Public Health
Lasting marriage linked to better health
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People who get married and stay married may enjoy better health than the perpetually single, but losing a spouse could take a significant health toll, a new study suggests.
Historically, studies have found that married people as a group tend to be in better health than singles—though recent research suggests the health advantage of marriage may be fading.
In the new study, researchers found that middle-aged and older Americans who were currently married tended to give higher ratings to their health than their never-married counterparts. They also reported fewer depression symptoms and limits on their mobility.
NJ Hospital Network Pilots New National Cancer Data System
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What if the quality of cancer care could be assessed and improved in “real clinical time” instead of waiting the typical two years it takes for clinical data to be analyzed and changes implemented? That is an opportunity The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) Network of hospitals is exploring this summer, as it takes the lead in a national initiative to improve data collection on cancer treatment and create a new quality assessment system that can be utilized by health providers across the country. The CINJ Network of hospitals represents nearly a quarter of the 60 beta test sites from across the country that have been invited to help steer the effort. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
According to the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC), which is overseeing the project, “treatment information in current data collection systems is insufficient to assess the quality of (cancer) care.” That reality is among the reasons why the CoC developed the Rapid Quality Reporting System (RQRS), which the CINJ Network and others will be pilot testing for the remainder of this year.
The first phase, which tested the mechanics of the web-based data collection system, took place during the fall of 2008 and spring of 2009. Modifications based on that testing will be put into practice for this next phase, utilizing existing national 2006 and 2007 data on breast and colorectal cancers. This information will be used as a baseline against which the CoC and participating hospitals can monitor future performance rates. The CINJ Network will be responsible for entering 2008 and 2009 breast and colorectal data from patients at its respective hospitals.
U.S. drug agents raid Jackson doctor’s office
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U.S. drug enforcement agents and Los Angeles police on Wednesday raided a Houston clinic owned by Conrad Murray, the doctor who was with pop icon Michael Jackson when he died, searching for information on the singer’s use of the anesthetic, propofol.
Agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration entered the Armstrong Medical Clinic in north Houston to serve a search warrant in an effort to help Los Angeles police probing the death of the “Thriller” singer, said Rusty Payne, a Washington-based spokesperson for the agency.
Payne declined to give details because the Texas search warrant remained sealed.
“Go to the doctor? Only if I’m really sick…”
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African American men could be putting their health at risk by avoiding disease screening, in the belief that the results might threaten their masculinity. Because they prove their masculinity through their sexuality and sexual performance, seeking medical advice including HIV/AIDS testing goes against their notion of masculinity. Waverly Duck, a Post Doctoral Associate from the Department of Sociology at Yale University in the US, argues that current leading theories of gender and masculinity and health behavior models are not relevant enough to African American men and their distinctive notion of masculinity. His results are published online in Springer’s Journal of African American Studies.
Duck studied how African American men conceptualize masculinity and how it relates to their health behaviors. Through a combination of focus groups and in-depth interviews, he asked African American men about their own understanding of their gender identity and examined how that identity, as well as how it is achieved and maintained, relates to their health.
Healthcare reform needs better choices: report
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Telemedicine, workplace clinics and finding ways to help people stay healthier may be more important for reforming the U.S. healthcare system than insuring everyone, according to a report to be released on Tuesday.
Incentives will be needed to encourage people to change their ways before they develop heart disease, diabetes and other so-called lifestyle diseases that now eat up so many medical resources, consultant Pricewaterhouse Coopers said in the report.
“Cranking up supply to increase access is likely not the answer. The United States now spends more than any nation on healthcare and has a record number of clinicians in the workforce,” the company said in a statement.
Obama tries to regain momentum in healthcare debate
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President Barack Obama appealed to Americans on Saturday to back his ambitious revamp of the U.S. health care system, seeking to regain momentum amid growing worries among lawmakers over how to pay for it.
Trading on his personal popularity, Obama has gone on the offensive to try to persuade doubters and face down critics of his more than $1 trillion plan to set up a government-run health insurance plan to compete with private insurers.
The Democratic president used his weekly radio address to again call upon lawmakers, including skeptics within his own party, to “seize this opportunity—one we might not have again for generations—and finally pass health insurance reform this year, in 2009.”
Sinai Physiatrist Enthusiatic About Word Addition
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It’s a word that’s been around since the days of the Truman presidency. But a patient looking up “physiatry” would find nothing in the dictionary.
Until now.
Last week, Merriam-Webster Inc. released its list of the more than 100 entries now included in the latest edition of its Collegiate Dictionary. Physiatry, a synonym for physical medicine and rehabilitation, made the cut, along with locavore, fan fiction and earmark.
The physiatrists at Sinai Hospital couldn’t be happier about the linguistic recognition of their field.
CBO says costs will rise as healthcare expanded
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Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Elmendorf told lawmakers on Thursday legislation to expand health care coverage would increase federal healthcare costs “to a significant degree” and revenue will need to be found to keep from increasing the deficit.
Asked by the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee about his remarks to a Senate committee earlier Thursday that the legislation would not hold down healthcare costs, he said, “The point I made earlier this morning is that it raises future federal outlays more than it reduces future federal outlays.”
