Author: SupremeCmdr

Undiagnosed CKD in Prediabetes

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Medical News: Kidney Disease Common in Undiagnosed and Prediabetes – in Nephrology, General Nephrology from MedPage Today

More than 40% of people with undiagnosed diabetes had chronic kidney disease, based on albuminuria or reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) — just as many as in those with diagnosed diabetes, according to Laura C. Plantinga, ScM, of San Francisco General Hospital and University of California San Francisco, and colleagues.

Notably, 56.2% of chronic kidney disease was stage 3 or 4 among those with prediabetes, indicated by a fasting plasma glucose between 100 and 126 mg/dl, and for whom kidney dysfunction was likely unsuspected.

ASTD Report – New Factors Compound the Growing Skills Shortage

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

February 2010 Bridging Skills Gap – Free – ASTD

Click on the link above and you’ll be taken to the original source article for the statistics provided below.  The charts themselves came from a newsletter called Workforce Training.  The percentages in bold are my emphasis.  Scary statistics but fixable.

Did I mention we conduct skills gap analysis and custom training to address the gaps?

SKILL GAPS
 Seventy-nine percent of 1,179 companies surveyed by the American Society for Training & Development said they had a skill gap. The respondents listed their highest priority gaps as:
Skills of the current workforce do not match changes in company strategy, goals, markets or business models: 51%
Not enough bench strength in the company’s leadership ranks: 40%
Recent merger/acquisition where the organization brought in new employees or current employees are not up to speed on the new industry: 35
Training investments have been cut or there is lack of commitment by senior leaders to employee learning and development: 27
When hiring for certain types of jobs, there are too few qualified candidates (i.e., a gap in the pipeline): 25%
Lack of skilled talent in one or more of the company’s lines of business: 21%
Source: “Bridging the Skills Gap,” American Society for Training & Development, 2009
WHERE THE GAPS ARE
 The same companies listed these as their greatest skill needs:
Leadership/executive level skills: 50%
Basic skills (traditional building blocks of business-level competencies): 46%
Professional or industry-specific skills: 41%
Managerial/supervisory skills: 31
Customer service skills: 31
Communication/interpersonal skills: 31
Technical/IT/systems skills: 30
Sales skills: 30
Process and project management skills: 20
Other: 43
Source: “Bridging the Skills Gap,” American Society for Training & Development, 2009

Stay Active Stay Healthy

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Arch Intern Med — Abstract: Physical Activity at Midlife in Relation to Successful Survival in Women at Age 70 Years or Older, January 25, 2010, Sun et al. 170 (2): 194

Methods – A total of 13 535 Nurses’ Health Study participants who were free of major chronic diseases at baseline in 1986 and had survived to age 70 years or older as of the 1995-2001 period made up the study population. We defined successful survival as no history of 10 major chronic diseases or coronary artery bypass graft surgery and no cognitive impairment, physical impairment, or mental health limitations.

Conclusion – These data provide evidence that higher levels of midlife physical activity are associated with exceptional health status among women who survive to older ages and corroborate the potential role of physical activity in improving overall health.