December 15th, 2010 by Linda Burke-Galloway, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: Associated Professional Sleep Societies, Dr. Linda Burke-Galloway, Dr. Louise O'Brien, Fetal Health, Gestational Diabetes, Glucose Screening, Habitual Snorers, Healthy Pregnancy, Heart Attack Risk, High Blood Pressure, High Risk Pregnancy, Hypertension, Maternal-Fetal Specialist, Neurology, Nonsnorers, OB/GYN, Obesity, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Patient Education, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Pregnant Women, Sleep Apnea, Snoring, Stroke Risk, TAPSS, University of Michigan
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A recent medical study reported a fairly unique finding: Pregnant women who snore frequently are at an increased risk for developing gestational diabetes.
The Associated Professional Sleep Societies (TAPSS) reported that 24 percent of habitual snorers had an official diagnosis of gestational diabetes as opposed to 17 percent of nonsnorers. As gestational diabetes affects 4 to 6 percent of all pregnant women, this study is significant according to Louise O’Brien, Ph.D. who is associated with the department of neurology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Snoring is nothing new among women but it becomes more pronounced with the onset of menopause or weight gain. Approximately one-third of all women in the U.S. are obese and at risk for snoring and sleep apnea. Being overweight can cause bulky throat tissue which then physically blocks air flow.
Up until the publication of the University of Michigan study, the health risks associated with snoring included greater than ten seconds of interruptions of breathing, frequent waking from sleep, potential strain on the heart which then results in hypertension, increased risk of heart attacks, and stroke. Now the tide has changed. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Linda Burke-Galloway*
December 15th, 2010 by Michael Sevilla, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Accountable Care Organizations, ACO, Active Healthcare Participant, Defensive Medicine, Doctor Anonymous, Dr. Michael Sevilla, Empowering Patients, General Medicine, Global Payment Plan, Good Medicine, Healthcare Delivery, Healthcare reform, Healthcare Reform: Putting Patients First, Lowering Healthcare Costs, Malpractice Reform, Massachusetts Medical Society, Medical Liability Reform, New U.S. Healthcare System, Ohio Health Care Coverage and Quality Council, Patient Accountability, Patient Empowerment, Patient-Centered Medical Home, Patients' Role In Healthcare, Physician Payment System, Primary Care, Team-Based Patient Care, Teamwork In Medicine, Tort Reform
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My professional organization recently asked me to participate in an interesting meeting at the state capitol talking about healthcare payment reform and how to improve the healthcare delivery system. This was sponsored by the state of Ohio and their Health Care Coverage and Quality Council.
It was the first meeting that I’ve been to where there were physicians, hospitals, insurance companies, and patients — all trying to put our heads together — present our points of view and try to come to consensus. Did we come to consensus on solutions? Not really, only that we will continue the conversation. There is no perfect solution that will make everyone happy, but we will strive to try to get to that best imperfect solution.
When is comes to healthcare delivery and healthcare payment, there was a lot of discussion on physicians and hospitals — meaning healthcare providers. The motivating factor in these cases uses terms like payment, lack of payment, incentives, bonuses, and penalties. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Doctor Anonymous*
December 15th, 2010 by Glenn Laffel, M.D., Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: ACE, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme, Cardiology, Cardiovascular Health, Cardiovascular Pharmacology, Chocolate, Dietetics, Dr. Glenn Laffel, European Heart Journal, Fluid Regulation, Food and Nutrition, Heart Attack Risk, Heart Health, In Moderation, Ingrid Persson, Linkoping University, Lowers Blood Pressure, Pizaazz, Reduces Hypertension, Salt Metabolism, Stroke Risk
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It’s beginning to look like chocolate, especially dark chocolate, really and truly is a heart healthy snack, though only if it’s consumed in small quantities.
A delectable taste of this news came last spring, in the form of a study by German scientists which appeared in the European Heart Journal. It was a retrospective study of nearly 20,000 people, and it showed that folks in the highest quartile for chocolate consumption (meaning they consumed 7.5 grams of chocolate per day — the equivalent of 2 to 3 small squares of a Hershey bar), had lower blood pressure, a 27 percent lower risk of heart attack, and a 48 percent lower risk of stroke than those in the lowest quartile (about 1.7 grams per day).
Now, a new study in the journal Cardiovascular Pharmacology has lent credence to those findings by suggesting a mechanism through which chocolate reduces blood pressure. In the study, Ingrid Persson and colleagues at Linkoping University showed that dark chocolate inhibits the activity of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). This enzyme helps regulate fluids and salt metabolism in the body. It is the target of many well-known antihypertensive drugs including captopril, lisinopril and enalopril. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Pizaazz*
December 14th, 2010 by Jeffrey Benabio, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
Tags: Dermatology, Dr. Jeff Benabio, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Genital Skin Cancer, Genital Warts, Gynecology, HPV, HPV Vaccine, Human Papilloma Virus, Internal Medicine, Men's Health, Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer, Primary Care, Safe Sex, Sexual Health, sexually transmitted diseases, STDs, Sun Exposure, The Dermatology Blog, Unprotected Sex, Women's Health
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Not all skin cancers are from sun exposure. Viruses such as human papilloma virus (HPV), the virus that causes genital warts, also cause skin cancer. Skin cancer from HPV develops on genital skin in both men and women. It’s rarely talked about, but it’s important and can be deadly.
Did you know that half of all deaths from skin cancer other than melanoma are from genital skin cancer? You probably also didn’t know that women are more likely to die from genital skin cancer as they are from skin cancer that developed from sun exposure (again, excluding melanoma).
We dermatologists are inexhaustible when it comes to warning people about the dangers of sun exposure, but we should also be warning people about the dangers of genital warts. HPV protection, which includes HPV vaccines, is as important as sun protection in preventing death from non-melanoma skin cancer.
Genital warts can lead to deadly skin cancer. If your dermatologist has not checked your genital skin, be sure your primary care physician or gynecologist does. This is especially important, because unlike other sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) which often have symptoms, HPV or genital warts often don’t. It may be embarrassing, but it could save your life.
*This blog post was originally published at The Dermatology Blog*
December 14th, 2010 by GruntDoc in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Balkans Business News, Doctors' Quality of Life, Dr. Allen Roberts, Emergency Medicine, ER Doctors, GruntDoc, Next Nurses' Exit Study, Physician Burnout, Work-Life Balance
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Via Balkans Business News:
One in two emergency care doctors will suffer a burnout during their career, according to a survey of French physicians, published online in Emergency Medicine Journal. The research was funded in part by the NEXT NURSES’ EXIT STUDY (‘Sustaining working ability in the nursing profession – investigation of premature departure from work’) project, which received more than EUR 2 million under the ‘Quality of life and management of living resources’ Programme of the EU’s Fifth Framework Programme (FP5).
…
The responses showed that the prevalence of burnout was high, with 1 in 2 emergency care doctors identified as suffering from it, compared with more than 4 out of 10 of the representative sample. Physicians had the highest burnout rate in the two age groups, between 35 and 44 and between 45 and 54.
Expectedly, it’s international…
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
