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Flu season could cost employers $17.5 billion

Terri Williams Business Management, Services & Risk Management

In the second week of January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that between 6 and 7 million people were already sick with the flu, and between 69,000 and 84,000 people had been hospitalized. While flu activity tends to peak between December and February, the CDC notes that activity can last through May. The news comes as no surprise to executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which predicts that this flu season could cost employers $17 billion in lost productivity.

Top tips for taking care of your child’s dental health

Tammy Hinojos Oral & Dental Healthcare

Many people don't know it but, believe it or not, cavity prevention starts at birth. And given that more than 40 percent of children have cavities by the time they reach kindergarten, there are simple things parents can do to ensure healthy oral development for their children during pregnancy and after the big delivery. February is recognized as National Children’s Dental Health Month. Dr. Lynse Briney, a Chicago Dental Society pediatric dentist, has offered her top tips for taking care of dental health for young children.

Psychological stress in midlife may be a risk factor for dementia

Dorothy L. Tengler Mental Healthcare

Vital exhaustion, a kind of emotional collapse, is further defined as excessive fatigue, feelings of demoralization, and increased irritability. Vital exhaustion has been identified as a risk factor for cardiac events. In a previous study, probabilities of adverse cardiac events over time were significantly higher in people with high vital exhaustion compared to those with low exhaustion. A recent study suggests that vital exhaustion, or psychological distress, is also a risk factor for future risk of dementia. Currently, an estimated 2 million people in the United States suffer from severe dementia, and another 1 to 5 million people experience mild to moderate dementia.

Is retirement bad for your health?

Patrick Gleeson Medical & Allied Healthcare

Floating out there somewhere in the vast Sargasso Sea of unexamined opinion is an idealized conception of retirement — that most Americans plan on retiring; that there will be enough money for retirement when the time comes and that it will be a fulfilling and happy time of life. No short article can hope to treat the full complexity of the subject, but some of these opinions are simply wrong. Recent research suggests that continuing to work past retirement age isn't a bad idea: that it may positively affect both your mental well-being and your physical health. Among other possibly surprising benefits: those who continue working live longer.

Home-based hypertension brings BP under control in only 7 weeks

Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied Healthcare

Making endless trips to the doctor's office to adjust blood pressure medications may soon be a thing of the past, replaced by home monitoring systems and occasional phone conversations. A new study shows that home monitoring may be more effective. About one in three adults in the United States have hypertension, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A new, home-based care delivery program developed by Brigham and Women's Hospital may improve hypertension control rates faster and less expensively than office-based programs.

Medicare payments come in short for practices that rely on them

Scott E. Rupp Healthcare Administration

Medical practices that live and die on the gyrations of Medicare payments might find themselves near death’s door in 2019 if feedback is any sign of their viability and longevity. Medicare reimbursements simply may not be cutting it for as many as two-thirds of practices that receive the federal payments. Per responses, Medicare payment rates for 2019 will not cover the basic cost of their delivering care to patients, an MGMA Stat poll points out.

5 easy ways to boost your heart health

Lisa Mulcahy Medical & Allied Healthcare

Making positive changes to help your cardiovascular system doesn't necessarily always mean grueling exercise and eating even more kale. Sometimes, the simplest moves are just the ticket for seeing meaningful improvements in your numbers. For example, a study from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta found that drinking just one milkshake made with whole milk, ice cream and whipped cream was enough to turn healthy red blood cells into spiky cells, which are a key risk for a cardiovascular event like a heart attack.

US additive manufacturing reaches a slowdown era

Michelle R. Matisons Manufacturing

For those utopians starry-eyed about emerging 3-D printing/additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, former President Barack Obama’s enthusiasm was rather encouraging. As a new era has dawned in the White House, what is helping and hindering the growth of 3-D printing today? President Trump’s official position on AM is erratic. One minute he excitedly relates its capabilities for U.S. military might, and the next minute he says it aids illegal gun manufacturing. The White House released an updated Strategy for American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing report in October 2018. This report does not indicate that there’s any official policy change on additive manufacturing. But this is not the same as funding.

New study evaluates presentation of chronic fatigue syndrome in the ED

Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied Healthcare

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is poorly understood, but proposed mechanisms include biological, genetic, infectious, and psychological. This disease is characterized by profound fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, sleep abnormalities, autonomic manifestations, pain, and other symptoms that are made worse by exertion of any sort. For years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended two controversial treatments for CFS — a program of steadily increasing activity and a specific form of cognitive behavior therapy. However, few medical professionals are aware that the CDC has dropped the exercise and psychotherapy recommendations. How do patients with CFS get the healthcare and treatment they deserve to deal with their symptoms?

Study: Oral-B Glide dental floss may contain harmful chemical

Scott E. Rupp Oral & Dental Healthcare

Potentially harmful chemicals often used for their water and grease resistance, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), may be harmful to our health and in common household items, including Oral-B Glide dental floss, according to a peer-reviewed study. The floss might lead to higher levels of toxic PFAS chemicals in people’s bodies. Perhaps somewhat shockingly, the researchers say they found higher levels of PFHxS (perfluorohexanesulfonic acid), a type of PFAS, in women who flossed with Oral-B Glide compared to those who didn't. The study was designed to explain how these chemicals enter the human body.

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