Larger brains linked with regressive autism
By Shari Roan
Los Angeles Times
November 28, 2011
Autism symptoms can appear in babies, however some children with the disorder develop normally until about age 2 when they suddenly regress. A new study has linked this second type of autism -- regressive autism -- with larger brain size in boys.
Other studies have suggested some association between overgrowth of the brain and autism. The new study, led by researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute, demonstrates that there are multiple biological subtypes of autism including likely differences between males and females.
Researchers looked at 114 children with autism spectrum disorder between the ages of 2 and 4 and compared them with 66 healthy children of the same age. Of the 114 with the disorder, 54% had regressive autism and 46% had non-regressive autism.
Brain scans of the children showed that abnormal head growth and brain enlargement was identifiable in 22% of males with regressive autism compared with 5% of males with the non-regressive type. Girls with autism did not show brain enlargement. The data suggest that the abnormal brain growth occurred at around 4 to 6 months of age, much earlier than the symptoms of regression -- such as a decline in speech -- actually appear.
The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, adds to a growing body of evidence showing autism likely has various biological underpinnings. Researchers are particularly interested in understanding the disorder in girls. "[I]t is likely that the pattern of pathology is different in females than in males," they wrote.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Happiness linked to longer life
Happiness linked to longer life
By Amanda MacMillan
Health.com
October 31, 2011
A new study suggests that happiness in older people may lead to a longer life.
(Health.com) -- Being happy doesn't just improve the quality of your life. According to a new study, it may increase the quantity of your life as well.
Older people were up to 35% less likely to die during the five-year study if they reported feeling happy, excited, and content on a typical day. And this was true even though the researchers took factors such as chronic health problems, depression, and financial security out of the equation.
"We had expected that we might see a link between how happy people felt over the day and their future mortality, but we were struck by how strong the effect was," says Andrew Steptoe, Ph.D., the lead author of the study and a professor of psychology at University College London, in the United Kingdom.
Health.com: Boost your mood naturally
Previous studies on happiness and longevity have largely relied on the participants' ability to recall how they felt during a certain period of time in the past. These recollections aren't always accurate, though, and to get around this problem Steptoe and his colleagues asked more than 3,800 people to record their levels of happiness, anxiety, and other emotions at four specific times over the course of a single day.
The participants, who were between the ages of 52 and 79 when the study began, were divided into three groups according to how happy and positive they felt. Although the groups differed slightly on some measures (such as age, wealth, and smoking), they were comparable in terms of ethnic makeup, education, employment status, and overall health.
Five years later, 7% of people in the least happy group had died, compared with just 4% in the happiest group and 5% in the middle group.
When the researchers controlled for age, depression, chronic diseases, health behaviors (such as exercise and alcohol consumption), and socioeconomic factors, they found that the happiest and medium-happy people were 35% and 20% less likely to have died, respectively, than their gloomier counterparts.
Health.com: How to live to 100
It may seem far-fetched that a person's feelings on one particular day would be able to predict the likelihood of dying in the near future, but these emotional snapshots have proven to be a good indication of overall temperament in previous studies, says Sarah Pressman, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Kansas, in Lawrence.
"There is always room for error, of course; if I get a parking ticket or stub my toe on the way to the study, I'm not going to be particularly happy," says Pressman, who was not involved in the study but researches the impact of happiness on health. "But given that the study worked, it suggests that, on average, this day was fairly typical for the participants."
Unlike the happiness measures, depression symptoms were not associated with mortality rates once the researchers adjusted for overall health. According to the study, this finding suggests that the absence of happiness may be a more important measure of health in older people than the presence of negative emotions.
Health.com: The secrets to a super-happy winter
Positive emotions could contribute to better physical health in a number of ways. Regions of the brain involved in happiness are also involved in blood-vessel function and inflammation, for instance, and studies have shown that levels of the stress hormone cortisol tend to rise and fall with emotion.
The study doesn't prove that happiness (or unhappiness) directly affects lifespan, but the findings do imply that doctors and caregivers should pay close attention to the emotional well-being of older patients, the researchers say. "We would not advocate from this study that trying to be happier would have direct health benefits," Steptoe says.
