November 24th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: AF, Alzheimer's Disease, Atrial Fibrillation, Benefits of Exercise, Cleveland Journal of Medicine, Clinical Trials, Cognitive Decline, Cognitive Function, Colinesterase Inhibitors, Coumadin, Dabigatran, Dialysis, Dr. Toni Brayer, Elderly People, Everything Health, Evidence Based Medicine, Family Medicine, Flu Vaccine, General Medicine, Geriatrics, Internal Medicine, Medical Research, Medical Science, Older Adults, Pradaxa, Preventing Falls and Fractures, Primary Care, Science and Medicine, Vitamin D, Warfarin
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New clinical trials and published research are giving us information on how to improve health in elderly patients. Here are some brief points from the Cleveland Journal of Medicine that were surprising to me:
— Each year 30 percent of people age 65 or older fall and sustain serious injuries so preventing falls and fractures is important. Vitamin D prevents both falls and fractures, but mega doses of Vitamin D (50,000 mg) might cause more falls. A better dose is 1,000mg a day in people who consume a low-calcium diet.
— Exercise boosts the effect of influenza vaccine.
— The benefits of dialysis in older patients is uncertain, as it does not improve function in people over age 80. We don’t even know if it improves survival. Older patients who receive dialysis for kidney failure had a decline in function (eating, bed mobility, ambulation, toileting, hygiene, and dressing) after starting treatment.
— Colinesterase inhibitors (Aricept, Razadyne and Exelon) are commonly used to treat Alzheimer disease, but they all can have serious side effects. Syncope (fainting), hip fractures, slow heart rate, and the need for permanent pacemaker insertion were more frequent in people taking these drugs. The benefits of these drugs on cognition is modest.
— A new drug called Pradaxa (dabigatran) will likely prove to be safer than Coumadin (warfarin). Over two million adults have atrial fibrillation and the median age is 75. The blood thinner warfarin is critical for prevention of strokes but it caries a high risk of bleeding and drug levels have to be monitored frequently. Dabigatran will probably replace warfarin, but it will probably also be a lot more expensive.
As I often say, medicine and science are constantly changing and evolving. As new evidence comes forth, physicians and patients need to re-evaluate they way we do things.
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
November 24th, 2010 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion
Tags: Barbara Ficarra, Children's Health Insurance, Donna Cryer, Dr. Carl Sullivan, Dr. Kevin Pho, Elizabeth Cohen, Empowered Patients, General Medicine, Health In 30, Medical Team, Patient Engagement, Patient Importance, Primary Care, Quality Patient Care
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Do you feel patients are the most important part of the medical (healthcare) team?
In a recent post on Health in 30, “When Doctors and Nurses Work Together,” I wrote about the team-based approach for caring and treating patients, and it addressed the relationship between nurses, doctors, patients and the importance of a multidisciplinary, team-based approach to patient care.
The healthcare team is comprised of a diverse group of specialized professionals, and the most important part of the medical team is the patient.
Subsequent to publishing this post, I received an email from an author and patient advocate stating that patients are not the most important member of the medical team. I value and respect this comment, however I politely and passionately disagree. As a registered nurse and consumer health advocate, I emphatically say that patients are the most important part of the medical team. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
November 23rd, 2010 by Jeffrey Benabio, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
Tags: Antioxidants, Caffeic Acid, Dermatology, Dr. Jeff Benabio, Healthy Skin, Mediterranean Diet, Natural Remedies, Oleic Acid, Oleuropein, Olive Oil, Skin Care, Skin Moisturizer, The Dermatology Blog
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Trying to keep up with what’s hot in skincare is like trying to keep up with the Kardashians. It’s impossible (not that I’ve tried with the Kardashians, that is.)
Then how are you to know what are the latest and greatest ingredients? Well, you could read The Derm Blog (when I get around to posting on it), or you could just listen to your grandmother.
Some of the newest discoveries in skin care aren’t new at all: Olive oil may be seem hot now, but countless Mediterranean grandmothers, including mine, have sworn by its skin-care benefits for centuries (millenia?) Were they right?
Olive oil contains caffeic acid, oleic acid, and oleuropein — all of which are potent antioxidants. Unlike berries or teas, these antioxidants are already in oil, allowing them to be directly applied to the skin. Topically applied olive oil helps dry skin, rosacea, psoriasis, seborrhea, burns, atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, diaper dermatitis, hand dermatitis, and eczema. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Dermatology Blog*
November 23rd, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: ACP Internist, Advice For Parents, American College Of Physicians, Antibiotics, Children's Health, Epidemiology, Infant Health, Infectious Disease, Inner Ear Infections, JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association, Middle Ear Infection, Otitis Media, Parent Preferences, Pediatrics, Ryan DuBosar
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Kids get inner ear infections and then they get antibiotics, despite a long-standing knowledge that it’s not always best. Any physician knows this, but who hasn’t faced an irate or anxious parent in the exam room insisting on a prescription, whether the evidence warrants it or not?
Reuters reports that the tally for all those antibiotics is $2.8 billion dollars, or $350 per child annually. And there’s only a slight benefit to them.
While hardly comforting to the parents, physicians can add more heft to their argument that antibiotics are only modestly more effective than nothing, and they can avoid the rashes and diarrhea that antibiotics incur. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
November 21st, 2010 by Peggy Polaneczky, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Cervical Mucus, Dr. Peggy Polaneczky, Female Reproductive Cycle, Hormonal Contraception, Menstrual Cycle, Mirena IUD, OB/GYN, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Ovulation, Pregnancy, Progestin, Reproductive Health, TBTAM, The Blog That Ate Manhattan, Women's Health
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Ask any third-year medical student how hormonal contraception prevents pregnancy, and they’ll probably tell you it prevents ovulation. What they won’t tell you is that this effect is variable and dose-dependent, and if we depended on it alone, hormonal contraception would be much less effective.
That’s because of the very important, and in my opinion, much under-appreciated effect of hormonal contraception on cervical mucus.
A Cervical Mucus Primer
Fertile cervical mucus — which forms under the influence of rising estrogen levels in the first half of the menstrual cycle and is maximal around ovulation –- is thin, watery, clear and easy for sperm to traverse.
Non-fertile mucus — which forms after ovulation and also in pregnancy under the influence of progesterone –- is the exact opposite: Thick,tacky, non-distensible and impossible for sperm to penetrate. (It’s not called the mucus plug for nothing.) Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at tbtam*
