Answer to health care crisis can save lives, money

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: Jun 30,2009

New White Paper Reveals Power of Statins in Fighting Cardiovascular Disease

The adverse health and financial impact of cardiovascular disease – the number one killer of men and women in America – can be significantly reduced through the well monitored use of statins according to a major white paper release by the non-profit Senior Center for Health and Security (SCHS).

The white paper, Saving America’s Seniors With Statins: Solving a Health Care Crisis, explores the ramifications of heart disease and stroke in America, and the critical role that cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins can play in addressing it. Along with physician supervised diet and exercise programs, the correct statin for each individual patient can significantly lower the risk of heart disease, help prevent heart attack and stroke, and reduce health care expenditures.

“Meeting your cholesterol goal is a top priority for good heart health,” said SCHS Policy Director Al Cors. “There are many different statin options available and it’s important to talk with your doctor to determine which statin is the right statin to help you reach that goal.”

Studies demonstrate that the six most widely used statins can save lives and lower health care costs, but the white paper notes that statins are not identical to each other prompting SCHS to urge patients, insurers and health care professionals to consider the different pharmacological properties of different statins in concert with differing patient risk factors including age, sex, race, heredity and other unique case considerations.

The SCHS paper notes several clinical studies of different statins in the report. A November 2008 study showed that men and women using one particular statin suffered half as many strokes, heart attacks and deaths from cardiovascular causes as those taking a placebo. A different study on a different statin that same month demonstrated an important correlation between improved kidney function and use of that statin. A third study showed that men who took a third variety of statin for five years experienced fewer deaths and heart attacks 10 years later even though most had stopped taking the drug.

Statin use can also result in lower health care costs, according to the white paper. For 2009, the cost of treating stroke and heart disease in the U.S., combined with lost industrial productivity due to disability and death, is estimated at $475 billion. These costs will increase as the population ages and SCHS notes that statin use can play a significant role in controlling these rising costs.

Cors stressed the need for comprehensive communication between patients, doctors and insurance providers, calling it critical to determining the best statin regimen for cardiovascular health. “Costs for brand name medicines and insurance formularies are always changing and the only way to know is through good communications,” Cors concluded. “Many patients don’t know they have affordable access to the most effective medications.”

The full report is available online at http://www.seniorsforcures.org/6-22-09_statins.html


Focus on Asia expected to kickstart more collaborations and encourage increased government support

Rising healthcare standards together with the growing demand for more affordable treatment will keep the Asian market for medical tourism buoyant, according to experts speaking at the Healthcare Travel Exhibition & Congress today at Fairmont Hotel, Singapore. Worldwide gross medical tourism revenue is projected to grow from US$56 billion to reach US$100 billion by 2012, with Asia as a major driver of this growth.

“Buoyed by the success stories of earlier waves of medical tourists, consumers, insurance companies as well businesses fully recognise the reliability and affordability of going overseas for medical procedures. Patients who choose to undergo treatments in Asia can pay just 10% of the cost of comparable treatment conducted in developed countries like the United States or United Kingdom. This differential cost, coupled with today’s sophisticated travel industry, provides an excellent catalyst to the growth of medical tourism,” said Mr. Andrew Keable, Divisional Director, Informa Life Sciences.

Asia is well-placed to grow in medical tourism as healthcare standards and technology adoption continue to improve. Hospitals in Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, India and Singapore have made it a point to implement state-of-the- art medical technologies to improve patient care.

Healthcare Travel Exhibition & Congress 2009 is Asia’s premier event focusing on two of the world’s largest industries: healthcare and tourism. The event brings together professionals, government officials and decision makers from the healthcare and travel industries, giving them the opportunity to network and share best practices, insights and knowledge to further develop Asia’s thriving healthcare travel market.

Leading edge technology is on display at the exhibition portion of the event, where close to 30 exhibitors including leading medical suppliers, healthcare travel facilitators, medical spas and hospitals are showcasing their innovations and services. Governments too have begun to recognise the economic potential and are responding by actively participating in the promotion of their respective countries as attractive healthcare destinations.

