10/26/17

President Trump declared a public health emergency Thursday to fight the opioid crisis in the U.S. But critics were quick to say it does not provide the money needed to get the job done. Major Garrett reports.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/trump-declares-opioid-epidemic-a-public-health-emergency/

Critics say Trump's opioid announcement didn't go far enough

"I unfortunately think it's largely rhetoric and very shallow," former drug czar Michael Botticelli said of Trump's Thursday declaration

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-opioid-epidemic-critics-national-emergency/

Walgreens stocking anti-opioid nasal spray Narcan

Walgreens said the move was "part of its comprehensive national plan to combat drug abuse" and help the communities it serves

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/narcan-available-at-all-walgreens-locations-nationwide/

In heartbreaking case, doctors can only save one twin

"I left the operating room and cried," the chief surgeon said. "I cry thinking about it now. It was not easy. But I don't regret it."

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/doctors-heartbreaking-decision-conjoined-twins/

Who should get the new shingles vaccine?

The FDA recently approved a new, more effective vaccine for the painful condition; do you need it?

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-shingles-vaccine-shingrix-who-should-get-it/

Trump declares opioid crisis a public health emergency

The move stopped short of what Mr. Trump declared he'd do in the summer

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/trump-to-declare-opioid-crisis-public-health-emergency-live-updates/

There's a New Shingles Vaccine -- Is It for You?

On the heels of approval of a better vaccine for the painful condition shingles, adults over 50 should plan to roll up their sleeves -- again.

From: https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/news/20171026/theres-a-new-shingles-vaccine----is-it-for-you?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Addicted Moms-to-Be Transmit Hepatitis C To Babies

More fallout from the U.S. opioid epidemic: Wisconsin has seen a near doubling of women on Medicaid who have the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in pregnancy.

From: https://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/news/20171026/addicted-moms-to-be-transmit-hepatitis-c-to-babies?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Blood Thinners May Protect A-Fib Patients' Brains

Blood thinners may pull double duty for people with the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation: New research suggests they help prevent dementia as well as stroke.

From: https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/atrial-fibrillation/news/20171026/blood-thinners-may-protect-afib-patients-brains?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Get rid of leftover pills on Drug Take Back Day

Saturday, October 28th is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/drug-take-back-day-october-28-expired-opioids-painkillers-pills/

Video Q&A about Fetal Surgery and Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nlfmvekI1k

More Time or Quality of Life: End-of-Life Cancer Options

How to make treatment choices when you have advanced or incurable cancer. Lean about quality of life concerns, hospice, and other options for terminal illness.

From: https://www.webmd.com/cancer/features/terminal-illness-treatment?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Substantial decline in global measles deaths, but disease still kills 90 000 per year

Substantial decline in global measles deaths, but disease still kills 90 000 per year

From: http://www.who.int/entity/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/decline-measles-death/en/index.html

Hugh Hammond Bennett - The Story of America’s Private Lands Conservation Movement

From: USDA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kyQIXAjnQI

Turning to Kratom For Opioid Withdrawal

Some people dependent on opioids are trying the herb kratom to help them get off the drugs.

From: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20171026/kratom_opioid_withdrawal?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Minute Mayo Clinic Minute: Does your child have walking pneumonia?

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA1SEsB_OOI

DNA scans for infants raise privacy and discrimination concerns

Genetic counselors in Boston are offering parents a controversial peek at their baby's future health. It's part of a landmark study that could lead to gene scans for all infants at birth. A trial underway at Brigham and Women's Hospital uses genomic screening to screen for about 1,800 conditions. Tony Dokoupil reports.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/dna-scans-for-infants-raise-privacy-and-discrimination-concerns/

Ancient form of exercise could help heart attack patients

Every year, more than 700,000 Americans suffer a heart attack, and it can be a long road to recovery. But Dr. Jon LaPook found an ancient form of exercise can be "meditation in motion"

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/ancient-form-of-exercise-could-help-heart-attack-patients/

Hurricane Maria disrupted production of medical supplies

Hurricane Maria disrupted production at Puerto Rican factories that make critical drugs and medical supplies. Dr. Jon LaPook found that hospitals on the U.S. mainland are already seeing shortages.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/hurricane-maria-disrupted-production-of-medical-supplies/

Genetic Testing’s Impact on Patient Care – Paige’s Story

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UHg0oEqdAg

Predictive Genetic Testing in Clinical Practice – Conner’s Story

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOJ9LpNRg3Q

Infectious Diseases A-Z: What is an STI?

