Daily Rounds: Heart Treatments; Sleepless Doctors; Single-Payer Meeting; Sexual Economics

Heart treatment under attack - The Boston Globe "Using minimally invasive angioplasty to reopen clogged arteries and insert stents in patients with stable heart disease doesn’t extend life or prevent future heart attacks any better than medications such as baby aspirin or cholesterol-lowering statins. Yet 173,000 such patients have angioplasties with stents every year in the United States, according to a recent study." (boston.com)

The Phantom Menace of Sleep Deprived Doctors - NYTimes.com "Last month something extraordinary happened at teaching hospitals around the country: Young interns worked for 16 hours straight — and then they went home to sleep. After decades of debate and over the opposition of nearly every major medical organization and 79 percent of residency-program directors, new rules went into effect that abolished 30-hour overnight shifts for first-year residents." (nytimes.com)

Single-payer activists plan to take over - BostonHerald.com "What do Bacon Hill politicians do on summer vacation? They hold a meeting to talk strategy on how to implement single-payer health care, more commonly known as socialized medicine, or postal care. “Exploring the Single-Payer Option,” a conference last week at Framingham State University, brought together local postalized health-care enthusiasts to plot how they can foist it on us." (Boston Herald)

More gender equality leads to more sex, global study shows - USATODAY.com "In his presentation, "Sexual Economics: A Research-Based Theory of Sexual Interactions, or Why the Man Buys Dinner," Baumeister, a psychologist, explained how applying economic principles helps understand people's sexual decision-making, especially when they're just beginning a relationship. "Women's sexuality has a kind of value that men's sexuality does not," he says. "Men will basically exchange other resources with women to have sex, but the reverse doesn't work. Women … can trade sex for attention, for grades, for a promotion, for money, as in prostitution or sex with a celebrity." "(yourlife.usatoday.com)

SJC limits nursing home ban on sex offenders - Boston.com "A state law that makes it illegal for dangerous sex offenders to live in a nursing home was unconstitutionally used to try to oust a man from a Boston home, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled yesterday. In a unanimous ruling, the high court said that the rights of the offender, identified only as John Doe, were violated when Boston police invoked the law in 2010 and told the frail 65-year-old he had to leave the nursing home where he was living. The court said the statute overreached in providing no opportunity for the offender to make the case that he could safely stay." (articles.boston.com)

Americans Support Bans On Food Allergens In Public Places : Shots - Health Blog : NPR "In the latest NPR-Thomson Reuters Health Poll, we asked people across the country about food allergies and intolerance. The bottom line: 1 in 5 households across the country has at least one person who is allergic or intolerant to at least one food." (npr.org)

Medical tourism - surgery with a twist - Boston.com "Americans are going to overseas centers for two good reasons - far lower health costs and high quality of care - not to mention the exceptional personal comfort provided at these centers. Some American health insurers are exploring coverage for their clients for the same reasons." (articles.boston.com)