However, this study and others like it should help establish happiness as a legitimate area of concern for health professionals, Pressman says. "There are still some people who see happiness as something fluffy and less scientific -- not something they should be worried about like, say, stress or depression," she says...
By Amanda MacMillan
Health.com
October 31, 2011
A new study suggests that happiness in older people may lead to a longer life.
(Health.com) -- Being happy doesn't just improve the quality of your life. According to a new study, it may increase the quantity of your life as well.
Older people were up to 35% less likely to die during the five-year study if they reported feeling happy, excited, and content on a typical day. And this was true even though the researchers took factors such as chronic health problems, depression, and financial security out of the equation.
"We had expected that we might see a link between how happy people felt over the day and their future mortality, but we were struck by how strong the effect was," says Andrew Steptoe, Ph.D., the lead author of the study and a professor of psychology at University College London, in the United Kingdom.
Health.com: Boost your mood naturally
Previous studies on happiness and longevity have largely relied on the participants' ability to recall how they felt during a certain period of time in the past. These recollections aren't always accurate, though, and to get around this problem Steptoe and his colleagues asked more than 3,800 people to record their levels of happiness, anxiety, and other emotions at four specific times over the course of a single day.
The participants, who were between the ages of 52 and 79 when the study began, were divided into three groups according to how happy and positive they felt. Although the groups differed slightly on some measures (such as age, wealth, and smoking), they were comparable in terms of ethnic makeup, education, employment status, and overall health.
Five years later, 7% of people in the least happy group had died, compared with just 4% in the happiest group and 5% in the middle group.
When the researchers controlled for age, depression, chronic diseases, health behaviors (such as exercise and alcohol consumption), and socioeconomic factors, they found that the happiest and medium-happy people were 35% and 20% less likely to have died, respectively, than their gloomier counterparts.
Health.com: How to live to 100
It may seem far-fetched that a person's feelings on one particular day would be able to predict the likelihood of dying in the near future, but these emotional snapshots have proven to be a good indication of overall temperament in previous studies, says Sarah Pressman, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Kansas, in Lawrence.
"There is always room for error, of course; if I get a parking ticket or stub my toe on the way to the study, I'm not going to be particularly happy," says Pressman, who was not involved in the study but researches the impact of happiness on health. "But given that the study worked, it suggests that, on average, this day was fairly typical for the participants."
Unlike the happiness measures, depression symptoms were not associated with mortality rates once the researchers adjusted for overall health. According to the study, this finding suggests that the absence of happiness may be a more important measure of health in older people than the presence of negative emotions.
Health.com: The secrets to a super-happy winter
Positive emotions could contribute to better physical health in a number of ways. Regions of the brain involved in happiness are also involved in blood-vessel function and inflammation, for instance, and studies have shown that levels of the stress hormone cortisol tend to rise and fall with emotion.
The study doesn't prove that happiness (or unhappiness) directly affects lifespan, but the findings do imply that doctors and caregivers should pay close attention to the emotional well-being of older patients, the researchers say. "We would not advocate from this study that trying to be happier would have direct health benefits," Steptoe says.
However, this study and others like it should help establish happiness as a legitimate area of concern for health professionals, Pressman says. "There are still some people who see happiness as something fluffy and less scientific -- not something they should be worried about like, say, stress or depression," she says...
Monday, October 24, 2011
BPA tied to behavior problems in girls: study
BPA tied to behavior problems in girls: study
By Genevra Pittman
Oct 24, 2011
(Reuters Health)
In a new study of Cincinnati-area kids, girls exposed to higher levels of bisphenol A before birth had more behavioral problems and were more anxious and over-active than those only exposed to small amounts of the chemical.
The finding doesn't prove that moms who have more contact with BPA, which is used to make plastics and found in some food packaging and canned goods, are putting their daughters at risk.
Additionally, there was no link between the amount of BPA measured in pregnant women's urine and boys' later behavioral problems -- or between levels of the chemical in kids themselves and their behavior.
Although almost all women and kids had traces of BPA in their urine, "The vast majority of our children were typically-developing children and didn't meet any clinical criteria for behavioral problems," said study author Joe Braun, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
"PRELIMINARY" ASSOCIATION
One researcher not involved in the study called the link between BPA and girls' behavior "very preliminary."
