Friday Roundup: Two Quick Health Articles With Some Good Advice

January 20, 2012

Following are two articles I found that have some good health advice. This first is about atrial fibrillation, (including how anticoagulants and lifestyle habits will be included in new recommendations). The second tells you how dropping the toilet lid and washing your hands is really important for your health.

Thank you for visiting today and stop back often.

Joelle

Atrial Fibrillation: Anticoagulants and Lifestyle Habits Included in New Recommendations

The Los Angeles Times reports that while the field of cardiology has become so advanced in treating heart attacks that the survival rate has increased dramatically.

The older you get, however, the more risk there is for atrial fibrillation. While Afib can be managed, 90% are not getting needed anticoagulants to prevent stroke or are not getting them at appropriate levels.

This has led to new recommendations for Afib that include tools for doctors and patients to weigh their risks and benefits of taking needed drugs as well as making lifestyle habits that could lower the risk of stroke – which is caused by Afib in 30% of the stroke cases of adults 80 and over.

Read this article: http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-atrial-fibrillation-stroke-20120110,0,4597897.story?track=rss

Drop the Lid and Wash Your Hands for Health’s Sake

ABC News reports on a study, done by researchers from Leeds Teaching Hospitals in the U.K., which found that flushing lidless hospital toilets can spread disease that can be life-threatening.

Even 90 minutes after flushing the deadly bacteria was still found on surfaces. Even “control” toothbrushes that were removed from the restroom during the flush contained bacteria. As the article points out, though, toothbrush testing was  a part of a 2004 episode of Myth Busters that concluded that the health risk is unimportant.

Regardless, Dr. William Schaffner, Chair of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center finds the research interesting since it seems to be associated with the number and severity of C. difficile infections, as he concludes, “Just remember: put the lid down before you flush and always wash your hands.”

Meanwhile, regardless of the Myth Busters findings, you may want to also keep your toothbrush at far away from the toilet as possible.

Read more at: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/01/02/flushing-can-spread-diarrhea-disease/

Study Finds Good Reason to Test CRP Levels in People with Afib

January 4, 2012

A HealthDay News article, published December 29, 2011 on DoctorsLounge.com, reports a clear association with higher levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and increased mortality in patients with atrial fibrillation, independent of other risk factors. This is according to a study, called “Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities,” published in the January 1, 2012 edition of the Journal of Cardiology.

In the “Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities” study, José Hermida, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Navarra in Pamploma, Spain, and colleagues analyzed the hs-CRP levels data from 293 patients with atrial fibrillation. 

Participants of the study were recruited from four communities throughout the United States. The baseline examinations of the participants were conducted from 1987 to 1989. Three additional exams were conducted every three years. Levels of hs-CRP were measured in blood samples obtained at the fourth visit and categorized in the following groups:

• Levels less than 2  mg/L
• Levels from 2.00 to 5.99  mg/L
• Levels greater than 6 mg/L

After a median follow up of 9.4 years, 46% of the participants had died.

After adjustments were made based on age, gender, history of cardiovascular diseases, and cardiovascular risk factors, the hazard ratio (or associated risk) for the mortality rate of participants was an hs-CRP of 2.52 or higher.

It was determined, therefore, that higher levels of hs-CRP is an indicator for the risk of death in patients with atrial fibrillation.

This study shows another reason to stay on top of your health with regular screenings. Make an appointment with a trusted health source like Life Line Screening or your doctor today to get an atrial fibrillation screening and/or have your CRP levels tested.

Stay healthy!

Read this article in full detail at: http://www.doctorslounge.com/index.php/news/pb/25624

Atrial Fibrillation Info With Special News for Women

December 28, 2011

Atrial fibrillation is a type of irregular heartbeat that often has no warning signs, but it is a condition that can cause stroke.  More than 2 million people in US have atrial fibrillation. However, some may not even know they have the condition if they do not experience symptoms and haven’t been screened.  

Obviously the risk of stroke with Afib is dangerous for all who have the condition, but this HealthDay video below has a special information, based on a study, for women, in particular. 

The video, entitled, Heart Fluttering? What Everyone, Particularly Women, Need to Know About Afib can also be found on Life Line Screening’s YouTube channel. If you do not have video capability, I’ve provided the script for you below the video.

Joelle

Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Here is the script of this video for your convenience:

A common problem that knocks the heart out of rhythm can put women in the path of life-threatening ailments.

More than 2 million Americans have a condition called atrial fibrillation, also called Afib. This condition causes the heart to beat ineffectively, leaving it unable to pump blood like it should.

In a new study from the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers looked at how new cases of Afib affect women’s risk of dying.

They included more than 34,000 women. All were older than 45 and none had Afib at the beginning of the study.

