Benefits Archives

CGHS beneficiaries to avail health benefits of traditional medicine systems also

All CGHS beneficiaries—serving as well as pensioners— will now be able to avail the health benefits of alternate traditional systems with the Union Health Ministry approving a proposal to empanel such Centres of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy under the Government health scheme.

“Private Day Care Therapy centers of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy will be empanelled under the CGHS shortly, in a manner similar to empanelment of similar day care centres of conventional (Allopathy) medicine already provided under the CGHS,” said an official from the Ministry.

Initial empanelment of day care therapy centres will be undertaken on pilot basis for Delhi and NCR for a period of one year and subsequently would be considered for other places.

The official said that the step has been taken keeping in view of the growing popularity of AYUSH system of medicines amongst the public at large and all CGHS beneficiaries. The aim of the scheme is to improve the health and wellbeing, reduce health care expenditure and provide excellence in service delivery, efficiency, and comfort to the patients.

The treatment procedure requiring a short duration of stay in the Day Care Therapy Centre, ranging from a few hours to less than a Day will be made available to CGHS beneficiaries under this scheme.

“As the treatment procedure does not require overnight stay in the unfamiliar environment, it is extremely convenient for children and elderly patients,” said the official.

At present treatment of approved procedures like Panchkarma and Abhyanga etc. is given only after hospitalization in CGHS empanelment hospital.

Source Article …

medicine

How to Reap the Benefits of Food as Medicine

Development & Aid, Featured, Food & Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition, Food Sustainability, Global, Headlines, Health, Humanitarian Emergencies, Inequity, TerraViva United Nations

Sorghum is has nutritional and health benefits. Small scale farmer, Catherine Sibanda examines her sorghum crop in field, in Jambezi District, Zimbabwe, March 2015. Credit: Busani Bafana / IPS

BULAWAYO, Dec 2 2020 (IPS) – COVID-19 has magnified global food insecurity and is driving unhealthy eating and worsening malnutrition, food experts say. They have called for deliberate global investment in food as medicine on the back of growing diet-related illnesses.

Famed Greek physician, Hippocrates, foretold the future of food. He is attributed to have said: ‘Let food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food’. COVID-19 has pushed the conversation about food as medicine onto the world agenda as more people are paying attention to their health and increasingly what they eat.

“COVID 19 has exposed American population to infectious diseases, and it has started off the conversation around food is medicine and how we need to reset our food system to create higher quality and more nutrient-dense food,” physician and author, Mark Hyman, told a plenary session at the virtual ‘Resetting the Food System from Farm to Fork’ dialogue co-hosted by the Barilla Centre for Food and Nutrition (BCFN) and Food Tank.

Hyman said a rejigged food system which creates better health for the population was a good strategy for pandemic resistance. He said food as medicine is part of medical care because it works better and faster and cheaper than most drugs and is probably the most effective treatment we have for most chronic illnesses.

“Science is clear that more nutrient density and food quality plays a huge role in human health and the protector foods, foods that protect you against disease and have medicinal properties,” said Hyman. He proposed the eating of more inexpensive, plant-based foods. “We need to rethink farming and introduce more nutrient-dense foods.”

Early this year, the United Nations warned that the pandemic would escalate a global food crisis – the worst in 50 years. The international body said the pandemic would make nutrition beyond the reach of many.

“Our food systems are failing, and the COVID-19 pandemic is making things worse,” UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, warned, proposing three action plan to bolster a failing food system.

Guterres said countries should designate food and nutrition services as essential while implementing protections for those who work in the sector, prioritise food supply chains and strengthen social protection for young children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, older people and other at-risk groups. He also advocated the transformation of food systems for a more inclusive and sustainable world.

More than 820 million people in the world do not have enough to eat even though there is plenty of food to feed everyone. Globally, some 144 million children under five years are stunted as a result of malnutrition.

