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A telemedicine trial, undertaken by Cisco, has proven a success after almost 100 percent of responses suggested the technology used was acceptable, according to Cisco Systems, a U.S.-based multi-national corporation.

Cisco, NHS Scotland and the Scottish Centre for Telehealth teamed up to run the trial at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in early 2008. The trial tested the performance of Cisco’s TelePresence and HealthPresence solutions in supporting medical staff’s treatment of patients with non-life threatening illnesses.

HealthPresence provides a more efficient way for doctors to assess patients’ symptoms using physiological data obtained through stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs and thermometers. Over the five months, 105 patients were treated. Ninety-nine percent of the patients said they were satisfied with the experience.

Source:HealthCare IT News

How Mobile Devices Benefit Healthcare

• Cell phone, smart phone, and other mDevice users can store their personal health information safely and securely on their phone in order to share it with authorized healthcare professionals when healthcare services are needed.
• Specific mDevice software can provide preferred and easy communication between healthcare providers, patients, payers, pharmacists, and others, facilitating medication reminders for patients, appointment scheduling, easy emergency calling, and other functions.
• mDevices can serve as the platform for consumer health-related software such as wellness-related programs and disease management programs. A wealth of functions related to diseases ranging from asthma to diabetes, from smoking cessation to general pediatric applications, are currently being developed and tested.
• mDevices offer clinicians and patients quick access to health information for clinicians and patients. Patients can look up information about medication or symptoms of their health status. Imagine a patient looking up a specific medication after it has been prescribed at a clinic visit, noting it interacts with another of their medications that they failed to mention during their visit and alerting the clinic physician – also via the cell phone – before having the prescription filled. Clinicians, on the other hand, can access protocols at the point of care and/or other professional information that is available on the Internet while with a patient or away from their desk.
• mDevices can be very efficient tools for medical research, offering the power of the Internet and enabling patient data to be transmitted easily and instantaneously to authorized, pre-programmed research centers.

More about mhealth initiative…

Cell phones are now a common part of our everyday lives. But not only is the technology taken for granted, its wide-reaching potential is largely unrecognized. The technology that is found in cell phones and PDAs is currently being applied to improve health services in developing countries.

The United Nations Foundation (UNF) and Vodafone Foundation (VF) Technology Partnership is using mobile health (mHealth) technology to support UN programs in developing countries. Innovative mHealth projects are powering the collection of health data, supporting diagnosis and treatment, and advancing education and research in even the most remote and poverty stricken environments.

In health care, time is of the essence. With mobile technology, data can be quickly and accurately collected, allowing health workers to coordinate their efforts and track the success of health campaigns. This technology can also be used in disaster and outbreak response, to track the spread of an epidemic in real time. With the most up-to-date, easily accessible information and communications, mHealth is revolutionizing healthcare delivery in much of the developing world.

From MediaGlobal

Innovation: Is the future of healthcare online?

For practical reasons, health workers are often unable to talk to home-based patients with chronic conditions on a daily basis – but they could keep an eye on an online medical record that is automatically updated whenever the patient measures their own blood pressure, checks their weight, or takes their medication. Such technology could help medical workers ensure remote patients are healthy, and detect any problems at an early stage before they become serious.

The move beyond traditional telehealth – remote contact with a patient through phone calls or video conferencing – is being encouraged by the Continua Health Alliance, a non-profit open industry group. The alliance boasts some powerful players in both the technology and medical arenas, including IBM, Intel, Google, Kaiser Permanente and the UK’s National Health Service.

From:New Scientist

10-year risk of cardiovascular events:¹

• Diabetes.
• Previous personal history of CHD or non-coronary atherosclerosis (e.g., abdominal aortic aneurysm, peripheral artery disease, carotid artery stenosis).
• A family history of cardiovascular disease before age 50 in male relatives or age 60 in female relatives.
• Tobacco use.
• Hypertension.
• Obesity (BMI >30).