"Other groups are going to have to replicate these findings to be able to strengthen the implications of this particular study," said Dr. Amir Miodovnik, who studies children's environmental health at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.
Braun and his colleagues took urine samples from 244 pregnant women living in and around Cincinnati twice during their pregnancies, and again right after they gave birth, and measured BPA concentrations.
After that, the researchers measured BPA levels in the children each year. At age three, parents filled out a survey on kids' anxiety, depression, aggression and hyperactivity, as well as any behavioral problems or trouble controlling their emotions.
Almost all women had BPA in their urine, at an average concentration of two micrograms per liter. For every 10-fold increase in that concentration during pregnancy, girls -- but not boys -- had significantly higher scores on tests of anxiety and depression and had worse behavioral and emotional control.
On the surveys, where a score of 50 represents an average kid, those increases were between nine and 12 points, "a fairly sizable effect" that parents would probably be able to notice, Braun said.
That was after the researchers took into account whether moms were depressed during pregnancy, as well as their race, income, education and marital status.
Miodovnik estimated that a score of about 65 on the tests "would be in the concerning range."
A higher BPA concentration in kids' urine at ages one, two and three wasn't linked to behavioral or emotional problems, the researchers reported in Pediatrics.
IS IT CAUSE-AND-EFFECT?
The findings don't prove that BPA exposure in the womb causes behavioral problems, Braun said.
"It might be that women who are consuming more processed and packaged foods and more canned foods are also consuming less nutrients that are important for brain development," for example, he told Reuters Health.
Still, "There's a growing body of evidence... that really seems to suggest what you're exposed to and what happens during gestation can set you up on your life course," Braun said.
"The brain begins developing from very, very early in pregnancy. Disruption in development could have lasting effects across childhood and the lifetime."
BPA is thought to be an "endocrine disruptor," a chemical that mimics or interferes with naturally occurring hormones in the body. Canada and the European Union ban its use in baby bottles.
Braun thinks the effect seen in the study was limited to girls because BPA may interfere with only certain hormones, and boys and girls get exposed to different levels of hormones as they're developing in-utero...
By Genevra Pittman
Oct 24, 2011
(Reuters Health)
In a new study of Cincinnati-area kids, girls exposed to higher levels of bisphenol A before birth had more behavioral problems and were more anxious and over-active than those only exposed to small amounts of the chemical.
The finding doesn't prove that moms who have more contact with BPA, which is used to make plastics and found in some food packaging and canned goods, are putting their daughters at risk.
Additionally, there was no link between the amount of BPA measured in pregnant women's urine and boys' later behavioral problems -- or between levels of the chemical in kids themselves and their behavior.
Although almost all women and kids had traces of BPA in their urine, "The vast majority of our children were typically-developing children and didn't meet any clinical criteria for behavioral problems," said study author Joe Braun, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
"PRELIMINARY" ASSOCIATION
One researcher not involved in the study called the link between BPA and girls' behavior "very preliminary."
"Other groups are going to have to replicate these findings to be able to strengthen the implications of this particular study," said Dr. Amir Miodovnik, who studies children's environmental health at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.
Braun and his colleagues took urine samples from 244 pregnant women living in and around Cincinnati twice during their pregnancies, and again right after they gave birth, and measured BPA concentrations.
After that, the researchers measured BPA levels in the children each year. At age three, parents filled out a survey on kids' anxiety, depression, aggression and hyperactivity, as well as any behavioral problems or trouble controlling their emotions.
Almost all women had BPA in their urine, at an average concentration of two micrograms per liter. For every 10-fold increase in that concentration during pregnancy, girls -- but not boys -- had significantly higher scores on tests of anxiety and depression and had worse behavioral and emotional control.
On the surveys, where a score of 50 represents an average kid, those increases were between nine and 12 points, "a fairly sizable effect" that parents would probably be able to notice, Braun said.
That was after the researchers took into account whether moms were depressed during pregnancy, as well as their race, income, education and marital status.
Miodovnik estimated that a score of about 65 on the tests "would be in the concerning range."
A higher BPA concentration in kids' urine at ages one, two and three wasn't linked to behavioral or emotional problems, the researchers reported in Pediatrics.
