July 31st, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
Tags: App, Consequences of Eating Chemicals, Consumer Safety, Dietetics, Eating Healthy, Environmental Working Group, EWG, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, Food and Nutrition, Food Rinsing, Food Safety, Fruits and Vegetables, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, iPhone, Organic Foods, Pesticide-Free Produce, pesticides, Public Health, Rinse Your Fresh Produce, Safeway, The Dirty Dozen, The Shopper's Guide to Pesticides
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a non-profit focused on public health. We know that the long-term consequences of eating chemicals from pesticides used on our foods is damaging to our health.
The EWG analyzed data from the FDA and found that people who eat five fruits and vegetables a day from the “Dirty Dozen” are eating 10 pesticides a day. We want people to eat more fruits and vegetables, but NOT to ingest more chemicals. Rinsing reduces but does not eliminate pesticides. So what’s the answer? Rinse completely and buy the “Dirty Dozen” foods organic whenever possible. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
July 30th, 2010 by Jeffrey Benabio, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
Tags: Athlete's Health, Bacterial Infection, Dermatology, Erythrasma, Fungal Infection, Irritated Skin, Itchy Rash, Jock Itch, Moist Skin, Ringworm of the Groin, Sports Medicine, Tinea Cruris, Yeast Infection
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I’ve been seeing a lot of jocks lately. The anatomical area, not the athletes. Summertime means heat and humidity, sports, and itchy groins. Jock itch is a general term for an itchy rash in the groin. Heat, sweat, and skin rubbing on skin can leave the area looking like you slid into second base, groin first.
There are three main causes of an itchy groin. Classic jock itch is caused by a fungus, the same fungus that causes athlete’s foot. This fungus often causes a red scaly rash on the inner thighs. It tends to be dry and can have bumps or pimples. The fungus is often spread from your feet or from contaminated sports equipment, towels, etc. It can be treated with topical terbinafine cream 1% twice a day for 2-4 weeks. Severe cases can require oral anti-fungal medications, especially if the fungus has spread to other areas on your body. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Dermatology Blog*
July 25th, 2010 by Debra Gordon in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Better Medical Care, Cost Vs. Quality in Medicine, Denied Healthcare, Doctors Are Falliable, Enough Is Enough, Evidence Based Medicine, Evidence-Based Guidelines, Expensive Treatments Are Best, General Medicine, Health Affairs, Healthcare Quagmire, Healthcare reform, More Care Is Better, Retain Healthcare Consumers, Substandard Care, US Healthcare
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A new survey in the journal Health Affairs synthesizes nearly everything I believe is wrong with the U.S. healthcare system. The survey found that patients believe that more care is better, that the latest and most expensive treatments are the best, that none of their doctors provide substandard care, and that evidence-based guidelines are a pretext for denying them the care they need and deserve.
Sigh.
Until we can retrain consumers (that would be all of us) to understand that in medicine more is NOT better, that evidence-based guidelines may translate in some instances into less but better care, that doctors are falliable and should be questioned, and that the cost of a treatment has nothing to do with the quality, we will never get out of the healthcare quagmire in which we find ourselves.
Your thoughts?
*This blog post was originally published at A Medical Writer's Musings on Medicine, Health Care, and the Writing Life*
July 24th, 2010 by Steve Novella, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion, Research
Tags: Academic Sites, Commercial Sites, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Health and the Internet, Health Content, Health Information on the Web, Health On The Net Foundation, HON, Individual Sites, Internal Medicine, Internet-Based Health Information, Medicine and Healthcare Online, Online Health Information, Patients in the Internet, Primary Care, Quality Health Information, SBM, Science Based Medicine, WebMD
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Recently some Science-Based Medicine (SBM) colleagues (David Gorski, Kimball Atwood, Harriet Hall, Rachel Dunlop) and I gave two workshops on how to find reliable health information on the Web. As part of my research for this talk I came across this recent and interesting study that I would like to expand upon further: Quality and Content of Internet-Based Information for Ten Common Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Diagnoses.
The fact that the article focuses on orthopedic diagnoses is probably not relevant to the point of the article itself, which was to assess the accuracy of health information on the Web. They looked at 10 orthopedic diagnoses and searched on them using Google and Yahoo, and then chose the top results. They ultimately evaluated 154 different sites with multiple reviewers for quality of content and also for their HON rating. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
July 24th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Caffeine, Coffee, Fetal Health, Miscarriage, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Pregnant Women, Preterm Birth
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The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has issued a statement that moderate caffeine consumption (<200mg/day — about a cup of coffee) does not increase a woman’s risk for miscarriage or preterm birth. The review of recent studies was published in Obstetrics and Gynecology and should reassure women about drinking coffee when pregnant.
Caffeine does cross the placenta, but there was no difference found between the moms who drank caffeine while pregnant and those who did not.
If you wonder how much caffeine is in certain drinks or foods, click here.
One fact the study did not mention is that many women have a natural aversion to coffee when they are pregnant. Maybe nature knows best.
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