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uYx26DC0Zs

IV bags in short supply after Hurricane Maria disrupted production

The American Hospital Association told CBS News the IV shortage "is quickly becoming a crisis and threat to public health"

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/iv-bags-in-short-supply-after-hurricane-maria-disrupted-production/

Trump to declare opioid crisis a public health emergency

He'll call for all federal agencies to authorize emergency measures to reduce crisis, a step short of what he had promised to do in August – to declare a national emergency

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-to-declare-opioid-epidemic-a-public-health-emergency/

Formerly conjoined twins getting ready to go home

Doctors say the 15-month-old girls are recovering well after separation surgery

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/recently-separated-conjoined-twins-getting-ready-to-go-home/

"Hope dealers": West Virginia women offer help to opioid addicts

The women -- who are hand-holders and sometimes "butt-kickers" -- met at a support group for families harmed by addiction

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/more-perfect-union-west-virginia-women-deal-hope-for-opioid-addicts/

Many High-Risk Women Skip MRI Breast Cancer tests

Researchers studied more than 1,000 women in a U.S. military health system who had a 20 percent or greater lifetime risk of breast cancer due to genetics or personal or family history.

From: https://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/news/20171026/many-high-risk-women-skip-mri-breast-cancer-tests?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Survival Odds Improving for Lung Cancer Patients

Study of more than 65,000 people with stage 1 non-small-cell lung cancer found majority had surgery while 18% refused surgery or radiation.

From: https://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/news/20171026/survival-odds-improving-for-lung-cancer-patients?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Major Trump speech on opioid crisis may prove controversial

President will stop short of declaring the epidemic a national emergency, CBS News confirms

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/major-trump-speech-opioid-crisis-may-prove-controversial/

Woman who says she was misled into hysterectomy speaks out

She says two of her doctors and a nurse practitioner falsely told her she had cancer-causing genes and needed a double mastectomy and hysterectomy

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/woman-who-claims-she-had-unnecessary-hysterectomy-speaks-out/

December webinar to help dentists collect what they produce

A Dec. 7 one-hour webinar called GPS Managing Finances Webinar: How to Collect What You Produce has been designed to help dentists make sound business decisions when it comes to helping patients finance treatment.

From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/october/december-webinar-to-help-dentists-collect-what-they-produce

Jury reaches verdict for pharmacist in deadly meningitis outbreak

Glenn Chin would have faced up to life in prison had he been convicted of the murders of at least 76 people in the worst public health crisis in recent U.S. history

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/deadly-meningitis-outbreak-pharmacist-glenn-chin-new-england-compounding-center/

This Woman 'Sweats' Blood

You’ve probably sweat bullets before, though not literally. But did you know that in a few cases people have really “sweat” blood?

From: https://www.webmd.com/features/bleeding-face-palms?src=RSS_PUBLIC

11 Possible Heart Symptoms You Shouldn't Ignore

WebMD article on 11 possible symptoms of heart problems that you may not be aware of, such as dizziness, fatigue, and nausea.

From: https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/never-ignore-symptoms?src=RSS_PUBLIC

A Boy, Two Magnets -- and a Trip to the ER

He inserted one in each nostril, with disastrous results

From: https://www.webmd.com/children/news/20171025/a-boy-two-magnets----and-a-trip-to-the-er?src=RSS_PUBLIC

پولیو کی وبا کا سدِباب

From: World Health Organization https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReYF6ZFRz7g

پولیو کی وبا کی نگرانی

From: World Health Organization https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zb7fcOSwzE

ہر آخری بچے تک رسائی

From: World Health Organization https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSjJUMs6a1E

د ګوزڼ د ناروغۍ د سرویلانس سیسټم -- سیستم سرویلانس پولیو

From: World Health Organization https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-v3imtqypU

هروروستی ماشوم یا کوچنی ته رسيدل -- رسیدن به آخرین طفل

From: World Health Organization https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLhNZAPp0cU

د ګورڼ د ناروغی د خپریدنی ځوابول --پاسخ به شیوع مرض پولیو

From: World Health Organization https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6SwNFbwR6o

Mayo Clinic Minute: Let the dogs sleep

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GbyCDMvMsU

Activity trackers: Can they really help you get fit?

