September 4th, 2011 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Opinion
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The tweet said that experts were debating the merits of a polypill? I had to click that link.
Yes. I was right; there were actually “eminent” cardiologists suggesting that a pill containing 4 different medicines (a statin, aspirin, beta-blocker and an ACE-inhibitor) “might change the face of cardiovascular medicine.”
The direct quote from Dr. Salim Yusef, one of the most eminent heart doctors, went like this:
“We have to think of the polypill not as a pill, but as part of a strategy to completely change our approach to prevention,” said Yusuf. “Instead of saying lifestyle first and drugs next, why don’t we say that drugs are the basis, then get the patients contemplating prevention, and then get them to modify their lifestyle. Maybe that will work, because the reverse strategy hasn’t.”
Maybe it was jet lag? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
May 27th, 2011 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Health Policy, News
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The Center for Disease Control published the top ten public health achievements from 2001-2010, the first decade of the 21st century. In no order they are:
- Vaccine-preventable Diseases – new vaccines for herpes zoster, pneumonia, HPV and rotavirus have saved thousands of lives When you add in the older vaccines for diptheria, pertussus, tetanus and measles/mumps millions of lives have been saved around the world. (I saw diptheria in Haiti and it is horrible)
- Tobacco Control- We have been battling tobacco since 1964 but there is finally progress with more states enacting smoke-free laws and raising cigarette taxes. By 2010, the FDA banned flavored cigarettes and established restrictions on youth access. We have a long way to go. Smoking costs us all about $193 billion a year on medical costs and loss of productivity.
- Motor Vehicle Safety –Enforcing seat belt and child safety legislation has reduced deaths from crashes. Teen drivers have new policies too.
- Cardiovascular Disease Prevention-During the past decade, age-adjusted heart disease and stroke deaths declined. What worked? Treating hypertension, elevated cholesterol and smoking…along with improved treatment and medication. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
February 10th, 2011 by PJSkerrett in Health Tips, Research
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As a youngster, I loved being part of the baby boom — it meant there were dozens of kids on my block who were ready to play hide-and-seek or join mysterious clubs. Now that I’m of an AARP age, there’s one club I don’t want to join: The one whose members have bypass scars, pacemakers, or other trappings of cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association’s (AHA) gloomy new forecast on cardiovascular disease tells me it won’t be easy to avoid.
The AHA foresees sizeable increases in all forms of cardiovascular disease (see table) between now and 2030, the year all of the boomers are age 65 and older. Those increases will translate into an additional 27 million people with high blood pressure, eight million with coronary heart disease, four million with stroke, and three million with heart failure. That will push the number of adult Americans with some form of heart disease to 110 million.
(Percentages refer to the percentage of Americans aged 18 years and older.)
If the AHA’s projections are accurate, the cost of treating cardiovascular disease would balloon from $272 billion today to $818 billion in 2030. Add in the cost of lost productivity, and it jumps to more than $1 trillion. Yikes!
Although obesity and inactivity are part of the problem, much of the increase comes from the graying of the baby boom. We can’t stop boomers from aging, but we can fight cardiovascular disease, a condition the AHA calls “largely preventable.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