IS IT CAUSE-AND-EFFECT?
The findings don't prove that BPA exposure in the womb causes behavioral problems, Braun said.
"It might be that women who are consuming more processed and packaged foods and more canned foods are also consuming less nutrients that are important for brain development," for example, he told Reuters Health.
Still, "There's a growing body of evidence... that really seems to suggest what you're exposed to and what happens during gestation can set you up on your life course," Braun said.
"The brain begins developing from very, very early in pregnancy. Disruption in development could have lasting effects across childhood and the lifetime."
BPA is thought to be an "endocrine disruptor," a chemical that mimics or interferes with naturally occurring hormones in the body. Canada and the European Union ban its use in baby bottles.
Braun thinks the effect seen in the study was limited to girls because BPA may interfere with only certain hormones, and boys and girls get exposed to different levels of hormones as they're developing in-utero...
Monday, September 5, 2011
Mental Illness Affects Half Of All Americans During Their Lifetime
Mental Illness Affects Half Of All Americans During Their Lifetime
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/233884.php
Medical News Today
05 Sep 2011
Approximately half of all American adults with suffer some kind of mental illness during their lifetime, a CDC reports announced. The authors stress the need for better surveillance in order to improve treatment and prevention.
Ileana Arias, Ph.D., principle deputy director of CDC, said:
"We know that mental illness is an important public health problem in itself and is also associated with chronic medical diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer. The report's findings indicate that we need to expand surveillance activities that monitor levels of mental illness in the United States in order to strengthen our prevention efforts."
According to a SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) study carried out in 2009, 4.8% of America's adult population - 11 million people - had suffered a mental illness during the preceding twelve months. They define a mental illness as "a diagnosable mental disorder (that) has substantially interfered with, or limited one or more major life activities."
This study reports that over the previous twelve months, about 8.4 million American adults thought seriously about suicide, 2.2 made plans to end their lives, and about one million attempted to commit suicide.
SAMHSA administrator Pamela S. Hyde, said:
"This new CDC study combined with SAMHSA's latest surveillance data provides a powerful picture of the impact of mental illness on public health. People with mental disorders should seek help with the same urgency as any other health condition.
Treatment and support services are effective and people do recover."
Depression prevalence in the USA
The table below is from the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which shows depression rates across the USA among adults aged 18+ years. Depression rates are higher in the southeastern states (data on Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Idaho, Colorado and Arizona refer to 2008):
Depression rates in the USA
Serious psychological distress prevalence in the USA
The table below is from the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Serious psychological distress rates were generally higher in the southeastern states. The researchers defined serious psychological distress as a Kessler-6 score of thirteen or more:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/233884.php
Medical News Today
05 Sep 2011
Approximately half of all American adults with suffer some kind of mental illness during their lifetime, a CDC reports announced. The authors stress the need for better surveillance in order to improve treatment and prevention.
Ileana Arias, Ph.D., principle deputy director of CDC, said:
"We know that mental illness is an important public health problem in itself and is also associated with chronic medical diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer. The report's findings indicate that we need to expand surveillance activities that monitor levels of mental illness in the United States in order to strengthen our prevention efforts."
According to a SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) study carried out in 2009, 4.8% of America's adult population - 11 million people - had suffered a mental illness during the preceding twelve months. They define a mental illness as "a diagnosable mental disorder (that) has substantially interfered with, or limited one or more major life activities."
This study reports that over the previous twelve months, about 8.4 million American adults thought seriously about suicide, 2.2 made plans to end their lives, and about one million attempted to commit suicide.
SAMHSA administrator Pamela S. Hyde, said:
"This new CDC study combined with SAMHSA's latest surveillance data provides a powerful picture of the impact of mental illness on public health. People with mental disorders should seek help with the same urgency as any other health condition.
Treatment and support services are effective and people do recover."
