Patients Treated by Female Docs Have Lower Risk of Death

Older patients who are treated by female doctors after being admitted to a hospital may be slightly less likely to die within a month of their admission than those who are treated by male doctors, according to a new study.

Researchers found that patients who were treated by female doctors had a 4 percent lower risk of dying within a month of being admitted to a hospital than those who were treated by male doctors. Moreover, these patients were 5 percent less likely to be readmitted to a hospital within a month, the researchers found.

Read more: http://www.livescience.com/57262-hospital-patients-with-female-doctors-have-lower-death-risk.html

Are Colds and Flu Worse in Women Than in Men?

Colds and the flu may take a bigger toll on women than men, according to a new study based on people's reports of their own symptoms.

The women in the study were more likely than the men in the study to report severe fatigue and muscle aches when they had a cold or the flu, according to the findings, presented in New Orleans last month at IDWeek 2016, a meeting of several organizations focused on infectious diseases. The findings have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Read more at: http://www.livescience.com/56945-cold-flu-symptoms-men-women.html

Football-related concussion: A call for action

In 2012, emergency departments treated 325,000 teens for concussion in 2012, almost 40 an hour.

One blow to the head can be a problem, but additional blows increase the risk of catastrophic head injury, long-term neurological disability, and permanent brain damage.

Undetected and untreated, concussion and other kinds of traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be fatal.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) started the "Heads Up" project in 2003 to raise awareness and provide training about TBI and concussion. In 10 years, they distributed more than 6 million copies of their materials, and trained over 1.5 million coaches online.

But concerns remain:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/313533.php

The Risks of Insufficient Sleep

Getting a good night’s sleep is often more easily said than done. The realities of modern life mean that we have far more distractions and sleep stealers than ever before. We can work, shop, and bank 24 hours a day right from our living rooms.

https://www.healthafter50.com/sleep/article/the-risks-of-insufficient-sleep/

Happy Wife, Happy Life: Study Shows Better Overall Health Goes Hand-In-Hand With A Pleased Spouse

"Simply knowing that one's partner is satisfied with his or her individual circumstances may temper a person's need to seek self-destructive outlets, such as drinking or drugs, and may more generally offer contentment in ways that afford health benefits down the road," said William Chopik, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University and principal investigator of the study.

Read more: http://www.medicaldaily.com/happy-wife-happy-life-study-shows-better-overall-health-goes-hand-hand-pleased-398992

90% Of Strokes Are Preventable

High Blood Pressure And Lack Of Exercise Rank As Top Risk Factors

Each year, 800,000 people suffer from a stroke in the United States. But according to a new study, published in the journal The Lancet, 90 percent of these cases are preventable. An international team of researchers led by the Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University in Ontario examined people from every in continent in the world, and found a pattern emerged among stroke victims.

Read more at: http://www.medicaldaily.com/causes-stroke-risk-factors-high-blood-pressure

Telehealth at a tipping point for changing healthcare delivery

Fueled by three important trends, the time has come for healthcare to embrace telehealth as a technology platform for achieving increased industry efficiencies and providing greater patient access to care.

So argue Eric Topol, MD, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute in La Jolla, Calif., and Ray Dorsey, MD, director of the Center for Human Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y.

Writing last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, Topol and Dorsey contend in areview article that telemedicine has reached a tipping point and has the potential to dramatically transform the delivery of healthcare for millions of Americans. Thanks to three trends, the authors make the case that the widespread adoption of telehealth is rapidly approaching, especially given the ongoing doctor shortage and the industry’s growing burden of managing chronic diseases.

http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/telehealth-at-a-tipping-point-for-changing-healthcare-delivery

Study finds high prevalence of suicide attempts among arthritis patients

One in every 26 men with arthritis have attempted suicide compared to one in 50 men without arthritis. Women with arthritis also had a higher prevalence of lifetime suicide attempts than women without arthritis (5.3% vs 3.2%), according to a recent study from the University of Toronto.

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20160616/Study-finds-high-prevalence-of-suicide-attempts-among-arthritis-patients.aspx

Raising a Child with Autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or autism, is a term used to describe a group of complex brain disorders in human beings. These disorders affect the social interaction of a person, verbal skills, nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors, along with any activity that needs a person to react for a longer period of time in the same manner. It starts at an early age when the brain becomes developed; however, symptoms begin to surface when a child reaches the age of two years old or three years old.

https://www.findatopdoc.com/Parenting/Raising-a-Child-with-Autism

OBESE DADS MAY LEAD TO BREAST CANCER IN THEIR DAUGHTERS

Researchers at the Department of Oncology at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, D.C. have found evidence that obesity alters the epigenetic regulators of gene expression in both the dad's sperm and the daughter's breast tissue. In short, there's a direct connection between obese fathers and their daughter's breast cancer risk.

http://samadimd.com/cancer/2016/6/30/obese-dads-may-lead-to-breast-cancer-in-their-daughters

KevinMD reveals how to leverage social media

Kevin Pho, MD, founder and editor of the popular physician blog bearing his name, Saturday shared practical insights about how to make a difference in health care through social media at the 2016 AMA Annual Meeting. Learn Dr. Pho’s tips for using social media and taking control of your online reputation before it’s defined for you.

Read more: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/ama-wire/post/physician-behind-kevinmd-reveals-leverage-social-media

The superbug that doctors have been dreading just reached the U.S.

For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that the top U.S. public health official says could mean “the end of the road” for antibiotics.

