May 25th, 2010 by CynthiaHainesMD in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
1 Comment »
“I never worry about action, but only about inaction.” — Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill was right: Experts are saying sedentary behavior is an epidemic, with the resulting health effects potentially devastating.
Lack of muscular activity is associated with higher incidence of obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, as well as a heightened risk of death. And this is regardless of one’s level of structured physical exercise, according to the authors of an article published [recently] in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The team from Stockholm, Sweden, says that sedentary behavior has become synonymous with lack of exercise, but that this is inaccurate and misleading. Rather, sedentary behavior should be defined as whole body muscular inactivity. Read more »
January 22nd, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
1 Comment »
If you’ve spent anytime on The Happy Hospitalist in the last two years, you know I am a strong believer in lifestyle as the only solution to an economic disaster we find ourselves in. One recently reported television health statistic confirms, once again, the strong correlation between lifestyle and early death.
I blogged previously about studies showing an 80% reduction in heart disease, strokes, cancer and diabetes by adhering to lifestyle choices proven to save lives. America is a nation of couch potatoes. Everyday I see families, doctors and nurses taking the elevator up on story to the next floor above. What ever happened to using the stairs for a little self sacrifice?
The television health statistics in this country are alarming. How many hours a week do Americans spend watching television? 1 How does 31 hours a week sound. That’s amazing. I have one or two shows a week that I watch, if I’m lucky. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist Blog*
March 10th, 2009 by KevinMD in Better Health Network
No Comments »
Patients don’t choose the days they get sick.
There are several studies, specifically dealing with heart attacks, showing that the mortality rate increases when a patient visits the hospital during the weekend.
It appears that the same goes for upper GI bleeding. MedPage Today discusses a recent study showing that “patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage had a 22% increased mortality risk on weekends, and those with peptic ulcer-related hemorrhage had an 8% higher risk.”
Staffing issues, leading to delayed endoscopies, appear to be chief culprit. Minutes count in cases of GI bleeding, so the delay is a likely explanation for the higher mortality rates.
Especially in community hospitals, doctors often cover for one another, and in general, there are less physicians available. Short of having more doctors on call, a prospect that faces long odds as hospitals are loathe to pay specialists for additional call, I’m not sure what can be done to rectify this statistic.
One suggestion is to have so-called “bleed teams,” where staff can be quickly mobilized to respond solely to acute GI bleeds. But again, this likely would require more staff, and it’s dubious that hospitals are willing to bear the additional cost.
**This post was originally published at KevinMD.com**
