Communication Key in Health Care

DURHAM, N.H., Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Efforts to increase physician-nurse communication and build teamwork help reduce surgery-related complications such as blood clots, U.S. researchers say.
Implementation of the Medical Team Training Program and Surgical Morbidity involved the surgical team taking a cue from aviation and having the surgical team use a checklist before surgery, as well as debriefings afterward, as pilots and co-pilots do.
The study, published in the journal Archives of Surgery, said the communication-boosting program resulted in 15 percent fewer complications such as blood clots and infections.
Yinong Young-Xu of EpiPatterns, a New Hampshire data analysis firm, and colleagues at the National Center for Patient Safety, Department of Veterans Affairs, White River Junction, Dartmouth Medical School, Baylor College of Medicine, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and the University of Michigan used data from the Veterans Health Administration Surgical Quality Improvement Program.
The analysis involved 119,383 sampled procedures from 74 Veterans Health Administration facilities that provide care to veterans.

© 2011 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/12/22/Better-communication-helps-health-outcomes/UPI-36841324534023/#ixzz1hHu0j7W8

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Long Term Mobile Exposure and Hormones

How does long term exposure to base stations and mobile phones affect human hormone profiles?

Emad F. Eskander^, a, , Selim F. Estefan^a, Ahmed A. Abd-Rabou^a

a	Hormones Department, Medical Research Division, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt

Received 9 December 2010; revised 2 November 2011; Accepted 6 November 2011. Available online 26 November 2011.

Abstract

Objectives

This study is concerned with assessing the role of exposure to radio frequency radiation (RFR) emitted either from mobiles or base stations and its relations with human's hormone profiles.

Design and methods

All volunteers' samples were collected for hormonal analysis.

Results

This study showed significant decrease in volunteers' ACTH, cortisol, thyroid hormones, prolactin for young females, and testosterone levels.

Conclusion

The present study revealed that high RFR effects on pituitary–adrenal axis.

Highlights

► This study is concerned with assessing the role of long-term exposure to high radio frequency radiation emitted either from mobile phones or from base stations and its relations with human's hormone profiles. ► All volunteers are followed for 6 years and blood samples were collected regularly every 3 years for time intervals of 1 year, 3 years and 6 years for hormonal analysis and the blood samples were taken at 8.0 a.m. ► This study showed reduction in volunteers' plasma ACTH, serum cortisol levels. Also, they showed decrease in the release of the thyroid hormones especially T₃. In addition, each of their serum prolactin in young females (14–22 years), and testosterone levels significantly dropped due to long-term exposure to radio frequency radiation. Conversely, serum prolactin levels for adult females (25–60 years) significantly rose with increasing exposure time. ► In conclusion, the present study revealed that high radio frequency radiation effects on pituitary–adrenal axis represented in the reduction of ACTH, cortisol, thyroid hormones, prolactin in young females, and testosterone levels.

Keywords: Mobiles; Base stations; Radio frequency radiation; Hormone profiles

Article Outline

• Introduction
• Design and methods
• • Study subjects
  • Volunteers inclusion criteria
  • Blood samples collection
• Methods
• • Statistical analysis
• Results
• • Volunteers mean hormone values
• Discussion
• References

Corresponding author at: Hormones Department, Medical Research Division, National Research Centre, Cairo, 12622, Egypt. Fax: + 20 2 33370931.

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Settlement in Chinese Drywall Case

Chinese drywall manufacturer reaches settlement

Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, a major manufacturer of problem drywall from China, has agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to repair 4500 mostly Gulf Coast area homes ruined with its product.

Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune archiveA sample of the Chinese-made drywall ripped out of the Chalmette home of Thomas and Lauren Stone in June 2009.

The settlement, announced Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon, ends a nightmare for about 1,575 Louisiana families which began when many rebuilt their homes after Hurricane Katrina or purchased new ones with corrosive wallboard, prolonging the agony of the storm. With their properties unfit for residence or sale, many have lost their homes to foreclosure or been devastated financially as they were forced to rent apartments while continuing to make their mortgage payments.

The deal is likely worth $800 million to $1 billion based on the number of homes, average size and repair cost, plaintiff liaison counsel Russ Herman said. That means that some $280 million to $350 million could flow to Louisiana, which is believed to have about 35 percent of all homes with Knauf-brand drywall.

Knauf attorneys said the amount of the settlement ultimately depends on how many homeowners can prove that they have drywall produced by their client.

The settlement will pay the full cost of repairing homes and sets aside money to cover losses such as foreclosures or short sales. Although money has also been set aside to cover health problems, Knauf attorney Steven Glickstein said that from Knauf's point of view, there is no evidence that problem drywall is responsible for personal injuries.  Continue reading 

Selections from Natural Health News

Natural Health News: TVA Coal Sludge and Health Risks

Dec 15, 2010

For the thousands of U.S. homeowners who are grappling with the financial and emotional trauma caused by defective Chinese drywall, one thing is now clear: The federal government is woefully unequipped to help them ...

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/

Natural Health News: Fungus Following Joplin Tornado

Aug 18, 2011

See also: Mold problems and flooding: Lessons to be learned from Katrina UPDATE: 9 April, 2010 - Judge Awards Families $2.6M Over Chinese Drywall UPDATE: 3 April, 2010 - Feds: Homes with Chinese drywall must be ...

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/

Natural Health News: Mold problems and flooding: Lessons to be ...

May 03, 2010

Clothes can be washed or dry cleaned, but most furniture is a loss. Ditto for carpeting, insulation, wallpaper and drywall, which no longer lives up to its name. Mattresses that didn't get wet probably have mold if they were in a ...

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DAILY ASPIRIN LINKED TO 'WET' AMD

Daily use of aspirin over the long term, as with coumadin, eventually causes the cell wall membrane to fail and bleeding is the end result, and it can be uncontrollable in a large number of cases. 


There are so many safe and effective natural supplements and remedies that will help with maintaining "thinned" blood it is puzzling why people subject themselves to these risks.

 "Regular aspirin users at higher risk of sight problems, research suggests" Martin Evans, The Telegraph, 10/3/11, telegraph.co. uk 

Study after study has shown that daily aspirin use increases the risk of intestinal bleeding and a potentially fatal haemorrhage. Also, a recent study showed some disturbing news for anyone who values their eyesight.

 Dutch researchers examined more than 4,000 elderly patients. Among these patients, 840 took a daily low-dose aspirin. When the researchers compared records, they found that those who used aspirin were TWO TIMES more likely to develop "wet" advanced macular degeneration (AMD) - the advanced form of the disease that sharply increases risk of blindness. 

This does not prove that aspirin promotes wet AMD... but there is a significant link and a very alarming risk that should be taken seriously.

Researchers continued to say that the heart health benefits of aspirin outweigh the AMD risks.

But in a 2005 New England Journal of Medicine study, some 20,000 middle-aged women took 100mg of aspirin daily for 10 years. Another group of nearly the same size took a placebo.

Results showed that aspirin provided no protection from heart attack, but did slightly reduce risk of ischemic stroke. 

Meanwhile, women in the aspirin group were found to have a 40% increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding severe enough to require transfusions!

Add to that wet AMD and this "wonder drug" may not be worth the risk. 

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Medications Cause Serious Issues

Dec. 14--DECATUR -- Each year, adverse reactions to medications cause approximately 100,000 emergency hospital visits for American adults 65 and older. The figure comes from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study found that a small group of diabetes medications and drugs to prevent blood clots were causing about two-thirds of the hospitalizations, according to a news release issued by the CDC. The information was collected between 2007 and 2009 by the centers' National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance project.

"These data suggest that focusing safety initiatives on a few medicines that commonly cause serious, measurable harms can improve care for many older Americans," said Dr. Dan Budnitz, director of CDC's Medication Safety Program. "Blood thinners and diabetes medicines often require blood testing and dosing changes, but these are critical medicines for older adults with certain medical conditions. Doctors and patients should continue to use these medications but remember to work together to safely manage them."

Approximately 48 percent of the hospitalizations mentioned in the study occurred in those 80 and older, and two-thirds were caused by overdoses or in situations where patients might have taken the amount of medication as prescribed, but the drug caused more than the intended effect in the person's body.

Continue reading the complete article by Annie Getsinger, Herald & Review, Decatur, Ill. 

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

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ALL VACCINES ARE CONTAMINATED

"The chief, if not the sole, cause of the monstrous increase in cancer has been vaccination" - Dr. Robert Bell, once Vice President International Society for Cancer Research at the British Cancer Hospital

Experts say families need to take a critical look at vaccines.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Have you been rushing out to get a yearly flu vaccine or diligently taking your children for the 40 or so mandated childhood vaccines?

That's really a shame because you have unwittingly been trading a run-of-the-mill flu or just the measles, for loading up your or your children's bodies with cancer and other deadly viruses, a destructive bacteria, a chemical selected to damage fertility, and with synthetic DNA that threatens to damage your own DNA - the biologic code for your existence.

Who is saying the vaccines are contaminated?


All the vaccines mandated to children and many other vaccines as well, including the seasonal flu vaccines being mandated to health care workers, are contaminated with polysorbate 80, the central ingredient in a pharmaceutical industry patent to damage fertility. 


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Couch Potato Workout

Just Get Moving!

Couch Potato Workout

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