The UN has warned that nearly 690 million people, or 8.9 percent of the world’s population, were undernourished

medicine

Dr Anthony Loschner Expounds on the Benefits of AI in Pulmonary Medicine

Artificial intelligence (AI) frees up time for clinicians, noted Anthony L. Loschner, MD, assistant professor and associate program director, Critical Care Fellowship Program, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.

Despite limitations to the perception of artificial intelligence (AI), there is value in that it frees up time for clinicians to devote to more meaningful work and clinical activities, noted Anthony L. Loschner, MD, assistant professor and associate program director, Critical Care Fellowship Program, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.

Transcript

Are there limitations to how AI is currently used in pulmonary medicine?

I’m a glass-half-full type of guy, so I think all of it’s good right now. There are some limitations, I think, in the perception of AI—adopting it, because you don’t have to look far into artificial intelligence, not just in medicine, but throughout the industry—and a lot of speculation on how dangerous it could be.

Stephen Hawking said that a concern of his was that AI would develop a conflict with our own interests, and then hence compete with us. And so that’s a scary thing. I think that’s a barrier to get over. Job loss is another one. However, I don’t really see it that way. I see it as a great job aid, where it can offload some of the more data mining and data interpretation to the computer, allowing the clinician to allow time for more meaningful work and clinical activities.

Pulmonary function test [PFT], I think, has a really good future in AI. Pulmonary function testing allows itself for AI because it’s data rich; [there are] many numbers and the pattern recognition within those numbers.

A group in Belgium just published a paper with fantastic, humbling, results really where when a pulmonologist is sure, or absolutely sure, of their interpretation, the quality of their interpretation, they were only about half the time right actually. So when we’re the most confident in our interpretation, about half the time we’re right, and then it sort of diminishes and equals a computer from there.

So that’s awesome, because pulmonary function tests do take time to read; it’s very manual in its interpretation, and this study shows that it can be flawed, deviating from guidelines and just errors. Also, because if there’s a large amount of PFTs to be reviewed, reading fatigue sets in and then mistakes can happen.

Also, public health and occupational health uses for pulmonary function tests wouldn’t require a physician and cost with AI. Huge amounts of PFTs can be interpreted and only the abnormals be reviewed by a physician or refer to a pulmonologist for further review.

Source Article …

medicine

Treating Opioid Addiction in Primary Care Benefits Both Patients and Cash-Strapped Medical Practices

Press release content from PR Newswire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Buprenorphine-based treatment for opioid addiction is in short supply in many areas of the United States. And while many physicians want to offer it, clinics are unsure how to offer buprenorphine therapy in a financially sustainable way. Cost and revenue analysis from a team of Harvard Medical School researchers finds that even cash-strapped primary practices in high-poverty rural and urban communities can offer financially sustainable buprenorphine-based opioid addiction treatment.

The team, led by Sanjay Basu, MD, PhD, a Harvard primary care physician and epidemiologist and Jonathan E. Fried, MD, MPH, an internal medicine resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, interviewed practice managers and identified four common approaches to delivering buprenorphine-based treatment in primary care practices. The approaches differed based on who in the clinic delivered the majority of face-to-face care, the presence of nurse care managers, and whether care was delivered in traditional one-on-one or group settings.

The research team then used microsimulation modeling to identify the cost and financial benefit of delivering buprenorphine-based treatment in a variety of primary care settings, including Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), non-FQHCs in both rural and urban high poverty areas,, and practices outside of high poverty areas. They found that all four approaches to care produced positive net revenue after the first year in a variety of practice settings, and net revenues were consistently highest for rural practices.

Physician-led treatment and shared medical visits, both of which relied on nurse care managers, consistently produced the greatest net revenue gains, generating from $29,000 to $70,000 per full-time physician per year across the practice types.

Additionally, net revenues were positive for all primary care practices that had at least nine patients in buprenorphine treatment per provider at any given time and no-show rates less than 34 percent. The findings suggest that in the current fee-for-service–dominated environment, offering office-based therapy for opioid addiction with buprenorphine can be a financially sustainable choice for cash-strapped primary care practices, despite hurdles.

