August 2nd, 2009 by admin in Better Health Network, News
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I have been bombarded with questions about this new study released yesterday about organic food being no healthier than conventionally grown produce. The study is in the September issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Organics have been growing in the marketplace at a very steady rate of about 20% for years. Are they worth the higher price tag?
This particular study was a review of scientific papers published in the past 50 years on nutritional quality of organic foods. They found that there was no statistically significant difference between organic and conventional produced foods in terms of nutritional value.
Many people were disappointed in this news, but remember that they just studied nutritional value. They did not address in this study the difference between pesticide and fertilizer residue, environmental impact, hormone levels, etc. When you make the decision of organic vs. conventional, there are many issues to consider.
If you want help making this decision, check out this link to the 12 “dirtiest” foods that tend to have the most pesticide residue and the 12 “cleanest” foods that have very little. Spend your organic dollars on the dirtiest and save your money on the cleanest.
The Organic Center has a different take on the study recently released and believes organic food does have higher nutritional quality, especially when talking about antioxidants. Read their response here. You can also link to their study from 2008 that found organic food with higher nutritional quality.
This post, Organic Food Not More Nutritious – But May Have Different Pesticide Exposure, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Brian Westphal.
August 2nd, 2009 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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I use Twitter and I like it. As a registered nurse, twitter helps me promote health and wellness and it helps me educate the public on vital health topics.
It allows me to tweet about an upcoming radio show, link to informative websites and blogs, or retweet (RT) a tweet.
I can read about the latest breaking health news, learn about the latest in health 2.0 and
sometimes it simply allows me connect with colleagues and consumers in a fun and friendly fashion.
Twitter has become a source for obtaining the latest news and information. Short snippets of info flow to and fro faster than you can say “uncle.”
In 140 characters or less you can say what you need to say. While some tweets aren’t relevant, I mean really, do we need to know that you’ve waiting in a long line at Starbucks for your café latte? No, but sometimes the mundane tweets helps humanize you a bit.
Tweeters
When a Tweet passes my way that is directed from Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN (@sanjayguptacnn), Gwenn O’Keefe, MD, (@drgwenn), Jennifer Shu, MD (@livingwelldoc), Val Jones, MD (@drval), Kevin Pho, MD (@kevinmd), CDC, (@cdcemergency), Daniel Sands, MD (@DrDannySands), or American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), (@emergencydocs); just to name a few, I can feel good knowing that the 140 characters or less of info is accurate, reliable and trustworthy.
Educate the Public
Doctors, nurses and other health care professionals can provide accurate,complete, reliable and trustworthy health information.
Tweeting is the perfect opportunity to help educate the public.
I asked three doctors who use twitter to share their thoughts. Here’s what they said:
Kevin Pho, MD, a primary care physician and a nationally recognized medical commentator who publishes provocative medical commentary at KevinMD.com –
Twitter offers an opportunity for doctors to provide instant feedback, faster than they can even from blogging. This can range from providing updates on surgery, which Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital has done, to giving opinions on the latest, breaking studies. Twitter can provide more transparency to what goes on in the physician’s world, and allow both patients and other doctors to interact with one another in a quick, convenient way.
Gwenn O’Keefe, MD, pediatrician and editor, pediatricsnow.com –
When we graduate medical school and say the modern Hippocratic oath, we promise to not only do no harm but care for people by respecting the society in which they live. Like it or not, technology is part of that society so we have a responsibility to not only respect it but learn it and use it for the greater good of family health in whatever ways necessary and on whatever platforms are available.
Daniel Z. Sands, MD, Director of Medical Informatics at Cisco IBSG and a primary care physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center –
By following tweets from health information sources that they trust, people can get general health tips, preventive health information, disease specific information, and even suggestions about to be more engaged in their healthcare. You might also get health coaching from a health professional, a health coach, or even peers (“Did you exercise today?” “I walked 5110 steps today—how many did you walk?”).
The take-away message
Everyone needs to be alert regarding the tweets they receive. Just because a tweet is about a health topic, that doesn’t mean it’s accurate.
Health consumers need to check the source. Doctors and nurses can help educate the public on vital health topics with information that is accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
You can follow me on twitter @barbaraficarra. Thanks!
This topic continues on today’s Health in 30 Radio Show on WRCR at 12:30 pm EST. Kevin Pho, MD will join me to talk about “Doctors and Social Media.” For more info please go to Healthin30.com.
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
August 1st, 2009 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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Two weeks ago, I was in Washington, DC with the Better Health team, listening to people talk about voting down government health care.
Last week, I was in Chicago at BlogHer, part of a lunch meeting with Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison, listening to women at BlogHer talk about passing the government health care bill.
And I have now just entered the land of confusion.
Valerie Jarrett spoke with a room full of bloggers about health care, but she also listened. She listened while women told their personal stories and she seemed to understand that health care situations aren’t as simple to solve as we’d like them to be. Women candidly told their stories and a few tears even slipped out. But she listened intently. And she said she wanted to give a voice to those who might not speak up for themselves.
