Results: Of 217,755 persons newly reported, 107,209 (49.2%) were HCV antibody positive only, and 110,546 (50.8%) were reported with a positive HCV RNA result that confirmed current HCV infection. In both groups, persons were most likely to have been born during 1945–1965 (58.5% of those who were HCV antibody positive only; 67.2% of those who were HCV RNA positive). Among all persons newly reported for whom death data were available, 6,734 (3.4%) were known to have died; deaths were most likely among persons aged 50–59 years. In 2011, across all sites, the annual rate of persons newly reported with HCV infection (positive HCV antibody only and HCV RNA positive) was 84.7 per 100,000 population.
Medical News
Poor Medication Adherence Rates Prompt Formation of Broad-Based Coalition – AAFP
Six out of 10 patients do not take their medications as prescribed by their physicians, and patients with multiple chronic conditions have the lowest medication adherence rates, according to AAFP Board member Rebecca Jaffe, M.D., M.P.H.
Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League, the oldest consumer organization in the United States, talked about barriers to adherence, saying that “there are many reasons why patients are not adherent.”Some patients may be reluctant to remain adherent because of medication side effects, such as sleeplessness or weight gain. Others may be unconvinced about the need to take medications because they do not have symptoms associated with their chronic illness, Greenberg said.Forgetfulness is another issue for some patients, making it difficult for them to remember to take their medications. Out-of-pocket costs may be a challenge for some patients, as well, creating barriers that discourage patients from filling prescriptions, according to Greenberg.
via Poor Medication Adherence Rates Prompt Formation of Broad-Based Coalition — AAFP News Now — AAFP.
Elevated Resting Heart Rate and All-cause Mortality
Conclusions Elevated RHR is a risk factor for mortality independent of physical fitness, leisure-time physical activity and other major cardiovascular risk factors.
Impaired Fasting Plasma Glucose and Type 2 Diabetes Are Related to the Risk of Out-of-Hospital Sudden Cardiac Death and All-Cause Mortality
CONCLUSIONS – Impaired FPG and type 2 diabetes represent risk factors for SCD.
Length of LAD Coronary Artery Determines Prognosis
Interesting study. The link takes you to the abstract.
Walk or Run? Think Distance, Not Speed
Researchers evaluated 33,060 runners in the National Runners’ Health Study and 15,045 walkers in the National Walkers’ Health Study. Dr. Thompson said there will be more results coming from the data. The study found:
- Running reduced the risk for first-time hypertension 4.2%, and walking reduced it by 7.2%.
- Running cut the risk for first-time high cholesterol 4.3%, and walking reduced it by 7.0%.
- Running cut the risk for first-time diabetes 12.1%, and walking decreased it by 12.3%.
- Running reduced coronary heart disease 4.5% compared with 9.3% for walking.
via Walk or run? Think distance, not speed, for health benefits – amednews.com.
GREAT NEWS for this aging tortoise who no longer runs 10-k’s due to bilateral knee osteoarthritis.
Cinnamon Game Harms Players
Calls to the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) related to cinnamon increased from 51 in 2011 to 178 calls in the first 6 months of 2012, wrote Steven Lipshultz, MD, of University of Miami’s Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine in Florida, and colleagues, online in a Perspective in Pediatrics.
Of the 178 calls, 122 (69%) were classified as intentional misuse or abuse “consistent with the cinnamon challenge,” the authors wrote, and about (17%) required medical attention.
The challenge requires a person to swallow a tablespoon of the dry, ground spice in 60 seconds without drinking fluids.
The authors pointed to 51,000 YouTube video clips — one viewed 19 million times — as of August 2012 that showed adolescents watching someone coughing and choking as the cinnamon triggers a severe gag reflex. They said the popularity of the Internet coupled with peer pressure instigated too many cinnamon challenges.
via Cinnamon Game Harms Players.
I am so thankful my own children are (mostly) past the stupid stage.
Slow Pace Linked to Early Death in Renal Patients
Clinical assessment of gait speed and ‘timed up and go’ performance — the time it takes to stand from a seated position, walk around a cone placed 4 meters away, and return — were more strongly predictive of 3-year mortality than kidney function or standard blood testing in the study, published this week in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Researchers Suggest 2 Paths to get Patients Back on Statins
…statin discontinuation is common and has been linked to a greater risk of heart-related events and death in patients who have coronary artery disease, the study said.
via Researchers suggest 2 paths to get patients back on statins – amednews.com.
One out of every four Americans over the age of 45 are on a statin.
Coronary Calcium Score Predicts Cardiovascular Mortality in Diabetes
CONCLUSIONS: In T2DM, CAC predicts CVD mortality and meaningfully reclassifies participants, suggesting clinical utility as a risk stratification tool in a population already at increased CVD risk.
via Coronary Calcium Score Predicts Cardiovascular Mortality in Diabetes.
Whoa.
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