Prilosec, Nexium Get Clean Bill of Health from FDA

Med Headlines - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement this week confirming the safety of two widely used drugs, Prilosec and Nexium, when used as prescribed.  Concerns over a seemingly increased risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attack, heart failure, and sudden death, in patients receiving these medications over a long period of time in lieu of surgery prompted the FDA to conduct an in-depth review of the safety of these two drugs. Read more

Asians Adopting To Lifestyle In Scotland Have a Higher Risk of Heart Disease

Med Headlines - People of Asian origin, especially those from India, China, and Pakistan are at greater risk of developing cardiac problems if they move to Scotland. This is the finding of a new study presented by Edinburgh University and NHS National Services Scotland, which indicates that Asians moving to European countries tend to adopt a poor lifestyle and diet, and thus augment their risk of developing heart problems. Read more

Low-Income Geriatric Patients Fare Better With Integrated Care

Med Headlines - According to a study released this week, low-income seniors fare much better when their health care involves an integrated approach that includes home-based and institutional services. The results of the two year study titled Geriatric Resources for Assessment and Care of Elders (GRACE), showed that community-dwelling low income patients who have integrated care experience improved quality of life and reduced utilization of acute care services. The study was conducted by Steven R. Counsell, M.D. of Indiana University and his colleagues and was reported in the December 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Read more

Global Warming Tax On Extra Children

Med Headlines - Global warming has now reached health care. In an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia, Dr. Barry Walters, an associate professor of obstetrics at the University of Western Australia, suggests implementing tax on parents with children.

Dr. Walters believes that since every human contributes to global warming, parents who choose to have more children than an amount predetermined by the government, should pay $5,000 carbon footprint tax at birth of the additional baby and $800 per year thereafter.

Walters suggests that the additional money may be used for fight against global warming. He also proposes awarding “carbon credits” to those who purchase birth control or undergo permanent sterilization.

Ironically, Australia with its population of 21 million, currently offers credits to families with children.

Question comes to mind, when will Dr. Walters propose taxing the elderly? Going with his train of thought, it’s the elderly that should be taxed, they are not productive, they are a burden on the health care system and DO CONTRIBUTE to the so-called carbon footprint. Don’t tax the young, healthy members of a society, who will one day contribute to the humanity!

If the proposed law ever comes to life, one can only think when will they really turn to the elderly… on any senior citizen’s 70th, 75th, 80th (or whetever the predetermined age will be) birthday, you get two options, either start paying the carbon footprint tax or get the electric chair… we can’t afford to have non-productive, sick, carbon footprint-producing members of a society around!

Sorry folks, this idea is so ridiculous, that it does not deserve a serious response. I just thought you may get a few laughs!

Avoid Red Meat To Decrease The Risk Of Cancer

Med Headlines - The data received from a new US diet and health study covering about half-a-million men and women between the age group of 50 to 71 years, reveals some astonishing inclinations about the link between cancer and different types of meat. The participants, none of whom had cancer previously, filled a questionnaire about their food habits over the past year. The study threw light on some surprising findings over the link between cancer and processed meat and red meat. Read more

At-Risk Children Get New Meningococcal Vaccine

Med Headlines - Young children at risk of contracting invasive meningococcal disease now have a vaccine available to them that has proven effective in older children and adults. The vaccine, known as Menactra, received approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this past October for use in young children.

Menactra is a quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4). The vaccine previously recommended for children aged two to 10 was polysaccharide vaccine (MPSV4), also known as Menomune.

Children considered to be at risk are those that live in or travel to countries where meningococcal disease is prevalent on a continuous basis or where there are epidemic outbreaks of the disease.

Other situations that put children at risk include those who have terminal complement component deficiencies, anatomic or functional asplenia, and those who are infected with HIV.

Children given the MPSV4 vaccine within the last three years and who remain at risk can be given the newly approved MCV4 vaccine. Those who were vaccinated with MPSV4 longer than three years ago should receive the MCV4 vaccine as soon as they can.

Anyone diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome may experience increased recurrence with the MCV4 vaccine so, for this group of children, the MPSV4 is preferable.

Booster doses of MCV4 are likely to be needed for children who are at lifelong risk of contracting meningococcal disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published its endorsement of the MCV4 vaccine for young children at risk in its December 7 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Medicare Part D Comes with Ugly Surprise

Med Headlines - Doughnuts are great with coffee but the ”doughnut hole” that comes as part of the package seniors get with the Medicare Part D prescription coverage plans can be a very costly surprise.

By this time of the year, many seniors leave the pharmacy surprised over the unexpected expense of prescription costs now versus what they’ve been paying earlier in the year.

Medicare Part D is based on three stages of coverage that are determined by total costs accrued over the year. Enrollees to the plan are required to pay a deductible and make a co-payment when purchasing prescriptions.

Some enrollees, getting their coverage from private insurers, also pay a monthly premium.

During the first stage of the plan, the enrollee pays 25% of the cost of prescription drugs until a limit of $2,400 of total out-of-pocket expenses has been reached. If the limit is reached before the end of the coverage year, the senior reaches the doughnut hole stage of coverage.

In this second stage of coverage, the senior must pay 100% of all prescription costs until yet another level of expenditure has been reached. If this second limit is reached before year end, the senior is eligible for catastrophic coverage.