The conference themes at the Congress portion of the event include:

  • 29th – 30th June: The global healthcare travel outlook, new challenges and opportunities in healthcare travel, payment and accreditation standards
  • 29th – 30th June: Healthcare insurance trends in Asia, best practices, and emerging partnerships
  • 29th June: Travel Business Day co-organised with Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), covering medical tourist requirements, business cases, misconceptions and the healthcare travel ecosystem
  • 1 July: Minimizing legal liabilities in global healthcare travel
  • 1 July: Health insurance risk management for new markets

“We have an impressive line-up of industry leaders and luminaries who will be sharing key topics specifically designed for the medical tourism industry. The exclusive congress segment ensures the unique position of Healthcare Travel Exhibition & Congress as Asia’s leading medical tourism event”, said Ms. Rebecca Wolfe, Divisional Director, Informa Life Sciences.

Healthcare Travel Exhibition & Congress is sponsored by Singapore Medicine, CKMP-Council for Korea Medicine Overseas Promotion and National Healthcare Group. The event is also supported by International Enterprise Singapore, International Medical Travel Association (IMTA), Life Insurance Association, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Spa and Wellness Association Singapore, Thai Spa Association, and Spa Association Singapore.

Source: Informa Life Sciences


More gene mutations linked to autism risk

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: Jun 28,2009

Combination of Inherited and New Genetic Mutations Acting Together

More pieces in the complex autism inheritance puzzle are emerging in the latest study from a research team including geneticists from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and several collaborating institutions. This study identified 27 different genetic regions where rare copy number variations – missing or extra copies of DNA segments – were found in the genes of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), but not in the healthy controls. The complex combination of multiple genetic duplications and deletions is thought to interfere with gene function, which can disrupt the production of proteins necessary for normal neurological development.

“We focused on changes in the exons of DNA–protein-coding areas in which deletions or duplications are more likely to directly disrupt biological functions,” said study leader Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and associate professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. “We identified additional autism susceptibility genes, many of which, as we previously found, belong to the neuronal cell adhesion molecule family involved in the development of brain circuitry in early childhood.” He added that the team discovered many “private” gene mutations, those found only in one or a few individuals or families — an indication of genetic complexity, in which many different gene changes may contribute to an autism spectrum disorder.

“We are finding that both inherited and new, or de novo, genetic mutations are scattered throughout the genome and we suspect that different combinations of these variations contribute to autism susceptibility,” said co-author Maja Bucan, Ph.D., professor of Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Chair of the Steering committee for Autism Speaks’ Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE). “We are grateful to families of children with autism spectrum disorders for their willingness to participate in genetic studies because family-based studies have many advantages. We have learned a lot both from genetic analyses of children with autism as well as analyses of their patents and their unaffected siblings.”

The researchers compared genetic samples of 3,832 individuals from 912 families with multiple children with ASDs from the AGRE cohort against genetic samples of 1,070 disease-free children from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. This study also uncovered two novel genes in which variations were found, BZRAP1 and MDGA2 – thought to be important in synaptic function and neurological development, respectively. Interestingly, key variants of these genes were transmitted in some, but not all, of the affected individuals in families.

The findings were published in the June 26 edition of the journal PloS Genetics.

By further refining the genetic landscape of ASDs, the current study expands the findings of two large autism gene studies published in April, led by Hakonarson and co-authored by Gerard Schellenberg, Ph.D., professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Bucan and others. One study was the first to report common gene variants in ASDs. The other identified copy number variants that raise the risk of having an ASD. Both studies found gene changes on two biological pathways with crucial roles in early central nervous system development. Hakonarson and Bucan said the latest findings reinforce the view that multiple gene variants, both common and rare, may be interacting to cause the heterogeneous group of disorders included under autism spectrum disorders.

