Its too early to know if this will work but it does appear promising.  Tying in a protein found on HDL cholesterol (known as Apo E) with amyloid has resulted in a basic science experiment which shows real promise for Alzhiemer's disease treatment.  The Wall Street Journal featured an article showing that a compound known as bexarotene (safe for treating skin cancer) stimulated mice genetics to increase Apo E production. This was associated with increasing dissolving amyloid plaque in a mouse Alzhiemer's disease model and a sustained improvement in cognition function. Prior to the compound being given to the mice, they couldn't smell or make a nest (loss of smell is frequent in Alzhiemer's patients). Within 3 days they were making organized nests (normal behavior lost when they are demonstrating Alzheimer's disease). This research will lead to human dosing trials according to the article.
         This summer I attended an HDL class sponsored by the National Lipid Association and learned that there is a metabolic pathway whereby HDL cholesterol does affect amyloid and other neuroprotein metabolism. This article suggests that the Apo E protein found in HDL may be what regulates this.  I predict that we will learn over time that HDL cholesterol has many more functions than our current simplistic understanding about returning cholesterol from cells back to the liver--which in and of itself is very important for treating and preventing atherosclerosis. 

The president of the Florida Medical Association (Dr. Miguel Machado MD) goes to the mat for Doctors and patients.  Please read the letter sent to our congress, which he cosigned with other mutually interested representatives. This letter contains recommendations for reform that will enable a more efficient and viable healthcare system. 
Read the letter here: http://www.flmedical.org/uploadedFiles/INFORMZ/LinkforPR11-18-11.pdf

For years, the FDA recommendation for annual prostate cancer screening has been digital prostate exams along with the PSA (Prostate-specific antigen) blood test annually starting at age 50.  Recently, there has been a U.S. Preventive Services Task Force draft recommendation suggesting that the PSA test not be used for prostate cancer screening.  IMSWF physicians routinely offer this test in our recommended health prevention lab profiles for men.  Up to this point, the physicians haven’t changed this general recommendation, but I do agree that there is some need for discussion regarding the necessity and utility of this test. Browse the following links for more information.  What is your opinion on the prostate cancer screening debate?

Health insurance premiums are rising far faster than inflation or wages.  Doesn't this make it obvious that things are amiss?  Perhaps there is price fixing?  The mandate forcing citizens to buy insurance (Obamacare) merely "feeds the citizens to the wolves" -shame on this position!

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/09/27/125423/job-based-health-insurance-premiums.html
 
As Dr. Kordonowy has stated before, the rising health insurance premiums are "stealing employees wages".  The system continues to asks the employer to purchase insurance for employees and this translates to lost wages to the employee.  Since the employer isn't using the product and since it is considered a business expense, the employer doesn't negotiate or shop as intensely as the individual would.  The biggest fear the private health insurance industry has is that real individuals demand real products if they are going to pay for them.

Dr. Kordonowy has indicated Healh Savings Accounts's are a step in the right direction to place better personal and provider accountability into health care delivery and improve personal choice for your health care.  The following link indicates that companies are now recognizing this as " the future" for health care payments.  Dr. Kordonowy would favor eliminating requiring PPO insurance as part of the HSA option (currently required by law).  Only when the insurance industry is forced to provide consumers with less expensive insurance options (such as true catastrophic coverage) will the HSA find its true market potential.  Persons who take on higher levels of personal risk via HSA accounts and higher personal deductables should see proportionally lower insurance premiums from the industry. With the PPO rider requirement in the law, the health insurance industry doesn't have to provide the consumer with a fairly priced product.

Obesity is costing us a lot of money in health care costs.  The following article demonstrates that if we educate ourselves to a better lifestyle, we save a lot of money and prevent a lot of disease.  The physicians of Internal Medicine of Southwest Florida have been using a holistic approach to health such as providing our patients access to a Certified Dietitian in order to learn how to make better food choices and encourage exercise to maintain ideal health. 
 http://www.internalmedicinenews.com/newsletter/internal-medicine-news-e-newsletter/singleview40794/weight-loss-programs-could-save-medicare-up-to-15-billion/b1a1b3e132.html

Xarelto (rivaroxaban), a Factor Xa inhibitor, has recently been approved by the FDA for the treatment of Deep Vein Thrombosis. A recent trial has also shown that Xarelto is noninferior to Coumadin (warfarin) in treatment for Atrial Fibrillation.  The following article discusses studies involving this new and exciting medication. 
http://www.internalmedicinenews.com/newsletter/internal-medicine-news-e-newsletter/singleview40766/rivaroxaban-contests-warfarin-for-stroke-prevention-in-af/cb1b135f01.html

Another example of vaccination being safe and effective, the Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b) vaccine has been used in children since 1992 to prevent infections such as pneumonia and meningitis. The vaccine has been extremely effective in preventing such infections in children who have been vaccinated. Recently, however, prevalence of Hib disease has seen an increase among adults.  According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), adults with specific health conditions such as sickle cell disease, HIV/AIDS, removal of spleen, bone marrow transplant, or cancer treatment with immune-suppressant drugs need to be protected from Hib by the vaccine.  The following article explains the increase in Hib infections, but does not stress the fact that adults can, in fact, be vaccinated. http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/news/20110811/hib-disease-increasing-among-adults

The FDA recently approved influenza vaccines for the 2011-2012 season. The vaccines are now available at Internal Medicine of Southwest Florida. Come get yours today! http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm263319.htm

Raymond Kordonowy comments on a recent article in Forbes concerning the shortage of primary care physicians stemming from the pay disparity between specialists and primary care, "The Best- And Worst-Paying Jobs For Doctors",

"On physician payment. The system of payment for physicians has become pegged to the Medicare fee schedule. In appx 1993 Medicare’s program stopped allowing physicians to bill above the allowed fee schedule for covered services (virtually everything is codified). When the RVU system was designed, office evaluations were assigned some of the lowest reimbursements. High tech stuff and procedures got paid more generously (and most likely they should have). The disparity in physician pay is a result of nearly 2 decades of price fixing which now involves all payers. Office evaluation has gotten much more complex and burdensome but the RVU system hasn’t made the proper accounting. Furthermore the demand side of this equation (magnified immensely due to minimal out of pocket per visit costs) has outstripped the supply side (primary physician availability and new trainees is at all time low). As long as we don’t allow a true pricing mechanism for health care services we will continue to see very lopsided earning potentials,unsatisfied customers and dissatisfied providers (in some cases). Overpayment of some fixed prices will drive overuse and underpayment will result in loss of services. Low pay will translate to a loss of that type of provider. This is very poor economics applied real world in the good ole US of A. It is no surprise to me as a provider that the country continues to be choking over what it is paying for health care- the model of payment is predictably flawed. The latest nonsense of ACO’s and shared cost risk will make it even worse."