labyrinthworld

This posting summarizes some of the conclusions arrived at by the three recent diabetes studies.

Since 65% to 70% of deaths among Type 2 diabetics is due to cardiovascular problems, researchers are interested in finding a way to reduce cardiovascular risks in diabetics. The solution of lowering blood sugar levels in diabetics was called into question by a recent study that seemed to suggest that lowering blood sugar levels too much can cause increased cardiovascular problems.  The Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial study offers an explanation as to why this is so.

Below are some of its and the other studies findings:

• Lowering blood sugar only has an effect on cardiovascular health if treatment begins soon after diagnosis, and if severe episodes of low blood sugar can be avoided.
• The greatest reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease comes from lowering cholesterol levels and controlling high blood pressure.
• Controlling gluocose has only a small effect on cardiovascular health, and may take years to realize. However, controlling blood gluocose level does reduce risk from other complications of diabetes, such as kidney and eye disease.
• Severe hypoglycemic events should be avoided at all costs.  They are the most important predictor of a heart attack or death.

One important outcome of the VA study is that although it had expected 650 to 700 cardiovasuclar events or deaths among its participants, only 263 occurred. The researchers believe it was because  of “excellent blood pressure control, lipid control, improved diet and exercise, and treatment with aspirin.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports there are more than 40,000 reported cases of Salmonella poisoning a year. Many more go unreported. About 600 people die as a result of salmonella a year. Salmonella originates from exposure to contaminated water, meats, fresh fruits and vegetables contaminated with human or an animal feces. Symptoms occur within 12-72 hours after exposure and may include some or all of the following:

• Fever (usually present)
• Nausea (sometime accompanied by vomiting)
• Dehydration (especially in children and the elderly)
• Diarrhea
• Abdominal Pain and/or Cramping
• Headache

Since 1990 there have been 13 multistate outbreaks of Salmonella poisoning related to tomatoes. Milk and eggs are the most common sources of Salmonella, but Salmonella can originate from water, meats, fresh fruits and vegetables contaminated with human or animal feces. There have also been recent poisoning involving spinach, peanut butter, pancake mixes, frozen pot pies, and cantaloupes. Expect it to get worse.

One of the reasons is that instead of the locally grown food of the past, food is now being grown and processed in many different states and many different countries, then shipped to your local grocery store. Other producing countries may not be subject to the same regulations that US producers are subject to. These producers may use highly toxic pesticides that have been outlawed in the US, or they may not follow the sanitation procedures that are required of US producers.

Another reason is the commercialization of farming. Corporate farming is very much about profits, and in their pursuit of profits large agribusinesses routinely use methods that endanger the consumer’s health in order to keep overhead down. These methods include excessive use of chemical pesticides, poor sanitation methods, etc.

Big producers, both American and foreign, are able to get away with these practices because of the influence of lobbyists. Lobbying is done in the service of foreign government as well as big agri-businesses.  Because of their influence, government watchdogs and legislation is routinely compromised. Unfortunately it is we the consumer who are the sufferer. As the NY Times recently wrote:

Federal authorities have yet to create a stronger set of rules and enforcement procedures. Many parties — food-safety advocates, food producers, Congressional Republicans and Democrats and even some within the F.D.A. — have said such rules are essential to make food safer.

In November the FDA put out a food protection plan, but the Bush administration refused to request money to fund it.

Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania said that administration delays in seeking money for food protection efforts at the food and drug agency amounted to “criminal negligence.”

Although those most at risk are the very young and the elderly, this issue effects all of us since we do not know the long term risks current food processing methods pose to our health.

In the NY Times today was an article on the new to be released study that shows that socializing may help to delay memory problems. The premise the researchers adopted is that socializing keeps us mentally engaged. Their study shows that individuals in their 50s and 60s who were most engaged displayed the fewest memory problems.

The socializing the report is referring to is not the kind where a relative or friends stops in to check on a loved one. The type of socializing necessary to make a difference is one in which individuals are fully integrated in a social network. It can be a network of friends, or family or involvement in community organizations, or a combination of any of these. 

Although I’m an Obama admirer, one of the great things about the current political landscape is having the opportunity to observe the intellectual and physical vigor of both the mature Congressional figures and the mature presidential candidates. These leaders show that intellectual decline is not an inevitable part of aging.      

Baby boomers have more complaints about their health than do pre boomers, according to a recent study. The research comes from the nonprofit National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and was supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a component of the National Institutes of Health. According to the report, boomers were more likely to say that they are in poor physical health. They reported more pain, more chronic health problems, and more drinking and psychiatric problems. They also reported problems with walking, kneeling, climbing and everyday physical activities.

This may portend poorer physical health for this group after they reach retirement. Interestingly, the NIA reports that there is a decline in disability for those 65 and older.   

Follow-up to the organ donation story.

A Los Angeles Times follow-up story reports that within a short time after the surgeries, UCLA received at least two $100K from two of the mob figures. A UCLA plaque commemorates one of the donors. UCLA disingenuously claims it’s not aware of the relationship between liver transplants and donations since it doesn’t keep track of that kind of information. Some find this claim incredulous. As Arthur Caplan a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania said, it is the obligation of the donation program to inquire about its gifts. It defies credulity that they are not curious enough to even want who to hit up again.   

The NY Times recently ran a sympathetic article on striking workers. According to them, caregivers at Kingsbridge Heights Rehabilitation and Care Center in the Bronx have been on strike since February 20th to protest the owner’s decision to cancel their healthcare coverage.

This story was also run by the NY Post which reports that owner Helen Sieger stopped paying health care premiums in August 2007 violating an agreement she had with the union. It’s not that she can’t afford the premiums. Sieger’s nursing home is one of the most profitable centers in New York. It made $5 million last year, most of it from Medicaid and Medical. 

Unable to afford the high cost of asthma medicine as a result of the loss of benefits, one of Kingsbridge Height’s workers has recently died. The employee had worked as a CNA for more than 30 years.

The need to stand up and demand decent working conditions in the health care sector is vitally important for a number of reasons. First of all at a bare minimum all workers should be compensated fairly for their work. Secondly, poorly paid workers who are unhealthy are a drag on the economy. As more and more workers become increasingly poor and unprotected, we can expect more people like the Kingsbridge’s employee experiencing poor health and dying from illnesses that are preventable. Since jobs in the health care and retail sectors are the fastest growing occupations, there needs to be a way to make sure that workers in these sectors earn enough through wages and benefits to at least escape poverty. The consequence of not demanding this as a minimum is dire. As one expert had said the US is fast becoming ”the richest 3rd world country in the world.”