Food addiction: Clinical reality or mythology?
In the last five years, there has been an astonishing interest in the notion of food "addiction." Medline has seen a sevenfold increase in the number of papers indexed by the term "food addiction" since 2008. The ideology of food addiction posits that foods that are eaten frequently become substances of abuse and could cause health problems for the consumer if the affected individual suddenly discontinued the food in question. This "withdrawal" is often described as the resulting "hangover," and craving is equated with a reaction that could only be mitigated by eating a further portion of the "addictive food." The American Journal of Medicine
(11/2015) Share: 
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Free CME Webseries: Tools For Safe Prescribing in Chronic Pain Management This series of three CME activities evaluates clinical guidelines for the use of opioids, including the REMS requirements, and their impact on the management of chronic pain. Upon completion of this activity you may receive up to 3.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.
Click here to begin this activity!
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How do cardiovascular health factors and behaviors affect healthcare costs?
The American Heart Association's (AHA's) 2020 Strategic Impact Goals introduced the concept of ideal cardiovascular (CV) health based on seven health factors and behaviors associated with lower CV disease (CVD) risk. This study evaluated the association between CV health profile and later-life healthcare costs in 4,906 individuals receiving Medicare coverage. Favorable CV health was prevalent in 14.8% of men and 30.1% of women, and individuals with favorable CV health exhibited 24.9% lower median annual non-CVD costs and 74.5% lower median CVD costs than those with unfavorable CV health. (Available for CME credit.) American Journal of Preventive Medicine
(11/2015) Share:
Malignancies associated with hypereosinophilia
Hematologic malignancies are associated with hypereosinophilia, but it is unclear if patients with hypereosinophilia are more likely to develop one type of malignancy. In a retrospective review of the specific hematologic malignancies seen in 2,642 adults with eosinophilia, hypereosinophilia or hypereosinophilic syndrome, hematologic malignancies with eosinophilia were rare (0.2%), but more common in those with hypereosinophilia (5.1%). A diagnosis of either lymphoma or leukemia occurred in 25 patients with the majority of these being non-Hodgkin lymphoma (17/25). Less common T-cell derived lymphomas occurred more often than B-cell derived lymphomas. Clinicians should expect less common cancers in patients with eosinophilia suspected of having hematologic malignancies. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice
(11/2015) Share:
Proton pump inhibitors and hypomagnesemia
In this month's AJKD, Kieboom and colleagues, studying 9,818 individuals from the Rotterdam Study, examined whether proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use is associated with hypomagnesemia in the general population. In this cohort, PPI users had serum magnesium levels that were 0.022 mEq/L lower than those of nonusers and were at increased risk for hypomagnesemia, especially with concomitant use of loop diuretics. In contrast, although users of histamine 2 receptor blockers also had lower serum magnesium levels and increased risk for hypomagnesemia, associations were weaker than those observed in PPI users. American Journal of Kidney Diseases
(11/2015) Share:
Nintendo Wii games for post-stroke intervention?
Researchers from Singapore and the United Kingdom performed a meta-analysis of studies comparing Wii with other interventions and also those that used Wii in addition to other interventions. Adding Wii to other rehabilitation methods improved performance in the Timed Up and Go test, but not in other physical measures. However, it did keep participants from dropping out compared with those without Wii. Further studies are needed to determine if adding Wii is a benefit. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association
(11/2015) Share:
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Use of prescription drugs rising, study finds
Researchers found that 59% of US adults took prescription drugs in 2011-2012, compared with 51% in 1999-2000. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, also found that 15% of US adults used at least five medications in 2011-2012, up from 8%. Twenty-seven percent of adults were taking medications for high blood pressure, up from 20%, and 17% were using statins, compared with 7% more than a decade earlier. HealthDay News
(11/3), The Washington Post (tiered subscription model)
(11/3), Reuters
(11/3) Share:
Sweetened beverages tied to higher risk of heart failure in men
A Swedish study published in the journal Heart found that men who drank two or more servings, or at least 14 ounces, of sweetened beverages daily had a 23% increased risk of heart failure, compared with men who drank no sweetened beverages. Researchers said the findings, based on 42,400 men aged 45 to 79, likely would apply to women as well. HealthDay News
(11/3) Share:
Stress, opioids may be unraveling survival gains among some adults
After decades of survival gains, research has found the mortality rate among white, middle-aged adults rose 0.5% annually from 1998 to 2013, while mortality among Hispanics and blacks decreased by 1.8% and 2.6%, respectively, each year. Experts suggest that stress tied to the financial crisis, shifts in economics and the accessibility to opioid painkillers may be contributing factors. The findings were reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. United Press International
(11/3) Share:
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CMS: 10.1% of Medicare claims denied under new codes
The rejection rate was 10.1% for Medicare fee-for-service claims submitted from the Oct. 1 ICD-10 transition through Oct. 27 -- a rate that is comparable with previous numbers, according to the CMS. Invalid use of ICD-10 codes prompted the denial of 0.09%, while invalid use of ICD-9 codes resulted in the rejection of 0.11%, and 2% were not accepted because of invalid or incomplete information. CMS said before the transition that it would not reject claims as long as the correct family of ICD-10 codes was used. Healthcare Informatics online
(10/30) Share:
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Survey examines patients' views on methods of communicating test results
A study in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine found that many patients said they would strongly prefer accessing the results of genetic and non-HIV sexually transmitted infection tests via password-protected portals or websites compared with other remote methods of communication. The survey of 409 people found that e-mail, texts and voicemail were acceptable non-in-person methods of communication for common test results for many patients. Healthcare Informatics online
(11/2) Share:
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Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change."
-- Mary Shelley, writer Share:
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