Daily Rounds: Cholesterol Pill Looks Good; Antipsychotics In Nursing Homes; State Lags On Anti-Smoking Spending; High-Fat Diet For Epilepsy; Cholera In Florida; Silence About Supplements

Experimental Pill For 'Good' Cholesterol Shines In Safety Study : Shots - Health News Blog : NPR "Harvard cardiologist Christopher Cannon, who led the study group, said the drug exerted a "knock-your-socks-off" increase in HDL and a "jaw-dropping" decline in LDL. The results were published online by the New England Journal of Medicine." (npr.org)

Mass. aims to cut drug overuse for dementia - The Boston Globe "State regulators and the Massachusetts nursing home industry are launching a campaign today to reduce the inappropriate use of antipsychotic medications for residents with dementia — a practice that endangers lives and is more common here than in most other states." (Boston Globe)

Bay State lags in anti-tobacco spending - BostonHerald.com "The Bay State ranks near the bottom nationally in spending on anti-smoking programs, reinvesting just a tiny fraction of the millions of dollars the state takes in annually from cigarette taxes and the landmark 1998 tobacco company settlement, a new report says." (news.bostonherald.com)

Epilepsy’s Big, Fat Miracle - NYTimes.com "Elizabeth Thiele, the doctor who prescribed and oversees Sam’s diet, is the head of the pediatric epilepsy program at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School. In fact, the regimen, known as the ketogenic diet, is now offered at more than 100 hospitals in the United States, Canada and other countries. We’re not opposed to drugs; we tried many. But Sam’s seizures were drug-resistant, and keto, the universal shorthand, often provides seizure control when drugs do not." (The New York Times)

Florida Cholera Case Linked to Haiti - NYTimes.com "The first known case of cholera in the United States linked to the outbreak in Haiti was confirmed Wednesday by health officials who said a southwest Florida woman contracted the disease while visiting family in a region at the heart of Haiti’s epidemic." (The New York Times)

Medical News: AHA: Docs Don't Discuss Drug Interactions - in Meeting Coverage, AHA from MedPage Today "Although nearly half of older adults take some kind of herbal or dietary supplement, most of them don't tell their healthcare provider — or are not even asked about supplement use, researchers reported here." (medpagetoday.com)