The antibiotic-resistant strain was found last month in the urine of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman. Defense Department researchers determined that she carried a strain of E. coli resistant to the antibiotic colistin, according to a study published Thursday in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology. The authors wrote that the discovery “heralds the emergence of a truly pan-drug resistant bacteria.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/05/26/the-superbug-that-doctors-have-been-dreading-just-reached-the-u-s/

Doctor who treated Orlando attack victims pens poetic tribute with blood-stained shoes

A doctor paid no mind to a pair of soiled shoes he wore while helping dozens of patients wounded in the Orlando massacre until his heartbreaking Facebook post.

The bloodied shoes — a brand new pair of Keens — Dr. Joshua Corsa ditched at the Orlando Regional Medical Center represent the emotional weight he carried after treating the victims in the horrific terrorist attack at the Pulse nightclub.

“I had forgotten about them until now,” Corsa wrote Tuesday. “On these shoes, soaked between its fibers, is the blood of 54 innocent human beings.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/doctor-treated-orlando-victims-pens-poetic-tribute-shoes-article-1.2674489

Third baby born in U.S. with defect tied to Zika virus

A baby born with Zika-linked microcephaly remained hospitalized in northern New Jersey on Wednesday with the first such birth defect case in the Northeast and the third in the nation, officials at Hackensack University Medical Center confirmed.

Read the rest at USA Today -->

Low Vitamin D Levels May Increase Respiratory Infection Risk In Children

A new study has shown that infants in the age group of 3 months who have vitamin D levels lower than 25 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L) are two times more likely to have respiratory infections when compared to children who have levels above 75 nmol/L. In this study, published in the journalPediatrics, vitamin D levels were measured in the umbilical cord blood samples from 900 infants. The researchers examined whether these levels of vitamin D were associated with the risk of respiratory infections, wheezing or asthma.

Read the rest at: http://findatopdoc.com/blog/low-vitamin-d-levels-may-increase-respiratory-infection-risk-in-children

First Zika-Related Death in Puerto Rico Reported

(HealthDay News) -- The first known Zika virus-linked death in Puerto Rico was announced Friday by officials of the U.S. territory. A 70-year-old man with Zika died in February from severe thrombocytopenia. The death was...

https://www.physiciansbriefing

While Travelers Sleep, Brain Patrols for Danger

THURSDAY, April 21, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- When you sleep in a new place, a part of your brain remains alert for potential threats, a new study finds.

The findings might help explain why many people sleep poorly on their first night in a hotel, a sleep laboratory or other new location.

"In Japan they say, 'if you change your pillow, you can't sleep,' " study corresponding author Yuka Sasaki, research associate professor of cognitive linguistic and psychological sciences at Brown University in Rhode Island, said in a university news release. "You don't sleep very well in a new place. We all know about it."

Read the whole article here:

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20160421/while-travelers-sleep-brain-patrols-for-danger

How Can I Lower Cholesterol Levels?

Lowering the levels of cholesterol goes a long way in reducing the risk of heart disease and aids in a longer, healthier life. But is it easy to lower the levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) in blood? Before we start with it, let us remember that cholesterol is needed by the body in small amounts for making new cells and hormones, and also for protecting the neurons. Normally we get cholesterol from the diet including meat, eggs and milk. But levels of this compound increases with the intake of foods containing trans fats, saturated fats, and even simple sugars.

Read the rest at: http://findatopdoc.com/blog/how-can-i-lower-cholesterol-levels

Foundations of a Resilient Medical Practice

As with anything else in this world, the only constant thing in the medical field is change. The profession is constantly evolving. Healthcare practitioners are leaning more and more towards evidence-based medicine, using top-grade researches and performance-based indexes to drive treatment and outcomes. At the same time, patients are also becoming more proactive in terms of managing their health, especially in the advent of health websites such as WebMD and MedScape. This leaves doctors in private practices wondering about the worth of the years they’ve spent in medical school and the essence of surviving residency.

There is always a certain amount of pressure to change in order to keep up with the trends of the healthcare industry today. And yet, there is also a fine line between evolving and losing the mission and vision of the practice over these changes. In order to build a medical practice that can ride the waves of the ever-evolving healthcare industry, it must be rooted in these five important anchors:

Read the rest at: http://www.leadingphysiciansdaily.com/2016/01/foundations-of-a-resilient-medical-practice/

Leading Physicians Daily

Check out our new website, Leading Physicians Daily, to keep up to speed in the medical field!

Head over to:
www.leadingphysiciansdaily.com

Vitamin C intake may help reduce the chance of cataracts

Eat foods rich in vitamin C, if you want to keep cataracts at bay. A study published in Ophthalmologysuggests that diet and lifestyle, rather than genetics, may have the most significant impact on cataract development, and vitamin C could cut the risk of the disorder by one third.

Read the article at: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/308215.php

Drug-Company Payments Mirror Doctors' Brand-Name Prescribing

Doctors have long disputed the accusation that the payments they receive from pharmaceutical companies have any relationship to how they prescribe drugs.

There's been little evidence to settle the matter, until now.

Ready the study over at NPR

Obese People May Live As Long as Slim People

Researchers from Canada have shown that obese people without any major health issues may live as long as others who are of normal weight. They also showed that some obese, but otherwise healthy people have lesser chances of dying due to heart problems when compared to normal weight people with some medical problems.

“This shows that one should not look at the weight alone”, says researcher Jennifer Kuk, PhD, assistant professor of kinesiology and health science at York University in Toronto. She adds that if a person is healthy, having a healthy lifestyle, being physically active and having a healthy diet are more important than the body weight or weight loss.

Read the whole article at: http://findatopdoc.com/blog/obese-people-may-live-as-long-as-slim-people