Daily Rounds: The Chocolate Studies; Preventing Blood Clots; Epilepsy Stigma; New Hospital Overseer

Even If Chocolate Doesn't Ward Off Heart Disease, It's Still Yummy : Shots - Health Blog : NPR "He confirmed that based on his analysis, and the seven studies it reviewed, there's no proof that chocolate prevents cardiovascular disease. What he did find is that people who told researchers they ate lots of chocolate were about one-third less likely to have heart attacks, strokes and diabetes."(npr.org)

Protection from clots urged for C-sections - The Boston Globe "New advice for pregnant women: If you are getting a C-section, special inflating boots strapped on your legs may lower the risk of a blood clot. Hospitals use these compression devices for other major operations, such as hip replacements, and a growing number offer them for at least some of their caesarean deliveries. Now guidelines for the nation’s obstetricians say it is time to make the step routine for most C-sections, which account for nearly a third of US births. (boston.com)

Advocates Battle Stigma of Epilepsy in Sierra Leone - NYTimes.com "But worse was yet to come: She was forced to drink a two-liter bottle of kerosene. “Mi ches don cook,” she says in the Krio language, her voice faltering even now: “My chest started to boil.” Only a panicked trip to the hospital saved her life. Mrs. Kabba not only survived, but has been seizure-free for 10 years with the help of phenobarbital, one of the oldest anti-epileptic drugs and virtually the only one available here. And in a country where people with epilepsy are often considered uneducable, unemployable and unmarriageable, Mrs. Kabba teaches, is happily married and has a child." (nytimes.com)

AG selects overseer of hospitals, insurers - The Boston Globe "Mary Beckman, 47, most recently the compliance officer and a lawyer in the general counsel’s office at Children’s Hospital in Boston, was tapped as chief of the attorney general’s nonprofit and public charities division, which regulates about 22,000 nonprofit organizations across the state. She replaces David Spackman, who held the job for about four years." (boston.com)