“Often the people who need it the most don’t speak up because they don’t feel like they have a voice. Give the grass roots a voice, empower them, work together informing people within their communities. You can work to help them get their voice, get info that they don’t have.”
This lady is important. Her cell phone rang several times during our lunch (it could have been THE PRESIDENT, for crying out loud) and she had her assistant take the call so she could focus on us. She handed out her card and scheduled phone calls between some bloggers and her staff to help with the specific health issues that these bloggers were dealing with. Sure, for them it was a matter of being in the right time at the right place, but she really listened. I’ve never sat in a room before with a member of high political influence who paid attention to the people more than the information on her cell phone or in her planner. (Maybe that means I’ve been in the room with the wrong politicians?)
It was a remarkable experience, and the room was electric with hope.
And now I’m even more confused about this health care issue. I want insurance coverage, I want good coverage, but I don’t want to be excluded due to my pre-existing condition. I can’t find a happy mental medium with this, but I know there has to be a way for people like me to find health coverage despite diabetes.
With that thought, I’m off to the Joslin Clinic in Boston, with my pregnant best friend in tow, to immerse myself in the best that health care has to offer. And I hope that whatever decision made by our government leaves me with access to the people I need to help manage my care.
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
August 1st, 2009 by Paul Auerbach, M.D. in News
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In the June 11, 2009 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine appears an article by Mark Duffy and colleagues entitled “Zika Virus Outbreak on Yap Island, Federated States of Micronesia.” This outbreak occurred in 2007, and was described as a cluster of 108 persons with confirmed or suspected infection, characterized with main symptoms of skin rash, fever, conjunctivitis, and painful joints. Other less common symptoms were muscle aches, pain behind the eyes, tissue swelling and vomiting.
As reported by the authors, there were no hospitalizations, bleeding problems in victims, or deaths. The predominant mosquito culprit was Aedes hensilli. The disease was determined to be mild in this outbreak. Zika virus is in the family of flaviviruses, which include West Nile, dengue, and yellow fever viruses. It has been diagnosed in Asia and Africa, and is transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Before this particular outbreak, there had only been 14 cases of human Zika virus disease previously documented.
The diagnosis was made in this outbreak by sending serum samples from patients to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Arbovirus Diagnostic and Reference Laboratory in Fort Collins, Colorado.
How did this virus turn up in Yap? The most likely introducer was an infected mosquito or human. So, given the abundance of mosquitoes and propensity of people to travel, we may soon see this disease in other regions around the globe.
image courtesy of www.cdc.gov
This post, New Mosquito-Born Virus Could Come To US, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Paul Auerbach, M.D..
August 1st, 2009 by MotherJonesRN in Better Health Network, Expert Interviews, Health Policy
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I love the Internet. It has a way of bringing people closer together. I saw Governor Howard Dean at a town hall meeting in Washington D.C earlier this month. He’s a dynamic speaker. I wanted to ask him some questions, but the place was packed, so I couldn’t get close to him. Not to be deterred, I emailed Governor Dean in hopes of getting a response to a couple of my questions. He not only responded to my email, he agreed to an interview for my blog. See, the Internet really can bring people closer together. I want to thank Governor Dean for stopping by Nurse Ratched’s Place to talk about healthcare reform.
Question: What is your take on the state of our healthcare system? What do you envision for our system, and how do we get there from here? Can America really afford a public option plan?
Answer: Our system is in disarray. We need a system in which the American consumer has real choices, including allowing people under 65 to sign up for Medicare, which is what the public option will look like. That way people can get affordable insurance which can never be taken away, which can’t be denied, and which will follow them through every job, every loss of job, and every move. We can’t afford NOT to have a public option.
Question: How flexible is the public option: will a person be able to move between the public option and private options as their needs and circumstances change?
Answer: People will be able to move back and forth between the public option and private insurance plans as they see fit, up to once a year.
Question: Given your unique perspective as a physician, can you tell us one aspect of the public option that you like and one aspect that you might not be happy with?
Answer: As a physician I would sign up for the public option at once if it is cheaper than what I have now. I would definitely sign my twenty something kids up; it would give them insurance for life at a reasonable cost no matter what they were doing and where they were living.
Question: One of my nursing coworkers wanted me to ask you this question. How will healthcare reform impact nursing workforce issues? Will we see mandated caps on salaries, and how will healthcare reform impact nurse to patient ratios?
Answer: Workforce issues are not addressed in any of the health care options being discussed in Congress. Most Democrats I know favor nurse/patient staff ratios to protect quality of care.
Question: Preventative healthcare is a key component in the healthcare reform debate. What are your thoughts on a proposal that would make the Chief Nurse Officer of the United States Public Health Service the National Nurse? In your opinion, would establishing the Office of the National Nurse have any impact on health promotion or on healthcare reform?
Answer: As a lot of people know, I am a huge supporter of the Office of National Nurse, and since Congress has been slow to act, I am hoping some changes can be made directly by HHS while we await more complete action by Congress.
*This blog post was originally published at Nurse Ratched's Place*
