Screening for Other Health Problems May Aid COPD Survival

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FRIDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- People with the often deadly lung condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, have an increased risk of death if they also have certain types of other health problems, according to new research.

COPD is a progressive disease involving bronchitis and emphysema, often tied to smoking, that makes it hard for patients to breathe.

The new study included more than 1,600 COPD patients in the United States and Spain who were followed-up for an average of 51 months. The findings were released online May 4 ahead of print publication in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The researchers looked at 79 other health problems in the COPD patients and found that "12 were significantly and independently associated with an increased risk of death," lead study author Dr. Miguel Divo, a physician in the pulmonary and critical division at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a news release from the American Thoracic Society.

These 12 conditions were: lung cancer; pancreatic cancer; esophageal cancer; breast cancer; pulmonary fibrosis; atrial fibrillation/flutter; congestive heart failure; coronary artery disease; gastric/duodenal ulcers; liver cirrhosis; diabetes with neuropathy; and anxiety.

Overall, the average number of other health conditions per patient was six. The average number of other health problems was 6.5 among patients who died and 5.8 among those who survived, the investigators found.

Screening people with COPD for these other conditions and treating them may help improve their survival, noted Divo, who is also an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School.

While the study uncovered an association between higher death rates and coexisting health problems in COPD patients, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

SOURCE: American Thoracic Society, news release, May 4, 2012

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U.S. Health Care Spending High, But Quality Lags: Report

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THURSDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Despite the fact that Americans spend more on their health care than citizens of 12 other developed nations, a new report finds that more does not necessarily equal better when it comes to quality of care.

The Commonwealth Fund report, led by senior research associate David Squires, revealed that the United States is shelling out roughly $8,000 per capita for health care, according to 2009 figures. By contrast, the Japanese and New Zealanders spend just one-third of that amount on health care, while Norwegians and the Swiss cough up about two-thirds.

Yet Americans now fare the worst in terms of preventable asthma fatalities among patients aged 5 to 39. The country also ranks poorly -- alongside Germany -- in diabetes-related amputations. As for in-hospital heart attack and stroke death rates, the United States stacks up as average at best.

"It is a common assumption that Americans get more health care services than people in other countries, but in fact we do not go to the doctor or the hospital as often," Squires said in a Commonwealth Fund news release. "The higher prices we pay for health care and perhaps our greater use of expensive technology are the more likely explanations for high health spending in the U.S. Unfortunately, we do not seem to get better quality for this higher spending."

Released on Thursday, the report analyzed health spending in Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, France, Canada, Germany, Norway, Japan, Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States -- the only nation among those studied that does not provide universal health care.

The authors found that in 2009, the United States ranked No. 1 (followed by the Netherlands) in the proportion of its gross domestic product devoted to health care: a full 17 percent. By comparison, the other countries in the report spent 12 percent or less, with Japan ranking as the lowest spender at about 9 percent.

Despite their country's spending, Americans can expect poorer access to physicians than people in other industrialized nations, with just 2.4 doctors for every 100,000 citizens. On that score, only Japan fared worse, according to the report.

Other troubling indicators included the fact that Americans also have the second-worst rate of physician consultations (behind Sweden), relatively few hospital beds, fairly short hospital stays in acute-care situations and a low rate of hospital discharges.

It wasn't all bad news, however. The United States is No. 1 in survival rates among breast cancer patients. It also shares the top spot (with Norway) for survival rates among colorectal cancer patients.

But when it comes to both hospital and prescription drug costs, Americans are at the highest peak by far.

By the time a U.S. patient is discharged from a hospital, he or she will have cost the health care system about $18,000 on average. Care for a similar Canadian patient comes to just $13,000, while in many other countries (Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, France and Germany) it dips below $10,000.

When comparing the cost of the 30 most common prescription medications, the report found that Americans are paying one-third more than Canadians and Germans, and twice as much as their Australian, French, Dutch, British and New Zealand counterparts.

Americans can take some solace in the report's observation that every nation in the study is battling a trend of ever-increasing health care costs. Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, noted that recent legislative changes have the potential to help improve the financials of health care across the country.

"The Affordable Care Act gives us the opportunity to build a health care system that delivers affordable, high-quality care to all Americans," Davis said in the news release. "To achieve that goal, the United States must use all of the tools provided by the law, including new methods of organizing, delivering and paying for health care, that will help to slow the growth of health care costs while improving quality."

More information

Visit the World Health Organization to learn about global health expenditure.

SOURCE: Commonwealth Fund, news release, May 2, 2012

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Wife's Breast Cancer Can Hurt Husband's Health Too: Study

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MONDAY, April 23 (HealthDay News) -- The stress of caring for a wife with breast cancer can harm a man's health, and this effect can continue for years after her treatment ends, new research says.

The Ohio State University study of 32 men found that those who had the highest levels of stress related to their wives' cancer were most likely to have physical symptoms -- such as headaches and abdominal pain -- and weaker immune responses.

