Health Coaching would have alerted you sooner to FDA finding on Plavix and acid drugs

FROM Heartwire: Cardiologists Shocked by New FDA Alert on Clopidogrel-PPI Interaction
I am shocked that cardiologists are shocked because all they had to do was to take just a little time to review the literature and do a drug interaction profile.  Had they done this, something that takes about 5 minutes, they would have been able to know that the acid blocking drugs interfere with the P450 detox pathway and also proetin digestion.  Additionally they could have learned about the nutrient depletions and related problems from both of these drugs.  Not to overlook the risk of silent bleeding as well,..

Are things so bad that this is the level of health care we are getting because Big PhARMA and Big Insurance is behind obstruction of health reform?

Previously posted articles, related issues -
Resolve Acid Reflux with Care, Naturally
Natural Blood Thinning

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Recently, Dr. Mehmet Oz told Larry King on CNN about how health coaches can solve America's health crisis. Even five years ago it would have been hard to imagine that prevention and wellness would be considered in the mainstream.

CHI has been offering health coaching for several decades in a very unique way that has led us to the place where we seeking a patent.

If you were learning about natural health approaches to health problem you might not be at risk for this drug interaction problem and you'd be saving a lot of money at the same time.

If you are looking for in depth information about your prescription drugs and what you can safely use in their place you might wish to use our services. We have many patients who use this service and get the information they need to protect their health and learn how to advocate for their own health as well as how to ask the right questions when they see their health care provider.
 
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FDA says heartburn drugs can interfere with Plavix


By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Business Writer Matthew Perrone

WASHINGTON – Federal health officials said Tuesday a popular variety of heartburn medications can interfere with the blood thinner Plavix, a drug taken by millions of Americans to reduce risks of heart attack and stroke.

The Food and Drug Administration said the stomach-soothing drugs Prilosec (20 mg average price $132/mo) and Nexium (20 mg average price $211/mo) cut in half the blood-thinning effect of Plavix (75 mg average price $211/mo), known generically as clopidogrel.

Regulators said the key ingredient in the heartburn medications blocks an enzyme the body needs to break down Plavix, muting the drug's full effect. Procter & Gamble's Prilosec is the over-the-counter version of AstraZeneca's Nexium, which was first approved in 2001.

"Patients at risk for heart attacks or strokes who use clopidogrel to prevent blood clots will not get the full effect of this medicine," the agency said in a statement.

Plavix is marketed by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb. With global sales of $8.6 billion last year, it's the world's second-best selling drug behind Pfizer's cholesterol drug Lipitor.

Because Plavix can upset the stomach, it is often prescribed with stomach acid-blocking drugs.

The FDA says patients who need to reduce their acid should take drugs from the H-2 blocker family, which include Johnson & Johnson's Mylanta and Boehringer Ingelheim's Zantac. FDA scientists say there is no evidence those drugs interfere with Plavix's blood clotting.

Nexium and Prilosec are part of a class of drugs known as proton pump inhibitors, but FDA regulators said they don't have enough information to say whether other drugs in that class shouldn't be used with Plavix.

"There's not enough data to tell us how those drugs interact with," the enzyme that activates Plavix, said Mary Ross Southworth, FDA's deputy director for safety of cardiovascular products. "There are ongoing studies looking at those other drugs."

The FDA said the warnings on Plavix have been strengthened based on a 150-patient study submitted by Sanofi over the summer.

Information about the drug interaction between Plavix and certain heartburn medications is not new. Researchers reported last year that taking Plavix with Nexium significantly increased patients' chances of being hospitalized for a heart attack, stroke or chest pain.

In January, Sanofi and Bristol-Myers updated Plavix's labeling to advise against using it in combination with certain heartburn drugs.

A Sanofi spokeswoman said Tuesday that the company has bolstered that language labeling.

"We've strengthened the label to say that these drugs should be avoided altogether, not just discouraged," said Noelle Boyd, Sanofi's senior communications director.

http://www.leaflady.org/Drugs.htm

Huge Buzz Over Burn The Fat Holiday Challenge

A few days ago, fat loss author/expert Tom Venuto issued a bold challenge to hundreds of thousands of people...

Basically, he "called them out," (but in a motivating sort of way, that is).

Tom was making an announcement about a new type of fitness transformation challenge contest that will run - get this - through ALL the holidays:

Thankgiving (US), Christmas and New Years.

He actually suggested that now is the BEST time to transform your body and that procrastinating until New Year's is a pointless waste of time. If you wanted a better body, why wait, right?

