ALL ABOUT HEALTH -

13Mar 2023 by Janice Holland

The High Cost of Cancer Care in the U.S. Doesn’t Improve Survival Rates

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Although the United States spends twice as much on cancer care as the average high-income country, the rate of cancer deaths are only slightly better than average, according to a study published in study published in JAMA Health Forum.It’s been well established that U.S. healthcare is expensive, and that patients living in the United States tend to have earlier access to new cancer therapies. But whether that spending has translated into fewer cancer deaths has been unclear, says senior author Cary Gross, MD, professor of medicine and founder and director of Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy and Effectiveness Research Center at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut.“The most recent studies comparing cancers costs with outcomes at the national level are over a decade old,” says Dr. Gross.That’s important, in…

13Mar 2023 by Janice Holland

U.S. Smokers Have Unequal Access to Cessation Assistance

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Not all smokers have the same chance of getting medical assistance to quit, a U.S. study has found.For the study, researchers examined survey data from a representative sample of American adults. All the participants had seen a health professional at least once in the past year, and were either current smokers or had managed to quit during that time.Researchers wanted to know what factors might influence the likelihood that participants had received advice from a clinician on how to quit smoking or been prescribed smoking cessation aids.“We found several disparities in receipt of cessation assistance,” the study team wrote in their report, published June 1 in JAMA Network Open.People were more than twice as likely to receive cessation assistance if they had a regular place to get preventive care, the researchers…

13Mar 2023 by Janice Holland

Lifestyle Coaching Helps Black Patients Lower Their Blood Pressure

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Giving Black patients with hypertension personalized coaching on how to improve their eating habits made it easier for them to manage their blood pressure, a new study has found.“Black adults have the highest rates of high blood pressure in the United States, and, for reasons we don’t fully understand, it starts at a younger age and results in strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and other serious hypertension-related health problems occurring at an earlier age as well,” says the senior study author, Stephen Sidney, MD, MPH, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California.The new study focused on a particularly high risk group of 1,761 Black patients — people whose blood pressure remained high even when they took medication to lower it. All patients…

13Mar 2023 by Janice Holland

Study Finds Climate Change Could Be Bad for Sleep, Too

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The World Health Organization (WHO) and others have issued stark warnings about the possible effects of continued climate change on human health. According to WHO projections published in 2021, the added costs of climate-related health damage could be $2 to $4 billion by 2030 and between 2030 and 2050, climate changes is estimated to be responsible for 250,000 deaths per year.Now new research says another possible health cost of increasing global temperatures may be reduced sleep, according to data published on May 20 in the journal One Earth. The researchers estimated that by the year 2099, warmer temperatures could result in people sleeping 50 to 58 hours less per person per year on average (about 8 to 10 minutes per night).“Less sleep overall places you at increased risk for mood…

13Mar 2023 by Janice Holland

Diet Low on the Glycemic Index Aids Weight Loss in People With Heart Disease

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People with heart disease who eat a low-glycemic-index diet with lots of leafy greens, whole grains, legumes, and fiber-rich fruits and vegetables may find it easier to lose excess weight and slim down around their midsection, a small clinical trial suggests.The glycemic index ranks carbohydrates from zero (foods with no glucose at all) to 100 (sweets and drinks that contain nothing but glucose). Simple carbohydrates that have more glucose are digested rapidly, causing dramatic spikes and crashes in blood sugar levels. Complex carbohydrates with less glucose are digested more slowly and help maintain steadier blood sugar levels throughout the day.All the people in the new clinical trial had coronary artery disease, which happens when plaque accumulation causes the heart’s major blood vessels to narrow and stiffen, limiting blood flow. Participants…

12Mar 2023 by Janice Holland

At Least 1 in 7 People Worldwide Have Had Lyme Disease

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Tick-borne Lyme disease is becoming more common, and a study suggests that more than 1 in 7 people worldwide are currently infected or have previously had this illness.For the study, researchers examined data pooled from 89 previously published studies of Lyme disease prevalence that, combined, included more than 158,000 participants worldwide. These studies looked at data from blood tests to see how often people got infected with Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Blood tests show antibodies to Bb infection when people currently have Lyme disease or have had it in the past.Overall, 14.5 percent of the global population currently has Lyme disease or has been previously infected, the analysis of data from 2001 to 2021 found. The worldwide prevalence of Lyme disease was also significantly higher…

12Mar 2023 by Janice Holland

How to Find Trustworthy Abortion, Emergency Contraception, and Birth Control Resources

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The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion and giving individual states agency to legislate abortion access. People have found ways to end unwanted and unsafe pregnancies for as long as people have gotten pregnant.More than 850,000 abortions are performed annually in the United States, according to the Guttmacher Institute. While many states will restrict abortion access, people everywhere will continue to get abortions — it’s a matter of how safe and expensive it will be.Your state may have changed its abortion laws and the information around abortion might be less robust and harder to find. That’s why you should go to trusted sources of information.Trust Existing Abortion Healthcare NetworksIn aftermath of Roe, many people had their social media feeds flooded with people volunteering their…

12Mar 2023 by Janice Holland

Healthcare Providers Weigh in on High-Dose Flu Shots for People 65 and Up

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Two out of three U.S. healthcare providers in a recent survey said that if they could recommend a flu vaccine to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for people 65 years and older, they would choose one with the clinical profile of Fluzone High-Dose Quadrivalent.Fluzone High-Dose Quadrivalent is the only licensed high-dose inactivated flu vaccine. It contains 4 times the antigen (the part of the vaccine that helps the immune system build up protection against flu viruses) compared with standard-dose inactivated flu vaccines.As reasons for the preference, the healthcare providers cited superior efficacy compared with a standard-dose flu shot and total years of real-world data, according to the survey findings, which were released on June 22.High-Dose Flu Shot More Effective Than Standard Dose in Preventing Infection and HospitalizationClinical…

12Mar 2023 by Janice Holland

Women With RA, Other Diseases, May Have Trouble Accessing Methotrexate Because of Abortion Restrictions

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Women with inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have taken to social media to post about their problems accessing the medication methotrexate since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court. Although the drug has been used for decades to successfully manage RA, lupus, and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), filling or even getting a prescription for methotrexate in some parts of the country is getting more difficult for women of childbearing age.Are Methotrexate Pills the Same as Abortion Pills?No, but methotrexate is also prescribed to treat ectopic pregnancy, which is when a pregnancy starts outside the uterus (typically in the fallopian tubes) and is not considered viable. In these cases, which are considered life-threatening to the person affected, methotrexate can often be used to end the pregnancy without surgery.…

12Mar 2023 by Janice Holland

Osteoarthritis Research: News You Can Use From EULAR 2022

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Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder in the United States, affecting more than 32.5 million American adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unlike rheumatoid arthritis, OA is not an autoimmune disease; it is a mechanical problem that occurs when the protective cartilage that cushions the end of bones wears down, causing pain, stiffness, swelling, and a loss of flexibility. Three new studies about OA that were presented at this year’s meeting of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology have found interesting links between OA and other diseases, as well as with obesity and body mass index (BMI) levels.Top Takeaways About OsteoarthritisPeople With OA Have a Higher Risk of a Variety of ComorbiditiesWhat’s New A study published in April 2022 in the Annals of Family Medicine,…