Source: The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia


A new report from The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, Department of Health Policy challenges the notion that fraud is a problem only in public health insurance markets and finds that fraud is a system-wide problem affecting private and public health insurance alike.

The report finds that some of the most striking examples of fraud come from fraud committed directly by the private insurance industry itself. In 2007, when the U.S. spent nearly $2.3 trillion on health care and public and private insurers processed more than 4 billion health insurance claims, fraud was estimated to reach as much as 10 percent of annual health care spending. At this rate, the losses in 2007 alone -over $220 billion – would have been enough to cover the uninsured. The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) has estimated conservatively that 3 percent of all health care spending–or $68 billion–is lost to health care fraud.

The report finds that no segment of the health care industry or geographical area is immune from fraud. It is estimated that 80 percent of healthcare fraud is committed by medical providers, 10 percent by consumers, and the balance by others, such as insurers themselves and their employees. Fraudulent billing, kickbacks, up-coding services and bundling are common examples of fraud. Avoidance of sick and high need members, along with the systematic misrepresentation of the cost of care to group plan sponsors, represent major examples of fraud in the private insurance industry.

The report also notes the distinction between fraud and improper payments. Fraud is a misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of material facts. Improper payments, on the other hand, tend to involve technical questions associated with verification of claims or related matters. The report also describes recent efforts to improve fraud detection and recovery across the public and private insurers, including Medicare and Medicaid.

“The evidence presented in this analysis should put to rest the notion that the problem of fraud is limited to public programs. Because fraud can arise in any sector of the health industry, comprehensive efforts to both detect and deter fraud system-wide are essential to national health reform,” said Sara Rosenbaum, Professor and Chair, Department of Health Policy.

“Health Insurance Fraud: An Overview” is available at http://www.gwumc.edu/sphhs/departments/healthpolicy/dhp_publications/pub_uploads/dhpPublication_EFDAD1BC-5056-9D20-3D3D36632A4F2163.pdf%20ht


New Snapshots Show States Vary Widely in Providing Quality Health Care

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: Jun 27,2009

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s annual release of state-by-state quality data continues to give states mixed reviews for the quality of care they provide. As in previous years, AHRQ’s 2008 State Snapshots show that no state does well or poorly on all quality measures.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is also releasing state-by-state reports on the health care status quo. The reports are available at www.HealthReform.gov.

The 2008 State Snapshots provide state-specific health care quality information, including strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement. The state-level information used to create the State Snapshots is drawn from the 2008 National Healthcare Quality Report, which was released in May by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and contributes to a national portrait of health care quality.

“The State Snapshots are an invaluable resource for state officials, health care providers and purchasers to help them better understand the extent of health care quality and disparities in their states,” said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. “With this information, they can take the necessary steps to improve health care quality and address persistent gaps in access to health care.”

The 2008 State Snapshots summarize health care quality in three dimensions: type of care (preventive, acute and chronic care), setting of care (hospitals, ambulatory, nursing homes and home health care) and by clinical areas (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, maternal and child health and respiratory disease). The 2008 State Snapshots allow users to explore whether a state has improved or worsened compared with other states in several areas of health care delivery.

New features in the 2008 State Snapshots provide more ways to analyze the quality of health care for each state compared with all states, as well as states in the same region. Enhanced features include:

  • A new Focus on Asthma section: This section includes state-specific information on the prevalence of adult self-reported asthma rates; potentially preventable hospitalizations for children, adults and the elderly; and potential returns on investment of asthma care quality improvement programs for Medicaid, state employees and privately insured Americans.
  • An expanded Focus on Disparities: This section includes state-specific information on disparities in the quality of care compared with the nation overall by looking at care received by various racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups. This section also includes new information on prevalence of diabetes that includes a U.S. map showing the adult self-reported prevalence of diabetes by state.
  • Enhanced Dashboards: The dashboard for each state now contains revised graphics that succinctly display all of the summary measures on health care quality and allow a clear view of the range of each state’s performance.

