Idea #285 for November 30th, 2009: Man’s Best Friend or How Owning A Dog Can Improve Health

Having a dog may actually help your health. It might seem like a strange concept, but there’s a very reasonable explanation for it. The act of walking your dog can be considered mild exercise, which is even more healthy when done daily. A survey from the UK found that the average dog owner spends over eight hours a week walking their dog.

Eight hours a week is a respectable sum, especially when you consider that the average person without a dog only walks or exercises for a little over an hour per week. Half of the people surveyed said they didn’t walk or exercise at all. On top of that, walking a dog is seen as more enjoyable than going to the gym by survey respondents. In fact, 86% of dog owners reported looking forward to walking their dogs, while just 16% reported the same enthusiasm for going to the gym. These dog walking excursions might be just mild exercise, but it’s a lot more than the average person engages in.

Read about this study here.

Idea #284 for November 29th, 2009: Hidden Risks or Some Pregnant Women Unaware of Medications’ Dangers

Pregnant women are often unaware of the possible effects that medications can have on their unborn children. Certain drugs used to treat acne, anxiety, as well as antibiotics can all be detrimental to fetal health. Yet a study shows that some women continue taking those, and other risky drugs, during pregnancy.

A Canadian study of over 100,000 pregnant women found that over half filled at least one prescription during pregnancy, and 6% took a medication that can be problematic for unborn children. Potential risks include miscarriage and birth defects. There is a need for greater awareness among pregnant women about the side effects their medication may pose. The best way to inform them is to make sure that their healthcare providers review their medications as soon as they are aware of the pregnancy.

Read more about this study here.

Idea #283 for November 28th, 2009: Cloudy Future or The Ballooning Rates of Diabetes

If we think the rate of diabetes is bad now in the US, just wait 25 years and it will be unbelievably bad. By 2034 it’s predicted that twice as many people will have diabetes in America, making a total of 44 million people with the condition. And if you think that’s an exaggeration or inflated, then consider that past predictions have actually underestimated the number. For instance, in 1991 a study estimated that there would be 11 million people with diabetes by 2030. By 2009, we already doubled that number. So there is the potential that even more than 44 million will have diabetes in 25 years.

We can expect massive increases in costs associated with diabetes care to rise as well. The cost is predicted to triple to over $300 billion in 25 years. An aging and obese population is likely to lead to these levels of diabetes in the future. When we consider all the ways to fix our healthcare system in the US, a large part of the reform has to be changing our own lifestyles that are contributing to rising costs. A major contributor is obesity, so for any effort to reduce health spending to be successful, we’re going to have to tackle the obesity problem — and fast — because time is running out.

Read more about the diabetes predictions here.

Idea #282 for November 27th, 2009: Warning Signs or Chronic Pain Increases Falling Risk in Elderly Patients

Experiencing chronic pain is a part of life for a lot of aging people, but its effects may reach beyond just discomfort. For elderly patients, chronic pain may lead to a higher rate of falls, a new study says. Falls are a major problem for elderly populations, and tens of thousands become severely injured or are killed in falls each year.

An 18 month study involving 700 elderly patients looked at their chronic joint pain and incidence of falling. Patients who reported having pain in more than one joint were 50% more likely to fall than others. Beyond chronic pain, there was also a link between acute pain and falls. Patients who had severe pain for a month were 77% more likely to fall in the next month than those with no pain. These findings are important because it could tell doctors that their elderly patients who experience pain should take extra precautions against falls. That could entail using an occupational therapist or adapting their living area to remove potential hazards and make it easier to navigate.

Read about this study here.

Idea #281 for November 26th, 2009: Getting Stuck or Medical Students and Needle-Stick Injuries

A sometimes overlooked hazard of working in medicine is needle-stick injuries, incurred from accidentally puncturing your own, or another person’s, skin with an uncovered needle. A survey of 700 surgeons-in-training indicated that 60% had been accidentally stuck by a needle at least once as a medical student. Less than half indicated they had reported their injuries, as they are supposed to. These injuries are particularly dangerous because they can result in the spread of hepatitis, HIV, and other diseases.

Fortunately, when the accident occurred in association with high-risk patients, 92% were reported properly. But the most common reason given for not reporting the incident was that filling out the report took too long. Also, more than half believed their needle-sticking happened because they were being rushed. Medical schools should address this problem on two fronts. For one, they should make the reporting process simpler so that medical students will actually comply. Second, they should address the underlying reason that students are rushing with needles, and work to put in safer needle-handling protocols.

Read more about this issue here.

