After a cancer diagnosis, patients and their doctors work together to develop a plan to find the best treatments to eradicate their disease. But there is often another life-threatening health issue developing throughout the course of treatment. Cancer therapies such as chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy each cause unique and serious damage to the heart. As… Continue reading Cancer Care and Heart Disease
Tag: patients
Some Seniors Skip Health Care Because of Cost
Many patients and caregivers think it’s hard to get information on health-care costs from their doctor, although cost is an important element in health-care decisions, according to new research. The nonprofit organization FAIR Health, which aims to bring greater transparency to health care costs, conducted two separate surveys: one with older adults aged 65 and… Continue reading Some Seniors Skip Health Care Because of Cost
Pre-Recorded Messages Can Help Heart Patients
Patients hospitalized with heart failure can reduce their odds of requiring re-hospitalization, a heart transplant or death by repeatedly reviewing recorded audio messages about self-care at home, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2020; “My Recorded On-Demand Audio Discharge Instructions (MyROAD®)” is a re-playable audio card containing information for patients… Continue reading Pre-Recorded Messages Can Help Heart Patients
Treatments for COVID-19
Patients today have more treatment options in the battle against coronavirus disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved one drug treatment for COVID-19 and has authorized others for emergency use during this public health emergency. In addition, many more therapies are being tested in clinical trials to evaluate whether they are safe… Continue reading Treatments for COVID-19
Doctors’ Attitude toward A Treatment May Influence Patients’ Reaction to It
When you take medicine, your expectation about how well it will work can affect how much relief you get from your symptoms. This is called the placebo effect. It can even make a treatment that has no biological effect feel like it works because you think it will. And a health care provider’s style interacting… Continue reading Doctors’ Attitude toward A Treatment May Influence Patients’ Reaction to It
Are You Taking Your Medicine?
Researchers from Johns Hopkins are at work on a program that physicians can use to identify “nonadherent” patients – those who are not fully complying with their doctor’s orders. Nonadherence costs the health care system billions of dollars per year. The study appeared in the December issue of Pediatric Nephrology. It was conducted in a… Continue reading Are You Taking Your Medicine?
A Public Policy and Increased Patient Deaths
A policy that was supposed to reduce hospital readmissions via financial penalties was linked to a significant increase in post-discharge death for patients who had heart failure and pneumonia, according to a large-scale study. The investigation was conducted by researchers in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s (BIDMC) Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology. It… Continue reading A Public Policy and Increased Patient Deaths
Public Service Screening Messages Don’t Tell the Whole Story About An Illness
The public service messages we see about getting screened for illness are very effective – maybe too much so for some people. A new study found that 29 percent of veterans who underwent recommended screening colonoscopies were uncomfortable with the idea of stopping these screenings even when the benefit was expected to be low for… Continue reading Public Service Screening Messages Don’t Tell the Whole Story About An Illness
Patients Want to Know More About The Medicines They’re Taking
Many patients want more information on the medicines they’re prescribed and are concerned about long-term side effects, according to a new study. The research, from the University of Kent, in the UK, is the first major study of the burden of long-term medicine use. Professor Janet Krska and two other researchers at the university’s Medway… Continue reading Patients Want to Know More About The Medicines They’re Taking
How Healthcare Providers Can Keep Patients Safe from The Flu
The summer months are coming to end, school is beginning… which means the flu season is looming and providers must find better tactics to help prevent its spread. While it may feel strange to talk about the flu while it is still warm in much of the country, this is the most important time of… Continue reading How Healthcare Providers Can Keep Patients Safe from The Flu
Telemedicine Increases Life Expectancy for Some Heart Patients
Telemedicine management of heart-failure patients reduces hospitalizations, prolongs life and works equally well in rural and urban settings, European investigators say. Results from the study by researchers at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin were published in the journal The Lancet. As part of a research and development project entitled “Health Region of the Future North Brandenburg… Continue reading Telemedicine Increases Life Expectancy for Some Heart Patients
When Doctors Get “Nudged,” Lifesaving Prescription Rates Go Up
Doctors who were “nudged” by an online patient dashboard to think about prescribing lifesaving statins tripled their prescription rates, according to a clinical trial led by Penn Medicine researchers. Cholesterol-lowering statins such as atorvastatin and simvastatin are known to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and associated deaths, and are relatively inexpensive with minor side effects. Yet… Continue reading When Doctors Get “Nudged,” Lifesaving Prescription Rates Go Up
Long-Term Survival Worse for Black Survivors of In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
Blacks who survive cardiac arrest during hospitalization have lower odds of long-term survival compared with similar white survivors, according to new research in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation. Half the difference in one-year survival rates, however, remained unexplained. Nearly one-third of the racial difference in one-year survival was dependent on measured patient factors. Only… Continue reading Long-Term Survival Worse for Black Survivors of In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
Cash and Goal Setting Help Motivate Heart Patients to Take Healthy Steps
The thought of losing up to $14 a week along with personalized goal setting may have motivated ischemic heart disease patients to increase their exercise, according to a new clinical trial published in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. Ischemic heart disease is the… Continue reading Cash and Goal Setting Help Motivate Heart Patients to Take Healthy Steps
Widely Used Catheter Device May Harm Some Patients
A widely used intravenous device may in fact be harming some patients, a study shows. The study, by researchers from the University of Michigan, examines the risk of a tiny device called a PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter). In just a decade, the university said in a news release, the PICC has become the “go-to… Continue reading Widely Used Catheter Device May Harm Some Patients
Patients and Doctors Don’t See Post-Surgical Scars The Same Way
When it comes to post-surgical scarring, patients and doctors sometimes don’t see eye to eye. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found patients and physicians disagreed in their scar evaluations 28 percent of the time. Patients were likelier to focus on the depth of the scar, according to a… Continue reading Patients and Doctors Don’t See Post-Surgical Scars The Same Way
Brain-Scan-Guided Emergency Stroke Treatment Can Save More Lives
Researchers say that advances in brain imaging can now identify a greater number of stroke patients who can receive therapy later than previously believed. The results of the Endovascular Therapy Following Imaging Evaluation for the Ischemic Stroke (DEFUSE 3) trial were presented at the International Stroke Conference 2018 in Los Angeles and published on Jan.… Continue reading Brain-Scan-Guided Emergency Stroke Treatment Can Save More Lives
A Computer App for Heart Patients
Researchers have developed an app that helps improve heart failure patients’ quality of life and longevity, according to a clinical study. The new app, which monitors heart failure patients’ medical tests and health status and promptly notifies clinicians, was developed by a multidisciplinary team of Intermountain Healthcare medical informatics specialists, home health experts, and clinicians… Continue reading A Computer App for Heart Patients