Depression prevalence in the USA
The table below is from the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which shows depression rates across the USA among adults aged 18+ years. Depression rates are higher in the southeastern states (data on Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Idaho, Colorado and Arizona refer to 2008):
Depression rates in the USA
Serious psychological distress prevalence in the USA
The table below is from the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Serious psychological distress rates were generally higher in the southeastern states. The researchers defined serious psychological distress as a Kessler-6 score of thirteen or more:
Nearly 40 percent of Europeans suffer mental illness
Nearly 40 percent of Europeans suffer mental illness
By Kate Kelland
Sep 4, 2011
(Reuters) Europeans are plagued by mental and neurological illnesses, with almost 165 million people or 38 percent of the population suffering each year from a brain disorder such as depression, anxiety, insomnia or dementia, according to a large new study.
With only about a third of cases receiving the therapy or medication needed, mental illnesses cause a huge economic and social burden -- measured in the hundreds of billions of euros -- as sufferers become too unwell to work and personal relationships break down.
"Mental disorders have become Europe's largest health challenge of the 21st century," the study's authors said.
At the same time, some big drug companies are backing away from investment in research on how the brain works and affects behavior, putting the onus on governments and health charities to stump up funding for neuroscience.
"The immense treatment gap ... for mental disorders has to be closed," said Hans Ulrich Wittchen, director of the institute of clinical psychology and psychotherapy at Germany's Dresden University and the lead investigator on the European study.
"Those few receiving treatment do so with considerable delays of an average of several years and rarely with the appropriate, state-of-the-art therapies."
Wittchen led a three-year study covering 30 European countries -- the 27 European Union member states plus Switzerland, Iceland and Norway -- and a population of 514 million people.
A direct comparison of the prevalence of mental illnesses in other parts of the world was not available because different studies adopt varying parameters.
Wittchen's team looked at about 100 illnesses covering all major brain disorders from anxiety and depression to addiction to schizophrenia, as well as major neurological disorders including epilepsy, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis.
The results, published by the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ENCP) on Monday, show an "exceedingly high burden" of mental health disorders and brain illnesses, he told reporters at a briefing in London.
Mental illnesses are a major cause of death, disability, and economic burden worldwide and the World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, depression will be the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease across all ages.
Wittchen said that in Europe, that grim future had arrived early, with diseases of the brain already the single largest contributor to the EU's burden of ill health.
The four most disabling conditions -- measured in terms of disability-adjusted life years or DALYs, a standard measure used to compare the impact of various diseases -- are depression, dementias such as Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, alcohol dependence and stroke.
The last major European study of brain disorders, which was published in 2005 and covered a smaller population of about 301 million people, found 27 percent of the EU adult population was suffering from mental illnesses...
By Kate Kelland
Sep 4, 2011
(Reuters) Europeans are plagued by mental and neurological illnesses, with almost 165 million people or 38 percent of the population suffering each year from a brain disorder such as depression, anxiety, insomnia or dementia, according to a large new study.
With only about a third of cases receiving the therapy or medication needed, mental illnesses cause a huge economic and social burden -- measured in the hundreds of billions of euros -- as sufferers become too unwell to work and personal relationships break down.
"Mental disorders have become Europe's largest health challenge of the 21st century," the study's authors said.
At the same time, some big drug companies are backing away from investment in research on how the brain works and affects behavior, putting the onus on governments and health charities to stump up funding for neuroscience.
"The immense treatment gap ... for mental disorders has to be closed," said Hans Ulrich Wittchen, director of the institute of clinical psychology and psychotherapy at Germany's Dresden University and the lead investigator on the European study.
"Those few receiving treatment do so with considerable delays of an average of several years and rarely with the appropriate, state-of-the-art therapies."
Wittchen led a three-year study covering 30 European countries -- the 27 European Union member states plus Switzerland, Iceland and Norway -- and a population of 514 million people.
A direct comparison of the prevalence of mental illnesses in other parts of the world was not available because different studies adopt varying parameters.
Wittchen's team looked at about 100 illnesses covering all major brain disorders from anxiety and depression to addiction to schizophrenia, as well as major neurological disorders including epilepsy, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis.
The results, published by the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ENCP) on Monday, show an "exceedingly high burden" of mental health disorders and brain illnesses, he told reporters at a briefing in London.
Mental illnesses are a major cause of death, disability, and economic burden worldwide and the World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, depression will be the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease across all ages.
Wittchen said that in Europe, that grim future had arrived early, with diseases of the brain already the single largest contributor to the EU's burden of ill health.