Follow me on Twitter @RobShmerling

Lately, I’ve been checking the number of steps I take each day. It’s not hard to do. My phone tracks it without me even asking it to. It also tracks the number of flights of stairs I’ve climbed and the number of miles I covered. And there are other options: I could track how often I stand up, how many calories I’ve burned by being active, and how many minutes I’ve engaged in brisk activity.

Even my employer has gotten into the act. As is common in many workplaces, one of our hospital’s wellness programs has organized “walking clubs” with teams comparing and competing with each other based on the number of steps team members take each week. Some companies offer prizes, financial incentives, or reductions in health insurance premiums if an employee participates in such a program.

Why all this monitoring?

Technology we carry around with us — our phones, watches, or other gadgets — allows enormous amounts of data to be collected about us every day. It’s important to keep in mind that there is a purpose to all of this. The point of activity trackers is to become more aware of how much (or how little) activity we’re doing so that we can make positive changes. Since the health benefits of physical activity — and the health risks of being sedentary — are well established, increasing activity is a health priority (or should be) for millions of people. Activity trackers are the first, um, step (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Do activity trackers really improve health?

My guess is that most people take for granted that activity trackers are helpful in promoting more physical activity, but that’s based mostly on assumption. That’s why researchers at Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School designed a study to compare full-time employees who used activity trackers with those who did not. Each of the 800 employees enrolled in the study paid the equivalent of $7 to enroll and then were randomly assigned to one of four groups for one year:

use of a Fitbit Zip, a popular clip-on activity tracker (with payment of $3/week to continue in the study regardless of the number of steps taken)
a Fitbit plus a cash incentive ($11 for taking 50,000 to 70,000 steps each week, or $22 for more than 70,000 steps/week)
a Fitbit plus a payment to a charity (which was larger with increased activity)
a control group that did not use an activity tracker; this group also received the $3/week for participation regardless of activity levels.

Researchers monitored more than just the number of steps taken. Study participants also had monitoring of more vigorous exercise and physical activity, weight, blood pressure, fitness levels, and they were asked about quality of life as well.

So, what did they find?

First, the good news

The group receiving the cash incentive increased their daily steps compared to the start of the study. This group was more active than the control group at six months, and 88% of them were still using their Fitbits (compared with about 60% of the Fitbit only and charity incentive groups).

Say it isn’t so!

When incentives stopped, only one in 10 study subjects continued to use the Fitbit. And after a year, with incentives stopped, activity levels fell in the groups receiving an incentive compared to when they started. This is disappointing indeed, especially considering that the participants in this study were probably more motivated than most to focus on their activity levels. They went to the effort and expense of enrolling in the study and agreed to put up with all the monitoring. In addition, most people in the real world probably have no direct financial incentives to maintain a certain level of activity each week.

This study follows another one from the University of Pittsburgh that found less weight loss among young adults who used fitness trackers compared to those who didn’t.

What’s next?

As technology evolves and research provides more information about what works (and what doesn’t), I think we’ll see a new generation of devices that are more customized to individual needs and medical conditions. For example, a person with diabetes might monitor physical activity to provide information about how to coordinate insulin injections and meals.

In addition, activity trackers can do more than simply spit out information about how active you’ve been. A good example comes from another recent study in which activity trackers were incorporated into a competitive game, complete with signed commitments to specific activity goals, an elaborate point system, and reliance on team cooperation and rewards. The study found that those using game-based activity trackers were more active and achieved activity goals more often than those using activity trackers without the game. The study lasted only 12 weeks and improvements waned somewhat after it ended, so the long-term impact of such a program is uncertain.