Financing Buprenorphine Treatment in Primary Care: A Microsimulation Model

Jonathan E. Fried, et al

Center for Primary Care, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/annals-of-family-medicine-treating-opioid-addiction-in-primary-care-benefits-both-patients-and-cash-strapped-medical-practices-301170615.html

SOURCE Annals of Family Medicine

Source Article …

medicine

Integrative Medicine Shows Benefits for Patients With MPNs

A recent survey of patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms found integrative medicine interventions improved symptom burden, fatigue, depression, and improved quality of life.

For patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms, integrative medicine (IM) offers a range of benefits, according to a new study of survey results, which found that the interventions improved symptom burden, fatigue, and depression, and improved quality of life (QoL).

IM approaches, which work to optimize health, QoL, and clinical outcomes, are increasingly being leveraged by both patients with cancer and cancer care providers and organizations, although there is need for more evidence-based data to guide clinical practice, particularly for hematologic malignancies.

“The treatment of MPNs has revolutionized in recent decades with the approval JAK inhibitor therapy and other targeted therapies, leading to improvements in splenomegaly, symptom burden, and even overall survival,” wrote the researchers. “Despite these advancements, the need for IM interventions to address high symptom burden and poor quality of life remain a large unmet need in the MPN patient population.”

The researchers of the current study disseminated a survey of IM among patients with MPN, with more than 800 respondents. Among the respondents, 338 had essential thrombocythemia, 188 had myelofibrosis, 315 had polycythemia vera, and 17 had other/unspecified MPN. IM interventions ranged widely, with the most common interventions including aerobic activity (51.5%), massage (28.4%), yoga (25.6%), nutrition (25.2%), and strength training (23.8%).

Both aerobic activity and strength training lowered MPN-Symptom Assessment Form (SAF) scores (33.3 vs 39.7 and 34.0 vs 37.7, respectively), indicating lower symptom burden, although they were surprisingly associated with a lower QoL. However, the researchers added the caveat that the latter association may be due to those with lower QoL are more likely to try exercise-based wellness strategies like these.

In a similar pattern, massage and support groups led to higher symptoms burden (MPN SAF-TSS mean score 40.5 vs. 35.3 and 42.3 vs. 36.0, respectively) but were associated with a higher QoL, with the researchers noting that highly symptomatic patients may be more likely to try non-pharmacologic symptom management and social support.

Decreased levels of depression were noted among patients participating in aerobic activity and strength training, as well as yoga. Aerobic activity and strength training also reaped benefits for fatigue, with patients participating in the interventions reporting lower levels of fatigue, while patients participating in massage and breathing techniques noted higher levels of fatigue.

According to the researchers, while most patients participated in some form of IM intervention, “80.2% of patients felt their integrative health needs were not heard by their healthcare provider. This underscores the importance of enhancing integrative therapy communication in our health system.”

The finding, they say, indicates “the need for more integrative medicine practitioners and more robust integration of these practitioners and modalities within standard medical care.”

Reference

Gowin K, Langlais B, Kosiorek H, et al. The SIMM study: survey of integrative medicine in myeloproliferative neoplasms. Cancer Med. Published online November 3, 2020. doi: 10.1002/cam4.3566.

Source Article …

fitness

Fitness Keto Pills Reviews – Does This Diet Pills Really Works? Read Benefits, FAQ’s Here & Buy Now!

New York, NY ( TS Newswire ) — 11 Nov 2020

Since long people are finding ways to lose weight naturally and tried their best to lose extra calories of the body quickly, losing weight is a challenging task that requires efforts and determination. If you are the one who is struggling to lose weight, then definitely you have also tried many ways to shed extra pounds. Still, somehow you failed But dont worry, as the advancement of technology, there is also an advancement in clinical technology as people introduced health supplements. Health supplements for weight loss are the most effective way to lose calories. It is the best alternative to fat burners, strict diet or intense workout. As there are several weight loss supplements present in the market, it becomes tough to choose the right for your body type, and that will give you the best results. In that case, we are providing you with the best weight loss supplement, known as Fitness Keto .

