Healthcare News Round Up

In our new battling for health site, I will be bringing you news round up from the healthcare industry every two weeks. Have a nice weekend!

Healthcare news

Lack of Insurance Harms Health, Requires Urgent National Action

A report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) urges the US government to urgently tackle the issue of health insurance coverage because evidence shows that lack of coverage has serious health consequences on the uninsured which can spill over to the whole community.

Legislation news

Tobacco Regulation: Is This the Year?

Advocates for tobacco regulation hope this is the year when the US FDA gets empowered to regulate sales and marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products. The proposal have been opposed by the previous US administration but it seems that such a bill have a bigger chance under the new Democrat leadership.

Pharma industry news

Drug patent plan gets mixed reviews

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies made a generous offer to boost research and development into neglected diseases as well as collaborate with other companies on the issue. Neglected diseases are mainly tropical diseases such as sleeping sickness, visceral leishmaniasis, and dengue fever that are seldom on the priority list of pharma companies. The offer was made by GSK CEO Andrew Witty in a speech at Harvard Medical School last month.

“The aim would be to foster a global public-private network to supplant the present fragmented research efforts on the most neglected diseases…” Witty’s announcement triggered mixed reactions from scientists and public-health experts - “from wildly enthusiastic to deeply sceptical.” (Source: Nature News).

Falsified data gets India’s largest generic drug-maker into trouble

The US FDA penalized one of the world’s largest manufacturer of generic drugs. Ranbaxy Laboratories is India’s biggest drugmaker and was caught falsifying data in one of its manufacturing facilities. The consequences of the penalty “revokes 25 existing approvals of drugs made at its factory at Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh, and stops an unnamed number of pending applications for drugs that rely on data from the same plant.”

Events

Online Health Chats with Cleveland Clinic Experts

• A Q&A with Dr. Nissen
  Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - 12 noon (EST)
  Dr. Steven Nissen is the Chairman of the Department of Cardiology at Cleveland Clinic and will answer your questions on the current state of cardiovascular care.
• Hypertension & Your Kidneys
  Monday, March 16, 2009 - 12 noon (EST)
  One in four Americans are hypertensive and poorly controlled hypertension is a major cause of cardiovascular and kidney disease. Dr. Mohammed Rafey, a Cleveland Clinic specialist on Nephrology and Hypertension will answer your question on this topic.
• Epilepsy in Children and Adolescents: Treatment & Care
  Thursday, March 26, 2009 - 12 noon (EST)
  More than 2.7 million Americans have epilepsy, many of them children. Dr. Ingrid Tuxhorn of the Epilepsy Center will answer your questions on this disorder especially about epilepsy surgery.

               

Taking on childhood obesity

We have a common enemy and it’s called children obesity. Let us look at the latest statistics for children aged 6 to 11 years old who are overweight:

• non-Hispanic whites:16.9% of boys and 15.6% of girls
• non-Hispanic blacks: 17.2% of boys and 24.8%of girls
• Mexican Americans: 25.6% of boys and 16.6% of girls.

While the majority of the efforts fighting the obesity battle come from health advocacy groups, government agencies and not-for-profit organizations, it is great to know that corporate America also has a social conscience and has joined the battle. Two of these corporate initiatives are described below.

Obesity and advertising

The Council of Better Business Bureaus’ (BBB) Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative is fighting obesity at the consumer level. The initiative was launched by BBB way back in 2006 to advocate for more responsible advertising among food manufacturers. “The Initiative is aimed at shifting the mix of advertising messaging directed to children under 12 to encourage healthier dietary choices and healthy lifestyles.”

The terms of the initiative include

• at least 50% of ads targeting children under 13 should provide healthy messages and promote better dietary choices and lifestyles. This covers also interactive games and marketing strategies.
• no advertising of junk food and beverages in elementary schools.

The companies who have pledged (as of February 2009) to the initiative are:

• Burger King Corp.
• Cadbury Adams, USA, LLC
• Campbell Soup Company
• The Coca-Cola Company
• ConAgra Foods, Inc.
• The Dannon Company
• General Mills, Inc.
• The Hershey Company
• Kellogg Company
• Kraft Foods Inc.
• Mars, Inc.
• McDonald’s USA
• Nestlé USA
• PepsiCo, Inc.
• Unilever United States

The Initiative is based on a self-regulation program and participation is voluntary. However, once a company has publicly pledged its support for the initiative, it is subject to the standards set by the Initiative.

This is quite different from what is going on in the European Union where the EU Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices has set guidelines on advertising junk food for children, but the law is to be implemented independently in each member country.