Physical activity trackers have quickly become a multimillion-dollar product category. I don’t see them going away any time soon. But, to actually get people moving and have a positive impact on health, we’ll probably need to use them in more innovative ways. And if they claim to improve your health, we’ll need high-quality research to back that up.

The post Activity trackers: Can they really help you get fit? appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.

From: Robert H. Shmerling, MD https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/activity-trackers-help-you-get-fit-2017102312594

Breast Cancer Awareness: Mayo Clinic Radio

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFcsnjVhWMU

Mayo Clinic Minute: Time to get vaccinated for flu season

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klq3TOfvLyQ

Mayo Clinic Minute: A warning about costume contacts

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjUK0-t-FzI

Infertility: Mayo Clinic Radio

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hnJ0GajlR8

Mayo Clinic Minute: Opioids in the ED

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLEufey-V30

4 tips for teaching your child how to ride a bike “on the road”

I’ve been a parent for six years, and I still feel like I’ve always just missed some two-week window that would easily set up my oldest for the rest of his life. First it was swimming, then play dates, then soccer. The latest was riding a bike. In August, Milo was past 5 and a half years old and ripping his Big Wheel through the neighborhood. He loved it, but I feared that I had blown the chance to teach him to ride a two-wheeler before kindergarten started.

So, me being me, I scrambled and tried to undo time. I bought him a used BMX bike and removed the pedals. He went up and down our sidewalk; the cracks and roots made that two weeks of uselessness. He kept at it, but I didn’t see balance clicking in. However, on a Thursday afternoon while we were walking on our just-repaved road, Milo picked up his feet and started rolling. By Saturday, when he was pedaling without pedals, I realized it was time to reattach the real things. Before I could finish, “Just remember that you have to…,” he said, “I got this.” And he did and he hasn’t stopped.

I’d love to take credit. The most I can claim is that I went outside with him. But I knew one thing quickly: the playground basketball court wasn’t going to contain him for long. I also know that kids can’t ever be 100% prepped — that’s the point of learning — but streets are different than soccer and even kindergarten. They come with cars, distracted drivers, and more cars.

Pata Suyemoto is an instructor at the Bicycle Riding School in Somerville, Massachusetts. She says there’s no one method for teaching how to bike in traffic, but there are fundamentals to instill: visibility, predictability, and paying attention, not always the top three priorities for a kid. And she has some suggestions for parents on how to get your child there:

Get on a bike yourself. It’s the best way to model anything, from using crosswalks to making turns to wearing a helmet. By riding, you’ll also experience what your child is contending with. You’ll see the limited sightlines, feel the rocky paths, and, if you have someone who loves to skid to a stop, you’ll know the loose dirt before an intersection. And with that information …
Predict routes. You have to constantly scan and make notes about challenging areas, so you can give a heads-up to your child and chart the safest course. Don’t worry so much about explaining the whys — understanding comes with maturity. Just lay out a clear plan for what you want, such as, “At this intersection, stop on this corner, press the button and look both ways.”
Practice passing. Riding in a straight line isn’t hard; the challenge is when a car passes. The narrowed space throws people of all ages. On a quiet street, bike path, or empty parking lot, take turns passing each other in a controlled way, and occasionally ride close alongside your child. He’ll see that he’s safe and can still maintain a line.
Be prepared to repeat yourself. A new pattern is rarely set with one reminder, let alone two, 10, or possibly 100. Kids are constantly being distracted on a bike by everything from dogs to friends to Halloween decorations. You need to stay on message, and since you’re also on a bike, whenever your child isn’t focused, stop the ride and point out what was missed and what needs to be done. When there’s success, praise it, and make following directions into a game. At every cross street, have your child yell out, “I’m looking.” It gives her some control and you can see what she’s processing. It also reins in your voice, so you’re not constantly talking and running the risk of getting tuned out.

The post 4 tips for teaching your child how to ride a bike “on the road” appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.

From: Steve Calechman https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/4-tips-for-teaching-your-child-how-to-ride-a-bike-on-the-road-2017102612626