Bloggity bits about health

In Nauru, an island in the Pacific, the prevalence of diabetes has reached more than 40%, one of the highest in the world.  Nauru is the fattest country in the world, with over 95% of the population obese.  I can’t find any record of a McDonald’s or Wendy’s on the island, however.  (NEJM, Dec. 22, 2011)

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The “best buy” health interventions for non-communicable diseases according to NEJM, Dec. 22, 2011, is 1) tobacco, 2) alcohol, 3) bad diet—high sodium, high fat, and 4) lack of exercise.  The most bang for the buck and we not the professionals are the ones who make the difference.

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Overdoses from prescription opioids (painkillers) result in 40+ deaths a day, and 1.2 million emergency department visits a year, a 98.4% increase since 2004.  Isn’t that around the time drugs were added to many health insurance policies?  JAMA, Jan 4, 2012

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Brain food—eat fish that is baked or broiled at least once a week to protect your brain. It’s easier to protect your brain than repair it.

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I was reading about Charles Burchfield’s The Sun Through the Trees on the cover of April 4 JAMA and discovered he was a Lutheran.

In the early 1940s, partly prompted by his conversion to Lutheranism, his wife's faith, Burchfield returned to the natural landscape with renewed conviction. He reworked his early watercolors, often incorporating them into larger compositions by painting on strips of paper added to the edges. These monumental, visionary paintings evince a quasi-religious embrace of nature.  Link

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26.7 million adults aged 50 years or older have a clinically significant hearing loss, but fewer than 15% use hearing aids.  And now age-related hearing loss has been found to be independently associated with poor cognitive functioning and dementia.   Needs more research to find out why.  JAMA March 21

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When I was young, births at home were becoming increasingly rare. A friend of mine was named after the doctor who delivered him at home in our little town (also delivered me but in a hospital). Now there is an uptick among white women having home deliveries.  An increase of 36% among whites, and a decrease among blacks and Hispanics and other minorities. JAMA April 4.

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And finally, not in any magazine, but a miracle of sorts on my husband’s face.  About three weeks ago he had a tiny spot of malignancy removed from his face.  Probably from sunburns as a child.  Although it was tiny, it required a huge incision, and he looked like he’d been the loser in a sword fight.  Today, I can hardly see it. Our daughter, who works for a doctor, gave us his name after advising us not to let the dermatologist do it. She’d seen his work on their patients.  What excellent advice. She also can download photos to my computer without losing them, and glue our microwave back together.