When the Patient Is ‘Noncompliant’ – NYTimes.com

Despite efforts to change the term to the slightly more accurate “nonadherent,” the word “noncompliant” remains firmly entrenched in the medical lexicon. No matter what it’s called, however, it’s an enormous problem. Experts estimate that some 50 percent of patients do not take their medicines as prescribed or follow doctors’ recommendations.

via When the Patient Is ‘Noncompliant’ – NYTimes.com.

Underwriting and mortality issue?  I think so.

U.S. Diabetes Prevalence Soars

From 1995 to 2010, the median age-adjusted prevalence of diagnosed diabetes for all 50 states, the District of Columbia (D.C.), and Puerto Rico rose from 4.5% to 8.2% Linda Geiss, MA, of the CDC, and colleagues reported in the Nov. 16 issue of Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report.

via U.S. Diabetes Prevalence Soars.

and MMWR link Increasing Prevalence of Diagnosed Diabetes — United States and Puerto Rico, 1995–2010.

Maybe the demise of Twinkies wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

Statin-Exercise Combo Lowers Mortality Risk

Patients who took statins and were physically fit had as much as a 70% reduction in the risk of dying during the follow-up period as compared with the least physically fit patients who were taking statins, according to Peter Kokkinos, PhD, of George Washington University in Washington, and colleagues.

Physical fitness also had an independent effect on mortality risk among patients who were not taking statins, reducing the likelihood of death during follow-up by as much as 47%, they reported online in The Lancet.

via Statin-Exercise Combo Lowers Mortality Risk.

I really need to get the gym more often.

Afib Linked to Sudden Cardiac Death

Atrial fibrillation may raise the risk of sudden cardiac death, according to findings from two large population-based cohorts.

The risk of sudden cardiac death was elevated 3.26-fold with incident atrial fibrillation in multivariate analysis of the ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) study, Lin Y. Chen, MD, MS, of the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, and colleagues found.

via Afib Linked to Sudden Cardiac Death, Too.

Effect of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption on Immune Function in Older People

Conclusion: Increased FV intake improves the Pneumovax II vaccination antibody response in older people, which links an achievable dietary goal with improved immune function. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00858728.

via Effect of fruit and vegetable consumption on immune function in older people: a randomized controlled trial.

Mom was right.  Eat your vegetables.

5-Hour Energy Shots Linked to 13 Deaths

5-Hour Energy shots are linked to 13 deaths and 33 hospitalizations, the FDA confirms.So far, 5-Hour Energy maker Living Essentials LLC has received 92 reports from people who fell ill after using the product. Since the product is sold as a nutritional supplement, the company is required to relay such reports to the FDA.The reports themselves do not prove that 5-Hour Energy had anything to do with any of the deaths or illnesses.

via 5-Hour Energy Shots Linked to 13 Deaths.

Change in Kidney Markers Not Just Function of Age

In a large cohort study, relative mortality risk for reduced eGFR was higher in every age category, but fell with increasing age (P<0.05), with similar albeit less evident findings for increased albuminuria, Josef Coresh, MD, PhD, of the Chronic Kidney Disease Prognosis Consortium Data Coordinating Center in Baltimore, and colleagues reported online in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Overall, Coresh and colleagues found that death and ESRD risks were higher at lower eGFR and higher albuminuria in every age category.

via Change in Kidney Markers Not Just Function of Age.