AHRQ’s annual State Snapshots are based on data drawn from more than 30 sources, including government surveys, health care facilities and health care organizations. To access this year’s State Snapshots tool, go to: http://statesnapshots.ahrq.gov/snaps08/.

Source: Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) unveiled LEANWorks!, a Website designed to help businesses address obesity. LEAN stands for Leading Employees to Activity and Nutrition. The new Website was announced at a National Business Group on Health meeting in Washington, D.C.

“CDC LEANWorks! was developed in direct response to organizations asking CDC for help in addressing the obesity epidemic. Specifically they wanted to know what interventions were effective in helping employees maintain a healthy weight,” said William Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., director of CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. “CDC has identified science-based interventions that work to prevent and control obesity. CDC LEANWorks! provides the tools that employers need to take action.”

The free Website was developed particularly for small and mid-size companies, which typically have more limited resources to devote to obesity prevention efforts. However, the tools and resources available on CDC LEANWorks! can benefit companies of any size. CDC LEANWorks! can help employers calculate the cost of obesity for their organizations and develop tailored approaches to help control these costs through interventions such as fitness classes, lunchtime health education sessions, weight management programs, and more.

The Website provides a variety of resources to employers including:

  • An obesity cost-calculator where employers can input employee demographic data to estimate the total costs associated with obesity and determine annual obesity-related medical costs for their companies.
  • Information and resources to help employers plan, build, promote, and assess interventions to combat obesity.
  • Information on how employers can estimate return on investment, a measure of the cost of an intervention compared to the expected financial return of the intervention.

Obesity is a risk factor for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. Obese individuals spend 77 percent more money for necessary medications than non-obese persons.

“Obesity affects more than just health care costs. It also has a significant impact on worker productivity because the more chronic diseases employees have, the more likely they are to be absent from work, or less productive if they come to work sick,” said Janet Collins, Ph.D., director of CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Because organizations do not usually publish information about their worksite programs in the scientific literature, CDC visited select businesses to identify promising worksite obesity prevention and control practices. The CDC LEANWorks! Website provides case studies from some of those businesses to provide examples of successful worksite obesity prevention programs.

“Workplace obesity prevention programs can be an effective way for employers to reduce obesity and lower their health care costs, lower absenteeism and increase employee productivity,” said Dr. Dietz. Employers may also see other indirect benefits when they implement these programs such as improved employee morale, increased worker retention, and improved recruitment of new employees.”

To learn more about CDC LEANWorks! visit www.cdc.gov/leanworks.

For more information about CDC’s efforts to combat obesity visit www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


In a revolutionary healthcare finding, a peer-reviewed clinical study published in the British Journal of Nutrition (a Cambridge University Journal), clearly shows that Prebiotics reduce cholesterol and triglycerides, control body weight, and increase lifespan by 33%.

The controlled clinical study was conducted on rats and showed that the rats fed prebiotics had an 80% survival rate to 24 months versus a 50% survival rate for the control group rats that were not fed prebiotics. Additionally, the “prebiotic” rats showed material reductions in cholesterol and body weight versus the control group.

Significantly, the prebiotic used in the study was oligofructose enriched inulin, a blend of two prebiotics which has repeatedly shown synergistic health benefits versus the more common single-prebiotic fibers such as plain inulin.

“This study, clearly demonstrating life-lengthening impact of prebiotics, has truly profound implications,” says Jackson GI Medical CEO Kristian Chronister. “It certainly reinforces our commitment to powering our Prebiotin prebiotic supplements with oligofructose enriched inulin despite the dramatically lower cost of plain inulin,” he says.

Oligofructose enriched inulin is a 100% natural, plant-derived ‘compound’ prebiotic fiber which has extensive clinical research demonstrating strong health benefits. Plain inulin is a far cheaper prebiotic which is used in most prebiotic supplements and enhanced foods.

