May 16th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
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I saw the note on the patient’s chart before I opened the door: “Patient is upset that he had to come in.”
I opened the door and was greeted by a gentleman with his arms crossed tightly across his chest and a stern expression. I barely recognized him, having only seen him a handful of times over the past few years. Scrawled on the patient history sheet in the space for the reason for his visit were the words, “Because I was forced to come in.”
My stomach churned. I opened his chart and looked at his problem list, which included high blood pressure and high cholesterol –- both treated with medications. He was last in my office in November — of 2008. I blinked, looked up at his scowling face, and frowned back. ”You haven’t been in the office for over 18 months. It was really time for you to come in,” I said, trying to remain calm as I spoke.
He sat for a moment, then responded with very little emotion. “I’m doing fine. You could’ve just ordered my labs and called in my prescriptions. I don’t know why I had to be seen.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
May 2nd, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
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Kids are like dogs — you can train them until they’re too old to train. Then they’re going to do whatever they want.
The key to getting kids to exercise is to make it fun for them. But they aren’t going to exercise if it isn’t made a part of their normal routine. It’s up to adults to train them.
Mrs. Happy and I had the joyous opportunity of inviting our 10-year-old niece to her first-ever running event. She had never ever run in a race before. We did the two-mile race and she loved it. And amazingly, she finished without stopping — not even once.
Our nation is raising a nation of fat and lazy kids because we’re lazy adults. We drive everywhere. We sit at our desks. We get food on the run. We watch a lot of television. We surf the Net a bunch. And we have stopped moving. We have literally stopped moving. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
April 27th, 2010 by DaveMunger in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research, True Stories
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First, an article in the New York Times talks about whether exercise can actually help you lose weight. Short answer: Probably not, but it may help you keep the pounds off. Click here to read the article.
Second, I’ve done a podcast about my post on whether diet can be used to control blood pressure long term. Each week Razib Khan, Kevin Zelnio and I discuss an article we’ve covered on one of our blogs, and it was my turn. Click here to listen to the podcast online, or click here if you’d like to subscribe to the podcast. You can also visit iTunes and search on “ResearchBlogCast.”
*This blog post was originally published at The Daily Monthly*
April 17th, 2010 by DaveMunger in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
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Do a search on the Internet for “high blood pressure” or “hypertension” and you’ll find that nearly every health website recommends the DASH diet to control blood pressure. It makes some sense: If sodium and saturated fat cause high blood pressure, then removing them from your diet should make it come back down.
But changing your eating habits is easier said than done. It’s easy to say you want to cut down on fat and sodium, but it’s hard to resist a hot slice of Chicago-style pizza piled high with sausage and cheese. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Daily Monthly*
April 9th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Opinion
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Primary care doctors and nutritionists will soon have a new threat in the fight against obesity. KFC is going national with its new “Double Down” sandwich on April 12.
This 540 calorie, 32g of fat, 1380mg of sodium “sandwich” replaces the bread or bun with two pieces of fried chicken.
In a somewhat hyperbolic article at Consumerist.com, its predicted that the new fast-food sandwich will “start killing people” nationwide next week.
Product page: Double Down…
More: Introducing The Vegan Double Down!
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
