WHO Air travelers should exercise legs
Fri, 29 Jun 2007 03:08:01 GMTBy FRANK JORDANS, Associated Press Writer
GENEVA - The World Health Organization recommended Friday that passengers on long flights exercise their legs and resist taking sleeping pills to reduce the risk of potentially fatal blood clots.
Although the danger of developing deep vein thrombosis — normally in the form of a blood clot in the calves — is small, it increases if people are immobile for long periods in cramped conditions, the U.N. agency said in a report. Some people are also predisposed to the condition for genetic or lifestyle reasons.
WHO based its recommendations on research done by scientists in Britain, Switzerland and the Netherlands after the death in 2000 of a British woman after a long flight from Australia.
Emma Christofferson, 28, died from a pulmonary embolism, which occurs when a blood clot in the extremities breaks away and travels to the lungs. The condition can be treated if detected in time.
WHO said studies showed the risk of developing blood clots during any form of travel longer than four hours was 1 in 6,000 among the general population. That would translate into one case for every 15 fully booked jumbo jets.
"The risk to an individual stepping on a plane is tiny," Patrick Kesteven, a British doctor involved in the 24-page report, told The Associated Press.
"The problem is, vast numbers of people step on planes, and so it's a tiny risk multiplied by a huge denominator, so that in terms of a public health issue it's a highly significant problem," he said.
The Geneva-based International Air Transport Association said some 2.2 billion journeys are made by plane every year, though it was unable to say how many are long-haul.
Association spokesman Anthony Council said many airlines inform passengers of the risk of blood clots. "The advice that we give to passengers is that if you're in one of those at-risk groups you should speak to your physician before traveling," he told the AP.
Shanthi Mendis, a WHO expert on the issue, said the risks vary depending on a person's condition and how they behave, but added that the most important factor was immobility.
By getting up for a short walk, or doing exercises to contract the calf muscles every hour, passengers can greatly reduce the risk of blood clots, she said.
People also should not take sedatives or drink large amounts of alcohol because that would make them more likely to be immobile for long periods of time.
Other factors that can affect a person's chances of developing blood clots are obesity, genetic conditions, age, use of oral contraceptives, and being shorter than 5-foot-4 or taller than 6-foot-4. The theory is that short people are less mobile because their feet dangle and taller people because they are more cramped.
Mendis said research was needed to determine the precise impact of these risk factors, but one study had shown that women who take birth control pills are 10 times more likely to develop blood clots during long-distance travel than the average person.
WHO said that while the danger of blood clots is the same whether people travel long-distance by train, car or plane, those in high-risk groups were more likely to develop clots on flights.
"For people with high risk, some other factor in aircraft travel may be playing a role," Mendis said, adding more research was need to determine the reason.
Symptoms of blood clots include pain or cramps in the calves, and swelling of the leg, Mendis said.
Blood clots, which also occur during surgery, are diagnosed with an ultrasound scan and can be treated with blood thinning drugs to prevent it from moving to the lungs, heart or brain.
Businesses help workers to lose weight
Fri, 29 Jun 2007 09:22:00 GMTBy ASHLEY M. HEHER, AP Business Writer
CHICAGO - A burgeoning industry of wellness advisers, counselors and consultants is booming as corporate America tries to increase productivity and control insurance costs by helping its employees get healthy and shed pounds.
The change is fueled by well-meaning, cost-conscious executives who are looking for ways to trim bottom lines along with waist lines.
"The truth is CEOs are the ones that have to address it," said Mike Huckabee, the Republican presidential candidate and former governor of Arkansas who created a wellness program for state employees after losing more 100 pounds.
And they are.
About 53 percent of large employers offered health risk assessments for their staff last year — up from 35 percent in 2004, according to a survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
The prevalence of corporate-sponsored disease management, nurse advice lines and other health-related programs is also climbing as companies find they can no longer trim extra savings out of health insurance policies.
"Employers have spent a lot of time tweaking those, and they haven't spent a lot of time getting a consumer engaged," said Tami Collin, a Mercer consultant who focuses on health and productivity management. "You'll see plan designs that are really starting to get engaged and motivated."
The change is driven by cost.
A study published in April by a group of Duke University researchers showed obese employees had higher rates of workers' compensation claims, more lost work days and costlier medical bills than their trim co-workers.
Frustrated by health insurance costs that were growing more than 10 percent a year, Ohio State University launched a massive wellness program last year with the hope of cutting medical expenses. Organizers hope the initiative, which offers gift certificates and other prizes, will help the school save $30 million over the next five years, program spokeswoman Kim Schuette said.
While wellness programs once offered counseling or education to only the sickest workers, they're now preaching prevention and more cohesive services that address a range of issues.
"Educating me is one thing. Giving me something that will help me move forward is another," said Kenneth Mitchell, vice president for health and productivity at Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Unum Group, the nation's largest disability insurer. "There's a trend to become more actively engaged and more focused in helping people."
That's fueling the rapid growth of the niche industry of wellness advisers who provide everything from corporate gyms to medical risk screenings at work and healthy grocery lists that can be downloaded on an iPod.
