When New York City public schools made the switch from whole milk to the fat-free variety in 2005, kids consumed 33 fewer calories and 3.4 fat grams per day, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The numbers get really impressive when you add them all up. For each of NYC's 1.1 million public school students, the switch resulted in 5,960 fewer calories and 619 fewer grams of fat in 2009 compared to 2004.

More calories could get cut if schools abandoned chocolate milk as well, the CDC report found.

The amount of sweetened, chocolate milk being consumed by students is a matter of concern. Low-fat and fat-free chocolate milk have more calories than reduced-fat white milk and contain twice the amount of sugars. Limiting chocolate milk availability would reduce further the number of calories served to students by approximately 23 percent.

But some are concerns that getting rid of low-fat and fat-free chocolate milk would reduce milk consumption overall. We've debated chocolate milk here at Picture of Health and some of you had some strong opinions about the Raise your hand for chocolate milk campaign. Any additional thoughts?

Baltimore Sun photo

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Pediatrics
        

A crew of 22 doctors, nurses and other health professionals from the University of Maryland Medical Center and the University of Maryland School of Medicine departed for Haiti this afternoon with plenty of medical supplies and medications. 

The group, which is working with Catholic Relief Services, includes surgical staff from the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center and four infectious disease specialists from the University of Maryland Institute of Human Virology. They'll spend more than a week working at St. Francois de Sales hospital in Port-au-Prince, which was badly damaged in the earthquake.

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: General Health
        

Everyone's weighing in on the State of the Union address last night in which President Obama chose his words very carefully when discussing health care.

He called it "health insurance reform"-- not health care reform. And he was candid about the political drama that has unfolded since he championed overhauling the nation's health care system: "And by now it should be fairly obvious that I didn't take on health care because it was good politics," he said.

While the president didn't mention health care until 40 minutes into the speech, he made an impassioned plea to his party not to abandon the issue and practically begged lawmakers to try to see past their differences and get a bill passed, explains this AP story. He even pressed Republicans and other naysayers who don't like the bill, to come up with a plan of their own.

He admitted that he didn't do the best job selling reform to the public, but argued that without it, things will only get worse.

I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people.  And I know that with all the lobbying and horse-trading, the process left most Americans wondering, "What's in it for me?"

But I also know this problem is not going away.  By the time I'm finished speaking tonight, more Americans will have lost their health insurance.  Millions will lose it this year.  Our deficit will grow.  Premiums will go up.  Patients will be denied the care they need.  Small business owners will continue to drop coverage altogether.  I will not walk away from these Americans, and neither should the people in this chamber

You can find the President's full remarks here.

The Politico's take: Jobs, not health care is now the administration's No. 1 focus. Overall, the outlook on health reform is grim, says another story in the Politico. The speech may have been his last ditch effort to try to get a health overhaul passed.

While some Democrats say the speech emboldened them to press ahead to get legislation  passed, others remained skeptical, the AP reports.

Even if lawmakers accept the President's charge, put aside their political fears, and attempt to iron out their differences, they would need to compromise in key areas as well as agree to a parliamentary procedure to try to get a bill passed in the Senate, the WSJ explains. In other words, it could be a long road ahead.

What did you think of the president's remarks on health reform?

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Health care reform
        

And you thought barefoot running was just some wacky new fitness craze. Well, new research from Harvard scientists suggests that the bare human foot is better able to withstand the impact of running than fancy cushioned sneakers can.

The study, appearing in the new issue of the journal Nature, describes the mechanics of running barefoot, or with minimal footwear, and how it can actually help prevent injury.

Sounds nutty, right? Not to mention painful. But researchers found that in shoes, runners strike the ground heel-first, generating a far more powerful -- and potentially painful -- blow than do barefoot runners, who hit the ground toward the middle or front of the foot. Simply put, running barefoot allows the foot to strike in a way that triggers less of an impact, researchers said.

After all, for millions of years humans have been running barefoot or with no-frills footwear like sandals or moccasins, the study explains. Running shoes weren't invented until the 1970s. Somehow, humankind managed quite well all that time without them. 

Not everyone is convinced that running sans shoes translates into fewer injuries.

"I think the contentious part will be whether wearing shoes and changing the pattern of running...actually has an impact on foot injury," Brian Richmond, an anthropologist at George Washington University told the Boston Globe. "It's an idea worth examining, because basically what they found is how people would run in a more natural setting."

Harvard scientists have been studying the differences for years and you can find some of their extensive findings at the team's barefoot running site. They even offer tips on how to run properly without shoes. Tip: start working on those calluses now.

As I recall, Picture of Health has quite a few readers who are big fans of shoeless running. When we wrote about the issue in the fall, many of you said you were inspired to ditch your Nikes after reading reading Born to Run, the New York Times bestseller by Christopher McDougall about the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico who run mega-long distances without a problem.

So, are you still at it? Any thoughts about the new research?

Baltimore Sun photo

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Diet and exercise
        

More dispatches from Haiti -- from the doctors themselves. Of the medical teams we've told you about who are on the ground in Haiti, several have been chronicling their missions with blogs of their own. 

Dr. Jean-Max Hogarth from St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson returned to his native Haiti. He shares this tale of a 9-year-old girl, found under the rubble after 3 days with both feet partially amputated. She had only her mother left, after her father and two siblings were killed by the disaster.

She is a beautiful loving child that has grabbed the hearts of everyone in the hospital. God Bless her. I will NEVER forget her. Never

Unfortunately, she is one of MANY. The emergency workers have ended their search and rescue missions.

What remains is a nation in great need of long term help. God Bless my beloved Haiti.

No pictures. Too graphic

Here's a dispatch from the folks at Jhpiego, with a tale from a nurse who say women in labor aren't getting the care they deserve in Haiti, because doctors are overwhelmed with trauma injuries. Among the challenges the Hopkins-affiliated global health doctors are encountering: not enough obstetricians, doctors performing c-sections in tents with dirt underfoot and Haiti's main school for nurses and midwifes leveled by the earthquake.

In addition to those already there, more medical teams are on the way. 

Ten members of Johns Hopkins special disaster unit, known as its Go Team, deployed for Haiti this morning. It's the fist of two teams from the unit responding to the disaster. The second team leaves Feb. 4 and may staff the 150-bed U.S. Navy Expeditionary Medical Treatment Facility being set up at the Port-au-Prince port. They'll accept patients transferred from the USNS Comfort.

