New Book: Are Everyday Products From Cosmetics To Household Cleaners Causing The High Rates Of Breast Cancer?
Has the key to reducing breast cancer gotten lost in the race for a cure? A new book, No Family History, presents compelling evidence that exposure to everyday products such as cosmetics and toiletries, hormones in food, household cleaners and pesticides is behind the dramatic increase in breast cancer and argues that the solution is simple: prevention.
Endocrinology
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News From The Annals Of Family Medicine: July/August 2009
Wisconsin Peer-Led Self-Management Training for Chronic Illnesses Not Cost-Effective Findings from a randomized controlled trial of 415 patients with one or more chronic diseases question the cost-effectiveness of peer-led self-management training for improving chronic illness outcomes, despite previous studies suggesting such interventions have potential to enhance self-efficacy. In this study, compared with usual care, a chronic disease self-management program delivered in the home led to significantly higher illness self-management efficacy at six weeks and at six months but not at one year. Neither the in-home program or a similar program delivered by phone had significant effects on the primary outcomes of overall mental and physical health status or on other secondary study outcomes, including health care utilization. These findings do not encourage a systematic implementation of phone- or home-based methods of peer-led self-management. Home-Based, Peer-Led Chronic Illness Self-Management Training: Findings From a 1-Year Randomized Controlled Trial By Anthony Jerant, M.D., et al University of California, Davis Poor Management of Test Results in Family Medicine Offices Given the frequency with which primary care physicians order tests on patients, this study notes a disturbing lack of consistency in test results management among four Ohio family medicine practices studied. Specifically, no office consistently had or adhered to office-wide results management practices, and only two offices had written protocols or procedures. Whereas most patients surveyed acknowledged receiving their test results (87-100 percent), a far smaller proportion of patient charts documented patient notification (58-85 percent), clinician response to the result (47-84 percent), and follow-up for abnormal results (28-55 percent). The authors note that an office"s level of safety awareness and appropriate adoption of technology are important factors in achieving high-quality results management and designing systems that can lead to higher quality care. Management of Test Results in Family Medicine Offices By Nancy C. Elder, M.D., et al University of Cincinnati, Ohio Defining Comorbidity Given the increasing prevalence of patients with multiple co-existing chronic conditions - in the United States about 80 percent of Medicare spending is devoted to patients with four or more chronic conditions - Valderas and colleagues attempt to better define comorbidity and its related constructs. They assert that more precise terminology would lead to improved research in the areas of clinical care, epidemiology and health services planning and financing. Defining Comorbidity: Implications for Understanding Health and Health Services By Jose M. Valderas, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., et al The University of Manchester, United Kingdom Angela Sharma American Academy of Family PhysiciansPages: 1 [2]