Today's post is shared from http://scienceblogs.com/ A new analysis of data from the world’s largest and longest-running study of women’s health finds that rotating night shift work is associated with higher mortality rates. The new findings add to a growing awareness that long-term night shift work comes with serious occupational health risks. Published this month in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the study found that all-cause and cardiovascular disease-related mortality were significantly increased among women who worked more than five years of rotating night shifts when compared to those who never worked the night shift. In addition, the study found that working 15 or more years of rotating night shifts was associated with a modest increase in lung cancer mortality. Previous research has also found a link between working the night shift and serious health risks. In fact, in 2007, the World Health Organization designated night shift work as a probable carcinogen, as it disrupts the physical, mental and behavioral changes that follow a daily cycle — otherwise known as circadian rhythms. Study authors Fangyi Gu, Jiali Han, Francine Laden, An Pan, Neil Caporaso, Meir Stampfer, Ichiro Kawachi, Kathryn Rexrode, Walter Willett, Susan Hankinson, Frank Speizer and Eva Schernhammer write: The circadian system and its prime marker, melatonin, are considered to have anti-tumor effects through multiple pathways, including antioxidant activity,... |
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Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Data from nurses’ study finds link between night shifts, higher mortality risk
Monday, November 24, 2014
When An Employer Should Not Deny Medical Care
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Friday, November 14, 2014
System Fails to Provide Appropriate Care for Non-Catastrophic Injuries
The October issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine confirms what our clients have been experiencing since the California legislature began “reforming” medical treatment access in 2003: the system fails to provide appropriate care for non-catastrophic injuries. (See Franklin, G., et al., “Workers’ Compensation: Poor Quality Health Care and the Growing Disability Problem in the United States,” American Journal of Industrial Medicine, October 2014). The reforms, which include reliance on “evidence-based” medicine and utilization review, often results in increased permanent disabilities and a shift of compensation to Social Security, Medicare and other state and federal disability systems.
The authors note a 75% increase in those receiving Social Security Disability benefits for working age people during the period 2000 and 2012. The basis of the inability to work has shifted from cardiovascular to musculoskeletal, arguably injuries that could have been prevented with safer work practices.
Our experience at Fraulob, Brown, Gowen & Snapp is consistent with these findings. Just today, one of our client’s reported that the expert medical evaluator in his case, agreed to by the insurance company, advised him that had his neck surgery been approved when his doctor requested, rather than going through the utilization review process, he would have had less residual disability. This of course does not even address the pain and suffering he endured waiting for approval; pain and suffering which is not paid by workers’ compensation.
The only way to change this system is through legislation. Which means that people need to vote and need to make it their mission to contact their legislators and the governor with their horror stories.
Ms. Brown is a certified specialist in Workers’ Compensation as well as a national expert on Social Security Disability , Elder Law, Health Care Planning and decision-making. She is a law professor and published author.
Her practice includes serving as a court appointed and agreed upon Arbitrator for Workers’ Compensation matters. Her legal treatise, Advising the Elderly or Disabled Client, is utilized by law schools throughout America as well as Elder Law, Disability and Personal Injury attorneys. She been retained as an expert witness by the NFL Players association regarding compensation for brain and other serious injuries sustained by professional athletes.
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Monday, October 20, 2014
Mediterranean Diet and Workplace Health Promotion
Analytical and experimental studies confirm relationships between the consumption of certain foods and cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Mediterranean diet patterns have long been associated with a reduced risk of major diseases and many favorable health outcomes. Data from observational, longitudinal, and randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that Mediterranean-style diets can improve body mass index and body weight, reduce the incidence of diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome risk factors, decrease cardiovascular morbidity and coronary heart disease mortality, as well as decrease all-cause mortality.
Recently, efforts have attempted to improve dietary habits in the workplace, by modifying food selection, eating patterns, meal frequency, and the sourcing of meals taken during work. Evidence supporting the Mediterranean diet and the potential cardioprotective role of healthier diets in the workplace are reviewed here, and promising strategies to improve metabolic and cardiovascular health outcomes are also provided.
Mediterranean Diet and Workplace Health Promotion, Maria Korre, Michael A. Tsoukas, Elpida Frantzeskou, Justin Yang, and Stefanos N. Kales , Curr Cardiovasc Risk Rep. 2014; 8(12): 416.
Published online Oct 10, 2014. doi: 10.1007/s12170-014-0416-3
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Tuesday, September 30, 2014
A Healthy Diet In The Workplace Reduces Workers' Compensation Claims
A healthier diet in the workplace results in healthier workers and a reduction of chronic and costly medical conditions. At a conference, Mediterranean Diet and Workplace Health 2014, last week at The Harvard School of Public Health, physicians, chefs, nutritionists, and leaders in the food service industry presented overwhelming evidence that a "Healthy Plate" leads to healthier workers.
While the Federal government has modified its antiquated health food pyramid somewhat, The Harvard School of Public Health has take a step forward in advocating an even healthier menu. Based on extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and a greater proportion of vegetables and fruit, the healthy plate recognizes the dangers of sugar in the diet of workers.