“The implications of this study are somewhat staggering,” says Jackson GI Chairman and Founder Frank W. Jackson, M.D. “While the research doesn’t quite yet justify a claim that Prebiotin lengthens human life, the study is nevertheless dramatic in that it clearly demonstrates the colon is a health- and life-giving organ we must nourish and cherish, not just a waste disposal system.”

Prebiotics are a special class of fibers which deliver health benefits by nourishing beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract while not providing sustenance to undesirable bacteria.

“We have long known from clinical research that oligofructose enriched inulin, the prebiotic in our Prebiotin family of products, enhances immunity, increases calcium absorption, decreases heart-unfriendly triglycerides and promotes digestive health,” says Chronister. “This latest study strongly suggests that a very potent overall health benefit is the net result of adding prebiotics to the diet.”

A precis of the research is presented at http://www.prebiotin.com/, as well as a link to the full clinical study.

Source: Jackson GI Medical


Trivalent Virus-Like Particle Vaccine Elicits Protective Immune Responses against a Variety of Seasonal Influenza Strains in Mice and Ferrets

Novavax, Inc. announced publication of the preclinical study results that supported the clinical development of the company’s investigational VLP vaccine against the H3N2, H1N1 and B influenza strains. The study, which was conducted by scientists from the University of Pittsburgh, Center for Vaccine Research and Novavax, was published in the June 24, 2009 online issue of PLoS ONE. The vaccine contains three VLPs mixed together in a single formulation; each made up of the hemagglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA) and matrix 1 (M1) proteins from the representative strains. These proteins are important for broad protection against influenza, which is responsible for nearly 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. The vaccine is currently in Phase 2 clinical testing.

In this study, mice and ferrets received intramuscular injections of VLP vaccine which induced HAI antibodies against all three influenza strains represented in the vaccine and against a variety of drifted strains. All of the ferrets who received a vaccine dose of 15 mcg/strain, the dose used for currently licensed vaccines, developed HAI titers greater than or equal to 1:40. This level of antibody has been shown to be important for protection against flu in human studies of influenza vaccines. In addition, approximately 50% of ferrets developed HAI titers greater than or equal to 1:40 against drifted H3N2 strains from the 1999, 2002, and 2005 influenza seasons. The vaccine was also protective, reducing the amount of influenza virus in the nose of ferrets that were challenged with the H3N2 strain from the 2005-6 season.

In addition to antibody response, the study also examined cell-mediated immunity. T cell responses in mice vaccinated with the seasonal VLP vaccine were compared with T cell responses in mice vaccinated with a commercial influenza vaccine. Of note, mice vaccinated with the VLP vaccine had higher levels of HA flu-specific CD8+ T cells than mice vaccinated with the commercial vaccine. CD8+ T cells play a role in clearing virus from the respiratory tract, which may be an important factor in preventing influenza-associated pneumonia, a leading cause of flu-related hospitalizations in adults older than 65 years of age.

“This study demonstrates the breadth of the immune response induced by the VLP vaccine,” said Ted Ross, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Center for Vaccine Research, University of Pittsburgh. “Not only did the vaccine induce robust HAI responses, it also induced HA-specific CD8+ T cell responses that were superior to those of a split vaccine. This finding may be reflective of the integrity of the structure of the HA protein presented in the VLP.”

“We are pleased with the results of this study, which supported the human clinical trials of our seasonal influenza VLP vaccine,” said Dr. Rahul Singhvi, president and CEO of Novavax. “We also observed robust HAI responses among subjects in the clinical trial of our seasonal flu vaccine, which we announced last December, including responses against drifted strains. We look forward to future studies to evaluate the breadth of the immune response induced by our VLP-based influenza vaccines.”

Source: Novavax, Inc.


AARP launches money-saving prescription drug resource

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: Jun 24,2009

Online tool helps people avoid dreaded “doughnut hole”

By the end of this summer, more than one million older Americans will have fallen into the “doughnut hole”–a coverage gap in Medicare’s prescription drug program that leaves individuals on the hook for all of their own drug costs while still paying premiums. AARP is launching a new online resource to help older Americans avoid this dreaded coverage gap.