Idea #280 for November 25th, 2009: Looking Over Your Shoulder or A Simple Way to Boost Hand-Washing Compliance in Hospitals

Proper hand-washing compliance remains a problem across many medical facilities. Not thoroughly washing hands can lead to the spread of pathogens including MRSA. A program recently instituted at UCLA Medical Center, however, has led to dramatic changes in the compliance rate of hand-washing there. It could serve as model for other hospitals in the future.

UCLA has achieved their success with using a simple method: enlisting undergrads to observe hand-washing in the hospital and report on the results. They have seen their compliance with hand-washing guidelines rise from 50% to 93% since the program began. Apparently, simply having people watch over medical staff during washing can make them more careful. It’s something for other medical facilities to keep in mind, especially if they are looking for a low-cost way raising compliance.

Read more about this program in the Wall St Journal.

Idea #279 for November 24th, 2009: Unwelcome Visitors or Fighting The Rise in Community-Acquired MRSA

MRSA, the antibiotic resistant pathogen we often hear about in the news, is usually thought of as a problem that only occurs in hospitals. New data suggests that a growing number of patients are picking up MRSA in the community and then bringing the pathogen into hospitals, rather than the other way around. The incidence of MRSA in outpatient units has grown rapidly. This is dangerous because doctors often travel between outpatient and inpatient units, potentially spreading the bacteria that’s carried into the hospital during outpatient visits.

Strains of MRSA that originate outside of hospitals are considered less dangerous than the deadly ones often cited in the media. That doesn’t mean the threat should be ignored, though. Hospitals now have to concentrate not only on containing and eliminating MRSA from their inpatient units, but also must contend with battling strains that are introduced by new patients. Healthcare facilities will probably require more resources to fight the outside waves of MRSA now. They will also need to increase surveillance and find better diagnostic tools to ensure that their response can be rapid.

Read more about this story in the LA Times.

Idea #278 for November 23rd, 2009: Tag-Team Healthcare or Physicians and Pharmacists Working Together To Improve Patient Outcomes

Under normal circumstances, a physician prescribes a high-blood pressure medication and a pharmacist fills the prescription as written. But when doctor and pharmacist work together, patients with hypertension fare better. New research supports that notion: a study of 400 hypertensive patients showed that patients whose pharmacists and doctors worked together had much better outcomes.

In this case, working together meant that both physician and pharmacist had a say in the medications and dosages the patient received. In the control group, whose patients were prescribed blood pressure medications in the conventional manner, 30% of the patients saw their blood pressure drop to the recommended level within six months. On the other hand, 64% of patients who had the physician/pharmacist team working together reached that level in the same time frame. That’s a remarkable difference.

Methods like this are being employed by some practices in the country already. If the results of the study hold up, it makes sense to expand this type of collaboration. Previous research has shown similar success in treating other conditions like diabetes and high cholesterol with this system as well. The authors of the study think we can encourage more collaboration by employing incentives via Medicare payments for those who setup these partnerships.

Read more about this news here.

Idea #277 for November 22nd, 2009: The Long Wait or The Problem With Emergency Care Wait Times

Our emergency rooms need fixing. New data show that patients that need care the quickest are least likely to receive it. Less than half of patients who needed emergency care within 15 minutes actually received it within that time frame. More troublesome is that those numbers have been getting worse in recent years.

The researchers studied data from 540 million emergency department visits spanning from 1997 to 2006. In 1997, 59% of the patients requiring care within 15 minutes received it, yet in 2006, that number was down to 48%. Whether patients were insured did not seem to matter in this case. However, Hispanic and African American patients faced even longer wait times on average than whites. There’s no simple fix for this mess, but effective healthcare reform legislation must address this before the trend worsens.

Read about this study here.

Idea #276 for November 21st, 2009: You Are What You Eat or Updating Nutrition Labels

Those nutrition information labels you see on food packages have looked pretty much the same since they were instituted in the early ’90s. While they remain effective at summarizing the nutritional contents of food, some tweaks could really help consumers. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has made recommendations for a nutrition label redesign that they believe will make the information clearer and more accessible.

The structure of the label that the group is proposing is basically the same, but some important information is made more visible. For instance, the suggest printing the calorie data in larger type and making some fonts appear in red to indicate high levels of certain unhealthy components, like saturated fat. They also want the recommended daily intake of sodium to be lowered to to 1,500 mg and want allergy information to be displayed prominently. A slight adjustment to the ingredients section could make a big difference too — simply making them appear in lower-case and separating them with bullets makes it far easier to read.

These suggestions seem pretty straightforward and logical, so the FDA should at least consider them. It probably won’t make a huge difference in levels of obesity and such, but it will make the nutrition facts more accessible for a lot people. Even if we can just increase the awareness of what exactly it is we’re eating, it would be a step in the right direction.

Read more about this proposal here and here.