Reuters (10/12, Doyle) reports that research suggests “keeping sodium intake low may prolong life according to a new study that set out to clarify the long-term risk of eating too much sodium and the benefits of cutting down.” After “following more than 3,000 people with elevated blood pressure for over 24 years,” investigators “found that risk of death from any cause rose in a straight line along with sodium intake.” The findings were published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
0 Comments
Please copy and paste link for article https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/10/13/the-5-8-billion-argument-for-getting-your-flu-shot/ Overall use of dietary supplements remains steady as product preferences shift, study finds10/31/2016 CNN (10/11, Christensen) reports that a study published in JAMA suggests that “the majority of American adults use dietary supplements,” a rate which has “remained steady for about the past decade...despite an increase in the number of studies” showing they produce little to no health benefits. According to CNN, the National Institutes of Health “has spent $250 million to $300 million to study the health effects of supplements, and ‘most of the larger NIH-supported clinical trials of DS (dietary supplements) failed to demonstrate a significant benefit compared to control groups.’” While the research has not deterred Americans from using supplements altogether, it may have caused some to stop “using some of the products and been drawn to others” instead.
HealthDay (10/11, Norton) reports that the study found that “multivitamins and many individual vitamins and minerals are less popular, as are botanicals such as echinacea, ginseng and garlic extracts.” However, more Americans “are using vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids and probiotics.” In “Science Now,” the Los Angeles Times (10/10, Kaplan) reports, “In a head-to-head comparison,” 230 “real human physicians outperformed a collection of 23 symptom-checker apps and websites by a margin of more than 2 to 1,” researchers found. What’s more, “even when the contestants got three chances to figure out what ailed a hypothetical patient, the diagnostic software lagged far behind actual” physicians.
The CBS News (10/11, Marcus) website reports, “The online symptom checkers were more likely to make a correct diagnosis of simpler health conditions than the more complex ones,” researchers found. Nevertheless, “experts stressed that they aren’t dismissing technology’s medical benefits.” In some cases, they can help patients learn more about their conditions after receiving their physicians’ diagnoses. The findings were published online in JAMA Internal Medicine. More nursing home residents with advanced dementia being connected to ventilators, study shows10/31/2016 Reuters (10/10, Rapaport) reports the “number of nursing home residents with advanced dementia” connected to ventilators has increased significantly in recent years although it “doesn’t appear to help them live longer,” according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers found that in 2000 only 39 of every 1,000 nursing home residents with dementia who were hospitalized were connected to ventilators, but in 2013 that had increased to 78 of every 1,000.
Inpatient risk for C. difficile may rise if prior bed occupant received antibiotics, study finds10/31/2016 Reuters (10/10, Doyle) reports, “If the previous occupant of a hospital bed received antibiotics, the next patient who uses that bed may be at higher risk for a severe form” of Clostridium difficile, researchers concluded after studying “more than 100,000 pairs of patients who sequentially occupied a given hospital bed in four institutions between 2010 and 2015.” Excluded from the study were patients who had had “recent C. diff infection or whose prior bed occupant was in the bed for less than 24 hours.”
MedPage Today (10/10, Basen) points out the studywas published online in JAMA Internal Medicine. The Wall Street Journal (10/10, Landro, Subscription Publication) reports more healthcare providers are adopting a de-prescribing approach to help adults reduce excessive use of prescription and over-the-counter medications and supplements. Physicians use screening programs to find possible side effects and interactions and then wean patients off medications that are not necessary or have risk that outweigh benefits.
NBC News (10/10, Fox) reports on its website that research indicates “the cost of” breast “cancer treatment varies wildly, with no apparent rhyme or reason.” Researchers found that “the variation adds up to $1 billion a year that insurance companies, patients and government health plans are needlessly paying to treat breast cancer.” The findings were published in Cancer.
Reuters (10/10, Rapaport) reports, “Costs, and variation, were greatest for chemotherapy regimens built around trastuzumab (Herceptin) a targeted biotech therapy for women with one type of aggressive tumor.” Of the “patients who didn’t receive trastuzumab, in half the cases women’s insurance plans paid at least $82,260 – but that number ranged from $62,302 to $104,197 depending on the drug regimen.” Medical schools are enhancing students’ experiences by embedding them into patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations (ACO)—two care models changing health care delivery. Explore the work some schools are doing with the AMA’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium. Read more at AMA Wire.
The Wall Street Journal (10/7, A1, Roland, Loftus, Subscription Publication) reported that while the list price of top-selling insulins have doubled since 2011, most of the revenue has gone to pharmacy-benefit managers (PBMs), rather than drugmakers. Experts say that PBMs have demanded higher rebates to include the drugs on their preferred lists.
|
Archives
August 2017
Categories |