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What Is Fitness Keto?

Fitness Keto is a perfect health supplement that promotes the weight loss process. When it is about losing weight, people try many ways, then why not to try this supplement. It is a powerful formula that not only helps in losing weight but also promotes overall well being. The supplement can be consumed quickly and conveniently because it is in capsule form. Fitness Keto capsules are great because it serves many purposes apart from weight loss.

The main benefit of Fitness Keto is it enhances the weight loss process and supports rapid weight loss results because it allows the body to be in a ketosis state. You must be wondering why it is essential for being in ketosis to support weight loss.

The pills focus on ketosis process because it is a key to weight loss, where it allows the body to use stored fat cells as energy. It converts all fat cells into energy which further results in better energy level. And yes, when there is a better energy level, it keeps the person active and energetic for long, which is another reason for an effective weight loss regime. Along with ketosis and better metabolism level, the Fitness Keto helps in controlling the eating habits. Now you can get rid of fat if you are consuming Fitness Keto. It is a great formula that will let you lose more than 10 pounds in a couple of weeks.

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Working of Fitness Keto

Fitness Keto works naturally by forcing the body to reach ketosis state. Reaching the ketosis state is the main working of Fitness Keto. It is a process where the fat is converted into energy. When the bodys fat is used as a fuel, it works more actively and with a high energy level. So instead of touching carbohydrates of the body, the

health

Long-Term Ocrelizumab Benefits Seen in PPMS

Early, continuous treatment with ocrelizumab (Ocrevus) led to sustained slowing of disease progression in primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), long-term data from the ORATORIO extension study suggested.

Most measures of 6-month confirmed disability progression, including Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores, were better in PPMS patients who started treatment early in ORATORIO compared with patients who started with placebo before joining the open-label extension, reported Jerry Wolinsky, MD, of the University of Texas McGovern Medical School in Houston, and co-authors. No new safety signals emerged compared with the double-blind phase of ORATORIO.

“Compared with patients switching from placebo, earlier and continuous ocrelizumab treatment provided sustained benefits on measures of disease progression over the 6.5 study years of follow-up,” the researchers wrote in Lancet Neurology.

“Although this study shows the benefit of earlier intervention with ocrelizumab in primary progressive disease, progression remains an important unmet need in multiple sclerosis,” they noted. “Further research should focus on how the potential benefits described in this study might be improved upon, particularly over longer time periods.”

PPMS is characterized by gradual disability accumulation from disease onset, sometimes with superimposed relapses or MRI lesion activity. Ocrelizumab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, is the only disease-modifying therapy approved to treat PPMS currently. The FDA’s decision was based on ORATORIO results, which showed that treatment with intravenous 600-mg ocrelizumab every 6 months reduced 3-month confirmed worsening of EDSS scores compared with placebo.

“The efficacy of ocrelizumab versus placebo shown in ORATORIO was recapitulated as participants switched from placebo to ocrelizumab upon entering the open-label extension,” noted Deja Rose, MD, and Jeffrey Cohen, MD, both of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, in an accompanying editorial.

But several questions remain, Rose and Cohen pointed out: “Can we extrapolate these results in primary progressive multiple sclerosis to secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (a more common form of progressive multiple sclerosis, which occurs after a relapsing-remitting course)? Are there rare or late adverse events that have not yet been seen?”

“Some studies, but not others, have suggested that the proportion of patients treated with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies is higher among patients with severe COVID-19 outcomes than among the overall population with multiple sclerosis,” they added. “Further research is needed to investigate whether anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies reduce protective immunity after SARS-CoV-2 infection or, when available, vaccination.”

ORATORIO was a double-blind phase III trial of PPMS patients with an EDSS score of 3.0-6.5. Patients who had previous treatment with B cell-targeted therapies or other immunosuppressive medications were excluded.