The AARP Doughnut Hole Calculator, available at www.aarp.org/doughnuthole, guides visitors through their prescription drug options using localized information about their plans and prescriptions to determine if or when they will fall into the coverage gap. In about 15 minutes, visitors can view a graph of their out-of-pocket spending by month, look up lower cost drugs for their conditions, create a Personal Medication Record and print out personalized letters to their doctors to help start a conversation about safely switching prescriptions.

“More than three million people fall into the gap each year, and millions more nervously wonder if they might fall in,” said AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond. “For the first time, people in Medicare have a simple way to learn if they’ll fall into the doughnut hole and find ways to avoid it by switching to safe, less expensive medications.”

As a part of its Health Action Now campaign, AARP is calling on Congress to close the doughnut hole and lower prescription drug prices so that no one has to go without the prescriptions they need to stay healthy. Yesterday, AARP joined President Obama to endorse an agreement by Senate leaders and the pharmaceutical industry that would reduce brand name drug costs for people who fall into the doughnut hole by half. Research has shown people cut back on their prescription drugs when their costs become unaffordable, which can lead to more serious health conditions and larger health care bills.

LeaMond added: “Saving money on prescription drugs is going to mean pressing hard in Washington to close the doughnut hole; yesterday we were proud to help announce significant progress toward that goal. In the meantime, we also want to give Americans the tools they need to cut their drug costs and stay out of the gap in the first place. We encourage every person in Medicare to take a few minutes to find the right drugs at the lowest prices.”

The calculator is powered by DestinationRx as part of a special arrangement between AARP and Medicare. The data is the same used by the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Finder, giving users the most accurate and up-to-date drug pricing information available.


Boomers: Tips on how to exercise safely

As the weather gets warmer, people often get motivated to spend more time outdoors. Whether it’s working on projects around the house, playing with the grandkids at the park or out exercising, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) stresses important that baby boomers remember their bodies are not as young as they used to be and not overdo it.

In 2008, more than 166,000 people between the ages of 45 and 64 were treated in emergency rooms, clinics and doctors’ offices for injuries related to exercise and exercise equipment, according to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.

“Baby boomers have become increasingly active as they age and orthopaedic surgeons think this trend will continue,” says Ray Monto, MD, spokesperson for the AAOS. “One thing to keep in mind is that when you are 50, you may injure your body more easily than when you were 20. Joints, tissues and muscles may not be as flexible as they used to be. So as boomers age, they should take extra steps to protect themselves from injuries when exercising.” Dr. Monto adds, “a little extra stretching before and after exercise, for example, goes a long way.”

The AAOS offers the following tips to help boomers prevent exercise-related injuries:

  • Check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program. A physician will make sure your heart is in good condition and can make recommendations based on your current fitness level. This is especially important if you have had a previous injury.
  • Always warm up and stretch before exercising. Cold muscles are more likely to get injured, so warm up with some light exercise for at least three to five minutes.
  • Avoid being a “weekend warrior.” Moderate exercise every day is healthier and less likely to result in injury than heavy activity only on weekends.
  • Do not be afraid to take lessons. An instructor can help ensure you are using the proper form, which can prevent overuse injuries such as tendonitis and stress fractures.
  • Develop a balanced fitness program. Incorporate cardio, strength training and flexibility training to get a total body workout and prevent overuse injuries. Also, make sure to introduce new exercises gradually, so you do not take on too much at once.
  • Take calcium and Vitamin D supplements daily.
  • Listen to your body. As you age, you may not be able to do some of the activities that you did years ago. Pay attention to your body’s needs and abilities, and modify your workout accordingly.
  • Remember to rest and schedule regular days off from exercise and rest when tired.

Baby boomers who exercise regularly are less likely to experience depression, weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep disturbances, so it’s important to incorporate physical activity into your routine at any age.

For more information about baby boomer exercise safety, visit www.orthoinfo.org.

Source: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons