People who meet the 7 healthy goals recommended by the American Heart Association are less likely to die of cardiovascular causes.
Here there are:
- not smoking
- moderate exercise at least 5 times a week
- untreated blood pressure under 120/80
- HbA1c under 5.7%
- total cholesterol under 200 mg/dL
- BMI less than 25
- a diet high in produce, fish, and whole grains, and low in sodium and sugary beverages
Less than 2% of people reached all 7 ideals.
Those who met 6-7 goals had reduced risks for all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 0.49), compared with participants meeting zero or one goal.
References:
Healthy Habits Associated with Reduced Mortality Risk - Physician's First Watch http://bit.ly/N9x8ha
Trends in Cardiovascular Health Metrics and Associations With All-Cause and CVD Mortality Among US Adults - JAMA http://bit.ly/N9xzYO
Image source: OpenClipart.org, public domain.
At any moment, there is "an electrical storm" coursing through your body. Discover how chemical reactions create an electric current that drives our responses to everything in this 5-minute video:
Only 61% of the eligible population in the USA gets screened for this common cancer, according to The Lancet.
Here are some excerpts from the new guidance for colorectal cancer screening by the American College of Physicians (ACP):
- colorectal cancer screening should start at the age of 50 years for people at average risk, and at 40 years (or 10 years before the age of the youngest case of colorectal cancer in a family) for people at high risk
- stool-based tests, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and optical colonoscopy are all acceptable screening options for people at average risk
- the gold standard—optical colonoscopy—is recommended for people at high risk
- screening should be stopped for adults aged over 75 years or who have a life expectancy of less than 10 years
Colorectal cancer screening can lead to harmful outcomes such as perforation, bleeding, and false-negative results.
Drug cheating at the Olympics: who, what, and why? 7% of elite athletes admitted to doping ~ 1000 people at each Games http://bit.ly/Mcc1bz
Risk of pneumonia decreased with use of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors - BMJ meta-analysis http://goo.gl/dE9Ks
One Doctor’s Prescription to Avoid Social Media Overload http://goo.gl/bdtPU
Cents and Sensitivity - Teaching Physicians to Think about Costs - NEJM http://goo.gl/aUQE3
How fat is fat? The Lancet compares CTs with visceral fat vs. subcutaneous fat deposits http://goo.gl/iO9sa
Increasing contraceptive use in developing countries has cut the number of maternal deaths by 40% - The Lancet http://goo.gl/hHjIO
Qsymia is the second new drug for obesity approved by the FDA in the last month, after Belviq http://goo.gl/wCqi7
Mass General knocks Johns Hopkins out of the top hospital spot it's held for 21 years, while at the same time Cleveland Clinic is closing in on Mayo Clinic - U.S. News & World Report's 2012 list of the best U.S. hospitals http://goo.gl/URpei
Feedback of DNA based risk assessments does not motivate behaviour change - BMJ http://goo.gl/3HaRy
The articles were selected from my Twitter and Google Reader streams. Please feel free to send suggestions for articles to clinicalcases@gmail.com and you will receive acknowledgement in the next edition of this publication.
From the NHS Choices YouTube channel: A psychiatrist explains the motivation behind Munchausen's syndrome, also known as factitious illness, where someone pretends to be ill or causes symptoms in themselves. This can include inflicting wounds or tampering with blood and urine samples. He also explains the importance of getting treatment and describes another form of the condition where a person fabricates an illness in someone in their care (Munchausen's syndrome by proxy):
People who meet the 7 healthy goals recommended by the American Heart Association are less likely to die of cardiovascular causes.
