I may be cynical but in my opinion rarely does the government do anything sensible and in the order in which it should be done. For instance, Medicare in the past has only covered smoking cessation counselling if the patient had already been diagnosed with a tobacco related disease or already had symptoms of such a disease. Seems a bit backwards to me.

But alas, the Dept. of Health and Human Services has announced that Medicare will now begin covering counselling for smoking for all Medicare patients! They must have done this by mistake but we’ll all hope that they don’t notice. This will be an excellent partner to the fact that Medicare Part D prescription drug plans already cover prescription smoking medications. bjmdjd

Material modifications since posting: none

Medicare · Medicare Part D · smoking cessation

A study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Michigan and published in this months issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism found that there are differences in the pain processing centers of the brain in patients with fibromyalgia when compared to others without the disease.

Researchers performed MRIs of the brain on patients and non patients and found that those suffering from fibromyalgia had more activity and connectivity in regions of the brain that perform pain processing.

Up until about ten years ago many doctors didn’t know what to think about fibromyalgia and many didn’t think that it even existed as a disease process. The feeling was that the pain was secondary to psychological problems that usually accompany the problem. It’s possible that this study will be an important part of the puzzle in understanding this confusing disease. bjmdjd

Material modifications since posting: none

Arthritis and Rheumatism · fibromyalgia · Massachusetts General Hospital · MRI of the brain · Univ. of Michigan

A study conducted at Stanford University School of Medicine and published earlier this month in the online version of the Journal of Clinical Oncology states that men who take various common medications can have a deceptively lower PSA Level when being screened for prostate cancer.

The study stated that men who take statins to lower their cholesterol, non – steroidal anti - inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for pain, and thiazide diuretics for fluid buildup and high blood pressure may have lower PSA levels than men who don’t take these drugs. It was noted that the affects of these drugs on PSA levels are greater the longer the drugs are taken.

The clinical implications of these findings are not known at this time without further study. Does the affect lower the believability of PSA in prostate cancer screening or do these drugs actually decrease the likelihood of developing the disease? No one knows for sure.

If you or someone you know takes these drugs and is being screened for prostate cancer using a PSA level they might want to discuss these results with their doctor. bjmdjd

Material modifications since posting: none

Journal of Clinical Oncology · NSAIDs · PSA · Stanford Univ. School of Medicine · statins · thiazide diuretics

You might feel that you are in pretty decent shape except for that few extra inches around your mid section. However, a study printed in the current issue of Archives of Internal Medicine begs to differ. Waist size in older adults is a mortality risk factor regardless of the all important body mass index (BMI).

The authors concluded that regardless of an older adults weight they should pay close attention to their waist circumference to avoid earlier mortality.

Material modifications since posting: none

Archives of Internal Medicine · body mass index (BMI) · health · waist circumference · wellness

First, let me apologize for the two week break between posts. Frankly I haven’t come across much that I thought you needed to know and I’m determined not to post just for the sake of doing it.

Now to the meat of the matter. It is too early to be giving much thought to the flu vaccine here on the 1st of August. What got me to thinking about it is the fact that the Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday that they had approved which strains will be included in the vaccine for the upcoming flu season. This years vaccine will include the H1N1 strain that everyone had trouble deciding whether to get or not in a separate vaccine last season.

I was planning on listing some great info on the flu vaccine on this post but I found a release by the FDA which you can read by clicking on the following link: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm   bjmdjd

Material modifications since posting: none

flu season · flu vaccine · Food and Drug Administration · H1N1 · health · influenza · wellness