Cardiovascular disease, including coronary heart disease, accounts for nearly half of all deaths in the United States. Over the past 50 years, there has been a long-term downward trend in cardiovascular mortality associated with improved risk factor management and access to early detection and new treatments. The 2002 age-adjusted death rate for heart disease was 59% lower than the rate in 1950.²

The lifetime risk of having a coronary heart disease event, calculated at age 40, is estimated to be 49% for men and 32% for women in the United States; nearly one third of coronary heart disease events are attributable to total cholesterol levels above 200 mg/dL. Consistent, good-quality evidence from long-term prospective studies has shown that high levels of total cholesterol and LDL-C and low levels of HDL-C are important risk factors for coronary heart disease. The risk for coronary heart disease events and mortality increases with increasing levels of total cholesterol and LDL-C and declining levels of HDL-C, in a continuous and graded fashion, with no clear threshold. Coronary heart disease mortality is associated with several risk factors, including dyslipidemia, high blood pressure, tobacco use, diabetes, a family history of premature coronary heart disease, older age, male gender, and diet; other risk factors for coronary heart disease include socioeconomic status, obesity, and physical inactivity. Consideration of lipid levels along with other risk factors allows for an accurate estimation of coronary heart disease risk.³

References:

1.Wilson PW, D’Agostino RB, Levy D, Belanger AM, Silbershatz H, Kannel WB. Prediction of coronary heart disease using risk factor categories. Circulation 1998;97:1837-1847.

2. National Center for Health Statistics, US, 2004 with Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans. Hyattsville, Maryland, 2004.

3. Helfand M, Carson S.  Screening for lipid disorders in adults: Selective update of 2001 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force review.  Prepared for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; by the Oregon Evidence-based Practice Center at the Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, under Contract Number 290-02-0024. April 2008.  Evidence Synthesis No. 49. AHRQ Publication No. 08-05114-EF-1. Available at http://www.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/prevent/pdfser/lipides.pdf.

Is screening effective  for disease

Screening for and identifying lipid disorders in adults do not appear to have important psychological sequelae or produce important changes in indices of mental health. The research to date has not been sufficient, however, to rule out important changes in small subsets of patients or to detect subtle changes in anxiety.

ref;

Screening for Lipid Disorders in Adults;Recommendation Statement

Date: June 2008

A healthy lifestyle goes a long way to reduce the risk of contracting cardiac problems. It is important that you consume organic diet comprising vegetables and fruits. This together with exercises would help you to stay fit and healthy. Your cholesterol levels and blood pressure too would be under check. Though many people are genetically inclined towards heart diseases, with certain adjustments in lifestyle habits it can be avoided to a large extent.

Two of the most dangerous contributors to heart diseases are obesity and smoking. Both of these are known to increase blood pressure to high levels thereby exerting enormous strain on the heart. Smoking leads to the building up of fatty deposits in the arteries leading to circulation problems that affects the heart. Having excess weight also implies that you are not following a healthy diet and are missing out on important vitamins and mineral that are essential for the proper functioning of the heart. Quitting smoking as well as other unhealthy practices such as drinking is very helpful towards lowering the risk of contracting heart diseases.

If you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle,then pull out your running shoes and run for a cause-New York City Half-Marathon on August 16th 2009 while also helping Fresh Air Fund children.

visit their website for more information-

The agency issued a report on sodium intake in April 2007, which found that most people in all age groups were overdoing it when it comes to salt.

In July 2009, a report released by World Action on Salt — a British-based group established in 2005 to help gradually reduce global salt intake — found that sodium levels in a selection of processed and fast foods tended to be higher in Canada than in other countries.

Sodium levels in selected products

per 100 g servingKellogg’s Bran Flakes

• Canada: 861 mg
• United States: 258 mg

Burger King onion rings

• Canada: 681 mg
• UK: 159 mg

KFC popcorn chicken

• Canada: 908 mg
• Malaysia: 560 mg

Source: World Action on Salt and Health

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Half of all heart attacks in the U.S. occur in people with normal cholesterol levels. Baffled? So were doctors, until November. That’s when Dr. Paul Ridker at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital confirmed a separate, perhaps equally powerful, risk factor for heart disease: inflammation, the same culprit behind arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. Smaller studies had hinted at the link in the past, but Ridker’s recent research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that when people with normal cholesterol and high levels of CRP — a protein marker for inflammation in the blood — took statins, their CRP levels plummeted and their heart attack risk fell 54%. Compare that to the 20% reduced risk in people who take statins to lower cholesterol alone. Doctors say cholesterol and fatty plaques are still the main indicators of heart disease, but inflammation may be just as important, playing a key role as a trigger: It increases the instability of plaques, making them more likely to rupture, block heart vessels and cause a heart attack.