Participants were randomly assigned to receive either intravenous infusion of 600-mg ocrelizumab (two 300-mg infusions, 14 days apart) or placebo every 24 weeks for at least 120 weeks. After the double-blind phase, patients entered an extended controlled period, followed by an optional open-label extension where they could continue ocrelizumab or switch from placebo to the drug. The last patient entered the open-label extension in April 2016.

Overall, 544 of 732 participants completed the double-blind period, and 527 people entered the open-label extension phase. Time to onset

health

Bilingualism Benefits The Brain, Helps Delay Onset Of Alzheimer’s Disease

KEY POINTS

Bilingualism prompts the brain to work harder
It helps in keeping the brain healthy
Learning a new language is possible even in adulthood

The Alzheimer’s Association revealed that more than five million Americans are currently living with the disease and the number is projected to reach 14 million by 2050. The numbers may be grim, but recent research showed that there is one way to delay its onset, and that is through bilingualism. Learning a new language at any age can greatly help keep the brain healthier.

Dr. Ellen Bialystok, a Canadian psychologist and professor who has the rank of Distinguished Research Professor at York University, Toronto, has made one of the most compelling researches on the relationship between bilingualism and the brain. Bialystok, in a research published in Neurology, titled, “Delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, Bilingualism as a form of cognitive reserve,” revealed that bilinguals often receive a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s about four to five years later than monolinguals.

“The more you use another language, the better you get at it. Well, that’s not surprising, but along with that, the more you use two languages, the more your brain subtly rewires,” Bialystok told CNN

Bialystok noted that in terms of the benefits that the brain gets when it comes to bilingualism, levels of education do not matter at all. She highlighted that one of the most profound results of bilingualism was observed among illiterates or those who did not have any formal education. Speaking two languages was the only real way that their brains receive stimulation, such that the exercise provides protection to their brains as they grow older.

Bilingualism benefits the brain. Photo: jamesoladujoye/Pixabay

Bialystok stated that the number of years that one speaks two languages would mean a longer period that the brain keeps on reorganizing. The earlier that people start becoming bilingual, the better.

Tamar Gollan, professor at the University of California, San Diego, said that people could not just turn off a language. Bilinguals are faced with everyday choices that monolinguals do not face. To this effect, the brain works harder to speak two languages.

Learning a new language even as an adult can greatly benefit brain health. Just like exercise, wherein the more that one exercise, the greater that one expands his capacity for oxygen. By exercising the brain more through bilingualism, the brain maintains its flexibility. Add in physical activities, eating healthy and sufficient amounts of sleep, and one may be able to keep the brain healthier.

Source Article …

health

California’s $100M dialysis battle comes with ancillary benefits for labor union

A patient undergoes dialysis at a clinic in Sacramento, Calif. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo

OAKLAND — In initiative-happy California, one set of ads stands out — those involving dialysis clinics, an industry that’s historically been a lower-profile player in politics.

The ads are unusual not only because of their unlikely topic but their volume, which is high because industry opponents of a labor ballot measure are spending more than any group opposing the other 11 proposals California voters must decide on.

The massive spending gap between the $100 million opponents, including DaVita Inc., have raised and the $8.9 million by supporters led by SEIU United Healthcare Workers West means that the dialysis industry has flooded airwaves as it defends itself against organized labor. The same chain of events played out two years ago, resulting in a resounding defeat for the union’s ballot initiative.

California’s ballot wars have escalated in recent years as industries see little problem spending more than $100 million — and nearly twice that amount in the gig industry’s case — to persuade the electorate. Businesses and organizations that don’t get their way in the state Capitol often use the ballot to change state laws or as leverage to pressure lawmakers and other powerful interests. Proposition 23 is the third most expensive ballot initiative in 2020, according to data compiled by POLITICO.

While SEIU-UHW says it is committed to passing Prop 23, political strategists suggest that labor backers may simply be playing the long game by placing an initiative on the ballot every two years challenging the industry. Win or lose, the union is putting pressure on dialysis companies to spend gobs of money each general election.

