy:

. . . the 21-year-old Gatineau [Quebec] student went to bed, thinking he'd feel better by the morning. But when he woke up the next day, the pain was still there, and it was getting worse.

He headed to Gatineau Memorial Hospital, thinking that doctors would soon figure out what was ailing him and take care of it.

He never imagined the ordeal that would follow: The young man was turned away from five hospitals, got lost in an ambulance and, 28 hours after he was diagnosed, he had a burst appendix removed -- in Montreal.

More here, including commentary from Mick Stockinger.

Tiny Ultrasound Scanners to Help Detect Heart Disease

Another cool medical advance is on its way:  pocked-sized ultrasound scanners that doctors can use to check for heart disease almost as easily as they use a stethoscope.

Age of Wonder, Age of Hope. Age of Robot Suits

We'll get to wonder and hope.  But first, robot suits.

Imagine an invention that can:

• Allow a small woman to lift weights of 50 to 100 pounds (22 to 45 kilograms) without difficulty or strain
• Allow a caregiver to lift a person who weighs 220 pounds (100 kilograms) as if they were lifting half that weight
• Help men, women and children with walking disabilities safely walk wherever they wish

It's not here yet, but it's rapidly on its way to becoming a reality.  In Japan, robo-suits like this one are already being developed:

. . . [O]n display at a trade fair this week in Tokyo was a power assist suit that makes it easier to lift an elderly person out of a wheelchair or bed.

The suit looks clunky, takes 10 minutes to put on, weighs thirty kilos (66 pounds) and has blinking lights and wires reminiscent of a robot in a sci-fi movie.

But it allows the wearer to lift a person as heavy as 100 kilos as if they were carrying only half that weight.

"I don't feel heavy at all. Because of air pumped in the suit, I just feel like I'm carrying a normal backpack," said Hiroi Tsukui, a participant in the project as she carried a young man onto a table to demonstrate to onlookers.

For now the suit, developed by Kanagawa Institute of Technology, is only made to order and generally targeted at nursing homes and hospitals.

But Tsukui hopes it will be used in ordinary homes in the future.  . . . .

Researchers are also looking to improve "robot suits" for the elderly to wear themselves for more autonomy, instead of relying on caregivers or their children.

A "muscle suit" developed by Tokyo University of Science also allows the wearer to lift heavy objects.

The half-body suit incorporates artificial muscles made of elastic rubber and nylon and air pumps for the arms.

Hiroshi Kobayashi, an associate professor at the university that spearheaded the project, admitted that hurdles remain before it could be easily used.

The suit, which weighs four kilos, presents "some safety concerns for elderly people," he said.

"So for now we have limited the suit to caretakers or even construction workers whom I think would benefit greatly from this. But we hope in the future this will give old people more mobility with their arms," he added.

Another product designed to give elderly greater mobility is auto giant Honda Motor's "Walking Assist" product which can help the elderly walk independently without the help of a cane, walking frame or arm of a carer.

The long-term possibilities are mind-boggling. 

Ordinary humans will be able to acquire superhuman strength simply by putting on the right "suit." 

Victims of spinal cord injuries will be able to "walk" again, whether they ever regain voluntary movement in their limbs or not. 

A soldier in a body-armored robot suit will be badly shot and will surprise everyone by continuing to walk or run forward a bit longer, thanks to a robot suit with a delayed reaction time.

Someone will dress their dog in a human robot suit and give us all a laugh when the dog "walks" on two feet.

Now and then, a robot suit will malfunction.  Someday, a robot suit might take a few steps by itself, startling someone.

Someone will incorporate robot suits into ballet.  The dance will be more graceful and more beautiful than you can imagine.

Someone will be caught secretly using robot technology in a sport.

Entirely new sports that incorporate robot suits will be invented.