He also said that he thinks its downright "neurotic" to believe that you can't get leaner AND enjoy holiday food at the same time.

According to Tom, that is a catastrophic form of "EITHER / OR THINKING" which leads many people to procrastination or self-sabotage.

You can read more of Tom's "call to action" here:

http://bit.ly/4qnFFz

To say there was a "response" would be an understatement... Tom's blog had something like 500 comments on it when he first issued this challenge and he hasn't even opened the contest registration yet.

He also hasn't released the prize package list yet, but rumor has it, he is sending the overall winners somewhere tropical... a warm place to show off a hot new body in the
dead of winter! Nice.

But if it wasn't the prizes, what created all the buzz, then?

Well, Tom simply asked two questions in his challenge announcement:

(1) "Are you concerned about dealing with holiday food and drink temptations that might lead you to become one of the "holiday fat gain" statistics?"

(2) "If so.... DO YOU ACCEPT MY CHALLENGE TO GET IN BETTER SHAPE OVER THE HOLIDAYS?"

hundreds upon hundreds of people raised their hands and said, "YES, I accept the challenge!"

It became clear that what people need more than "another diet program" is MOTIVATION....  INSPIRATION... and a REASON WHY to get up, move, and change the things
that need improving.

By providing a goal (a contest), a source of motivation (prizes and recognition), accountability (A forum with THOUSANDS of like-minded fitness enthusiasts to help you along) and expert advice (a place with coaching and education resources), THAT combination was the trigger that had so many people say YES to this challenge.

Maybe, if you too say "YES, I accept your challenge," a fitness competition during the holidays could be an event that not only keeps you from gaining fat from the season's indulgences, but could inspire and motivate you to achieve your best shape of the year, or even the best shape of your life.

I can tell you this: I've heard it myself from a lot of people; it's reward enough to get through the "holidaze" in better shape than you began them; winning would just be the icing on the cake.

I agree. And I believe you CAN do it NOW - DURING the holidays - while enjoying the food and festivities (with balance and moderation), and you will NOT be one of the  procrastinators who say, "I'll start after New Year's day."

Tom's Burn The Fat Inner Circle Will be "CONTEST CENTRAL"

===>  http://bit.ly/Yl1Bf

He just opened up a new challenge forum where ALL contestants and members will converge to post their before/after results, post their journals and all support each other towards an incredible "50-DAY-BURN!"

If you want to be a part of online fitness history and become a contestant in the first-ever 50 Day Burn The Fat Holiday Challenge, you will be instantly eligible for the contest and get access to the challenge forum when you join the inner circle:

===>  http://bit.ly/Yl1Bf

Another way to get started: Read (or Re-Read) Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle.

If you don't have this ebook yet, this is the classic manual that many people call the "bible of fat loss" - it's a virtual roadmap for how to eat, train and get motivated to win a transformation contest or, simply get yourself in the best shape of your life

Get Burn The Fat =====>  http://burnthefat.rxsportz.com

Anyone who already owns Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is automatically eligible to enter the contest, with no other purchase required.

Registration for the contest will open at the Burn The Fat Inner Circle on Thursday, November 19th. There may be some restrictions and the contest is void where prohibited
by state or country law.

More details are coming soon.

you can read Tom's Holiday Fitness Challenge call to arms, and get on the notification list about the contest prizes, rules and instructions by visiting this page:

http://bit.ly/4qnFFz

To your best body transformation, while enjoying the Food and festivities of the holidays at the same time!

Fluoridation a top cause of infant death

Fluoridation causes more premature births, one of the top causes of infant death in the USA. It poses the greatest risk to poor non-white mothers and babies. This is the finding State University of New York researchers from data spanning 1993 to 2002.

Research in Chile in the 1970s also showed fluoridation caused an increase in infant death rates. Chile stopped fluoridation as a result.

A baby born at least 3 weeks early is classified as premature - accounting for about 12 percent of US births.

To ensure fluoridation was the culprit, and not some other factor, the researchers recorded fluoridation residence status (under or over 1 ppm) and adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, neighborhood poverty level, hypertension and diabetes.

The data came from the NY Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System, which collects comprehensive information on patient characteristics and treatment history. The research was conducted within the university's Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health.

