Welcome to this weeks edition of Baby Boomer Health – NY Cities Electronic Medical Records

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This week we are talking about Efforts of NY Cities Medical Records.

We have talked about electronic medical records before. There are many reasons to use an electronic medical record. However cost has been one of the largest limiting factors.

New York City is one of the sites trying to institute electronic medical records city wide. They have a $60 million dollar city health department project. They are visiting each primary care physician's office and trying to sign them up. The health department will subsidize the cost under certain conditions and will sharing financial rewards for those providing care according to their goals.

This custom system has a lot of bells and whistles in it. These include checks to see if prescriptions have been filled, vaccinations due, suggestions on care and prescription. This could be very helpful to the provider.

One down side seen early is that getting used to the system has slowed down many doctors offices. But over time it is hoped that the slowdown will disappear.

One up side is the possibility that the overall quality of care will increase.

It will be interesting to see how this system works over time.

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Welcome to this weeks edition of Baby Boomer Health -Touch It

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This week we are talking about Touch It.

Most of us think about our sense of vision, hearing, smelling and taste. All located in our skull. But what about touch? Where is it located?

Touch is located all over our body. It is made up of different types of touch receptors: mechanoreceptors for pressure and vibration; thermal receptors for hot and cold; kinesthetic receptors that keep track of where our body parts are such as arms and legs; and pain receptors for pain. Being located all over our body means that their reactions are sent to the brain via the spinal cord. Our brain is amazing. It can tell where the pain is located on our body.

As good as our sense of touch is, it can be fooled especially if we isolate it from the other senses. For example if you touch a raised line drawing of a screw driver you will probably not be able to determine what it is. No contour, weight, thermal information. We like a lot of different types of information to decide what something is.

But just to give you an idea how sensitive touch is. You can feel a dot the size of a period if it is raised only one micron. Your eyes can only detect something 100 microns in size.

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Welcome to this weeks edition of Baby Boomer Health – Stretching

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This week we are talking about Stretching.

Stretching before you exercise is good for you. Maybe! It depends upon on the type of stretching you do.

The old fashioned static stretching – holding a stretch for 20 seconds – is not good for you. It actually weakens the muscle for up to 30 minutes.

You need to start your stretching with an aerobic warm up such a jogging. This warms the muscles and dilates the blood vessels, increasing the blood flow. Follow this with dynamic stretching. For example the straight leg march. Stand up and kick you right leg up with toes pointed to the sky. Touch your toes with your left hand. Bring the leg down and repeat with the left leg and right hand. Do 6 repetitions of this.

We don't know if dynamic stretching protects against injury but we do know that static stretching offers no protection at all.

Thanks to Gretchen Reynolds and the NY Times for this information.

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Welcome to this weeks edition of Baby Boomer Health -Vitamins

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This week we are talking about Vitamins.

Everyone needs vitamins but most of us get all the vitamins we need in our food. In this country it is not uncommon for people to take a daily vitamin. There are plenty of ads telling us we need to take vitamins every day. But is this good for us? Do we really need these daily vitamins? What about all the interest in taking mega doses of vitamins everyday?

First of all the minimum daily dosage of required vitamins can be found in a normal wholesome diet. There is no evidence that taking a daily basic multiple vitamin with help most of us but there is also little if any evidence that it would hurt us.

Mega doses of vitamins on the other hand have been shown to be dangerous at least under certain conditions. For example in Finland in 1994 a study showed that taking 20 milligrams of beta carotene increased the risk of lung cancer by 18%. Are these solid facts? Well like all studies the results can be and are debated. But of all the studies completed there seems to be an overwhelming evidence that mega dosages of vitamins do not help but can harm your health.

So why do people continue to take them? Believers in mega dosages of vitamins argue that the studies are all flawed and no study has be designed properly to show the benefits. As the argument continues, you need to decide for yourself what you wish to do – no vitamins, daily multi-vitamin or mega dose of different vitamins.

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Welcome to this weeks edition of Baby Boomer Health – Fitness and Dementia

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This week we are talking about Fitness and Dementia.

Scientific American had an article recently titled "Fitness and the Brain".

By 2050 it is expected that over 100 million people all over the world will have Alzheimer's disease.

Today no medication has be found to prevent Alzheimer's. But there is more and more evidence that exercise can bolster brain health.

Exercise can:

• Reduce risk factors – blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and depression
• Increase blood flow, stimulate nerve cell growth and reduce pathologic changes characteristic of Alzheimer

Exercise and memory has been studied but no definitive results yet. Some studies have shown memory improvement with exercise.

