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HEALTHBEAT SHOW NOTES .... Episode #164 - Recorded August 29, 2008  

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of HealthBeat, Chiropractic OnLine Today’s Health, News and Informational Podcast, and Proud to be the #1 Search Result for Chiropractic Podcasts in the iTunes Podcast Directory.

In this week’s news:  We’ll Look At –

• Overweight and Heart Healthy

• Whiplash and MRI Evaluation

• Hunger, Stress, and Other Roadblocks to Healthy Eating

• And Finally, a story about Pay for Performance

For HealthBeat, This is Dr. Todd Eglow!

Welcome to HealthBeat Podcast #164, recorded August 29, 2008.

HealthBeat is Chiropractic OnLine Today’s radio program, providing current news and commentary about Chiropractic and Health.

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Overweight and Heart Healthy

Weight may not be the best indicator of heart health, according to a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study found that about half of overweight people and a third of obese people had normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Meanwhile, about a quarter of thin people had high blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides and blood sugar -- problems usually associated with excess body weight.

In the study, researchers analyzed results of government surveys involving 5,440 people age 20 and over from 1999 to 2004. The researchers found that cardiovascular risk factors were more common in older people, smokers and sedentary people.

The researchers say the findings underscore the importance of regular exercise and waist size on heart risks.

As Always, COTs HealthBeat recommends discussing all heart and exercise issues with your qualified healthcare provider.

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/168/15/1617

Whiplash and MRI Evaluation

Neck pain is the cardinal symptom following whiplash injuries. The trauma mechanism could theoretically lead to both soft tissue and bone injury that could be visualized by means of MRI.

From previous quite small trials it seems that MRI does not demonstrate significant tissue damage.

The objective of a study trial published in the European Spine Journal, was to evaluate:

1. the predictive value of cervical MRI after whiplash injuries and

2. the value of repeating MRI examinations after 3 months including sequences with flexion and extension of the cervical spine.

Participants were included after rear-end or frontal car collisions. Patients with fractures or dislocations diagnosed by standard procedures at the emergency unit were not included.

MRI scans of the cervical spine were performed at baseline and repeated after 3 months. Clinical follow-ups were performed after 3 and 12 months. Outcome parameters were neck pain, headache, neck disability and working ability.

Traumatic findings were observed in seven participants. Signs of disc degeneration were common and most frequent at the C5–6 and C6–7 levels. Findings were not associated with outcome after 3 or 12 months.

The population had no considerable neck trouble prior to the whiplash injury and the non-traumatic findings represent findings to be expected in the background population. Trauma-related MRI findings are rare in a whiplash population screened for serious injuries in the emergency unit and not related to a specific symptomatology. Also, pre-existing degeneration is not associated with prognosis.

Surf to our Show Notes for a link to this study - http://www.springerlink.com/content/357820221krj4317/

Hunger, Stress, and Other Roadblocks to Healthy Eating

Poor diets and rising obesity rates among Americans persist despite increased public awareness of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

A US report from the Economic Research Service, presents a consumer demand model to illustrate how both long-term health objectives and immediate visceral influences—long intervals between meals and eating away from home—can drive individuals’ food choices.

The model predicts that cognitive dietary information will have less influence on food choices in the face of immediate visceral factors.

Using data from the 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals and the companion Diet Health and Knowledge Survey, the analysis finds that when individuals extend the period between meals or consume more of their food away from home, they are significantly more likely to consume more calories and lower diet quality.

Surf to our Show Notes for a link to this report - http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR62/

Pay for Performance

The cost of health care is one of the most controversial domestic issues in the United States today. Consumers are plagued with rising premiums and co-payments. Physicians are faced with decreasing reimbursement and increasing paperwork. Add to this situation an aging population which requires more health care services, an expanding uninsured population of over 45 million, a cash-strapped government, and exorbitant medical malpractice premiums, and it is easy to see why the cost of health care is a hot topic.

A recent proposal for reducing the cost of health care is an incentive program known as “Pay for Performance (P4P),” which is a model of physician reimbursement linking payment to performance using either performance or outcome measures.

Although P4P programs exist for health plans, hospitals, or other entities, physician reimbursement has recently been incorporated into these programs. These plans are based on the premise that increased pay determines work output and that the prospect of financial reward will motivate improved performance and better patient outcomes. The basic underlying concept of P4P is that as quality increases (measured by either outcome or performance measurements), the nation’s health will improve and health care costs will decrease.

Surf to our Show Notes for more information - http://www.ncqa.org/tabid/666/Default.aspx

As always, please surf to our Podcast Show Notes at ChiropractiRadio.com for a full listing of web references mentioned in today’s show.

And remember - COT’s Healthbeat always recommends discussing any nutritional or exercise lifestyle modifications with a qualified healthcare professional.

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Finally, I leave you with the following quote:

"Information is the currency of democracy."
– Thomas Jefferson

For Chiropractic OnLine Today’s HealthBeat, This is Dr. Todd Eglow.

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