"For the Ministry of Health to continue promoting fluoridation when there is this kind of evidence that it is real health risk is inexcusable" says Mark Atkin, Fluoride Action Network (NZ)'s co-representative on the Fluoridation-free NZ Coalition, adding "Only a few months ago we had further confirmation that fluoridation increases teenage male bone cancer rates. As has been said before, those who continue to promote fluoridation do so at the risk of future legal action against them."

http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/fluoridation-increases-infant-death-rates/5/30387

Electronic Health Records, Your Data At Risk

I started posting articles about electronic health and medical records in 2006 on Natural Health News.  I am not in favour of this push in the arena of cost savings in the US health system.  To date little has been shown to indicate any effective improvment in healthcare delivery or cost savings, yet most of the stimulus investment is for hardware and unproven, SAFE, software.

I discussed this issue in an interview with Dr. Katherine Albrecht back in February.

Once again we hear about electronic health records in a New York Times article -

The nation is set to begin an ambitious program, backed by $19 billion in government incentives, to accelerate the adoption of computerized patient records in doctors’ offices and hospitals, replacing ink and paper. There is wide agreement that the conversion will bring better care and lower costs, saving the American health care system up to $100 billion a year by some estimates.

But a new study comparing 3,000 hospitals at various stages in the adoption of computerized health records has found little difference in the cost and quality of care.

“The way electronic medical records are used now has not yet had a real impact on the quality or cost of health care,” said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, who led the research project.

The research is to be presented on Monday at a conference in Boston. It is a follow-on study to a survey of hospitals’ adoption of electronic health records, published this year and financed by the federal government and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Dr. Karen Bell, a former senior official in the Department of Health and Human Services and an expert in health technology, said she was not surprised by the research. “Very few hospitals today are effectively using the capabilities of electronic health records,” she observed...

And from Susan Heavey at Reuters -

WASHINGTON (Reuters) Nov 20 - New electronic record systems installed in thousands of U.S. hospitals have done little to rein in skyrocketing healthcare costs, Harvard University researchers said in a study released on Friday.

A review of roughly 4,000 hospitals from 2003 to 2007 found that while many had moved away from the paper files that still dominate the U.S. healthcare system, administrative costs actually rose, even among the most high-tech institutions.

Advocates of such technology have been pushing for greater use of computerized health records to prevent costly errors and allow greater coordination among caregivers and patients. But adoption has been slow, prompting Congress to offer $19 billion in incentives as part of an economic stimulus bill.

The results, published in The American Journal of Medicine, come as the Senate presses ahead with legislation to expand access to healthcare. While the bill does not provide funds to buy necessary equipment, it does aim to facilitate their use and boost standards.

President Barack Obama has pointed to greater utilization of e-health records to help generate savings at a time when the nation's healthcare costs far outpace inflation.

But lead author Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, and his team found so far the savings are not there.

"Our study finds that hospital computerization hasn't saved a dime, nor has it improved administrative efficiency," said Dr. Himmelstein, who oversees clinical computing at Cambridge Hospital in Massachusetts. "Claims that health IT will slash costs and help pay for the reforms being debated in Congress are wishful thinking."

National government standards for many health IT products are due next month. But even with the passage of the stimulus bill's funds, many experts expect it to take years before most Americans have an electronic health record.

The researchers found administrative costs increased slightly from 24.4% in 2003 to 24.9% in 2007, with facilities that computerized the most quickly seeing the largest jump. Hospitals with the highest costs tended to be smaller, for-profit, non-teaching ones in cities, they added.

Computerized records have yet to prove more efficient "because the commercial marketplace does not favor optimal products," creating programs to focus more on codes and billing than doctors' needs and patient care, they said.

Electronic records did show some improvements in tracking the quality of care delivered in cases of heart attacks, but it was unclear if those measures actually translated into improvements in patients' health, they said.

The researchers analyzed data from the industry's Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, hospital reports on costs incurred through the Medicare insurance program for the elderly and the 2008 Dartmouth Health Atlas, which compiles government health data.

Their study was released by the nonprofit Physicians for a National Health Program, which backs a single-payer U.S. health insurance.

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Headphone risk to pacemakers

PEOPLE with pacemakers know to keep magnets and electronic devices, such as cellphones, away from the implant to avoid interference. But now it seems even the tiny magnets in headphones pose a risk.

It's still safe to use them, says Kevin Fu at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who carried out the study. Just don't keep them in breast pockets.

Fu and colleagues tested eight different headphones by holding them near the implants of 100 people. They found that in nearly a third of cases the magnets interfered with the device (Heart Rhythm, DOI: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2009.07.003).

Headphones containing neodymium were the most problematic, as the magnetic fields generated were very strong for the headphones' size, says Fu.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427346.500-headphone-risk-to-pacemakers.html