(HealthDay News) — If you have diabetes, it’s important to make every food decision count. The American Diabetes Association identifies these “superfoods” that offer plenty of potential health benefits: Beans Dark-green leafy vegetables Citrus fruit Sweet potatoes Berries Tomatoes Fish that is high in omega-3 fatty acids Nuts Low-fat milk and yogurt
It’s a frequent occurrence: A single, childless older man without a designated caregiver suffers a debilitating stroke, and is sent to a nursing home for the remainder of his life. New research shows that male seniors who find themselves in this situation have triple the odds of being sent to a nursing home within five years of their attack, compared to men with a caregiver. A similar risk wasn’t seen for women. The study “highlights older adults as being vulnerable to the loss of independent living if they cannot identify anyone to care for them,” said study author Justin Blackburn, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “This is particularly true for older men, who may be unable to access or reluctant to use formal services delivered within their home or community,” Blackburn said. He spoke in a news release from the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, which recently published the findings. One New York City geriatrician said this scenario is all too familiar. “We see this on Staten Island when there are no other caregivers to help and support patients in need — like after a stroke, when nursing home placement may be the only option left,” said Dr. Theodore Strange. He is associate chair of medicine at Staten Island University Hospital. Strange believes that “men are likely at an increased risk because,… read on >
Many patients overestimate the amount of pain they’ll experience after surgery, resulting in needless anxiety, a new study reports. “We believe providers need to do a better job of counseling patients on realistic pain expectations,” said study co-author Dr. Jaime Baratta, director of regional anesthesia at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. The research included 223 patients. Their average age was 61. All had orthopedic, neurological or general surgery. Of these, 96 received some form of regional anesthesia (spinal, epidural or peripheral nerve block). The remaining 127 patients received only general anesthesia. Before their surgery, the patients estimated what level of postoperative pain they expected on a 0-10 scale (10 being the most painful). After surgery, they were asked about their level of pain in the post-anesthesia care unit one hour following surgery and again on the first day after surgery. The patients’ average expected pain rating immediately after surgery was 4.7, while their actual pain rating was 2.6. The average expected pain rating on the first day after surgery was 5.5, compared to an actual pain rating of 4.3. Patients who had regional anesthesia had an average expected pain rating immediately after surgery of 4.6, while their actual pain rating was less than 1. The average expected pain rating for these patients on the first day after surgery was 5.5, compared to an actual… read on >
Complaining of burnout and job dissatisfaction, many U.S. doctors plan to reduce their work hours or leave medicine altogether, a new study reveals. “Our findings have profound implications for health care organizations,” according to the researchers from the American Medical Association (AMA), the Mayo Clinic and Stanford University. The study found that about one in five doctors intends to reduce work hours in the next year. And about one in 50 intends to leave medicine for a different career within the next two years. The demands of electronic health records were among the challenges leading to job dissatisfaction. If only 30 percent of those doctors follow through on their plans to leave medicine, that would mean a loss of nearly 4,800 doctors. That’s about the same as losing the graduating classes of 19 U.S. medical schools in each of the next two years, the researchers explained. Replacing physicians is expensive for institutions. One recent analysis estimated the cost at $800,000 or more per doctor. “In addition, turnover is disruptive to patients, staff and organizational culture,” the study authors wrote. “An energized, engaged, and resilient physician workforce is essential to achieving national health goals,” said Dr. David Barbe, president of the American Medical Association. “Yet burnout is more common among physicians than other U.S. workers, and that gap is increasing as mounting obstacles to patients’ care… read on >
The American dream of success is a lot harder to attain for teenagers who use pot and alcohol, especially if they become substance abusers, a new study reports. Teen pot smokers and drinkers struggle to achieve some of the hallmarks of adult success, including obtaining a college degree, getting married, holding down a full-time job and earning a good living, the researchers found. “Parents should try to delay their children’s onset of use as much as possible,” said research supervisor Victor Hesselbrock, chairman of addiction studies at the University of Connecticut. “If you can push regular use back well into adolescence, the kids do a lot better.” The researchers have been tracking the life course of 1,165 young adults from across the United States, most of whom come from a family with a history of alcoholism, Hesselbrock said. Participants’ habits were first assessed at age 12. After that, the researchers checked in on them at two-year intervals, up through age 25 to 34 for many of the subjects. Kids from families with alcohol abuse followed patterns of first substance use and frequency of use that are typical of U.S. high school kids, Hesselbrock said. But as they got older, the paths of those who used or became dependent on alcohol or pot as teens deviated from those of kids who stayed clean for the most… read on >
Make sure your diet is age-appropriate read on >
If cookies, pizza and potato chips seem to pull you in, you’re not alone. A new study finds that images of junk food are, indeed, more distracting than those of healthy food. The researchers also found, though, that just a few tastes of junk food can significantly reduce its appeal. “We wanted to see if pictures of food, particularly high-fat, high-calorie food, would be a distraction for people engaged in a complicated task,” said co-author Howard Egeth, a professor in the department of psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The researchers showed the pictures to 18 participants, most of them undergraduate students. “We showed them carrots and apples, and it slowed them down,” Egeth said in a university news release. “We showed them bicycles and thumb tacks, and it slowed them down. But when we showed them chocolate cake and hot dogs, these things slowed them down about twice as much.” The researchers then repeated the experiment with 18 new participants, but first gave them two small candy bars before they began their task. This time, the study found that images of junk food were no more distracting than pictures of healthy food or nonfood items. The findings were published online Oct. 26 in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. The researchers believe the study findings highlight people’s built-in bias for… read on >
Is that sleeping pill you took last night making it tougher for you to drive in the daytime? What about a heart medication? Or a new antidepressant? New research shows that many people taking prescription drugs aren’t aware that their meds could impair their ability to drive. “Most are aware of the potential dangerous side effects of sedatives and narcotics, but other medications — such as some antihistamines, some antidepressants, some blood pressure medications, muscle relaxants and even stimulants — may affect driving ability,” noted Dr. Alan Mensch, who reviewed the study findings. The findings have both medical and legal implications, added Mensch, who’s medical director at Plainview Hospital in New York. “Not commonly appreciated is that a DUI (driving under the influence) charge may not only involve alcohol or illegal substances. Drivers can also be charged with DUI related to prescription, as well as over-the-counter medications,” Mensch noted. The new study was led by Robin Pollini, of the Injury Control Research Center at West Virginia University. Reporting Nov. 1 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, her team tracked 2013-2014 data from the National Roadside Survey. That survey asked more than 7,400 drivers at 60 sites across the United States about their current medication use. Nearly 20 percent of the drivers reported recent use of a prescription medication that could have affected… read on >
Too much could lead to skin cancer read on >
Despite a significant risk of head injuries in baseball and softball, helmet use in those sports is low, a new review says. “Our review demonstrates that traumatic brain injury in baseball and softball affects players of all levels and all positions,” said study lead author Dr. Michael Cusimano, a neurosurgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. “Although the risk for traumatic brain injury is lower in baseball than other, high-contact sports like hockey and football, because the injuries can lead to very serious injuries like skull fractures and bleeding in the brain caused by balls or bats, it should be considered equally as serious and addressed in a way that reflects that,” he said in a hospital news release. Cusimano and his colleagues reviewed 29 studies that included nearly 243,000 traumatic brain injuries sustained by baseball and softball players between 1982 and 2015. Playing levels extended from youth leagues all the way to Major League Baseball players. While baseball and softball had the lowest rate of traumatic head injuries compared with 15 other sports, serious brain injuries occurred once in about every 2,000 games. All formal baseball and softball leagues included in the studies required players to wear helmets. Five of the studies examined the use of protective equipment and found that only 7 percent of players who suffered traumatic brain injuries that required emergency… read on >