Obesity and healthcare access

Health insurance companies are known to be mean when it comes to health benefit coverage and doctors’ reimbursements. But it seems that some insurers have a social conscience after all that prompted them to be part of the Alliance Healthcare Initiative, which is part of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. The initiative is a joint effort of the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation (founded by former US President Bill Clinton) and is basically an alliance among leading US insurance companies and other big corporations.

Here is what the initiative offers:

• comprehensive health benefits to children, including coverage for treatment and management of obesity
• reimbursements for doctors and dieticians for following up children with obesity problems
• educational campaigns about childhood obesity

Initially in its first year, the alliance will cover 1 million children all over the US. The coverage will be expanded to 25% of all overweight (about 6.2 million) children.

Some of the insurers who signed up for the initiative are

• Aetna
• Blue Cross
• Blue Shield of North Carolina
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
• WellPoint.

The battle against obesity -especially childhood obesity - is far from over but as long as we fight this together, we will surely win.

 

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IulTLCWriw

               

CVD News Watch November 14

Good day, everyone. Here is your heart news round up for this weekend.

CVD socioeconomic watch

Socioeconomic gap in BP management closed
Time was when management of hypertension was distinctly different between lower income and more affluent areas in the UK. It seems that with “the introduction of quality-of -care measures in general practices,” this socioeconomic gap has been successfully bridged and closed. This was partly achieved by “the so-called quality and outcomes framework (QOF), a pay-for-performance system” which give financial incentives to primary health care providers who reach certain outcome targets. The proportion of patients with up-to-date BP monitoring was 1.7% more in the higher income communities in 2005 but this advantage narrowed down to 0.2% in 2007.

CVD patient watch

British Teen Refuses Heart Transplant
“I’ll take my chances,” says 13-year old Hannah Jones after refusing a heart transplant. The British teen has been undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments against leukaemia since she was 4, which also damaged her heart in the process. It seems that Hannah has had enough of hospitals and would rather stay at home with her parents than undergo the rigorous process of heart transplantation.

CVD ethnicity watch

Differences in the incidence of congestive heart failure by ethnicity
Results from analysis of data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) show that the risk for congestive heart failure is much higher among African Americans compared to other ethnic groups. The increased risk is related to prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, as well as socioeconomic status.

CVD gender watch

Gender matching aids long-term survival after heart transplants
Male and female hearts do differ and when it comes to heart transplants, gender matching is important. Except for size, heart differences are not so evident, yet survival rates in sexually matched transplantation are much higher. However, it boils down to a trade off between longer waiting time and sexual matching for organs.

CVD depression watch

Heart disease patients may not benefit from depression screening
Clinical guidelines by American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Psychiatric Association a few weeks ago recommended screening for depression among cardiac patients as reported in a previous post. This study, however, casts doubts on the necessity of the recommendation. According to Dr. James Coyne of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, “there is no clear evidence that depression screening plays a conclusive role in improving cardiovascular patients’ health.”

CVD healthcare watch

New survey: More than half of US chronically ill adults skip needed care due to costs
The Commonwealth Fund surveyed 7500 chronically ill adults in eight industrialized countries (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, UK, and the US) with at least one of the following conditions: hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, lung problems, cancer, or depression. The survey results

“finds that those in the U.S. are by far the most likely to forgo care because of the cost, as well as the most likely to experience medical errors, care coordination problems, and high out-of-pocket costs.”

Photo credit: stock.xchng

               

CVD News Watch for the Weekend, August 22

Another weekend to look forward to. Relax, enjoy and happy reading!

CVD TV watch

Untold Stories Of The Heart

NBC and Go Red for Women join forces to bring heart disease stories on TV this coming fall. The special will feature Marie Osmond and Hoda Kotb and

“will focus on real women’s stories of struggle, success and support. Their stories will inspire conversation, compassion and greater understanding of the important journey to heart health.“

Mrs. International Laine Eden Berry also shares her heart story here.

CVD product watch

FDA and Boston Scientific recall NexStent carotid stent system

Bad news: Several stents have been recalled by the US FDA and stent manufacturer Boston Scientific. The products concerned were NexStent Monorail, NexStent Carotid Stent, and Monorail delivery system manufactured June 12, 2007 and May 2, 2008 and distributed between June 19, 2007 and May 5, 2008.

Good news: The recall does not apply to stents already implanted.

CVD healthcare watch

Seeing Red: The Growing Burden of Medical Bills and Debt Faced by U.S. Families

The price of health can be quite high and the number of working-age Americans paying off (whenever they can) medical bills has increased from 34% in 2005 to 41% in 2007. This translates to about 72 million people. Add to that 7 million senior citizens (65 and above) and you get a total of 79 million people having medical debts. These figures are based on a survey conducted by Commonwealth Fund.

