December 22nd, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Diet and Exercise, Dr. John Mandrola, Exercise Before Breakfast, Fitness Goals, Food and Nutrition, Holiday Eating, Metabolism, Morning Exercise, New York Times, Physiology, Pre-Breakfast Exercise, Tara Parker-Pope
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It’s the time of the year when dietary temptations lurk around every corner of the hospital. And since completely abstaining is not always possible, the best antidote for this holiday deluge of inflammation is obvious: Exercise.
No doubt, within the boundaries of common sense, all exercise is good. But is there a best time of day to exercise?
Tara Parker-Pope’s New York Times piece suggests that the most “productive” time of day to exercise is before breakfast. In concisely reviewing a Belgian exercise physiology study, Ms. Parker-Pope points out that, in blunting the undesirable effects of a high fat and sugar diet, pre-breakast (fasting) exercise was metabolically more efficient than was exercise later in the day. That’s really good news for the overweight middle-agers who consistently say: “I really don’t eat very much. I must have a slow metabolism.”
Scientific studies are one thing, but are they validated in the court of real life? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
December 21st, 2010 by Michael Sevilla, M.D. in News, Opinion
Tags: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Anti-Physician, Bad Doctors, Birth-Related Complications, C-Section, CNN, Defied Medicine, Doctor Anonymous, Dr. Michael Sevilla, E-Patient, Empowered Patients, Fetal Health, Going Against Medicine, High-Risk Childbirth, Home Birth, Irresponsible Patients, Labor And Delivery, Natural Childbirth, OB/GYN, Patient Empowerment, Patient Responsibility, Pregnancy and Childbirth, U.S. Healthcare System, Vaginal Delivery
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Every once I awhile a story catches my eye as I scan the news websites. There was one this morning on CNN with this catchy title: “Mom Defies Doctor, Has Baby Her Way.” The article describes a story where a mother was going to have her fourth baby. Her previous three were born via C-section. Mom did not want another C-section done, and “defied” her doctor’s order for the procedure. “You’re being irresponsible,” the patient was told.
The middle of the article talks about the current thinking and statement of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology saying that “it’s reasonable to consider allowing women who’ve had two C-sections to try to have a vaginal delivery.” Of course, there’s risks with proceeding with a vaginal delivery and risks of another C-section.
What’s always interesting to me are the comments following the article. I applaud the physicians who are fighting back the anti-physician sentiment and those who are pushing (no pun intended) the only home birth agenda.
In the article, this person is being held up as a hero — as someone who defied the paternalistic medical establishment and did it her way. Good for her — or is it? What if that 0.4-0.9 percent possibility of severe complication occurred and there was a problem with mom and/or the baby? What would happen then? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Doctor Anonymous*
December 21st, 2010 by PJSkerrett in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: Antioxidants, Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar Control, Brown Rice, C-Reactive Protein, Cardiac Risk, Chia Pet, Chia Seeds, Chian, Chronic Conditions, Diabetes, Diabetes Care, Diabetes Management, Fiber, Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, HDL Cholesterol, Heart Health, Highly-Refined Grains, LDL Cholesterol, Living With Diabetes, Mint, Oatmeal, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, PJ Skerrett, Protein, Quinoa, Salba, Salvia Hispanica, Texting While Driving, Triglycerides, White Bread, White Rice, Whole Grains, Whole-Wheat Bread
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Like swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano in the spring, Chia Pets begin appearing every December on late-night television and in the gift aisles of many stores. (Full disclaimer: I bought one for the Yankee Swap at Harvard Health Publication’s annual Christmas party.) Water these ceramic figures and they sprout a green “fur” from seeds embedded on the surface. Silly? Sure, that’s why they are such a hit. What you might not know is that the seeds may someday be a real gift for people with diabetes.
Chia seeds come from a plant formally known as Salvia hispanica, which is a member of the mint family. It gets its common name from the Aztec word “chian,” meaning oily, because the herb’s small, black seeds are rich in oils. It was a staple food for the Aztecs, and legend has it that their runners relied on chia seeds for fuel as they carried messages one hundred or more miles in a day. Chia seeds contain more healthy omega-3 fats and fiber than flax or other grain seeds. They are also a good source of protein and antioxidants. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
December 20th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: ACP Internist, American College Of Physicians, Annals of Emergency Medicine, Archives of Internal Medicine, Benefits Vs. Harms, Cancer Risk, Computed Tomography, CT Scans, Defensive Medicine, Diagnostic Radiology, Diagnostic Tests, Doctor-Patient Communication, ER Patients, False Positive, Hiroshima Survivors, Less Is More, Long-Term Consequences, Medical Diagnoses, Number of X-rays, Oncology, Patient Education, Patient Reassurance, Patient Safety, Patient Understanding, Radiation Exposure, Radiation Risks, Ryan DuBosar, Too Much Testing, Unnecessary Medical Tests
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Emergency patients with acute abdominal pain feel more confident about medical diagnoses when a doctor has ordered a computed tomography (CT) scan, and nearly three-quarters of patients underestimate the radiation risk posed by this test, reports the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
“Patients with abdominal pain are four times more confident in an exam that includes imaging than in an exam that has no testing,” said the paper’s lead author. “Most of the patients in our study had little understanding of the amount of radiation delivered by one CT scan, never mind several over the course of a lifetime. Many of the patients did not recall earlier CT scans, even though they were listed in electronic medical records.”
Researchers surveyed 1,168 patients with non-traumatic abdominal pain. Confidence in medical evaluations with increasing levels of laboratory testing and imaging was rated on a 100-point scale. Then, to assess cancer risk knowledge, participants rated their agreement with these factual statements: “Approximately two to three abdominal CTs give the same radiation exposure as experienced by Hiroshima survivors,” and “Two to three abdominal CTs over a person’s lifetime can increase cancer risk.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
December 20th, 2010 by AndrewSchorr in News, Opinion
Tags: Andrew Schorr, DNA Swab, DNA Testing, Dr. Donall Thomas, Ethnic Minority, Hired Models, Luring Organ Donors, Luring Patients, Medical Scams, Organ Transplantation, Patient Power, Patients Waiting For a Transplant, Potential Organ Donors, Registered Organ Donors, University of Massachusetts
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Without having one myself, I am pretty familiar with bone marrow transplant as a potential curative and lifesaving approach. After all, it was invented in my hometown of Seattle and I’ve met Dr. Donall Thomas who won a Nobel prize for developing the approach. I have met people who have been given a new lease on life because of transplant, I’ve known people who have died when transplant did not work for them or complications overwhelmed them, and I know many doctors who are transplant experts.
I know how finding a perfect match can be hard — especially when the patient in need is part of an ethnic minority. And I have heard the horror stories of matched donors saying no to patients who would die if they didn’t receive a transplant from them.
Now comes a story from Massachusetts that’s almost as bad — not a story of sentencing people to death by not donating, but a story of defrauding our healthcare system and, in the process, undermining a legitimate nationwide effort to have more people registered as potential donors. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*
It’s the time of the year when dietary temptations lurk around every corner of the hospital. And since completely abstaining is not always possible, the best antidote for this holiday deluge of inflammation is obvious: Exercise.