Elmendorf told the panel, “The coverage proposals in this legislation would expand federal spending on health care to a significant degree and in our analysis so far we don’t see other provisions in this legislation reducing federal health spending by a corresponding degree.”
Prepared Patient: Seeking a Second …or Third …Opinion
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Is it OK to seek a second (or a third, or a fourth) opinion on your diagnosis? Many people feel uncomfortable with the idea that they are questioning the authority or expertise of their physician. Some fear that they will receive worse care if they appear to be pushy or difficult patients. Gathering multiple opinions on your medical condition can be one of the most emotionally fraught decisions that a patient has to make.
When Chip Wells visited a hematologist after learning he had leukemia, the doctor’s attitude struck him as more cavalier than low-key. Wells asked him to recommend another specialist although it wasn’t an easy request to make.
But patients do have to make this decision. Research confirms what most people already feel in their gut: not all doctors are alike. Physicians vary in how they were trained, what they specialize in and where they practice. A decade-long Dartmouth project has documented significant differences in treatment between regions of the country. Major studies suggest that doctors deliver the best, evidence-backed care only half of the time. And it’s a rare medical condition that responds to only one treatment or therapy.
Doctors probed by state in Michael Jackson’s death
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California’s attorney general said on Wednesday his office has run several doctors’ names and several potential aliases through its prescription drug database to aid police investigating the death of Michael Jackson.
Attorney General Jerry Brown said his office was not the lead agency in probing Jackson’s sudden death—a role it took in the fatal overdose of Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith in 2007—but was assisting other agencies as they try to track down prescription drugs that may have killed the King of Pop.
“We’ve found some things, but this is early on” to provide details, Brown told Reuters.
Swiss group agrees on rules for assisted suicide
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Swiss right-to-die group Exit has agreed to rules to govern the practice of assisted suicide with prosecutors in the city of Zurich that it hopes might eventually form the basis of national regulation, they said on Friday.
The rules include that assisted suicide is only allowed for those in serious suffering due to health problems, accident or disability; all other options must be exhausted and only a deadly dose of anaesthetic sodium pentobarbital can be used.
The deal, which was signed on Tuesday, said Exit was not allowed to make a profit from helping people die and can charge a maximum of 500 Swiss francs ($461) per assisted suicide.
Lawmakers reject tax to pay for health reform
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U.S. lawmakers on Sunday criticized a plan to raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for a $1 trillion healthcare overhaul and warned Congress was unlikely to meet President Barack Obama’s goal of passing the measure by August.
Republican Senator Judd Gregg said finishing a healthcare bill by Congress’ August recess was “highly unlikely” because the Senate Finance Committee had not yet completed a draft. Senator John Kyl, the Republican whip, said there was “no chance” it would be done before the break.
“President Obama was right about one thing. He said if it’s not done quickly, it won’t be done at all. Why did he say that? Because the longer it hangs out there, the more the American people are skeptical, anxious and even in opposition to it,” Kyl told ABC’s “This Week” program.
Number of US preterm, low birth weight babies down
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The encouraging news: After several decades of steady increases, the percentages of infants born preterm and the percentage born with low birth weight declined slightly in 2007 in the US, according to a report released today.
The bad news: In 2007, 18% of all US children ages 0 to 17 lived in poverty, up from 17% the year before, Dr. Duane Alexander, Director of Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, noted at a telebriefing describing highlights of the US government’s annual report on the well-being of American children.
“Infants born preterm and of low birth weight are at increased risk for infant death and they also have a greater chance of lifelong disabilities such as blindness, deafness and cerebral palsy, making this an extremely important indicator of child well-being,” Alexander noted.
Health Clinic Conditions May Be to Blame for Decrease in Primary Care Physicians
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Adverse work conditions may be to blame for the decline in the number of primary care physicians nationwide, according to a study published in the latest issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
“Unfavorable work conditions are associated with stress, burnout and intent to leave for primary care physicians,” said Dr. Anita Varkey, study author and assistant professor in the department of medicine, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. “These factors contribute to poor job satisfaction, which is among the reasons we are seeing a decrease in the number of primary care physicians.”
The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that the overall shortage of doctors may grow to 124,400 by 2025.
“There are not enough primary care physicians to meet current needs,” said Varkey, who also is medical director of the general medicine clinic at Loyola Outpatient Center, Loyola University Health System. “These findings suggest that a chaotic clinic environment may further exacerbate this problem and potentially lead to lower quality of patient care due to physician turnover and lack of continuity in care.”
Obama administration takes action on food safety
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The Obama administration on Tuesday ordered tougher steps to curb Salmonella and Escherichia coli contamination in U.S. food processing plants and created a new deputy food commissioner post to coordinate safety in the wake of a Salmonella outbreak.
The administration, concerned by delays in identifying the source of the salmonella contamination that sickened more than 700 people in 46 states earlier this year, also moved to create a better tracing system for identifying the origin of foodborne illnesses.
The actions, to be unveiled by the administration at an event on Tuesday, were based on recommendations from a Food Safety Working Group created by President Barack Obama in March after a Salmonella outbreak in peanut products forced the largest food recall in U.S. history.