At a workplace weight management conference in Chicago on Thursday, nearly 100 people — including Huckabee — debated the most effective ways to promote healthy living for employees, while helping them maintain their new lifestyle.
"What we don't have in the weight control business now is a program of maintenance," said Rebecca Reeves, an obesity researcher and associated professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. "There's recidivism, and it does return."
As the field grows, businesses looking for help can find a dizzying array of methods to help employees, and very little research to back up which provide the best method.
CALL ME: Developed years ago, the tried-and-true method of telephone counseling and educational brochures continues to be an effective way to help workers manage health care. Got a question about your blood pressure? Dial a nurse. Trying to keep your diabetes in check? Counselors will call you. These companies can get permission to mine insurance claims data and do everything from remind you to take your medicine to offer over-the-phone counseling.
FEEL THE BURN: On-site gyms and fitness centers can be more than an 80s-era stationary bike stashed in a corner. Wellness companies today will design, build and manage a corporate gym. Personal trainers take note of medical histories while classes help the out-of-shape get active. Plus, the gyms can be a recruitment tool for wooing potential employees.
"Just having a facility shows the employees that the company cares about their well-being," said Brenda Loube, president of Montgomery Village, Md.-based Corporate Fitness Works Inc., which operates such facilities for dozens of companies across the country.
SAY 'AHHHH': Health risk assessments do just that: study employees' medical status to find out if they're at risk for chronic conditions. Corporations usually provide prizes and sometimes even cash to employees who undergo diagnostics and commit to getting healthy. The screenings can include cholesterol checks, blood pressure screenings and weigh-ins. More detailed versions can include bone density checks and skin cancer screenings.
"Everyone now agrees that today's lower- and moderate-risk person is going to be tomorrow's higher-risk person," said Andrea Lazar, president and chief executive of Phoenix-based Kronos Optimal Health Co. "So much of health care costs are determined by the lifestyle choices we make."
DIGITAL DISHES: Wellness companies offer mountains of information on their Web sites, from quizzes and tips to online coaching and counseling. Some even go as far as to offer customized exercise plans and recipes, along with grocery lists that can be downloaded on an iPod for easy reference.
"Some people will read the program, and change their lifestyle, some will come back on a daily basis," said Ted Dacko, chief executive of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based HealthMedia Inc., which provides services such as online counseling for more than 30 million people. "We're trying to fundamentally deal with the issues that'll change your behavior."
Beijing bans 10 types of drugs
Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:35:33 GMTBy CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer
SHANGHAI, China - China's capital banned ten types of drugs for exaggerated effectiveness, a newspaper reported Friday, amid rising concerns of fake and tainted products in China's food and drug supply chains.
While the drugs were genuine, the results they claimed to produce in fighting high blood pressure, diabetes, and other ailments couldn't be supported in clinical testing, the Beijing News reported.
Stores in the city have been told to stop selling them and media outlets that carried their advertising were told to print retractions, the paper said. The orders were the first application of a new law on drug advertising, it said.
The announcement came a day after the United States banned farmed seafood from China, adding to a growing list of tainted and defective Chinese products that could pose health risks.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said repeated testing had turned up contamination with drugs not approved in the U.S. for use in farmed seafood, although officials said there have been no reports of illnesses.
Reached Friday by telephone, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Wang Xinpei said he was still looking into the ban and had no immediate comment.
On Thursday, Wang told reporters at a news conference that Chinese exports were safe, in a rare direct commentary on rising international fears over Chinese products.
Following the ban's announcement, China's embassy in the United States issued a statement saying the government has a "strict supervision regime," but also attached "great importance to opinions and feedback from importing countries and regions," according to the Wall Street Journal.
The statement called also for joint measures on aquatic food safety with China's main food safety regulator, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
"When food safety is concerned, the Chinese quality supervision and quarantine agency has always adopted a serious, responsible and cooperative attitude," the statement said.
The FDA said sampling of Chinese imported fish between October and May repeatedly found traces of the antibiotics nitrofuran and fluoroquinolone, as well as the antifungals malachite green and gentian violet. The FDA will allow individual shipments of the five seafood species into the country if a company can show the products are free of residues of these drugs.
Beyond the fish, federal regulators have recently warned consumers about lead paint in toy trains, defective tires, and toothpaste made with diethylene glycol, a toxic ingredient more commonly found in antifreeze. All the products were imported from China.
The safety scandals have put at risk surging Chinese agricultural exports to the United States, which reached $2.26 billion last year, led by poultry products, sausage casings, shellfish, spices and apple juice.
They also raise the possibility of retaliation against U.S. food exports to China. Earlier this week, the government said it had seized shipments of U.S.-made orange pulp and dried apricots containing high levels of bacteria and preservatives.
Fears that China's chronic food safety problems were going global surfaced earlier this year with the deaths of dogs and cats in North America blamed on Chinese wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine.
Since then, Beijing has striven to appear active in cleaning up problem areas. Earlier this week, inspectors announced they had closed 180 food factories in China in the first half of this year and seized tons of candy, pickles, crackers and seafood tainted with formaldehyde, illegal dyes and industrial wax.