CVD treatment watch

Risks of Combining Certain Cholesterol and AF Drugs

Safety alert for clinicians from the US FDA: coadministration of certain anti-cholesterol medications and medications to control atrial fibrillation might not be compatible and can result in a rare but potentially life-threatening condition of muscle injury called rhabdomyolysis. The following medications are in particular risky:

Simvastatin (marketed as Zocor and generics), ezetimibe/simvastatin (marketed as Vytorin), niacin extended-release /simvastatin (marketed as Simcor), used with amiodarone (Cordarone, Pacerone), an antiarrhythmic drug approved only for controlling life-threatening recurrent ventricular arrhythmias. (Source: Heart Rhythm Society).

Read more about the alert here.

CVD weight watch

Obesity in elderly a ticking time bomb for health services

Good news: Obesity in adults is not closely linked to early death.

Bad news: However, it can lead to increased disability as people grow older.

This is according to a study conducted by UK researchers and reported in the August 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The increasing trend towards excess weight in the elerly can present a big burden in health services, especially in the developed world.

The research team recommends that older people should talk to their doctor or other health care professional about their weight, and take their advice regarding slimming down if they are overweight. The advice may include more exercise, a change in diet, or both.

               

CVD News Watch for the Weekend August 15

Looking forward to your second Olympics weekend? Be aware, though, that watching stressful sports events might just not be good for your heart. Happy reading!

CVD healthcare watch

Coronary CTA costs less than standard of care for triaging women with acute chest pain

Would you believe it, non-invasive CTA - short for coronary CT angiography seems to be cheaper than standard diagnostic care which consists of stress tests and cardiac enzymes screening - at least for women with low-risk profiles but acute chest pains. This is according to a report by the American Roentgen Ray Society.

CVD cholesterol watch

People with heart disease still have trouble controlling blood lipid levels

Researchers at the University of California at Irvine report that current cholesterol level management among heart disease patients is not enough to keep total blood lipid profile in control. It seems that it is not enough to lower the bad LDL cholesterol. Other lipids such as HDL cholesterol and triglycerides should be monitored as well.

CVD weight loss watch

Scientists identify another piece of the weight-control puzzle

Is it all in the brain? Neuroscientists at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston have identified that the neurotransmitter GABA may play a role in weight control. Read more about this research which will be published in Nature Neuroscience.

CVD nutrition watch

ViaViente demonstrates cardiovascular benefits in new human trial

ViaVente - this anti-oxidant product in the form of fruity beverage seems to show benefits to cardiovascular health in this new study in humans. The study was conducted by Bell Ventures.

CVD drug watch

Multaq (dronedarone) granted FDA priority review for patients with atrial fibrillation

The new drug application for dronedarone (commercial name Multaq) is now under priority review by the US FDA. Dronedarone is indicated for the treatment of atrial fibrillation or flutter. It has been developed by the French pharmaceutical company sanofi-aventis. According to the company’s press release:

“Atrial fibrillation is a major cause of hospitalisation and mortality and affects about 2.5 million people in the United States, as well as 4.5 million people in the European Union and is emerging as a growing public health concern due to an aging population. Patients suffering from atrial fibrillation have twice the risk of death, an increased risk of stroke and cardiovascular complications, including congestive heart failure. Furthermore atrial fibrillation considerably impairs patients’ lives, mainly because of their inability to perform normal daily activities due to complaints of palpitations, chest pain, dyspnoea, fatigue or light-headedness.“

 CVD pollution watch

Air pollution damages more than lungs: Heart and blood vessels suffer too

Right in the wake of the Beijing Olympics, California researchers will publish in the August  issue Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) an article that reports how air pollution can injure the heart and the blood vessels in the short- and long-term.

               

CVD News Watch for the Weekend 8 August

Enjoying your summer? Here’s some new items to read over the weekend.

CVD nutrition watch

Eating fish may prevent memory loss and stroke in old age

This study which looked at 3,660 people age 65 and above, reports that eating fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids lowers the risk for stroke and cognitive decline in the elderly.

The study found that people who ate broiled or baked tuna and other fish high in omega-3 fatty acids (called DHA and EPA) three times or more per week had a nearly 26 percent lower risk of having the silent brain lesions that can cause dementia and stroke compared to people who did not eat fish regularly. Eating just one serving of this type of fish per week led to a 13 percent lower risk. The study also found people who regularly ate these types of fish had fewer changes in the white matter in their brains. (Source: American Academy of Neurology)

CVD BP watch

Blood Pressure Is So Much More than Brachial

Check out this video at Medscape to know more about other types of blood pressure (other than the usual measurements on the cuff and arm), what they tell us and why are they important.