The four most disabling conditions -- measured in terms of disability-adjusted life years or DALYs, a standard measure used to compare the impact of various diseases -- are depression, dementias such as Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, alcohol dependence and stroke.
The last major European study of brain disorders, which was published in 2005 and covered a smaller population of about 301 million people, found 27 percent of the EU adult population was suffering from mental illnesses...
Friday, September 2, 2011
Man Dies From Toothache, Couldn't Afford Meds
"He [Willis] might as well have been living in 1927..."
"Young people need access...I think the government should come up with a public option." Dr. Jorge Rodriguez
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Man Dies From Toothache, Couldn't Afford Meds
By CARRIE GANN
ABC News Medical Unit
Sept. 2, 2011
A 24-year-old Cincinnati father died from a tooth infection this week because he couldn't afford his medication, offering a sobering reminder of the importance of oral health and the number of people without access to dental or health care.
According to NBC affiliate WLWT, Kyle Willis' wisdom tooth started hurting two weeks ago. When dentists told him it needed to be pulled, he decided to forgo the procedure, because he was unemployed and had no health insurance.
When his face started swelling and his head began to ache, Willis went to the emergency room, where he received prescriptions for antibiotics and pain medications. Willis couldn't afford both, so he chose the pain medications.
The tooth infection spread, causing his brain to swell. He died Tuesday.
Calls to Willis' family were not immediately returned. University Hospital in Cincinnati, where Willis was admitted, did not comment, citing federal privacy laws.
"People don't realize that dental disease can cause serious illness," said Dr. Irvin Silverstein, a dentist at the University of California at San Diego. "The problems are not just cosmetic. Many people die from dental disease."
Willis' story is not unique. In 2007, 12-year-old Deamonte Driver also died when a tooth infection spread to his brain. The Maryland boy underwent two operations and six weeks of hospital care, totaling $250,000. Doctors said a routine $80 tooth extraction could have saved his life. His family was uninsured and had recently lost its Medicaid benefits, keeping Deamonte from having dental surgery.
PHOTO: X-rays of teeth
Getty Images
A Cincinnati man without insurance died from... View Full Size
Higher Risk of Death for the Uninsured Watch Video
Understand Your Health Care Coverage Watch Video
Survey: Health Insurance Premiums Jump Watch Video
"When people are unemployed or don't have insurance, where do they go? What do they do?" Silverstein said. "People end up dying, and these are the most treatable, preventable diseases in the world."
Getting access to dental care is particularly tough for low-income adults and children, and it's getting tougher as the economy worsens. In April, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that 33 percent of people surveyed skipped dental care or dental checkups because they couldn't afford them. A 2003 report by the U.S. Surgeon General found that 108 million Americans had no dental insurance, nearly 2.5 times the number who had no health insurance.
Trips to the dentist aren't the only expenses hard-up Americans are skipping. An August report by the Commonwealth Fund found that 72 percent of people who lost their health insurance when they lost their jobs said they skipped needed health care or did not fill prescriptions because of cost.
"People want to believe there's a safety net that catches all of these people, and there isn't," said Dr. Glenn Stream, president-elect of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He noted that it is often young men who are the most likely to lack health coverage.
Dr. Jim Jirjis, director of general internal medicine at Vanderbilt University, said people, like Willis, without access to care often die of conditions that were much more common decades ago.
"He [Willis] might as well have been living in 1927," Jirjis said. "All of the advances we've made in medicine today and are proud of, for people who don't have coverage, you might as well never have developed those."...
"Young people need access...I think the government should come up with a public option." Dr. Jorge Rodriguez
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Man Dies From Toothache, Couldn't Afford Meds
By CARRIE GANN
ABC News Medical Unit
Sept. 2, 2011
A 24-year-old Cincinnati father died from a tooth infection this week because he couldn't afford his medication, offering a sobering reminder of the importance of oral health and the number of people without access to dental or health care.
According to NBC affiliate WLWT, Kyle Willis' wisdom tooth started hurting two weeks ago. When dentists told him it needed to be pulled, he decided to forgo the procedure, because he was unemployed and had no health insurance.
When his face started swelling and his head began to ache, Willis went to the emergency room, where he received prescriptions for antibiotics and pain medications. Willis couldn't afford both, so he chose the pain medications.
