Health
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SACRAMENTO – U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, who has been a strong advocate for improving access to health care and voted for landmark federal legislation reforming the health care system, has received the “2010 Legacy Award” from a collection of Northern California county medical societies.
The California Medical Association (CMA) 10th District delegation caucus – which includes representatives from medical societies in Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt and Del Norte counties – presented Thompson with the honor recently at its annual meeting.
“Mike Thompson has fought hard for California patients and the physicians who serve them,” said Brennan Cassidy, M.D., president of CMA. “He is tough and compassionate. He is a courageous leader who cares about making sure his constituents can get the quality medical care they need.”
Among Thompson’s accomplishments are:
He joined 218 of his House colleagues in March 2010 in voting to pass historic health care reform legislation. The bill will reduce the deficit by an estimated $130 billion over 10 years – and $1.3 trillion over 20 years – and extend coverage to 80 percent of California’s uninsured.
As chair of the Blue Dog Coalition’s health care task force, Thompson is continually working with both Democrats and Republicans to WHAT address the issues of health care professionals’ workforce shortage.
In February 2009, he supported reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to provide cost‐effective health coverage for 4 million more children whose parents earn too little to provide their own insurance, but too much to qualify for Medicaid, and preserved coverage for 7 million children already enrolled.
As a state senator, he wrote landmark legislation requiring health insurance providers to offer all children comprehensive preventive care.
He wrote legislation funding a comprehensive telemedicine initiative (North Coast Telemedicine Network) in the rural regions of California’s north coast. The program became model for other state legislatures across the nation.
In addition, Thompson has supported significant legislative efforts to:
Raise low Medicare reimbursements for physicians in 14 California counties, including Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties, where rates have not kept up with the costs of doing business. Thompson backed legislation fixing the counties’ geographic practice cost index (GPCI) rates with $400 million in increased payments. The boost in rates would improve senior citizens’ access to care in many communities.
Repeal Medicare’s outdated Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) funding formula, which mandates steep cuts in the program’s physician payments. Thompson supported the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act in November 2009 that would have replaced SGR with a more stable and realistic funding system to protect seniors’ access to care. The legislation passed the House but did not clear the Senate.
Improve beneficiary access to Medicare’s cancer screening services so more seniors will get screened, saving lives and money.
CMA and the county medical societies work closely with elected representatives to ensure that the interests of patients and the physicians who serve them are well represented. California’s physicians have pushed hard for reform that includes universal access to health care, insurance market reforms, shared responsibility and stable long-term funding.
The California Medical Association represents 35,000 physicians in all modes of practice and specialties. CMA is dedicated to the health of all patients in California.
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DALLAS – After two days of hearings, an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that the FDA allow the type 2 diabetes drug rosiglitazone (brand name, Avandia), to stay on the market, but with most committee members suggesting that the label be revised to include increased warnings.
Rosiglitazone is one in a class of drugs called thiazolidinediones (TZDs), used to treat type 2 diabetes.
The advisory committee voted 20 to 12 (with one abstention) to keep rosiglitazone on the market and recommended 20 to 10 (with two abstentions) that the TIDE trial continue.
This trial, requested by the FDA, is evaluating patients with type 2 diabetes and a history of or risk for cardiovascular disease, and comparing the cardiovascular effects of long-term treatment with rosiglitazone, pioglitazone or placebo when added to standard care.
The trial will also compare the effects of long-term supplementation with vitamin D on death and cancer.
The FDA will consider these recommendations and make a final ruling.
“The advisory committee’s deliberations were difficult, since the available data were limited, controversial, and subject to multiple interpretations by seasoned investigators and reviewers,” said Ralph Sacco, M.D., president of the American Heart Association. “We agree with the committee that further research is necessary to answer the remaining questions, and we encourage the FDA to continue to evaluate and assess carefully all new clinical data as they become available.”
For patients with diabetes, the most serious consequences are heart disease and stroke, and the risk of suffering from them is significantly increased when diabetes is present.
“It’s especially important that patients not change or stop medications without consulting their health care provider,” said Sacco.
For patients with diabetes, the American Heart Association recommends the following:
The cornerstone of prevention and treatment should be healthy lifestyle choices, such as not smoking, following a healthy diet and remaining physically active.