“The threat of a ballot measure is something UHW has used strategically,” said Brian Brokaw, a Democratic strategist in Sacramento who is not involved in the Prop. 23 campaign. “In order for a threat to actually be credible, sometimes you have to put it on the ballot. But appearing on a ballot and actually running a campaign to support something are two different things.”

Proposition 23 faces long odds not just because of the industry’s $100 million war chest, but also because it involves a regulatory matter on a crowded ballot — a perfect recipe for voter rejection.

Two years ago, Californians voted 60-40 to reject Prop. 8, another SEIU-UHW-backed initiative that would have capped dialysis profits. But to get that win, the dialysis industry, led by the dominant franchises DaVita Inc. and Fresenius Medical Care, invested about $111 million to defeat it, or nearly six times what the proponents spent.

One day after that Nov. 6, 2018 election, the union vowed to refile the initiative in California and other states. SEIU-UHW did file another initiative, but Prop 23 looks dramatically different, focusing on requirements that clinics must meet such as staffing one doctor on site.

John Logan, director of labor employment studies at San Francisco State University, said unions have long used non-traditional tactics like ballot-box campaigns to get

health

Gilead questions WHO study that cast doubts on drug’s COVID-19 benefits

By Deena Beasley and Vishwadha Chander

(Reuters) – Gilead Sciences Inc has questioned the findings of a World Health Organization (WHO) study that concluded its COVID-19 drug remdesivir does not help patients who have been admitted to hospital.

The American company told Reuters the data appeared inconsistent, the findings were premature and that other studies had validated the drug’s benefits.

In a blow to one of the few drugs being used to treat people with COVID-19, the WHO said on Thursday its “Solidarity” trial had concluded that remdesivir appeared to have little or no effect on 28-day mortality or length of hospital stays among patients with the respiratory disease.

The antiviral medication was one of the drugs used to treat U.S. President Donald Trump’s coronavirus infection, and has been shown in previous studies to have cut time to recovery, though the European Union is investigating it for possible kidney injury.

The WHO trial was conducted in 11,266 adult patients in more than 30 countries. The evidence was conclusive, the WHO said.

Gilead said other trials of remdesivir, including with 1,062 patients that compared it with a placebo, showed the treatment cut COVID-19 recovery time.

“The emerging (WHO) data appears inconsistent, with more robust evidence from multiple randomized, controlled studies published in peer-reviewed journals validating the clinical benefit of remdesivir,” Gilead told Reuters.

Gilead said it was “unclear if any conclusive findings can be drawn” given what it called differences in how the trial was conducted from site to site and between the patients who received the medicine.

In April, the top U.S. infectious disease official, Anthony Fauci, predicted remdesivir would become “the standard of care”.

Companies such as Gilead are racing to find a treatment for COVID-19. Some 1.1 million people have died and 39.1 million have been reported infected in the pandemic, and the global economy has been thrown into chaos.

Remdesivir was developed for Ebola, which causes fever, bleeding, vomiting and diarrhoea and spreads among humans through bodily fluids.

It was quickly repurposed and has offered some hope for patients, though the WHO’s findings may shift the focus of the search for a vaccine to new monoclonal antibodies being developed by companies including Regeneron.

The Solidarity trial also evaluated hydroxychloroquine, anti-HIV drug combination lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon, and concluded that they, like remdesivir, did little to help patients survive or leave the hospital more quickly.

The WHO trial’s results are yet to be reviewed and were uploaded on the preprint server medRxiv. (https://bit.ly/3nViYIf)

“PREMATURE”

Gilead say the Solidarity conclusions, lacking scrutiny from other scientists, were premature.

“We are concerned the data from this open-label global trial has not undergone the rigorous review required to allow for constructive scientific discussion, particularly given the limitations of the trial design,” it said.

Remdesivir got emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on May 1, and has been authorized for use in several countries.

During the Solidarity study, trials of hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir were stopped in June after