The tooth infection spread, causing his brain to swell. He died Tuesday.
Calls to Willis' family were not immediately returned. University Hospital in Cincinnati, where Willis was admitted, did not comment, citing federal privacy laws.
"People don't realize that dental disease can cause serious illness," said Dr. Irvin Silverstein, a dentist at the University of California at San Diego. "The problems are not just cosmetic. Many people die from dental disease."
Willis' story is not unique. In 2007, 12-year-old Deamonte Driver also died when a tooth infection spread to his brain. The Maryland boy underwent two operations and six weeks of hospital care, totaling $250,000. Doctors said a routine $80 tooth extraction could have saved his life. His family was uninsured and had recently lost its Medicaid benefits, keeping Deamonte from having dental surgery.
PHOTO: X-rays of teeth
Getty Images
A Cincinnati man without insurance died from... View Full Size
Higher Risk of Death for the Uninsured Watch Video
Understand Your Health Care Coverage Watch Video
Survey: Health Insurance Premiums Jump Watch Video
"When people are unemployed or don't have insurance, where do they go? What do they do?" Silverstein said. "People end up dying, and these are the most treatable, preventable diseases in the world."
Getting access to dental care is particularly tough for low-income adults and children, and it's getting tougher as the economy worsens. In April, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that 33 percent of people surveyed skipped dental care or dental checkups because they couldn't afford them. A 2003 report by the U.S. Surgeon General found that 108 million Americans had no dental insurance, nearly 2.5 times the number who had no health insurance.
Trips to the dentist aren't the only expenses hard-up Americans are skipping. An August report by the Commonwealth Fund found that 72 percent of people who lost their health insurance when they lost their jobs said they skipped needed health care or did not fill prescriptions because of cost.
"People want to believe there's a safety net that catches all of these people, and there isn't," said Dr. Glenn Stream, president-elect of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He noted that it is often young men who are the most likely to lack health coverage.
Dr. Jim Jirjis, director of general internal medicine at Vanderbilt University, said people, like Willis, without access to care often die of conditions that were much more common decades ago.
"He [Willis] might as well have been living in 1927," Jirjis said. "All of the advances we've made in medicine today and are proud of, for people who don't have coverage, you might as well never have developed those."...
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Myth busted: Potatoes help fight BP sans weight gain
Myth busted: Potatoes help fight BP sans weight gain
Times of India
Sep 2, 2011
LONDON: Potatoes are generally discarded by most people as fatty food. But, a new study now claims that eating spuds daily can help lower your blood pressure; and moreover, there is also no weight gain involved. In the study, researchers fed 18 volunteers six to eight spuds twice a day.
Most of those taking part were overweight or obese and on pills to lower blood pressure. And, the spuds used were purple ones cooked unpeeled in a microwave. But researchers believe that redskin potatoes and white potatoes may have similar effects.
After a month, the upper of their blood pressure reading when blood is pumped with each beat of the heart, was down by 3.5%. Diastolic or the lower readings decreased by 4.3%. In addition, none of the volunteers put on any weight, the Daily Mail reported.
"Mention 'potato' and people think 'fattening, high carbs, empty calories'. We hope our research helps to remake potato's popular nutritional image," lead researcher Dr Joe Vinson of the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania was quoted as saying.
Times of India
Sep 2, 2011
LONDON: Potatoes are generally discarded by most people as fatty food. But, a new study now claims that eating spuds daily can help lower your blood pressure; and moreover, there is also no weight gain involved. In the study, researchers fed 18 volunteers six to eight spuds twice a day.
Most of those taking part were overweight or obese and on pills to lower blood pressure. And, the spuds used were purple ones cooked unpeeled in a microwave. But researchers believe that redskin potatoes and white potatoes may have similar effects.
After a month, the upper of their blood pressure reading when blood is pumped with each beat of the heart, was down by 3.5%. Diastolic or the lower readings decreased by 4.3%. In addition, none of the volunteers put on any weight, the Daily Mail reported.
"Mention 'potato' and people think 'fattening, high carbs, empty calories'. We hope our research helps to remake potato's popular nutritional image," lead researcher Dr Joe Vinson of the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania was quoted as saying.
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