The final word on exercise and the brain has not been found yet. But with the studies completed so far it appears that we all should be exercising for good health including brain health.

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Welcome to this weeks edition of Baby Boomer Health -Your Very Own Electronic Medical Record

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This week we are talking about Your Very Own Electronic Medical Record.

We have all heard about the advantages of electronic medical records for provider offices and facilities. Now personal medical records controlled by patients are becoming available. Some require manual entry by the patient, others you can fax information or through electronic devices upload the data directly.

Is this going to be free? No but it can help you health care providers to monitor your progress and adjust your treatment. With more and more devices such as scales, blood pressure monitors and blood sugar monitors becoming capable of electronically sending the finding to the web either directly or through a hand held device, your health monitoring can be come an electronic record on the web. And you as the "owner" can determine who you share the results with. As security issues are addressed this could become a large benefit to patients.

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Welcome to this weeks edition of Baby Boomer Health – Pharmacogenics

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This week we are talking about Pharmacogenics.

Pharmacogenics goal is to be able to pick the best drugs and dosages to the individual and to be able to do this before the prescription is taken. Today the only way we know an individuals reaction to a medication is to try it and wait. But tomorrow based upon an individuals genetic make up, the doctor will be able to choose the medication and dosage that will work best.

Today this is very limited as the genes responsible for the interactions of drugs are still being discovered. However an example of this in action is the drug Herceptin used in treating breast cancer. About 25 to 30% of breast cancer patients have a genetic marker called HER2. In these patients Herceptin is very effective. So breast cancer patents are screened for this genetic marker to determine if Herceptin should be used in their treatment.

Some day each of us with have a genetic profile that will help providers determine the best drugs and dosages to use tailored for each one of us.

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Welcome to this weeks edition of Baby Boomer Health – The Multitasking Illusion

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This week we are talking about The Multitasking Illusion.

Multitasking is the switching between projects/tasks quickly and causes inefficiency, stress and lower productivity. You lose your focus when you switch between tasks frequently. You really just can't do that well. We can do a couple of things at the same time if they are routine but if a task demands more cognitive processes the brain becomes a bottleneck.

When a bunch of visual stimuli are in front of you, only one or two things get through to your brain. And when you move back and forth between tasks you lose time. This time is lost as the brain begins again to work on the new project.

One group looked at text messaging and driving in people between 17 and 24. Their reaction time decreased by 35% and was slower then driving drunk. Some multitasking can get you killed.

Dr. Hallowell coined the phrase "attention deficit trait". This springs entirely from the environment. This leads to inefficiency and under production.

So how do we fix this? Set boundaries for yourself and others. Turn off your cell phone at work. Don't allow cell phones in a meeting. Decrease your interruptions so you can concentrate on the task in front of you. And remember to eat right and get plenty of sleep – remember both are required for being efficient.

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Welcome to this weeks edition of Baby Boomer Health – PAD

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This week we are talking about Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD).

Familiar with arthersclerosis of the heart and brain (heart attacks and strokes)? Well that also happens in the arteries of the lower extremity (legs). It affects up to 20% of people older than 65.

Risk factors include diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, overweight, getting little or no exercise, and having a family history of premature cardiovascular disease.

Results of having PAD include hard to heal foot ulcers, infections, gangrene and pain on walking.

Symptoms include pain in the buttocks or leg muscles on walking which subsides upon rest. But most people do not have any clear symptoms.

It can be initially diagnosed by comparing the blood pressure in your arm and in your ankle. This is called the ABI. If there is a significant difference in the blood pressures further test may be indicated.

Nothing about PAD should be considered part of getting older. If you are having symptoms or are over 65 ask you doctor about PAD (Peripheral Arterial Disease).

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Welcome to this weeks edition of Baby Boomer Health – Back Pain and Exercise

Show Notes:

Do you have chronic back pain? What types of exercises do you do? What exercises are best?

A recent study of 240 adults with low back pain of at least 3 months were studied. Three types of exercise groups were created.
1. General Exercise – strengthening, stretching and cardiovascular exercises
2. Motor Control Exercise – exercises aimed at improving the function of specific trunk muscles involved in spine movement – diaphragm, transverses abdominis and pelvic floor muscles
3. Spinal Manipulative Therapy – joint mobilization or manipulation techniques applied to the spine or pelvis

After 8 weeks the motor control group and the spinal manipulative therapy group improved slightly more than the general exercise group. At 6 and 12 months however all groups were equal.

So no matter what exercise you choose to use, continue your exercise plan for long term help.