During the third, catastrophic coverage, stage of coverage, Medicare resumes financial assistance by covering 95% of the expense of prescription drugs until the end of the year.

The dollar amount a senior must consume during the doughnut hole phase is $3,850 for 2007. This means the senior gets no assistance whatsoever from Medicaid until this amount has been paid out of pocket by the seniors themselves.

The middle stage of coverage, where there is no financial assistance for prescription drugs, can come as a shocking surprise at the pharmacy. Seniors report going from a co-pay of $50 to $600 in personal expense when refills are due.

Mediterranean Diet and Exercise Proven Healthy

Med Headlines - It’s true. Eating a diet that closely resembles the diet traditionally enjoyed in countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea promotes a longer, healthier life.  For added benefit, regular exercise that meets recommended guidelines promotes a longer, healthier life, too.

Analysis of two reports, one on diet and the other focused on exercise, have clearly demonstrated that older people who regularly eat a diet that resembles the Mediterranean diet and get regular exercise are less likely to die from all causes, including cancer and cardiovascular disease.

The joint study, conducted by the National Institutes of Health and AARP and analyzed by the National Cancer Institute, is based on questionnaires returned from AARP members between the ages of 50 and 71. The 566,407 study participants lived in six different states and had no history of chronic disease when they completed the questionnaires in 1995 and 1996.

A five-year follow-up study found those who enjoyed a diet that closely followed a nine-point assessment scale remained generally healthy, with the death rate falling much lower than the general population.

The nine dietary points studied were intake of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, meat, fish, monounsaturated fats, and alcohol. Participants whose diets most closely resembled the Mediterranean diet remained healthiest after five years.

Exercise habits proved beneficial, too, and were assessed on a three-tiered basis – vigorous, moderate, and light activity levels.

Study participants achieving vigorous levels of physical activity – a minimum of 20 minutes three times each week – were 32% less likely to die in the five-year study period.

Those receiving moderate exercise – 30 minutes or more many days of the week – were proven to have a reduced risk of death by 27% and those receiving exercise on a regular basis but in smaller amounts enjoyed a 19% reduced risk.

The December 10/24 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine has complete details. The publication is one of the journals published by the JAMA/Archives.

Superbugs Reaching Epidemic Stage

Med Headlines - A new study from the University of Florida (UF) reports the spread of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections is reaching epidemic proportions in some healthcare centers and in some communities in general.  The potentially lethal drug-resistant strain of the Staph bacterium, known as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), is responsible for almost 280,000 hospitalizations in 2005, doubling the 1999 count of 127,000 hospitalizations. Methicillin had been highly effective in controlling staph infections before the drug-resistant strain of the bacterium emerged.

Hospitalizations from staph infections in general rose 62% nationwide during the same time period.

MRSA enters the body at the site of wounds and can lead to fatal cases of blood poisoning and pneumonia.

Many patients hospitalized for other reasons become infected during their hospital confinement and about 90,000 patients die each year from infections contracted while in the hospital. MRSA infection is the number six leading cause of death in the US.

Contracting the MRSA infection in the hospital can lead to longer stays, with treatment costs running as high as $35,000 per case, increasing the direct cost to the patient by as much as 100%.

The MRSA bacterium is called the superbug because it has become resistant to most drugs that have been used traditionally to treat staph infections. There is one powerful antibiotic, vancomycin, that has proven effective in treating MRSA infection but the bacterium is already showing resistance to this treatment, too.

Describing the situation as “out of control,” UF faculty member David Smith and colleagues suggest making MRSA infection a public health priority calling for national research and unified reporting efforts. Other efforts suggested are investment of resources needed to develop a staph vaccine and improved infection-control measures in medical care facilities.

Details of the UF study can be found in the December 2007 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

All Head Hits Dangerous On Football Field

Med Headlines - Football is a hard-hitting game that often involves hard hits to the helmet. Traditional wisdom says such hits to the head are more likely to cause concussions when the impact is of a certain magnitude or location.

However, the results of a study recently reported in a series of papers published in Neurosurgery’s online edition suggest any impact to the head can be dangerous.

University of North Carolina’s Kevin M. Guskiewicz, PhD, and his colleagues tested the theoretical thresholds for safety by using devices inside the helmets of 76 collegiate football players. The players were given clinical tests to measure the effects, if any, of helmet impacts.

Accelerometers and telemetry devices measured the impacts and clinical tests measured severity of concussive symptoms, postural stability, and neurocognitive function within the first 24 hours, the acute period, after receiving an injury that might cause concussion.

The researchers found no difference in the number or severity of concussions based on the location of the impact and no difference when the impacts were at high or low velocity.

The effects of linear and rotational acceleration were also considered with each helmet impact studied.

The theory that concussions are less likely to occur during times of “light” practice was also disproved. Light practice means wearing helmets only, no pads, during practice but the measurements of the helmet devices indicate the magnitude of helmet hits during practice is significantly higher than those sustained during game or scrimmage time.

Of more than 57,000 helmet impacts studied, 27% of them occurred during helmets-only practice and 50% occurred during practice with full pads. Only 22% of the helmet impacts studied took place during a game or scrimmage.

Study results seem to indicate that it is impossible to establish a threshold for impacts likely to cause concussive injury that can be applied universally to all football players.

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