The help is desperately needed. If you haven't yet, take a look at our colleague Robert Little's latest dispatch from the Comfort, a wrenching story about the tough decisions doctors must make when triaging patients.

Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston aboard the USNS Comfort: an airman talks to a young patient.

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: General Health
        

Dr. Claudia Hochberg, an interventional cardiologist at Boston Medical Center, will be here at noon today to answer your questions on coronary stents. You can leave questions in the comments field in advance, or check back at 11:45 a.m., when the chat interface (below) will be open for questions. We'll actually begin our chat at noon on the dot.

Posted by Carla Correa at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Cardiovascular Health
        

Our colleague Robert Little wrote recently about concerns that several hundred patients at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson may have received coronary implants when they didn't need them.

The issue has sparked one lawsuit so far and highlighted a debate among cardiologists and confusion among patients about when stents are necessary. Some doctors told me with the exception of patients in the middle of a heart attack, the mesh tubes that prop open narrowed arteries may be overused.

So what does that mean for heart patients? Got questions about stents?

Well, we have answers. Dr. Claudia Hochberg, an interventional cardiologist at Boston Medical Center, will be here at noon on Tuesday to answer your questions.

You can send questions in advance to me at kelly.brewington@baltsun.com.

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: General Health
        

Nurses can help reduce medical errors, promote wellness, increase efficiency and help hospitals cut costs. But rarely are they seen as important decision makers, not to mention, revenue generators as compared to doctors, according to a new survey from Gallup and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

When it comes to health care reform, nurses have a lot to offer, the survey found. Problem is, they're unlikely to have much influence compared to doctors and insurance and pharmaceutical executives. Seventy-five percent of people polled said government officials will have huge impact on health reform in the next five to ten years. Just 14 percent said nurses would.

"Nurses are highly trusted sources of health care information, but as we look to reform our health system, our nation is not taking advantage of all that nurses have to offer," said Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in a statement. "This survey shows that opinion leaders recognize that we are squandering opportunities to learn from nurses and implement their ideas. We must build on the widespread trust of nurses’ expertise as an essential component in leading and implementing reform."

The foundation polled 1,500 people across health care industry, from insurance companies to university faculty for a look at nursing roles. We spoke a lot about that a few weeks ago in the post on depictions of nurses on TV. Well, this survey suggests some of those televised stereotypes are all too common in real life.

Nurses should work to make their voices heard, the report states. Likewise, nurses should be held accountable for taking a lead on health reform. What do you think?

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Health care reform
        

Reporter/guest blogger Joe Burris has the latest in our series of updates from Maryland medical teams working in Haiti:

On her first day in earthquake ravaged Haiti, Dr. Rana Hamdy discovered that a patient she had seen upon arrival had subsequently died -- a teenage boy in need of dialysis whose life she knew was in jeopardy after noticing he was urinating blood.

Shortly before she departed, an expectant mother had gone into labor, and she bemoaned being unable to witness the birth.

Between the pendulum swing from death to life, the Johns Hopkins third-year pediatrics resident sometimes spent more than 20 hours each day aiding victims of the tragedy that has killed an estimated 200,000 Haitians while leaving thousands injured.

The Baltimore resident was among six Johns Hopkins pediatric residents who visited Haiti as part of a tropical medicine elective in the Hopkins School of Medicine’s pediatric residency program. Most of the group arrived around 2 a.m. on the Saturday after the Jan. 12 quake and immediately were set to work on patients in the United Nations compound hospital adjacent to the airport.

Hamby joined two other residents, Dr. Delphine Robotham of Baltimore and Jennifer Webb of Washington, D.C., in recounting their experiences after returning from Haiti on Thursday. The program is led by Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital Center emergency physician Dr. Karen Schneider, who is still in Haiti.

She said that the death of the teenager -- the first of five deaths she witnessed -- motivated her to work harder to get patients the care they needed.

“The hardest part was knowing that if we had gotten him on a plane to Miami he might have survived. We knew what he needed, we just couldn’t get him what he needed,” she said. “After that, we tried our best to advocate getting the patients transferred.”

All three residents said that they are better doctors because of the trip.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

We've got more updates from Baltimore-area medical teams in Haiti: 

Remember that baby that Dr. Carol Ritter delivered? Well, the mom named her child after the doc. Awwwwww.

“I’ve never had one of my patients in the states in 35 years name a baby after me," said Ritter, an OBGYN at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. ‘I mean in the middle of all the sorrow you can still find the joy and, that was, that was just a gift."

Meanwhile, Dr. Guesly Delva of the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Institute for Human Virology, returned to his native Haiti earlier this week and gave us this update via Lane Hartill from Catholic Relief Services.

"I was dreadful of coming here because of what I was seeing on TV," he said. "I broke down the first night." The relief effort is both personal and professional for Dr. Delva. In the first days after the quake he feared the worst when he hadn't heard from his mother, other relatives and friends scattered in his native Gonaives and in Port-au-Prince. Since then, he's learned his mother is fine, but he is still searching for other relatives.

After arriving in the city and working with patients, he said: "I feel a sense of desperation."

"There's so much to do. I know probably we're not going to have enough time or resources to relive all of the pain or suffering."

top photo from the Ritters: Dr. Carol Ritter and baby Carol 

bottom photo from Lane Hartill: Delva checks on a woman whose leg was amputated

More local medical teams are being dispatched to Haiti to help out with the relief effort. There are so many these days, it's hard to keep track.

Already in the country or planning to travel there are medical professionals from Johns Hopkins Medicine, Union Memorial Hospital, St. Joseph Medical Center, University of Maryland Medical Center, Greater Baltimore Medical Center and other institutions.

From Hopkins, an expert in disaster medicine, a pediatric emergency doctor with six residents and a physician in the department of pulmonary and critical care medicine, are all treating patients in Haiti. Hopkins also plans to deploy members of its Go Team, made up of trained disaster medical experts and support staff.

At the University of Maryland, a dozen Shock Trauma doctors and nurses are expected to leave for Haiti on Monday, beginning a rotation that will last for several months.

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: General Health
        

B'More Green has just posted about a new report out today says that toxic chemical exposure is costing Americans big in terms of their health and the dollars they spend on health care. 

