Health News

Opinion: Screen Returning Military And Others At Risk For Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Date: Sep-12-2012
Over the past decade, more than two million Americans have deployed to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where they were routinely exposed to life-threatening events. Such traumas may result in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition marked by intrusive thoughts and memories of traumatic experiences. Common symptoms of PTSD are startle, arousal, and sleep problems that can affect physical and psychological well-being. Authors suggest that PTSD is a "brain injury" that impairs forgetting. Sufferers often are depressed, or cope with symptoms through substance abuse...

Reduced Out-Of-Pocket Expenses Can Improve Medication Adherence For Chronic Conditions

Date: Sep-12-2012
Poor medication adherence is a common problem with serious health consequences. Studies show that up to 30 percent of prescriptions are never filled, and about 50 percent of medications for chronic diseases are not taken as prescribed. Lack of adherence leads to approximately 125,000 deaths annually and is estimated to cost the U.S. health care system up to $289 billion. Some interventions could improve adherence...

Former World Leaders Call On UN Security Council To Recognize Water As A Top Concern

Date: Sep-12-2012
The world today confronts a water crisis with critical implications for peace, political stability and economic development, experts warn in a new report being launched Sept. 11 jointly by the InterAction Council (IAC), a group of 40 prominent former government leaders and heads of state, together with the United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health, and Canada's Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation. "The future political impact of water scarcity may be devastating," says former Canadian Prime Minister and IAC co-chair Jean Chrétien...

Primary Care Utilization Associated With Better Breast Cancer Outcomes

Date: Sep-12-2012
Medicare beneficiaries with breast cancer who had a greater number of visits to primary care physicians in the two years preceding their diagnosis have better breast cancer outcomes, including greater use of mammography, reduced odds of late-stage diagnosis, and lower overall and breast cancer mortality...

Direct Mailing Of Fecal Occult Blood Test Kits Improves Screening Rates Among Medically Underserved Patients

Date: Sep-12-2012
Direct mailing of fecal occult blood test kits to patients eligible for colorectal cancer screening appears to be efficacious for improving screening in historically underserved communities. A randomized control trial including 202 patients at a community health clinic in Chicago, Ill., found patients assigned to an outreach intervention consisting of the mailing of FOBT kits with follow-up telephone calls to initial nonresponders had a 30 percent screening rate, compared with a 5 percent screening rate among patients in the usual-care group...

Patterns Of Psychological Distress And Recovery Following Stroke

Date: Sep-12-2012
Drawing from interviews with 23 recent stroke victims, researchers explore common disease trajectories, or longitudinal patterns of psychological distress and recovery, in the 12 months following stroke. They identify four distinct trajectories:resilienceongoing mood disturbanceemergent mood disturbancerecovery from mood disturbanceRecovery from mood disturbance, they note, was facilitated by gains in independence and self-esteem and by having an internal health locus of control...

Development And Validation Of A New Measure Of Continuity Of Care

Date: Sep-12-2012
Researchers describe the development and validation of an instrument to measure continuity of care from the patient's perspective. The measure, they conclude, reliably captures nine dimensions of continuity experienced by patients when they encounter multiple caregivers in various places...

Extended Office Hours Associated With Lower Health Expenditures

Date: Sep-12-2012
Patients who have access to a regular source of health care that offers evening and weekend hours have significantly lower health expenditures than those who do not. Analyzing data on more than 30,000 patients from the 2000-2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys, researchers found total expenditures were 10 percent lower among patients reporting access to extended hours in two successive years compared with those lacking such access. The researchers link the association to lower prescription drug and office visit-related (e.g., testing) expenditures...

Consumers Desire Greater Control Over Their Electronic Health Information

Date: Sep-12-2012
Patients in New York, a state where patients must actively consent to having their data accessed through health information exchange, are generally supportive of the electronic sharing of health information and are willing to have their health information automatically stored in an HIE; however, they want to have control over the privacy and security of that information. The telephone survey of 170 residents found more than two-thirds of people surveyed were willing to have their health information automatically stored in an HIE...

Study Reveals Extent Of Type 2 Diabetes Problem In Black And Minority Ethnic Populations

Date: Sep-12-2012
Half of all people of South Asian, African and African Caribbean descent will develop diabetes by age 80 according to a new study published recently. The study is the first to reveal the full extent of ethnic differences in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and also provides some answers as to the causes of the increased risk...