Previous research has suggested that people with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to infection and might not respond well to vaccines.

The median age of the men in the study was 58, and they had been married for an average of 26 years.

"Guilt, depression, fear of loss -- all of those things are stressful. And this is not an acute stressor that lasts a few weeks; it's a chronic stress that lasts for years," study co-author Kristen Carpenter, a postdoctoral researcher in psychology, said in a university news release.

The findings, published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity, suggest that doctors caring for breast cancer patients could help their patients by considering their caregivers' health, too, the researchers said.

This could include screening caregivers for stress symptoms and encouraging them to participate in stress management, relaxation or other self-care therapies.

"If you care for the caregiver, your patient gets better care too," Carpenter said.

"Caregivers are called hidden patients because when they go in for appointments with their spouses, very few people ask how the caregiver is doing," study author Sharla Wells-Di Gregorio, an assistant professor of psychiatry and psychology, said in the news release. "These men are experiencing significant distress and physical complaints, but often do not seek medical care for themselves due to their focus on their wives' illness."

More information

Men Against Breast Cancer provides resources for men caring for women with breast cancer.

SOURCE: Ohio State University, news release, April 16, 2012

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Insight E Cigarette Reviews: Tobacco Smoke is Safer Than E Cigarette Vapor Claims Utah Health Official

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WINTER SPRINGS, FL, March 01, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The e cigarette is under fire again by special interest and misguided politicians using now debunked FDA testing as their reasoning for a ban of the electronic cigarette in public places.

According to science, it is the combusted plant material that is inhaled deep into the lungs that cause over 99% of the harm generated by tobacco.

Electronic cigarettes have the same or lesser amounts of these nicotine based chemicals than pharmaceutical smoking cessation drugs that are approved by the FDA for the general population in over the counter gums, patches and other NRT products.

According to many users of the e cigarette, misinformed politicians are setting up an unstoppable monopoly for Big Tobacco and Big Pharma who funds most of the anti smoking lobbyist totaling millions in donations on an annual basis.

H.R. 1256 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act solidified the governmental protection of profits for Big Tobacco and Big Pharma by eliminating all competition through color of law.

"There is no safe level of tobacco smoke," said David Neville, spokesman for the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program at the Utah Department of Health.

With tobacco cigarettes a user generally knows how much nicotine is being consumed. "They know if they are a half-a-pack-a-day smoker. When it comes to an electronic cigarette, you just don't know. You just keep on smoking," Neville said.

This statement suggests that smokers would be better off with tobacco that is a known killer and is costly to both the healthcare system and governments across the country. Nicotine by itself is also not a known carcinogen.

Others speculate that the fight against the e cigarette is based on lost revenues for 3 major entities, Pharmaceuticals, Tobacco and Government tax revenues, casting real science to the curb for cash.

Dr. Michael Siegel at the Boston University School of Public Health stated the following:
"Moreover, unless the health official's comment was taken out of context, his argument that there is no safe level of tobacco smoke is irrelevant to the issue of banning electronic cigarettes, because e-cigarettes do not produce any tobacco smoke. Or smoke of any kind. In fact, the argument that there is no safe level of tobacco smoke should lead one to support an intervention (e-cigarettes) which, by definition, reduce the amount of tobacco smoke exposure for the user."

Insight E Cigarette Reviews is a site dedicated to showcasing the top e cigarette kits and their respective brands. Visit their website at http://www.insightecigreviews.com.

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Get it Girl Health: Women's Nutritional Supplements Take Inspiration From A Breast Cancer Journey

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    May 03, 2012 /EIN Presswire/ -- As a result, she formed a company specializing in easy and intensive systemic health formulas.

Get it, Girl!, a new player in the nutritional supplement industry, relies on personal experience and scientific research to inform their simple product line. For Trudy Samuelson, a two-time breast cancer survivor, supplements allowed her to maintain her energy and protect her body from toxins, both during treatment and as an active survivor. "I knew from experience how beneficial certain nutrient combinations could be," she says, "I wanted to share this knowledge with ALL women to help them feel their best and take control of their health."

GIG classifies its approach to nutritional supplementation as systemic, or one that approaches the body as a whole. Samuelson explains why this approach works: "Disease doesn't occur in isolation; it's a manifestation of a larger, systemic breakdown. Until we address our whole health we're not working toward prevention and supplements won't make us feel better. We've gone to great lengths to truly cover all aspects of women's nutrition & systemic health in our program."

Samuelson and business partner, daughter Liberty DeGrandpre, knew that delivering the kind of nutritional support they envisioned required huge numbers of pills, something many women can't tolerate. "Throughout our development phase, we kept hearing the same thing: women know they need supplements but are overwhelmed and confused by the sheer number of products and pills," DeGrandpre said. "It's a huge barrier for women who want to feel and look great and take charge of their health." Working from here, the women joined forces with key scientists and experts to confirm their ideas and develop a delivery method that could eliminate the pills and create the comprehensive program they envisioned.

