Daily Rounds: Breast Implant Cancer; Berwick Do-Over; Overheated And Fat; GOP Health Hearings

Breast Implants Linked to Rare Cancer, a Type of Lymphoma - NYTimes.com "The cancer, anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, involves the immune system. It is not breast cancer. It is usually a systemic disease, but in the cases linked to implants, the lymphoma grew in the breast, usually in the capsule of scar tissue that formed around the implant. The cases were discovered because women developed symptoms long after they had healed from the implant surgery — lumps, pain, asymmetry of the breasts, fluid buildup and swelling. In some cases simply removing the implant and scar tissue gets rid of the disease, but some women might need chemotherapy and radiation, said Dr. William Maisel, the chief scientist and deputy director for science in the drug agency’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health." (nytimes.com)

White House Renominates Berwick as Medicare Chief - NYTimes.com "President Barack Obama has renominated Donald M. Berwick to be Medicare chief six months after bypassing the Senate and installing him in the job in a recess appointment, the White House announced Wednesday". (nytimes.com)

Weight Gain Linked to Indoor Heating - NYTimes.com "...even in mildly cold conditions, like in a chilly room with the thermostat turned down to the lower 60s, people generate extra heat without shivering. The process, called non-shivering thermogenesis, may involve a substance called brown fat that adults carry in certain areas, like the upper back and side of the neck. Unlike regular fat, which stores excess energy and calories, brown fat acts like an internal furnace that consumes lots of calories, but it has to be activated first — and cold temperatures do that.
Now, in a provocative new paper, British researchers argue that rising indoor temperatures are contributing to obesity.  (well.blogs.nytimes.com)

Childhood Leukemia, Brain Cancer on the Rise "Childhood leukemia and brain cancer are on the rise, and exposure to chemicals in our environment such as chlorinated solvents and the head lice treatment lindane may be partially to blame, according to experts speaking at a conference call sponsored by Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. "(WebMD)

House Republicans Mount Hearings To Take On Health Law | WBUR & NPR "House Republicans have launched a series of hearings aimed at giving the law the comeuppance they think it deserves. And, noted House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI), an airing they say it failed to get during the year it was debated prior its March, 2010 passage." (WBUR | 90.9 FM)