Because of the increased risk of heart disease and stroke, it is very important to achieve optimal control of your blood sugar, blood pressure and lipids (such as cholesterol and triglycerides) with lifestyle and medications when needed. For people with diabetes who are also at increased risk for heart disease, low-dose aspirin therapy is recommended as a reasonable way to prevent a first heart attack or stroke.
Focus on blood sugar control, keeping your HbA1c level below 7.0, is likely to reduce the risk of the “microvascular” complications of diabetes, such as kidney failure, painful nerve problems and decreased vision or even blindness.
For health care providers, the American Heart Association offers the following guidance on glucose-lowering medications:
Metformin should generally be the first choice, particularly in obese patients. If it does not produce adequate HbA1c control, other medications can be considered, recognizing that knowledge is limited about the effect of other glucose-lowering agents on cardiovascular risk.
If a TZD (such as pioglitazone or rosiglitazone) is considered for lowering glucose, patients should not expect it to reduce the occurrence of heart attack or stroke. The rationale for choosing a TZD should be discussed with a physician. However, patients who have successfully achieved recommended HbA1c control on a TZD may consider remaining on their medication. If the treating physician and/or the patient are uncomfortable with using a TZD, another medication could be substituted.
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LAKE COUNTY – Lake County residents and visitors love to celebrate the summer by grilling or attending cookouts. The Lake County Health Department is reminding consumers that following safe food handling steps are the key to making your cookout safe and healthy for your guests.
The US Department of Agriculture has four basic steps to help you be food safe from foodborne illness any time of year.
1. Clean: First things first – start with clean surfaces and clean hands. You and your guests should wash your hands with soap and warm water for 20 seconds before and after handling food. Equally important are the surfaces that come in contact with raw and cooked foods – make sure they are clean
before you start and are washed frequently.
2. Separate: Raw meats and poultry should be prepared separately from produce and cooked foods. Use separate cutting boards when chopping raw meats and produce, as juices from raw meats may contain harmful bacteria that can cross-contaminate ready-to-eat foods.
3. Cook: Your food thermometer is the most important tool that will tell you if your food is thoroughly cooked, as color is not a reliable indicator of doneness. The safe minimum internal temperature to kill any harmful bacteria in steaks, roasts, chops and fish is 145°F, while ground beef should reach 160°F. Take extra care with frozen hamburgers as these take longer to reach a safe internal temperature throughout the patties. It is important to measure the temperature in several areas of your burgers. All poultry and fully cooked meats like hot dogs should be grilled to 165°F or until steaming hot.
4. Chill: Perishable food should never sit out for more than two hours. If the temperature is above 90°F – which is common at summer picnics – perishable foods shouldn't sit out more than one hour. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers promptly, and discard any food that has been out too long. "Barbecuing is a great way to celebrate Independence Day, and it's important to take a few seconds to measure your food temperature to help protect your family and friends this summer," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "Make a food thermometer your most important grilling tool."
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LAKE COUNTY – Becoming a mom is hard work, whether for the first time or the third.
Most people expect mothers to take this enormous life change in stride. However, having a baby can bring on a full spectrum of new and sometimes overwhelming feelings, on top of the obligatory lifestyle changes.
Most of these feelings are normal, but occasionally the situation goes beyond the “baby blues” and becomes too much to bear alone.
Mother-Wise is a new program in Lake County that is designed to help expecting and new mothers.
The program is seeking volunteers who are interested in doing one-on-one home visits with mothers at risk of, or experiencing, perinatal mood disorder.
In some cases, Mother-Wise volunteers may be the only source of emotional support a mother has. The volunteers are trained in techniques to assist the mothers directly, as well as how to recognize when a mother would benefit from professional help.
It is hard for many of us to imagine being a mother without significant support from family and friends, especially when the chaos is compounded by unwelcome and uncontrollable feelings. Sadly, there are mothers in our community who are in exactly that situation.
If you would like more information on becoming a volunteer, or how you can receive help from Mother-Wise, please call Jaclyn Ley at 349-1210.
Orientation meetings are held monthly in both Clearlake and Lakeport and a comprehensive training will take place in September for new volunteers. The first training in Clearlake will be held on Tuesday, June 29.
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