It has been a three year research and development process for Get it Girl. "Disease prevention has been the number one target of R & D; due to my personal and family history with cancer, this is my passion and where I want to focus. So many foods offer powerful disease fighting ingredients: antioxidants, nutrients, amino acids and more. Our goal is to make it easy for you to get them into your body without having to rely on a perfect diet" Samuelson explains. "We live in an age where the nutrition in our food is falling and we are subjected to an ever increasing number of environmental pollutants; without the proper supplementation a body is not very well prepared to answer these challenges."

The result of the women's objectives is the company's cornerstone program, The Systemic Makeover for Life, which consists of just three products: two protein based shakes and two capsules daily. DeGrandpre notes that the equivalent nutrition would require upwards of 75 pills per day and cost over 75% more. "From the beginning we were determined to accomplish three things: cover all aspects of women's health, make it simple and make it affordable," DeGrandpre says. "Supplementation doesn't need to be as confusing, costly or as inconvenient as it is." Because the program is so comprehensive, Get it Girl keeps their product line very small, offering just five products compared with the hundreds of individual supplements you will find with most companies.

While the two women acknowledge the challenges of being a small start-up in a competitive industry full of corporate players, they are optimistic about their future. "We've truly built our products around what women have told us they want: a one-stop supplement program that supports their biggest health concerns such as thyroid, adrenal, memory, breast and heart health. From here we've combined the vitamins, amino acids, probiotics, herbs, greens and minerals most effective at supporting these body functions," says Samuelson. "When you eliminate the guesswork and make it easy, you have a program that women can stay on and they really start to feel a difference. The response we've seen so far is overwhelmingly positive."

Get it Girl is building its brand around the use of real women in their marketing materials, creating a community of women who contribute their photos and personal experience. Part of membership includes submitting an IT statement, something DeGrandpre describes as a written expression of "what makes you tick, what fuels your fire." She goes on to say "anytime you stop and value the things in life that are truly special and inspirational to you, it automatically translates into the desire to be healthy and to treat your body well. That's what the IT statements are all about."

The website also encourages women to share their experience while taking The Systemic Makeover for Life, the company's bestselling package. One member, Kim Field, wrote "Before the Systemic Makeover, I was seriously concerned that I would have to accept my life as it had become: no energy or stamina to do the things I love to do, and that my career had reached its potential because I was sick a lot and my cognitive ability was constantly wavering. Since Get it, Girl! I feel better mentally and physically and therefore I have more confidence that I can reach the goals I have set for myself as well as enjoy the doing the things I love."

Get it Girl is based out of St. Ignatius, Montana with product manufacturing taking place at a GMP Certified lab near Salt Lake City, Utah. Products are available for purchase through the Get it Girl website, through the GIG store in Montana or through select Naturopaths and MD's.

Trudy Samuelson
Get it, Girl! Health
406-745-3500
http://www.getitgirlhealth.com

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You Survived Cancer: Now Pay Attention to Your Overall Health

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TUESDAY, April 3 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer survivors need to pay close attention to other aspects of their health as they age, researchers urge.

A new study finds that nearly half of cancer survivors die of something other than cancer, such as heart disease or diabetes. And the further from the initial cancer diagnosis they get, the more likely it is that their cause of death will be something other than cancer.

The study was to be presented Tuesday at the American Association for Cancer Research's annual meeting in Chicago.

"After the detection of cancer, clinicians and cancer survivors pay less attention to the prevention and treatment of other diseases and complications," lead researcher Dr. Yi Ning, assistant professor in the department of epidemiology and community health at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, said in an association news release. "We shouldn't neglect other aspects of health because we are focused on cancer and overlook other chronic conditions."

In following 1,800 cancer survivors over the course of more than 18 years, researchers found that 776 of the patients died: 51 percent eventually died from cancer and 49 percent died from other conditions.

"We realized that the mortality rates for some types of cancer, such as breast cancer, had declined," said Ning, also an associate research member at VCU Massey Cancer Center. "Cancer survivors live much longer than they did several decades ago. So with this large group of cancer survivors, we need to pay more attention to cancer survivors' overall health."

The patients followed in the study survived some of the most common forms of cancer, including breast, prostate, cervical, lung and colorectal. A large percentage were also diagnosed with conditions other than cancer, including high blood pressure and diabetes.

The more time that passed after the initial cancer diagnosis, the more likely cancer survivors were to die from another illness. Among those who died from a condition other than cancer during the study period, 33 percent had been diagnosed with cancer within the previous five years and 63 percent had been diagnosed 20 years earlier.

Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The American Cancer Society provides tips for cancer survivors on how to stay active and healthy.

SOURCE: American Association for Cancer Research, news release, April 3, 2012

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