Better Health: Smart Health Commentary

Featured

Hormone Replacement For Women: Don’t Believe The Hype

December 21st, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips

Tags: Endocrinology, Fear Mongering, Hormone Replacement Therapy, Hot Flashes, Menopause, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Pharmaceuticals, treatments, Women's Health, Wyeth

Just when you thought it was safe…now there is another article in the NewYorkTimes about the pharmaceutical industry pushing hormones for post menopausal women. It is a long and somewhat “shocking” article about how women have been sold a bill of goods regarding estrogen and progesterone after menopause and Wyeth Pharmaceutical paying multimillion dollar claims for women who took hormones and developed breast cancer.

Let me say…don’t believe everything you read. As readers of EverythingHealth know, I am not a shill for big Pharma and have written critiques of their corporate tactics many times. But when it comes to Estrogen replacement it isn’t just doctors and Pharma pushing drugs on unsuspecting women.

The link between breast cancer and endometrial cancer and estrogen (ERT) has been open dialog for decades. The pharmaceutical companies have had it listed in their marketing literature and good physicians make it part of the risk/benefit discussion. I have never felt pushed to prescribe ERT when it was not indicated and good evidence remains about the benefits of female hormones for bone strength and symptom control. Patients should know that for every 10,000 women who take estrogen, 8 more cases of breast cancer are seen. Other factors influence breast cancer like smoking, radiation (excessive chest X-rays, cat scans or mammograms), alcohol etc etc etc. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*

Top Five Signs of Common Mental Health Conditions

December 19th, 2009 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips

Tags: Anxiety, Bipolar, Depression, Mental Health, OCD, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Psychology, Signs

Disorders like depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and bipolar disorder all have warning signs. If you are concerned about these signs in yourself or others, talk to a trusted adult and get help!

Clinical Depression

• Loss of appetite
• Insomnia and trouble sleeping almost every night
• Unable to focus on even simple activities
• Extremely low energy
• Loss of interest in things you normally enjoy Read more »

This post, Top Five Signs of Common Mental Health Conditions, was originally published on Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..

Adult Controls For iPhone Apps

December 18th, 2009 by Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips

Tags: Adult Control, Explicit Content, iPhone Apps, Parenting, Pediatrics, Technology

I had heard there were “adult only” applications on iTunes but hadn’t seen any myself – until yesterday.

I’ve been on the application store many times to find cool application for my iPhone and never seen anything alarming. Yesterday, however, under “top free applications”, this is what I found:

Note #2, “Beautiful Boobs”. If you scroll down, you’ll find #74 “Pocket Girlfriend lite”, among others in a similar vein! Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Dr Gwenn Is In*

Canadian C-Spine Rule: How To Know If A Neck Is Likely To Be Broken

December 17th, 2009 by Paul Auerbach, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips

Tags: Assessment, Broken Neck, C-Spine, Canadian, Cervical Collar, Cervical Spine, Emergency Medicine, EMT, Evaluation, Examination, Neck Brace, Rule, wilderness medicine

Christian Vaillancourt, MD and his colleagues recently published an article in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine (2009;54:663-671) entitled “The Out-of-Hospital Validation of the Canadian C-Spine Rule by Paramedics.” This rule was originally developed for “clinical clearance” (e.g., without the use of x-rays) of persons with possible cervical spine fracture (broken neck) in alert and stable trauma patients by qualified persons (generally, emergency physicians) in a health care setting (such as an emergency department). This particular study found that paramedics can apply the Canadian C-Spine Rule reliably, without missing important cervical spine injuries.

The Rule, properly applied to an awake and alert injured person for which there is a concern for a cervical spine injury, provides the following direction:

1. If a person has a high-risk factor (age greater than or equal to 65 years; a dangerous mechanism of injury [a fall from an elevation greater than or equal to 3 feet; fall down 5 or more stairs; direct blow to top of head, such as a diving board accident; motor vehicle accident characterized by high speed, rollover or passenger ejection; motorized recreational vehicle accident; bicycle collision]; or numbness/tingling in an arm or leg), then neck immobilization and x-rays are indicated. Read more »

This post, Canadian C-Spine Rule: How To Know If A Neck Is Likely To Be Broken, was originally published on Healthine.com by Paul Auerbach, M.D..

The Top Ten Preventive Health Services

December 16th, 2009 by DrCharles in Better Health Network, Health Tips

Tags: Bang For The Buck, Best Value, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, National Commission on Prevention Priorities, Preventive Health Services, Primary Care, Screening, Top Ten

With all the controversy about the utility of mammography, optimal Pap smear intervals, and risks of prostate cancer screening, you have to ask yourself – what are the most beneficial and cost effective preventive services we should be focusing on?

Here are the top 10 preventive services. These items were chosen by the National Commission on Prevention Priorities, and highlight those preventive services including immunizations, screenings, preventive medications, and counseling that give “the most bang for the buck.”  For an in depth discussion of methods and results, read Am J Prev Med 2006;31(1):52–61
Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at The Examining Room of Dr. Charles*