CVD infection watch

HIV infection increases risk for aortic stiffness and CAC

This study reports a link between cardiovascular health and HIV infection. The researchers specifically looked at “aortic stiffness and coronary artery calcification, two subclinical markers of atherosclerosis.”

CVD healthcare watch

Average ER waiting time nears 1 hour, CDC says

The average time you have to reckon with when waiting in an ER in the US is almost 60 minutes - up from 38 minutes of previous years. This is because the number of ER cases is up but the number of ERs is down, thus creating a bottleneck, Physorg reports.

CDC reports:

At least 10% of emergent cases (those in which patients should be seen in less than 15 minutes) and 20% of urgent cases (should be seen in 15–60 minutes) had to wait longer than 1 hour to see a physician. Blacks and Hispanics were more likely to wait for more than 1 hour in all cases other than emergent.

CVD weight loss watch

Adults who eat eggs for breakfast lose 65 percent more weight

How about eggs for breakfast? You can add a bagel on top and won’t be hungry again for hours. This new, low-calorie, high protein diet may be the next diet craze. Check out the reviews about it here.

               

Stroke rates: Europe wins over US

When it comes to stroke rates, Europeans are way better off than Americans, according to a Dutch study.

The researchers looked at data from 2004 on 13,667 Americans and 30,120 Europeans from 11 countries. Their analysis shows that American men have 61% higher likelihood of suffering from stroke than their European counterparts. Also, American women were almost twice more likely to suffer from stroke than European women. This difference in stroke rates in the two sides of the Atlantic is most evident among the poor segment of the two regions’ population but less visible among the rich.

“….Poor Americans …were much more likely to have a stroke than poor Europeans, whereas the gap in stroke prevalence is less marked between rich Americans and rich Europeans.”

according study author Mauricio Avendano, of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. This is the same group who reported the research results showing that rich Americans are less likely to suffer from stroke at an early age than Americans in the low income group.

Higher stroke rate was associated with lower socioeconomic status as measured by wealth, income and education in both the US and Europe. However, the link between socioeconomic status and stroke prevalence is much more evident in the US than in most European countries.

The researchers speculate that the big difference between stroke rates in the US and Europe may be due to the following:

• Europe offers universal health care which is accessible to every one. In the US, over 40 million people have no health insurance, according to the CDC.

“Some European health systems emphasize tackling stroke risk factors, as opposed to the US health-care system, which focuses more on treatment and may actually be more successful in keeping stroke cases alive.”

• Europeans also tend to be more physically active than Americans, partly because of differences in the public transportation system.
• European diet tends to be healthier. When looking at individual countries, the lowest stroke prevalence was observed in the southern Mediterranean countries of Spain, Italy and Greece, but also in Switzerland.

“Southern Mediterranean countries have a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and fish, and lower in fats, which partly explains why heart disease is so much lower in these populations than in northern Europe and the United States.”

In conclusion,

“a higher rate of risk factors and more barriers to health care may be among the reasons why stroke is more common in the United States than in Europe.”

 

Photo credit

               

The Co$t of Cancer

DID YOU KNOW?

The average annual drug cost per cancer patient was $13,113 as of Jan. 1 of this year, up from $6,490 in 2001. (Source: Wall Street Journal Health Blog and Cancer e-search)

These rising costs affect not only cancer patients, but every American, as we all share in the burden of Medicare.

Are you having problems translating your Medicare benefits?

Here are a few helpful sites:

WebMD: Medicare Health Center

Medicare Learning Network:An Overview of Medicare Covered Diabetic Supplies and Services (pdf format)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: The Official U.S. Government Site For People with Medicare Read more

               

The High Cost of Diabetes-Yes, It Is Personal

Today’s post is in response to an email from a Battling Diabetes reader who asks how to get low cost diabetes medications, supplies and care if you do not qualify for Medicare.

I’ll do my research but I would appreciate feedback from the experts. YOU! Please post your insights and links so we can all help each other.

If you qualify for Medicare due to your age or disability here are some sites that will answer questions you may have:

WebMD: Medicare Health Center

Medicare Learning Network:An Overview of Medicare Covered Diabetic Supplies and Services (pdf format)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: The Official U.S. Government Site For People with Medicare

Read more

               

The High Cost of Diabetes

According to a report released in January by the American Diabetes Association the” total annual economic cost of diabetes in 2007 was estimated to be $174 billion. This is an increase of $42 billion since 2002. This 32% increase means the dollar amount has risen over $8 billion more each year.”

A study by the CDC states that for every $1 spent on diabetes training and education, $8.76 is saved on health care costs. Forty six states now have passed diabetes bills and the states of Ohio, Alabama, Idaho and North Dakota have not. We should be asking WHY NOT?

Read more

               

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