July 30th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Health Tips, News
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New research suggests that people who live in “walkable” neighborhoods weigh about 6-10 pounds less than those who live in pedestrian-unfriendly communities. Scientists at the University of Utah calculated the body mass index (BMI) of about half a million Salt Lake county residents from a state drivers license database. They then compared the “pedestrian friendliness” of the zip codes associated with the various BMIs.
They found that people who live in more densely populated zip codes (designed to be more friendly to pedestrians) tended to have lower BMIs. This research has not yet been published, so I can’t comment on the details of the study. However, it makes intuitive sense that walking more can make people lighter on their feet.
The study authors mentioned that city planners used to design communities with pedestrian activities in mind, but since the 1950’s this practice has become less common. Many new housing developments are built around the assumption that vehicles are the main form of transportation, making that a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Earlier this year I participated in an 8 week walking program promoted by the Department of Health and Human Services. At their recommendation, I purchased a pedometer with a goal of achieving 10,000 steps per day. It was an eye-opening experience for me (left to my own devices, I naturally walked about 2000 steps per day – and I don’t own a car). Americans simply don’t get the amount of exercise that they need to be healthy. We are seeing the result of our sedentary lifestyle in our country’s increasing overweight and obesity rates.
All I can say is that I’m struggling along with the rest of us – doing what I can to increase my activity level and walk as much as possible. I’m lucky to live in an area where walking is fun and easy to do. I have the utmost sympathy for those who are striving to become more active against the odds. Why not join my weight loss group and we can commiserate? There are over 2600 people in there, encouraging one another to get fit! Don’t let your zipcode determine your destiny.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
July 28th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Uncategorized
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Now this is an historic moment… I finally get to meet my hero medblogger Gene Ostrovsky, editor and webmaster of Medgadget.com at a blogger conference tomorrow in Washington, DC. Gene is driving in from NYC and we’ll plan to have dinner with hubby and any other folks we can lure from the all-star conference:
Welcome and Introduction Drew Altman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Kaiser Family Foundation
Keynote Address The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Panel Discussion Vicky Rideout (moderator) Vice President, Kaiser Family Foundation and Director, Kaiser Forum on Health Journalism and the News Business
Jacob Goldstein, Wall Street Journal
Michael Cannon, Cato Institute
Ezra Klein, American Prospect Magazine
John McDonough, Office of Senator Edward Kennedy and formerly of Health Care for All in Massachusetts
Tom Rosenstiel, Center for Excellence in Journalism
I’ve spent the last year and a half producing a weekly newsletter featuring the best of Medgadget’s posts – this one about the asthma inhaler “spacer piggie” is just one example of the innovative gadgets that Gene has enthusiastically gathered into one place for geeks like me. So it will be fun to meet the man behind the piggies… See you tomorrow, Gene.
Anyone else care to join us?
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
July 25th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Expert Interviews, Health Policy
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“The gap between what we know and what we do is lethal.”
— Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D.
I attended a press conference today announcing the National Call to Action on Cancer Prevention and Survivorship. Lance Armstrong and 4 former US Surgeons General (Carmona, Satcher, Elders, and Novello) took turns outlining what they saw as the most critical aspects of advancing the war on cancer. I was offered 1:1 interviews with three of the four doctors, thanks to the press conference sponsors, The Canyon Ranch Institute, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. These interviews will follow in my next blog post.
Each speaker made a compelling and passionate plea for redoubling our efforts on the war on cancer (first declared in 1971 by Richard Nixon). Some of the key points included:
Lance Armstrong called for the FDA to regulate the tobacco industry, for the government to increase funding to the National Cancer Institute, and for access for all Americans to the same level of cancer care.
Dr. Richard Carmona called for culturally relevant preventive health education, for programs to decrease smoking rates and improve diet and exercise among Americans.
Dr. David Satcher called on Americans to act on what we already know. “Seventy percent of smokers want to quit” he said. The trick is to get them to follow through.
Dr. Joycelyn Elders emphasized the unacceptable quality gulf between healthcare for minorities and the poor versus the wealthy. She said, “poverty is the most potent carcinogen.”
Dr. Antonia Novello focused on the challenges that cancer patients face in navigating the healthcare system. She called for congress to pass a bill requiring Medicare to pay for coordination of care for cancer patients. She envisions a culturally sensitive, personalized service that will facilitate record keeping, improve therapy compliance, and help the patient to manage their care more effectively.
I was most intrigued with Dr. Novello’s arguments, since I’ve been interested in the concept of creating an “OnStar” navigation system for healthcare for several years. The cancer patient population is arguably the sub-group of highest need. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out in congress.
In my next post I’ll offer interview notes from my 1:1 meetings, so stay tuned!This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
July 22nd, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Uncategorized
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Not to be outdone by the exciting July 29th DC medblogger conference, or Medgadget’s new Medpolitics site, Scienceblogs (the sister site of Seed Magazine) is sponsoring a meet-and-greet on August 9th in New York City. If you’d like to attend – and meet some of your favorite science bloggers in person – please send an email to: nycmeetup@scienceblogs.com
Beer and swag, science and reason, talented writers, and my favorite city… All just one Chinatown bus ride away.
Hope to see you there!
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
July 22nd, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Health Policy, Medblogger Shout Outs
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My friends at Medgadget.com let me know about a new initiative that they started: an open blog site for US Physicians who wish to express their policy opinions online. Healthcare reform is championed primarily by politicians with no medical training – so they really need help to understand the issues from doctors in the trenches. Just as Barack Obama and John McCain are crafting their foreign policy in light of information they glean from military personnel on the front lines, I hope they will also inform their healthcare policy by listening carefully to the frontline caregivers in medicine. Let them know what you think!
From Medgadget’s press release:
We are very proud to unveil a new web service called Medpolitics.com, a blogging site open to US physicians to opine on healthcare, public health, politics of medicine, and the state of our profession. The time seems perfect considering that healthcare is such a hot debate topic, and many doctors feel that we should have a stronger voice in the debate. We figured we know a thing or two about blogging and healthcare. So why not build a service where doctors write their political thoughts and others read them and comment? We hope that one day politicians, policy makers, news makers, and others will be checking it out to see what the doctors actually think on the important medical policy issues.
So we registered the domain, installed a user-friendly publishing software, and gave it some testing. The site is now ready to go, all without any significant investments (except for our time) or outside funding. In other words, 100% independent political network for doctors.
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
