May 10th, 2011 by admin in Health Tips, Research
Tags: Calcium, Calcium Supplements, Cardiology, Geriatrics, Harmful, Heart Attack, Myocardial Infarction, Osteoporosis, Safety, Science and Medicine, Supplements
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Calcium is good for us, right? Milk products are great sources of calcium, and we’re told to emphasize milk products in our diets. Don’t (or can’t) eat enough dairy? Calcium supplements are very popular, especially among women seeking to minimize their risk of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis prevention and treatment guidelines recommend calcium and vitamin D as an important measure in preserving bone density and reducing the risk of fractures. For those who don’t like dairy products, even products like orange juice and Vitamin Water are fortified with calcium. The general perception seemed to be that calcium consumption was a good thing – the more, the better. Until recently.
In a pattern similar to that I described with folic acid, there’s new safety signals from trials with calcium supplements that are raising concerns. Two studies published in the past two years suggest that calcium supplements are associated with a significantly increased risk of heart attacks. Could the risks of calcium supplements outweigh any benefits they offer? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
May 10th, 2011 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Health Tips
Tags: Adults, CDC, Doctors, Hep C, Hospital Care, Hospitals, Infectious Disease, Injection Practices, Injection Protocols, JAMA, Needles, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Advocacy, Patient Care, Patient Engagement, Patient Safety, Seniors
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Thanks to Laura Landro for shining light on unsafe injections in her WSJ blog, “Unsafe Injection Practices Persist Despite Education Efforts.”
Landro writes:
“A new push is underway to eliminate unsafe injection practices, which remain a persistent safety problem despite years of efforts to educate clinicians about the risks of re-using needles, syringes and drug vials.
In the U.S., failure to follow safe practices in delivering intravenous medications and injections has resulted in more than 30 outbreaks of infectious disease including hepatitis C, and the notification of more than 125,000 patients about potential exposure just in the last decade, according to health-care purchasing alliance Premier Inc.”
As a registered nurse this is unthinkable. Learning to administer injections safely is “patient care 101.” There is no excuse for any health care professional to unsafely inject patients.
Patients in the hospital, ambulatory surgical centers or outpatient settings, should expect that their nurses, doctors and other clinicians are administering injections safely. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
May 9th, 2011 by Iltifat Husain, M.D. in Health Tips
Tags: App, ASCO, Featured, Free, iPad, iPhone, Mobile Technology, Oncology, Patient Education
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Cancer.net, an oncologist approved cancer information site from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), has released a free iPhone and iPad app — full of handy features for cancer patients.
The free app allows cancer patients and their family members to look up pertinent information based on cancer type and download a wealth of oncology related information in the form of videos, podcasts, and up to date articles.
Where the app truly shines is in there key features: Ability to store questions, medications and symptoms. The way this app implements these key features is absolutely stunning, and makes the application a must have for cancer patients and their family members.
This review will explore these features and how your patients can use this app.
*This blog post was originally published at iMedicalApps*
May 8th, 2011 by GarySchwitzer in Health Tips
Tags: Cancer, Does Screening Work?, ENT, MSKCC, Oncology, Otis Brawley, Otolaryngology, Screening, Throat Screening
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All over the country in May, hospitals are offering “Free Throat Cancer Screening.” A Google search turned up dozens of results for that specific term or the related “oral, head and neck cancer screening.”
Here’s one example, promoting “Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week, May 8-14.”
This promotion uses ominous warnings:
Can you live without your voice?
What about your jaw?
Would you miss it if you couldn’t swallow food?
Throat cancer can take all of those things away, along with your ability to eat, talk and breathe normally. These debilitating problems can be prevented, but you have to catch cancer early.
Some promotions – such as this one – use celebrity pitches such as “If it happened to Michael Douglas, it can happen to you.”
Here’s one that states, “A 10-minute, painless screening could save your life.”
But where’s the evidence for that? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
May 8th, 2011 by John Di Saia, M.D. in Health Tips, True Stories
Tags: Bad, Body Contouring, Dents, Laser, Liposuction, Plastic Surgery, Smartlipo, Surgery, Weight Loss
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It frequently amazes me how patients can be wowed by technology and advertising hype. The attraction of newer technology in particular helps part many people from their money at times. The SmartLipo system is one of the laser-assisted liposuction systems on the market. I have blogged on it before having used it quite a bit a few years ago.
The system is being marketed with phrases like “almost anyone can be a good candidate for SmartLipo.” That is simply BS.
I saw an attractive young woman in the office who had had Smartlipo on her lower back. It looked like the Geiko Gecko had done it. Her smooth contour had been made irregular and discolored despite the fact that the surgery had happened quite a while prior. Her ribs had been a bit exposed by the loss of some of the fat that would normally have laid over them. Early lipo results do change, but this wasn’t something that was going to improve over time. I have seen worse but this was so unnecessary.
SmartLipo Led to a Dent
Why did this happen? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