Over 15 years, more than 1,000 women developed Afib. These women had a higher risk of dying of cardiovascular problems or dying in general. Their higher risks appeared to be partly due to congestive heart failure and stroke.

The American Heart Association® urges people with Afib to have it treated to reduce their risk of ischemic stroke, which can occur when blood forms a clot in the heart and gets into the blood stream. Treatments for the condition include medications, surgery, or a pacemaker.

I’m Dr. Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV with the news doctors are reading: Health news that matters – to you.

Friday Roundup: U.S. Nurses’ Health Studies Find Varied Work Schedules Increase Diabetes Risk

December 16, 2011

Could nurses be at risk for diabetes!? Nurses who work a varied work schedule could be. A USAToday.com article reports on a recent study, which suggests that the longer nurses worked a rotating schedule, the greater their risk of diabetes.

The study is in accordance, too, with other research that found a connection between night shift or varied work schedules and either risk factors for diabetes, such as obesity and metabolic syndrome, or the disease itself.

The Study: Nurses on Rotating Schedules

For the purpose of the nurses study, published in December’s PlosS Medicine, rotating shift work was outlined as working three or more nights a month, plus days and evenings. The study’s data came from two groups of female nurse participants of the U.S. Nurses’ Health Studies I and II.

More than 69,000 female nurses between the ages of 42 and 67 were involved in Group A, and nearly 108,000 female nurses between the ages of 25 and 42 were part of Group B.

When the women enrolled in the studies, they showed no sign of diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer. During the 18- to 20-year study period, however, 6,165 women from Group A and almost 4,000 women from Group B developed type 2 diabetes.

The nurses research study, also found that compared to female nurses who did not do shift work, those who did had an increased diabetes risk that expanded depending on how many years they worked that schedule. The following list shows that if they worked a varied shift:

• At least 1-2 years, they had a 5% increase risk
• At least 3-9 years, they had a 20% increased risk
• At least 10-19 years, they had a 40% increased risk
• More than 20 years, they had a 58% increased risk

Obviously with these findings, the connection between working a rotating schedule and diabetes risk certainly seems valid. However, the study’s lead author, Dr. Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, stated that other factors, including biological and behavioral, must also be acknowledged.

For example, Hu mentioned that rotating shift work disturbs the body’s circadian rhythm (internal clock) as well as disrupts the body’s ability to balance its need for energy. This can cause higher glucose and insulin resistance that are characteristic of type 2 diabetes.

In addition, working rotating shifts affects eating and sleeping behaviors as well as increases the tendency to smoke.

Another doctor mentioned in the article, Dr. Joel Zonszein, Director of the Clinical Diabetes Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, added that the hard and stressful work could also be factors.

So although the findings of the study do not, without argument, point to shift work as the sole cause for diabetes among these nurses, the consistent link between a varying shift and diabetes is apparent: “Shift work is an important risk factor for obesity and type 2 diabetes,” the article quotes Hu. “This study increases the awareness of diabetes risk among people who work on a rotating shift, and the importance of diabetes screening, detection and prevention in this high risk group.”

You can read the study in full detail at: http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/womenshealth/story/2011-12-08/Night-shift-work-may-raise-type-2-diabetes-risk-in-women/51746998/1

You can find more diabetes articles courtesy of Life Line Screening at: http://www.lifelinescreening.com/health-updates/healthy-you/diabetes.aspx

Image courtesy of Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Friday Roundup: Study Finds Colon Cancer Screenings Should Start Earlier for Men

December 9, 2011

A November 30 YNN.com  (a central NY news source) article is just another example of the problem with current health screening recommendations when it comes to prevention of certain medical conditions. This time it is regarding colon cancer.

The article reports on an Austrian study which found that men would benefit from a colon screening prior to the recommended age of 50.

The study looked at the colon screenings of 40,000 men and women and discovered that the men had a higher rate of advanced tumors, developing colon cancer 5 to 10 years earlier than the women.

The conclusion to these findings was that colonoscopy screenings should be based on gender, and men would benefit from getting screened at about 45 years old rather than 50.

However, Dr. Gregory Haber, Director of Gastroenterology at Lenox Hill Hospital, comments on these findings pointing out that women are still at risk for developing some colon cancers not caught on routine screenings.

In addition, Haber says, this study’s findings should not change the current recommendations for black American women, which is 45 years of age the same as black American men. This is due to their higher risk of colon cancer based on race. 

Another medical professonal who was quoted in the article was Dr. Franklin Marsh of the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention. Marsh’s opinion: “We don’t want to miss anybody based on this study, but just food for thought that maybe women don’t need to be screened as early as men. I think it would be hard to get women to agree to that.”

It is agreed by other doctors that more research needs to be done before any guidelines change.

This article can be read in full at: http://centralny.ynn.com/content/health/565380/healthy-living–new-study-makes-case-for-earlier-colon-cancer-screenings/.