~ ~ ~

It's a reminder that we live in an incredibly exciting era in human history.  Consider all that humans have invented, discovered, and achieved in a little more than a century:

• Mankind took to the skies with airplanes.  We can now circle the globe with amazing speed.
• Radio and television were invented. 
• Antibiotics were developed, saving millions of lives.
• Humans reached outer space and walked on the moon.  Probes landed on Mars and are venturing into the solar system and beyond.  Satellites have become commonplace.
• The first open heart surgery was performed.
• Organ transplantation became routine.
• The first artificial heart was invented.
• Scientists discovered how to use adult stem cells to repair and replace organs.
• Scientists discovered how to restore hearing to the deaf.
• Computers were invented and, quickly changed just about everything else.   They're in our banks.  They' re in our cars.  They're in our toys.  You learn not to jump when the toys you're putting away say something.

It's an amazing time to be alive.

There is plenty of room for worry and concern in this age -- there is in every age -- but as we observe the forward rush of science, medicine, travel, and technology, we can also draw incredible hope. 

It is no longer possible to look someone in the face and say, without fear of being proven wrong, "You'll never see again."  "You'll never walk again."  "That thing will never fly."

Now you can turn to your friend and say sincerely, in almost every situation, "I know it looks hopeless now.  But someone, somewhere, is working on a solution right now.  There's always hope."

There is always hope.

It's exciting to see what people can achieve.  The possibilities are limitless because the intelligence and creativity that flows through us comes from a Source much more awesome than we can fathom. 

When you're a kid, the days before Christmas count down so slowly.  If you're lucky, along the way you find wonder. 

Now that you're an adult, you don't have to wait for Christmas anymore.  The magic is all around you, every day.  Just lift up your eyes.  While you're at it, lift up your heart.

More From Stossel on Improving Health Care

John Stossel continues looking at health care and how to improve it with today's column, Control Your Own Health Care.

Some earlier columns in the series:

• Our Crazy Health-Insurance System

• Nationalized Health Care is Broken

• Cuba Has Better Health Care Than U.S.?

Progress in Cancer Research: New Drug Destroys Skin Cancer Cells

An interesting development in skin cancer treatment:  A drug that causes cancer cells to self-destruct:

BARCELONA, Spain - Doctors are hopeful about a new drug to treat skin cancer by causing tumor cells to self-destruct by overloading them with oxygen.

Unlike regular cells, which naturally cannot have their oxidant levels raised beyond a certain threshold, cancer cells cannot balance the amount of free radicals inside them.

With the new drug STA-4783, doctors may be able to overload the cancer cells with oxygen-containing chemicals to the point where the cells cannot cope and simply die off, according to research presented Wednesday at a meeting of the European Cancer Organization in Barcelona.  . . . .

STA-4783, which has no effect on normal cells, is the first of several such drugs planned for study, though no other companies have yet to release results from their research.

A similar treatement might have future application to other kinds of cancer as well:

It could also be used against other cancers, such as pancreatic or ovarian, as they have been shown to naturally contain higher levels of oxygen. Because cancerous tumor cells already have high oxygen levels, they are easier to overload.

How to Live to 112*

*(Note: Your actual results may vary due to fragility, unpredictability of life!)

The world's oldest man drinks a glass of milk every day, eats a healthy diet that includes vegetables and "a few greasy dishes", keeps a daily diary, and avoids alcohol and smoking:

The world's oldest man celebrated his 112th birthday Tuesday with a healthy Japanese breakfast of rice, miso soup and seaweed, saying he wanted to live forever.

Tomoji Tanabe, who has been the world's oldest man since January this year, lives with his son and family in Japan's southern prefecture of Miyazaki. He keeps a diary and reads the newspaper every day.

"I want to live indefinitely. I don't want to die," he said as he marked his birthday, Kyodo News reported.

Tanabe, a teetotaller who has repeatedly said that avoiding alcohol is a secret of his longevity, was given a certificate from the Guinness Book of World Records by the mayor of his local municipality in June.

Japan has the largest population of centenarians in the world. The number of Japanese aged at least 100 years old is expected to top 30,000 by the end of September, the health ministry said in a recent report.

Tanabe gets up at 6:00 every morning, goes to bed at 10:00 every night, and avoids snacking.  His favorite foods are fried shrimp and miso soup with clams.  He has a large extended family.

Many supercentenarians do drink alcohol in moderation, but Tanabe says that totally abstaining from alcohol is his secret to longevity.