Story Archives of 'medicine'

The cost of healthcare is not going down. Employers are struggling to cover their workers, and families are doing what they can to keep their own medical costs under control.

In an effort to find solutions, some are moving towards more holistic and preventative approaches to care, including treatments that are considered “alternative” to Western practice, like acupuncture. That’s not necessarily cheap either, though. Depending on where you live, you could pay between $75 to $200 for a one-on-one session with an acupuncturist.

That’s why some in the field are abandoning that one-on-one model, and instead are opting for the more affordable “community acupuncture.” Groups of people all sit in the same room together while a specialist treats them all, charging a modest, sliding price scale. It’s a trend that’s growing exponentially around the country, and the Manchester Acupuncture Studio in New Hampshire recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. Andy Wegman, its founder and lead acupuncturist, joins Word of Mouth in the studio.

Visit the Manchester Acupuncture Studio

Read more about the Community Acupuncture Network

(Photo by gomesmam)

Dr. Denis McCullough is a New Hampshire geriatrician who’s concerned with how millions of baby boomer families will deal with what he calls "the looming tsunami of elder care needs."

Modern medical interventions make unexpected death in one's sleep a rare event today. Families now care for their loved ones through months and even years of decline, often diminishing the quality of life for the patient, and putting distress on the family.

McCullough has written a new book, "My Mother, Your Mother," in which he advocates for a new model: slow medicine. McCullough joins Word of Mouth to talk about rejecting high-tech, industrialized, impersonal modern medicine in favor of family-centered care that is more compassionate and, frankly, more affordable.

(Photo by Sarah Murray)

There are two camps when it comes to Wikipedia – those who think it’s one of the great new tools of the information age; and those who cite the website as another example of our culture’s sliding standards and carelessness with facts.

After all, it’s an encyclopedia written and edited by the masses. But Wikipedia has become a powerhouse online. A search for anything, from “this day in history” to “Captain Beefheart” nets a wiki entry near the top of your results page, which is fine for quick and basic information - but the bar is raised when you’re talking about life-threatening diseases.

Entrepreneur James Currier will soon launch a new website called Medpedia that offers medical information in a Wikipedia-style format. But unlike Wikipedia, only doctors, physicians, and public health officials will be able to post information to the site. Currier joins Word of Mouth to tell us how Medpedia works, and how it differs from other medical websites.

(Photo by Jay Reed)

Stories of computer hackers stealing our personal information – or careless companies accidentally losing it – are among the downsides to living in the information age. Earlier this spring, 4.2 million Hannaford’s shoppers were told their bank accounts may be at risk if they’d recently swiped their cards at the checkout line.

Your credit card number is one thing, but who would willingly put their medical information at risk? Google, Microsoft, and WebMD are hoping you will. All three are launching online services that allow people to upload, store, and manage all their medical records online.

The companies say it’s a great way to give patients more power over their healthcare. But privacy and security concerns are not far behind. Martha Bebinger is a reporter at pubic radio station WBUR in Boston, and she’s been following the story.

(Photo by Taran Rampersad)

In the 1960s, Harvard psychology professors Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, later known as Baba Ram Dass, were approved to conduct research on psychedelic drugs. But after rumors spread of students holding "private psilocybin parties," the two were given the boot. Leary's encouragement to seek mystical experiences and spiritual enlightenment by "tuning in, turning on and dropping out" helped spark the counterculture's fascination with hallucinogens. But in the nearly five decades since, Harvard researchers haven’t messed with mind-bending drugs.

Until this past February, when Dr. John Halpern began administering MDMA, better known as the club drug Ecstasy, to dying cancer patients. He got started by researching the use of peyote in Native American religious rituals. Now he’s hoping Harvard will approve testing on the medical prospects for LSD for treating cluster headaches.

Freelance writer Peter Bebergal is based in Cambridge, Mass., and wrote about the new wave of psychedelic-drug research for the Boston Phoenix.

(Photo by Curtis Perry)