On malpractice from someone who does not understand the issues
One should always worry when someone uses hyperbole and obfuscation to make points. Scare Tactics Part II. The scary thing here is Dwight Meredith’s post!
Cardiac risk factors in chronic kidney disease
While cardiac prevention gets most of the publicity, increasingly we should become aware of preventing heart disease in chronic kidney disease patients. Nontraditional Cardiac Risk Factors Prevalent in Kidney Disease Patients
More on CRP as a risk factor
Print out this article as a handout for patients who have questions about CRP. Hunt for Heart Disease Tracks a New Suspect
Among patients known to have atherosclerotic heart disease, those with the highest levels of CRP were about four times more likely to experience symptoms of impaired blood flow to the heart during a treadmill test, indicating a direct relationship between inflammation and a heart attack, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco reported in Circulation last January.
“Our study supports the idea that heart disease is more of a systemic disease rather than just a plumbing problem,” said Dr. Mary S. Beattie, the study’s lead author. Based on such findings, some experts believe that levels of C-reactive protein are better than cholesterol levels at predicting future cardiac events. Patients can lower their CRP levels if they lose weight, quit smoking, change their diets and exercise more. Many drugs may also help, especially the cholesterol-lowering statins and the antidiabetic thiazolidinediones.
Should CRP Be Measured?
C-reactive protein can be measured by a simple, inexpensive blood test. The best results are obtained through two tests that are done at least two weeks apart with their results averaged.
In March 2002, experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Heart Association concluded that patients deemed to be at “intermediate risk” of a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular event should be tested for C-reactive protein.
Intermediate risk is defined as those with a 10 percent to 20 percent chance of developing coronary heart disease within 10 years, based on age, total cholesterol level, smoking status, systolic blood pressure (the upper number) and blood level of protective H.D.L. cholesterol.
The experts recommended that those with C-reactive protein levels of 1 milligram per liter or more take aggressive action to reduce the level.
Certainly food for thought!
As predicted, we have not heard the last of the Medicare bill
Despite New Law, the Fight Over Medicare Continues
Democrats, denouncing the arm-twisting tactics used to pass the bill in the House, vowed Monday to rewrite the law to reduce the role of private health plans, to increase drug benefits and to authorize the government to negotiate drug prices.
Unless we elect a Democratic majority in the House and Senate, I doubt that they will get their wish. I would like to see some slack in negotiating drug prices. It sure works for the VA system.
On exercise and weight loss
Many readers have a New Year’s resolution to lose weight. You can lose weight just by dieting. However, increasing activity can help greatly. Need Exercise? Count on It
“You’ll lose muscle mass, your metabolism will slow down,” she says. “You gain a lot more things with exercise than just maintenance of weight. You get an increase in energy, an increase in metabolism; you decrease the chance of cardiovascular diseases; you get a reduction in blood pressure, things of that nature. If you don’t work out, if you only consume as many calories as you burn, you’re missing out on all that.”
