Women’s Health Newsflash: DNR Errors, Radiation During Pregnancy, Pot on College Campuses, Criteria for Obesity Surgery, and Metabolic Syndrome

Who has time to read it all? Here are highlights of some top health stories so far this week:

“Do Not Resuscitate” Orders Lack Standardization in Hospitals

Methods to identify a patient with a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order are incredibly varied across hospitals, ranging from written documentation practices to the use of color-coded wristbands. According to a new study in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, a national effort to standardize color-coded wristbands, likely around a few specific indications (e.g., DNR status, allergy, fall risk, etc.), would remove current practice variations and the associated potential for errors. Read more >>

Safer, More Accurate Radiation Therapy for Expecting Mothers: New modeling tools enable more effective cancer treatment and imaging procedures

Developing fetuses are extremely sensitive to radiation, which poses an impossible dilemma for expecting mothers in need of screening or treatment for cancer. Now researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new set of modeling tools that could enable safer, more accurate, and more effective radiation therapy and nuclear medicine imaging procedures for pregnant women. …Physicians use advanced computer simulations to determine the correct dose of radiation to administer to patients. These computer simulations are based on sophisticated virtual models of the human body. About 30 of these models, sometimes called “phantoms,” have been developed worldwide. Read more >>

Study Investigates Cannabis Use Among University Students

Researchers at Griffith University in Australia administered a survey to students aged 17 to 29 asking about their beliefs about the advantages and disadvantages of using cannabis, their perceptions of what others think they should do in relation to cannabis use, and reasons that might cause them to use or not use. Two weeks later, they completed a follow-up survey asking about their actual behavior over the previous two weeks.

Compared to non-users, users believed more strongly that cannabis would help them fit in with their friends, feel relaxed, forget their worries, and enjoy themselves. They also believed that their friends would approve of their use. Read more >>

BMI criteria for obesity surgery should be lowered, researchers suggest

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found that the existing body mass index criteria for obesity surgery often excludes a group of obese patients at risk of cardiovascular disease. …Bariatric weight-loss surgery is currently recommended for patients with a BMI greater than 40, as well as for patients with a BMI greater than 35 who also suffer from a life-threatening illness, such as non-insulin dependent diabetes, sleep apnea or heart disease. …This suggests that some patients who are obese but not morbidly obese could benefit from bariatric surgery, which can help reduce cardiovascular disease, said Dr. Livingston. Read more >>

Moderate exercise cuts rate of metabolic syndrome

Research from Duke University Medical Center shows that even a modest amount of brisk walking weekly is enough to trim waistlines and cut the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS), an increasingly frequent condition linked to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.

It’s estimated that about a quarter of all U.S. adults have MetS, a cluster of risk factors associated with greater likelihood of developing heart disease, diabetes and stroke: large waist circumference, high blood pressure, high levels of triglycerides, low amounts of HDL, or “good” cholesterol, and high blood sugar. To be diagnosed with MetS, patients must have at least three of these five risk factors, and according to many studies, a growing number of people do. Read more >>

Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King

Tags: womens health, health headlines, metabolic syndrome, obesity surgery, pot, radiotherapy, pregnancy, do not resuscitate, DNR