The study by the Safer Chemicals Health Families Coalition and sent to us by the Maryland Public Interest Research Group called “The Health Case for Reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act,” concludes that the country could curtail the rising rates of chronic disease and reduce health care costs by overhauling federal chemical policy.

The report is based on analysis of peer-reviewed scientific studies, the groups said.

At a time when Congress and the nation debate health care reform, the report says many common diseases and conditions are linked to chemical exposure, including cancer, learning and developmental disabilities and asthma.

The authors call on Congress to update toxic chemical laws. It cites estimates showing that reducing the incidence of these diseases by 0.1 percent could save $5 billion in health care costs. This is based on expected health care costs projected for 2020, and assumes full implementation of the new legislation by then.

In Maryland, the savings would be more than $94 million a year, the study says. (In addition to Congressional action, Mary PIRG is also is supporting legislation in the Maryland General Assembly to curb use of chemicals including Bisphenol A, found in polycarbonate plastic including baby bottles and most food cans. The Food and Drug Administration just reversed itself and said there may be reason to be concerned about the chemical and is studying the issue.)

See the full report at www.saferchemicals.org.

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Medical studies
        

The Howard County Health Department is moving into the next phase of its H1N1 flu vaccine outreach -- and targeting specific populations that may not have gotten their shots.

This Sunday, the county will offer free shots to Asians and Pacific Islanders from the county and around the region.

The clinic will be held at Howard High School, 10910 Route 108 in Ellicott City, from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. There will be 1,000 doses offered on a first-come, first-served basis in shot and mist form.

Other communities will be targeted in future clinics. Officials say they may be hard to reach because of cultural or language barriers.

Health officials say that flu season doesn't end until May and there is still some H1N1 flu out there, though infections are on the decline.

According to federal statistics, 47 million Americans have gotten swine flu between April and November. There have been 200,000 hospitalitzations and 10,000 deaths.  

So far, almost all of the disease has been related to H1N1 flu, rather than seasonal flu. And while the infections are waning another big outbreak could still be coming, officials said.

Baltimore Sun file photo/Jed Kirschbaum

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Categories: Swine flu/H1N1
        

Medical teams from the Baltimore area have flocked to Haiti to provide much-needed relief to the quake-stricken nation. As we get them, we'll fill you in with on-the-ground updates. Here are a few:

Dr. Carol Ritter, an OBGYN who delivered a baby in Haiti over the weekend, reports on her blog that the clinic she's working in on the Haiti/Dominican Republic border has seven operating rooms packed with medical teams from such countries as Germany, Japan and France. They face daunting circumstances, she writes:

A day filled with many fresh orphans. children losing parents and parents losing children all day. No one wants to stop working. Would give us time to think about it.

Dr. Guesly Delva, a fellow at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Institute of Human Virology, left Tuesday for his native Haiti, where he's working at St. Francois Hospital, one of Haiti's oldest hospitals that was nearly completely destroyed. Staff at Catholic Relief Services and IHV, which has an HIV/AIDS program in Haiti, have worked to create a makeshift emergency center out of the rubble.

They thought they would have to shut down, but volunteers helped get food, water and fuel for the hospitals and delivered medical supplies, according school of medicine and CRS spokespeople who compiled details from teams there and gave us this update. Now, three operating rooms are up and running staffed by Haitian, Belgian and Italian teams.

Doctors dragged a refrigerator out of the rubble to try to start a blood bank (with blood from the U.N.), they said. There are lots of amputations and bad burns and major wounds. Their focus: people in critical condition, who could die within 24 hours.

Meanwhile, in Baltimore teams from hospitals throughout the region were en route or preparing to go to Haiti. Today Meredith Cohn writes about a team from Jhpiego, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University that has worked in Haiti for 15 years, on its way to help Haitian woman and children.

And if you haven't already, please check out our colleague Bob Little's blog from the USNS Comfort. The ship's medical staff treated its first Haitian patients Wednesday. Here's his latest update.

We'll keep you posted as we hear more.

Baltimore Sun photo -- USNS Comfort's first patients

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 7:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: General Health
        

With Republican Scott Brown winning Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts last night, the Democrats have lost their filibuster-proof majority, throwing a huge stumbling block in their way to get a health bill to the president's desk. 

So what's the fate of health reform? Well, that's the billion dollar question everyone's trying to figure out today. Here are a few good explanations, so far:

The effort's not dead yet, say some analysts. But the options are few and very complex, says this update from the Politico.

In one backup plan, House Democrats may try to approve the Senate version of the bill. While the bills are similar, there are big differences that could be difficult to iron out, says this story in the WSJ. House lawmakers don't like the Senate version's tax on big insurance plans and smaller subsidies to help low income people buy insurance, to name a few. 

Others offer a gloomier picture. This Slate piece predicts reform doesn't have a hope, and maps out four scenarios for why this is the case.  

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Health care reform
        

Or does it just get you high?

The Obama administration may have eased federal policy on marijuana enforcement, but the experts are still debating whether the drug has all the medical properties that proponents claim.

Two new stories in the NYT and the WSJ lay out the basics:

In a nutshell, there's not enough scientific evidence that pot's medical uses are valid. Studies show that smoking marijuana can improve nausea in cancer patients and others suggest that it help patients with neurological problems such as multiple sclerosis, the NYT reports. However, the story goes on to say:

But there is no good evidence that legalizing the smoking of marijuana is needed to provide these effects. The Food and Drug Administration in 1985 approved Marinol, a prescription pill of marijuana’s active ingredient, T.H.C. Although a few small-scale studies done decades ago suggest that smoked marijuana may prove effective when Marinol does not, no conclusive research has confirmed this finding.

Access to marijuana is increasing nationwide. New Jersey's governor just signed a medical marijuana bill into law on Monday, adding that state to 13 others with similar laws and down the road in Washington, there's a bill to allow some dispensaries in the district.

Maryland has a strange setup with a little-known law that while forbids medical use, could open the door for it one day, advocates hope.

AP photo 

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: General Health
        

Or more importantly, should they?

Since arriving to quake-devastated Haiti, network medical reporters have been shifting back and forth between doctor and reporter. Those dual roles have sparked criticism around the Web, notably from experts on journalism ethics who argue doctor/reporters put themselves in an ethical quanadry by trying to save lives one minute and tell the story the next.

"I think it's very hard for an individual who is professionally and emotionally engaged in saving lives to be able to simultaneously step back from the medical work and practice independent journalistic truth-telling," Bob Steele, journalism values scholar at the Poynter Institute, told the LA Times in this great piece about that ethical dilemma.

After Dr. Sanjay Gupta swooped in to perform brain surgery on a 12-year-old Haitian girl, Steele questioned CNN's motives in airing the story. “Frankly, it isn’t much of a story,” Steele told the LA Times. “You can’t help but look at this and worry there is a marketing element in it.”   If he's going to be a doctor, do so, but then he needs to stop being a reporter, Steele argued.

Minnesota journalism professor Gary Schwitzer hears from other ethicists who maintain that doctor/reporters risk being seen as self-promoters who exploit suffering one moment then a second later try to fix it.

Just as many are praising CNN's earthquake coverage, others are criticizing that correspondents are mixing newsmaking with newsgathering. The snarksters over at Gawker said team Anderson Cooper and Gupta "played a team of roving superhero reporters, covering the news but only after saving everyone's lives. (Imagine if somebody could be Clark Kent and Superman at the same time.)"

Funny and true.

But Gupta and others have defended their position, saying they are doctors first and that they can walk a delicate balance between their moral responsibility to heal the sick and their journalistic duty to tell the story. In a disaster with such tremendous medical needs, what's a doctor to do?

What do you think?

AP photo: Gupta operates on a 12-year-old Haitian girl

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: General Health
        

Dr. Carol Ritter, an OBGYN at Greater Baltimore Medical Center who rushed to Haiti last week to help aid earthquake victims, delivered a baby there over the weekend.

She and her husband Dr. Tom Ritter, a dentist, left last week for Haiti. You can read about their efforts in Haiti on their blog: www.carolandtominhaiti.com. (That's them on the left)

The Ritters have long ties to Haiti and humanitarian efforts around the globe. Tom Ritter was actually supposed to fly to Haiti this week for a scheduled lecture at one of Haiti's dental schools to which he has long given donations and support, he told me during an interview last week. Then, disaster struck and the couple made quick plans to join the relief effort.

Here's what Tom Ritter wrote on his blog upon arriving in Haiti Saturday:  Wow - we've got our work cut out for us! No one should come here unless they can feed and house themselves. 100 fully equipped docs just came with no way to feed themselves, and their hotel is 3 hours away. The public hospital is not a nice place to be. Chaos is the order of the day, but good things come in every hour to help ease the suffering.

They're not alone. Last week folks at Johns Hopkins told me they hoped to send teams to Haiti soon. GBMC also made a $10,000 donation to purchase medical supplies for the region. And a team of three medical professionals from St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, including a Haitian-American anesthesiologist, are expected to leave for Haiti tomorrow for a week-long aid mission.

photo from Tom and Carol Ritter

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: General Health
        

I wrote last week about the public health disaster that Haiti will likely endure for months. Help is on the way including medical reinforcements from Baltimore.

Our colleagues Robert Little and Kim Hairston are making their way to earthquake-ravaged Haiti aboard the USNS Comfort and chronicling its rescue mission. The massive floating emergency center has two decades of military and humanitarian missions under its belt.

But the enormity of the task at hand will test the 894-foot ship, which will reach its full operational capacity for the first time since it was delivered to the Navy in 1987.

Will it be ready? Will the help be enough?

While the world has certainly ratcheted up its aid response to the Haitian disaster in recent days, the situation grows desperate with reports of scarce medical supplies, overwhelmed medical teams and critics such as Doctors Without Borders, who say that the response is insufficient.

What do you think? Should governments and aid groups have acted sooner?

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: General Health
        

Your ability to resist eating a cookie, or your inability to control yourself, may have a lot to do with who you hang out with, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.

Researchers say self-control is contagious. Ditto for lack of self control.

The series of studies involved hundred of volunteers. They found that watching or even thinking about someone with good self-control made them more likely to exert their own self control. The opposite was also true -- so much so that seeing the name of someone with good or bad self-control flashing on a screen for just 10 milliseconds changed behavior.

"The take home message of this study is that picking social influences that are positive can improve your self-control," said lead author Michelle vanDellen, a visiting assistant professor in the Georgia department of psychology, in a statement. "And by exhibiting self-control, you're helping others around you do the same."

It's been known that people tend to mimic behavior. This is true when it comes to smoking, drug use and obesity, the researcher said. But the new study is thought to be the first to show that self-control is contagious across behaviors.

Researchers said that means that thinking about someone who regularly exercises can make a person more likely to stick with his financial goals, career goals or other things that involve self-control.

The finding were published in the early online edition of the journal "Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin".

VanDellen said the findings, however, do not absolve people of accountability for their actions. She said it was more of a "nudge" toward or away from temptation.

So eat the cookie, but don't blame the baker.

Baltimore Sun file photo/Amy Davis

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Medical studies
        

The mammogram debate may be have simmered since the uproar of a couple months ago. But confusion among women about when to start getting breast x-rays surges on.

In case you missed it, a federal panel of experts said in November that women should start getting mammograms at age 50, not 40. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said its goal was to reduce the harms of unnecessary treatment.

But critics -- doctors and patient advocates alike -- pounced on the recommendations and groups such as the American Cancer Society said women in their 40s should still get the screening tests. Maryland's own Sen. Barbara Mikulski even got a provision written into the health care bill on the issue.

So, what to do?

If you live in the Baltimore area, Anne Arundel Medical Center will host a free community forum on breast imaging Monday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the seventh floor of its Health Sciences Pavilion. Here are more details. During the forum, a breast surgeon, a radiologist and an oncologist, will offer their thoughts on the controversy.

The issue is far from settled. Screening has its downsides, argues a pair of pieces in the Journal of the American Medical Association. One, by Dr. Steven Woolf of Virginia Commonwealth University, notes the task force's recommendation wasn't calling for a ban of mammograms for women in their 40s, but rather advising doctors to discuss the matter with their patients to come to a decision on whether to screen. And ultimately, the decision rests with the patient, offers this doc. 

Chicago Tribune photo

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 7:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Cancer
        

Americans are fat. We've known this for years. But new research suggests that the obesity rate -- while still high -- might be slowing.

About a third of adults were obese in 2007-2008, but the rate appears to be leveling off after decades of surging obesity rates, certainly for women and probably for men, according to a new study appearing today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study of 5,555 men and women 20 and older found no difference in obesity levels for women from the 2007-2008 survey period to another survey done in 1999. For men, the most recent data was unchanged from estimates from 2003-2004.

In children, a separate analysis of 3,281 kids 2 through 19, found the rates of obesity also were slowing. That study is also appearing in today's JAMA. Both the child and adult studies were done by researchers from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

Sure this is encouraging news, but it's no cause for celebration, warns an accompanying editorial. Both rates are too high. Even if trends stay the same, some 68 percent of adults are overweight or obese and nearly 32 percent of school aged kids are at or above the 85th percentile of body mass index.

"Given the risk of obesity-related major health problems, a massive public health campaign to raise awareness about the effects of overweight and obesity is necessary," writes Dr. J. Michael Gaziano, a contributing JAMA editor. "The longer the delay in taking aggressive action, the higher the likelihood that the significant progress achieved in decreasing chronic disease rates during the last 40 years will be negated, possible even with a decrease in life expectancy."

AFP/Getty images

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: General Health
        

Every time one problem gets solved, it seems another crops up. This is the case with the childhood pneumonia vaccine.

Since the vaccine was introduced almost a decade ago to stamp out bacterial pneumonia, there has been a big drop in that serious lung disease. But there has also been a dramatic increase in a serious and sometimes life-threatening complication, according to a new national study by researchers at UC Davis.

It seems this is the result of the vaccine eliminating certain types of pneumococcus, creating an opportunity for other bacteria to take its place.

The study is published in the January issues of the journal Pediatrics. It looked at the incidence of empyema, a complication of pneumonia that is a severe infection in a cavity between the lung and the chest wall.

There's been a 50 percent drop in hospitalizations from pneumonia due to pneumococcus since the vaccine was introduced in 2000, and an overall decrease in all bacterial pneumonias. But the empyema rate jumped 70 percent, according to the study.

The Food and Drug Administration licensed PCV7, a vaccine for infants and children, in 2000. It protected them from seven serotypes, or strains of microorganisms, most commonly responsible for serious infections from Streptococcus pneumoniae.

(We wrote a story recently about how the vaccine has been successful with kids, but adults have been underusing it. And that's been a problem because pneumonia is a common complication of the flu. Read that story here. )

Though responsible for less pneumonia overall, the serotypes not targeted by the vaccine may lead to more complicated pneumonias, such as empyema. In addition, the incidence of empyemas caused by staphylococcus, another bacterial cause of pneumonia not prevented by  pneumococcal vaccines, appears to be increasing. This may be due to more virulent and antibiotic-resistant forms of staphylococcus, such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

"This may be occurring because the vaccine does not affect the types of microorganisms causing empyemas," said Li, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UC Davis Children's Hospital, in a statement. "The vaccine may be getting rid of the pneumococcal bacteria that cause most pneumonia and other types of invasive pneumococcal disease. But the bacteria that are left over that it doesn't protect against that are more likely to cause empyema may increase because they don't have to compete against the other pneumococcal bacteria anymore."

Researchers said parents should still immunize their children because it targets the most common causes of pneumonia. Also, an expanded vaccine to cover the new problem is in the works.

What do you think? Would this put you off the vaccine for your child?

Baltimore Sun file photo of a pnuemonia vaccine/Jed Kirschbaum

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Swine flu/H1N1
        

There's some big news in the world of ophthalmology:

The Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins Medicine  announced a partnership today with the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The eye specialists will collaborate on research, education and patient care.

“We at the Wilmer Institute have long been interested in the study and cure of blinding eye diseases around the world, and the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital is certainly one of the most impressive eye hospitals outside of the United States,” said Dr. Peter J. McDonnell, William Holland Wilmer Professor of Ophthalmology and the director of the Wilmer Institute, in a statement.

“Working in close collaboration with the excellent experts at the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, and combining the expertise of our two institutions, will allow for more rapid evaluation of potential new therapies than would be possible with either hospital working alone”.

One major focus for the centers will be training the next generation of leaders in ophthalmology. They hope to develop new procedures and treatments for eye diseases that are difficult or not currently curable, such as diabetic eye disease.

The Wilmer Institute says it has produced more than a hundred chairpersons in departments of ophthalmology around the globe.

“We are delighted to enter into this affiliation with the Wilmer Institute,” said Dr. Abdul Elah Al-Towerki, executive director of the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, in a statement. “We chose the Wilmer Institute because of its commitment to excellence and track record of advancing the field of ophthalmology. Both of our institutions have great strengths, and working closely together in this affiliation will allow us to accomplish more, in a shorter period of time, than we could working alone. This affiliation is supported at the highest levels within the government of Saudi Arabia”.

The Saudi government is providing some financial support and several Wilmer faculty members will head over to train in that country. There will also be a new endowed professorship at Johns Hopkins established to support the work.

The internationally known Wilmer Institute has more than 130 full-time faculty and is one of the largest medical institutes devoted to treatment and cure of eye diseases in this country.

The King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital is the largest eye hospital in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and is a top-ranked medical facility in the Middle East. 

Baltimore Sun file photo of final construction of the new Wilmer building/Gene Sweeney Jr. 

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: General Health
        

And you thought swine flu was so 2009. 

Well, it's not over. And public health officials are ramping up their efforts to get everyone a vaccine, warning that while things may be quiet now, a third wave of infections is quite possible. President Obama even ordered Jan. 11 through 16 as National Influenza Vaccination Week, devoted to urging Americans to roll up their sleeves!

In Maryland, state officials are seeking to highlight the availability of vaccine to prevent both H1N1 and seasonal flu, said Greg K. Reed, runs Maryland’s Center for Immunization on behalf of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reed said most counties are likely going to be augmenting the clinic offerings for both vaccines. And while the number of providers requesting more H1N1 vaccine from the state, as well as the quantities they are requesting, has declined, the vaccine is now plentiful. He said the state is providing the vaccine to retail outlets and urgent care facilities, as well as public clinics and those family doctors and pediatricians who still want to provide H1N1 vaccine. Seasonal flu vaccine is purchased privately.

Those here locally who are seeking the H1N1 vaccine can call 211 or log onto flu.maryland.gov to find a location. Reed says adults will have the easiest time. For children, pharmacists are now able to give vaccinations to those as young as 14 under an emergency order from the governor. Those under 10 need two vaccinations, and parents will need to find a doctor or nurse to administer their children’s vaccinations. 

We need to remind people that the flu can be a very serious thing,” said Reed. “People still need to think about getting vaccinated for H1N1 and seasonal flu. January and February are peak months for seasonal flu.”

As demand decreases, governments are looking for ways to cut their vaccine orders.

In addition, as infections fall, some local hospitals have lifted their visitor restrictions imposed last year. At St. Joseph Medical Center, children without flu symptoms can now visit their parents in the hospital -- that includes the children of new and expectant mothers on the maternity unit, a policy that ignited an uproar last fall. There are a few caveats. Read the full policy here. Harbor Hospital also lifted its restrictions recently.

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Swine flu/H1N1
        

First it was trans fats, then carbs and calories. Now, salt has become the latest dietary no-no from New York to Baltimore.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants manufacturers and restaurants to curb the amount of salt they use --  not only in the city, but nationwide. We're talking everything from potato chips and soups to pies and that famous New Yawk pizza. The goal: reduce the amount of salt in restaurants and packaged foods by 25 percent by 2014.

The CDC said in a report last year that Americans consume double the recommended amount of sodium. Too much salt can lead to high blood pressure and place you on the nasty road toward stroke and heart disease.

Our colleague Meredith Cohn wrote about salt as the new health boogeyman earlier this year. And the Baltimore health department launched a campaign against the mineral a year earlier. 

The Baltimore Salt Reduction Task Force stopped short of forcing restaurants and manufacturers to limit their salt, but came out with a seven recommendations to get the public to decrease its salt intake. They include: education campaigns, an award to city restaurants who disclose the nutritional information of their food and a pledge to work with agencies outside of the city on reducing sodium.

In Baltimore, 2,000 people die each year from cardiovascular disease. It's the city's and the nation's No. 1 killer. When it comes to the haves and the have nots, the impact of heart disease is alarming, according to the task force report last September. It's a key reason for the 20-year range in life expectancy between Baltimore's wealthiest and poorest neighborhoods, the report found. Yikes.

So, will a war on salt make us healthier?

Absolutely, say many public health advocates, inclduing the CDC's Thomas Frieden and former New York health department. 

Although, the Times story mentiones that some researchers have questioned the effort, saying there isn't enough research on possible side effects. Reducing salt intake could lead to physiological changes connected to heart problems, they said. Who knew?

So far though, manufacturers appear on board. Some already have reduced salt in their products voluntarily, including Campbell's Soup and Kellogg's cereals (yes, there's salt in your Rice Krispies!), says this story in the Wall Street Journal. The piece also explains how difficult this proposition is. Salt's cheap. It enhances flavor and helps packaged foods stay fresher longer. Oh and did we mention it's cheap? Using less salt could mean manufacturers being forced to reformulate their products entirely, the story says.

stock.xchng photo

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 7:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Diet and exercise
        

It's been nearly a year since former city Health Commissioner Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein left Baltimore for the Food and Drug Administration and a permanent replacement has yet to be found.

Since then, swine flu, health care reform and all manner of every day city health problems have been in the forefront. So when will Baltimore get a new health commissioner? And who might that person be?

Sharfstein left "very big shoes to fill," incoming Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake told the Baltimore Sun's editorial board this morning. "I'm looking for that type of energy and leadership at the health department."

Sharfstein targeted manufacturers of cold and cough medicines, convincing the FDA there was little evidence the drugs worked in children younger than 4. And he took on the hazards of lead, banning its use in candy, cosmetics and jewelry sold in the city.

Rawlings-Blake didn't offer any more specifics on her preference for health commissioner, other than to say she's hopeful that there will be many resumes coming to her desk as she seeks a "top notch" person to fill the job. "There is a lot of interest from people all over to work in the city and work for the city," she said.  

It will be interesting to see how she handles this post. Public health is a huge issue for Baltimore, whose high poverty rate makes the city a magnet for all sorts of health ills.

Rawlings-Blake should stick to three major areas as she focuses the health department: substance abuse, primary care and getting kids prepared for school, advised Dr. Peter L. Beilenson, Howard County's health officer who served as Baltimore's health commissioner for 13 years.

What do you think should be the focus of the next health commissioner?

Baltimore Sun photo

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: General Health
        

Baltimore's Sinai Hospital recently opened a center designed to teach patients with diabetes how to manage their disease and improve their lifestyle with advice and support.

With glucose monitoring instruction, nutritional counseling and insulin and medication training, the Diabetes Resource Center offers people one-on-one time with doctors, nurses and specialists to discuss their condition and create a treatment plan. It also offers group session for continued support.

With some 18 million people nationwide struggling with diabetes -- nearly 360,000 of them in Maryland alone -- the needs for support are huge. Many more are living with diabetes and have not been diagnosed.

For more information about the center, call 410-601-WELL

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: General Health
        

Depictions of medical professionals have come a long way since General Hospital first aired. But when it comes to nurses, too often they are relegated to tired stereotypes, say authors Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers.

The pair, who penned the book Saving Lives: Why the Media Portrayals of Nurses Put US All at Risk, and are behind the Baltimore-based group The Truth About Nursing ,have come out with a list of the best and worst portrayals of nurses of 2009.

The good ones offer compelling portrayals of nurses who go all out for the care of their patients. They also rise above one-dimensional stereotype of nurses, such as "the handmaidens, the naughty nurse, the angel and the battle axe," writes Sandy Summers, a Hopkins-trained nurse.

Topping the best list: Edie Falco's Nurse Jackie on Showtime. She's tough as nails, with a few, um, issues -- an addiction to painkillers and an affair with a coworker, for starters -- but she's human and fights for the best care for her patients, Summers writes.

Interestingly enough, some nurse organizations have been no fans of Jackie's, while others said they were willing to take the good with the bad -- as long as there's more positive aspects in future episodes.  

Among the worst were ABC's Grey's Anatomy and Fox's House, which over the decade gave viewers the same old demeaning images -- nurses mocked by doctors and nurses as "silent handmaidens to physicians who provide important care."

Negative images of nurses on TV aren't just entertainment -- they affect real nurses and their patients, Summers writes. Getting it right is important in an era of nursing shortages where Summers fears the clinical needs of nurses could get overshadowed by poor depictions.

With the insane popularity of so many TV shows set in hospitals, it's an interesting argument.  Clearly, the dashing yet cerebral physician tends to be the center of the universe on these shows -- hello George Clooney in the early ER days.

Do you watch hospital dramas? What do you make of their depictions of nurses?

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (42)
Categories: General Health
        

According to the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, one of the most popular places to have a baby in the area, parents last year didn't follow the national trends so closely.

GBMC compared its names from 2009 to those reported to the parenting website BabyCenter.com.

Local moms and dads picked Mary more often than any other name last year (35 babies), but that name wasn't in the Top 100 nationally. It also didn't crack the Top 10 at GBMC in 2007 or 2008.

For boys at GBMC, William was tops (42 babies) for the second consecutive year, followed by Michael (39 babies).  Neither was in the Top 10 nationally. Michael ranked 18th while William was 27th.  None of the Top 10 boy’s names nationally were in GBMC’s Top 10 most popular.

"Picking a baby's name is a monumental decision, and the multitude of 'baby name' Web sites makes it hard to narrow a million choices down to one,” said Lori Kantziper, clinical partner for GBMC's Postpartum Unit and a nurse specializing in care for new mothers and infants, in a statement.

See the full Top 10 lists and other facts from GBMC here.

Associated Press photo of one of the first babies born in the United States in 2010, who was not yet named

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Pediatrics
        

The temperatures have been below normal for some time now, in Maryland and around the country, so it seems like a good time to remind everyone to stay safe and warm.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the cold air makes everyday activites challenging, if not dangerous. Young children, older adults and the chronically ill are most at risk, so make sure to check on these peolpe regularly. 

Exposure to cold temperatures can cause frostbite and hypothermia, which can be life-threatening. The CDC advises seeking immediate medical attention if you suspect you have either. 

Frostbite causes skin to appear red and feel painful.  Without medical attention, skin will then turn white or grayish and feel firm, waxy or numb.  Symptoms of hypothermia include shivering, exhaustion, confusion, fumbling hands, memory loss, slurred speech and drowsiness.

So, stay inside if you can, or seek shelter somewhere warm. Using the oven and candles for heat has had fatal consequences in Baltimore and beyond.

Here are some more lists with CDC tips: 

If the house is cold: Wear layers of warm clothes, including on your head and feet; closing off unused, exterior rooms and gathering in a single room; and seek warmth in malls, libraries and shelters.

When outside: Wear appropriate outdoor clothing, including layers of light, warm clothing, mittens rather than gloves and waterproof boots; sprinkle cat litter or sand on icy patches; be aware of the wind chill factor; work slowly when doing chores outside; take a friend and an emergency kit when you are playing outside; avoid traveling when the weather service has issued advisories and make sure someone knows your proposed route and expected arrival time; and carry a cell phone.

When the power goes out: Remember that alternative sources of fuel or electricity for heating or cooking can cause carbon monoxide (CO) to build up in a home or garage can kill the people and animals.  CO is an odorless, colorless gas that can cause sudden illness and death if inhaled. Alternate heating sources can include properly used generators and well-maintained fireplaces.

As precautions: Have the heating system, water heater and any other gas, oil or coal burning appliances serviced by a qualified technician each year; install a CO detector with a working battery; learn symptoms of CO poisoning including headaches, nausea and disorientation; seek  medical attention if you suspect CO poisoning; "warm up" your car or truck outside of your garage;
attached garages can leak CO fumes into your house, even if you leave the door open

Also: Check to be sure your stove or fireplace is properly vented before using; never heat your house with a gas oven; keep grills and generators out of the house and garage; generators need to be at least 25 feet from the house; stock food that needs no cooking or refrigeration and water stored in clean containers; keep an up-to-date emergency kit with a battery-operated flashlight, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio and lamps, batteries, first-aid kit and extra medicine.

When driving in winter weather: Take into account the snow, sleet and ice on the roads, so stay off the roads if possible; keep gas tank full to avoid ice in the tank and fuel lines; use a wintertime formula in your windshield washer; keep a winter emergency kit in the car in case you become stranded including blankets, food and water, booster cables, flares, tire pump and a bag of sand or cat litter (for traction), compass and maps, flashlight, battery-powered radio and extra batteries, first-aid kit and plastic bags (for sanitation).

If stranded: Stay with your car unless safety is no more than 100 yards away, but continue to move arms and legs; stay visible by putting bright cloth on the antenna, turning on the inside overhead light (when engine is running) and raising the hood when snow stops falling; run the engine and heater only 10 minutes every hour; keep a downwind window open; make sure the tailpipe is not blocked.

For more information, click here or call 1-800-CDC-INFO.

Baltimore Sun file photo/Amy Davis

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: General Health
        

                 
The Baltimore nonprofit The League for People with Disabilities Inc. has joined with the publisher of i.d.e.a.l. magazine to distribute a new quarterly magazine about and for those with disabilities. The official launch is scheduled for Jan. 15.

The League has a print shop and bulk mail house called League Industries that will serve as the official printer and mail house for i.d.e.a.l. magazine. That stands for Individuals with Disabilities Express About Life. 

“i.d.e.a.l. magazine will create a new and positive image for young people with disabilities and, hopefully, help eliminate the stereotypes among people with disabilities in society,” said Zarifa Roberson, the magazine's founder and chief executive.

She wanted to start the publication so people with disabilities can express their opinions on all areas of their lives, something they normally do not get to do in a public way. She wants the magazine to be the voice of the disability community. 

The League’s president and chief executive, David A. Greenberg, said,  “We currently serve over 2,000 individuals and families with various backgrounds and interests and opinions.  It’s great that Zarifa is putting together so many voices and stories to show the diversity and extent of ideas and opinions within the community of people with disabilities.  The possibilities for stories and articles are endless.”

For more information, call The League at 410-323-0500 ext. 304, or go to http://www.leagueforpeople.org. The League for People with Disabilities Inc. was founded in 1927 and provides services to help people with disabilities gain independence, increase self-sufficiency and improve quality of life. 

Baltimore Sun photo inside the league headquarters on Cold Spring Lane/Jed Kirschbaum

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: News roundup
        

Remember our post on an article in the British Medical Journal that called Santa a bad public health role model?

Well, the jolly old elf might not be a sterling example of healthy living. But Nathan Grills, the author of that article, tells us -- and has told other reporters already -- that the piece was really nothing more than a spoof with no science behind it at all.

A reader of our original post alerted us to this blog post, which examines how Grills got the reputation of being a Santa-trasher.

Here's what Grills wrote to me yesterday afternoon:

"Most of our 'Santa- A public health pariah?' article was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. It's a Christmas spoof. Mr. Halyday and myself had hoped to spread a bit of Christmas cheer, but with a tinge of seriousness to provoke a bit of healthy Christmas dinner table conversation. The British Medical Journal's Christmas edition is a special edition that encourages such satire.

"Unfortunately, the article has spread like wildfire, but it seems to have lost the Christmas cheer element. I describe the article like belief in Santa. There is a little bit of truth and every person has to decide how much they believe. The media perhaps believed a little too much. This was probably because many outlets only read the media release and not the article. The actual article clearly swings from the sublime to the ridiculous.

"I am a Santa believer and lover! I have donned the red and white garb a number of times to bring cheer at school concerts in rural Victoria. I believe in the true meaning of Santa. The true Santa, Saint Nicholas, was a very generous man who gave of all his wealth to bless others who were in need. This was a reflection of one of the greatest gifts given to humanity: the baby Jesus.

"We need to reclaim Christmas for the beauty of giving and loving. It is definitely not about alcohol companies and Coca Cola exploiting Santa’s selling power! Santa has never accepted the job as chief sales consultant for a tobacco company.

"I received much correspondence accusing me of wasting 10 years of university education and bringing the academic institution to shame! To clarify, I am not a Santa researcher. The article was written in my spare time for a bit of comic relief. My heart lies in doing charity work in India and research in partnership with the Nossal Institute of Global Health. Interestingly this reflects the work of true St Nic. We help to bring the gift of improved health to people in need. It would be great if the media were to care as much about my 'real' work as about a fantastical Santa article.

Merry Christmas!
Dr Nathan Grills

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Diet and exercise
        

I admit, I've done it. Fess up, you have too. But using that fine silverware to help the medicine go down isn't recommended and could result in giving yourself a dangerously inaccurate dose, says a small study appearing in this week's Annals of Internal Medicine.

A pair of Cornell researchers decided to test whether people are able to pour the proper dose of medicine into a household spoon. They tried out their experiment with a group of 195 college students. Researchers gave them three spoons -- a teaspoon, a tablespoon and a larger spoon and asked them to pour exactly 5 ml of cold medicine into each.

The students tended to underdose with the medium spoon (by 8 percent) and overdose with the larger spoon (about 12 percent). Most had no idea they had made an error. In fact, they were pretty confident they poured the right amount into each spoon.

These folks were in a well-lit room and got a practice pour and still made some errors when trying to estimate the amount of the medication, the authors point out. More mistakes would be likely among sick, tired patients trying to eyeball a spoonful of medicine for themselves, they wrote.

The take home message: don't use a kitchen spoon. Use the cap that the medicine comes with, a special dosing spoon or a measuring dropper.  

Other studies have shown that people make these dosing errors often with household spoons. WebMd calls it one of the top 10 medication errors parents make with their kids.

Baltimore Sun photo

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: General Health
        

No one doubts that quitting smoking is one of the best ways to improve your health. But a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests that, in the short term, tossing the cigarettes might actually increase the risk of developing diabetes.
People who quit smoking tend to gain weight and those extra pounds can put a person at increased diabetes risk. In fact, the diabetes risk was higher for people who gave up cigarettes than for those who continued to smoke — but only within the first couple of years of quitting, according to the research appearing Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
After that, the diabetes risk decreased and almost disappeared after 10 years, researchers found.
The study shouldn’t deter people from quitting smoking, researchers urged. Rather, quitters should be conscientious about their weight, and doctors who counsel them should offer lifestyle coaching, intensive weight management and glucose level checks, said Hsin-Chieh Yeh, an assistant professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the report’s lead author. In addition, some studies suggest nicotine-replacement therapy such as the patch could help patients keep off the pounds, she said.
Most importantly, “don’t even start smoking,” Yeh told Kelly Brewington. “Quitting is good, but you need to watch your weight.”
In the study of nearly 10,900 middle-aged adults who were followed for 17 years, those who quit smoking had a 70 percent increased risk of developing diabetes in their first six years smoke-free. But smoking is also a risk factor for developing diabetes, researchers said. Over the same period, smokers had a 30 percent increased risk. The more a person smoked and the more pounds they gained, the higher the risk, researchers found.
Dr. Kevin Ferentz, a smoking cessation expert and associate professor in the department of family and community medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said the study confirms what he sees in his practice — about a third of all smokers who quit gain an average of 5 to 8 pounds. It’s not because of a slowed metabolism, he said. Quitters often substitute eating for smoking.
To stop successfully, smokers need nutritional advice and a plan to tackle the triggers that keep them vulnerable to relapse, he said. Ferentz reminds quitters to munch on low-calorie snacks like carrot sticks, celery and sugar-free gum when the cravings hit.
“The key to stopping smoking is preparation, it’s not will power,” he said. “The analogy that I use is stopping smoking is a test. You either study for the test and there’s a good chance you will pass, or you don’t study and there’s a good chance you will fail.”

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: General Health
        

The new year brings a new skirmish on the health care reform front. As leaders in the House and the Senate prepare to merge their very different versions of the health care bills, here are some great resources for following the debate:

+   The Kaiser Family Foundation -- not the insurance carrier -- provides a nifty web tool providing side-by-side comparisons of the bills. You can also choose a health care issue, like say, "individual mandate" or "financing" and make your own cheat sheet on how the bills stack up. It's comprehensive, easy to use and has become my favorite tool as I write and research health reform stories.

+   The news agency run by the Kaiser Family Foundation -- Kaiser Health News --provides a solid Q&A on some pressing issues, including: Q: I want health coverage, but can't afford it. How would the legislation affect me?

+   This Associated Press feature offers highlights of the plans and examples how they would impact real people from a 28-year-old single woman who works part time to a 60-year-old married man who is self-employed.

+   Young, healthy and still bristling at the notion of being forced to carry health insurance? Check out The Sun's website for this explanation of why Congress is mandating insurance coverage. Our site also has another helpful breakdown of the highlights of each bill. 

And with that, let the wrangling begin!

Posted by Kelly Brewington at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Health care reform