This poster is displayed at the cafeteria entrance at The Harvard School of Public Health |
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Working Long Hours Tied to Diabetes Risk
Working long hours may increase the risk for Type 2 diabetes, a new review has found, but the risk is apparent only in workers of lower socioeconomic status.
Long working hours are associated with diabetes risk factors — work stress, sleep disturbances, depression and unhealthy lifestyle, and some studies have found long hours associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
Researchers combined data from 19 published and unpublished studies on more than 222,000 men and women in several countries.
The analysis, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, found no effect of working hours in higher socioeconomic groups. But in workers of lower socioeconomic status, working more than 55 hours a week increased the risk for Type 2 diabetes by almost 30 percent. The association persisted after excluding shift workers and adjusting for age, sex, obesity and physical activity.
The study is observational, and the lead author, Mika Kivimäki, a professor of epidemiology at University College London, said there were no intervention studies that could establish cause and effect.
“My recommendation for people who wish to decrease the risk of Type 2 diabetes,” he said, “applies both to individuals who work long hours and those who work standard hours: Eat and drink healthfully, exercise, avoid overweight, keep blood glucose and lipid levels within the normal range, and do not smoke.”
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American Heart Association: Pay More Attention to Radiation in Imaging Procedures
The American Heart Association is urging physicians to better understand the risks of radiation in cardiac imaging procedures. When ordering these procedures physicians should understand the appropriate use of each procedure, the radiation dose associated with the procedure, and the risks associated with that dose. Both the risks and benefits should be fully explained and discussed with patients prior to the imaging procedure. The full importance of radiation from cardiac procedures is not always appreciated, write the authors of the newly published scientific statement, “Approaches to Enhancing Radiation Safety in Cardiovascular Imaging.” But, according to Reza Fazel, the chair of the writing committee, “heart imaging procedures account for almost 40 percent of the radiation exposure from medical imaging.” The role of radiation is particularly important when considering cardiovascular imaging in younger patients for whom the lifetime risk is likely higher, said Fazel. The statement urges physicians to discuss several important questions with their patients, including how the procedure will be used to diagnose and treat the patient’s heart problem, whether there are other available techniques that don’t use radiation, how much radiation the patient will receive, and what is known about the risk of cancer associated with the radiation dose. Fazel offered some overall reassurance: “In general, the radiation-related... |
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Monday, September 29, 2014
World Heart Day — September 29, 2014
World Heart Day will be observed September 29, 2014. The focus of World Heart Day this year is creating heart-healthy environments in which persons are able to make heart-healthy choices wherever they live, learn, work, and play. Heart disease and stroke are the world's leading causes of death, claiming an estimated 17.3 million lives in 2008, and representing 30% of all deaths worldwide (1). A heart-healthy environment can help persons make healthy choices to reduce their risk for heart disease. World Heart Day 2014 encourages persons to reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease by promoting smoke-free environments, environments that encourage physical activity, access to healthy food choices, and a heart-healthy planet for all.
CDC is working to help create heart-healthy environments in multiple ways, including community-based approaches, such as the Sodium Reduction in Communities Program (SRCP), and community-clinical linkages, such as the Million Hearts Initiative. SRCP aims to increase access to and accessibility of lower-sodium food options while building the evidence base on population approaches to reduce sodium consumption at the community level. Million Hearts aims to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017 by bringing together communities, health systems, nonprofit organizations, federal agencies, and private-sector partners from across the country to fight heart disease and stroke and their risk factors.
Additional information about World Heart Day is available at http://www.world-heart-federation.org/?id=123. Additional information about Million Hearts, SRCP, and CDC's Healthy Community Programs is available at http://millionhearts.hhs.gov andhttp://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dch/programs/healthycommunitiesprogram/index.htm.
Reference
World Health Organization. Global status report on noncommunicable diseases 2010. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2011. Available at http://www.who.int/nmh/publications/ncd_report2010
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Thursday, July 31, 2014
N.J. family denied workers' comp after mother died following 10 hours behind desk, high court rules
The state Supreme Court today ruled that the husband of an AT&T manager who died from a blood clot after sitting at her desk for more than 10 hours one night is not entitled to workers' compensation benefits, overturning a decision by a lower court. Cathleen Renner, a mother of three, died in 2007 at age 47 from a clot in her lung about an hour after she finished working a sedentary, overnight shift at the computer in her home office in Edison, the ruling said. In 2011, a state appellate court upheld a lower judge's decision that Renner's condition — known as a pulmonary embolism — was caused by her work and that her husband, James, was entitled to benefits under New Jersey's workers' compensation law. Experts said the case of was the first of its kind that they can recall. But the Supreme Court voted 5-0 today to reverse that ruling, saying there wasn't enough evidence to prove Renner's work was to blame. "Cathleen read, took telephone calls, sent and received, emails, had conferences with her superiors and co-workers, and made decisions," wrote Judge Ariel A. Rodriguez, who is temporarily sitting on the court to fill a vacancy. "These responsibilities did not require her to remain in a seated position for long, uninterrupted stretches of time." Marty Richter, a spokesman... |
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Friday, December 13, 2013
Carbon Monoxide Safety Facts and Tips – How to prevent poisoning from a gas with no odor
Today's post was shared by US Dept. of Labor and comes from www.nsc.org
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Monday, December 9, 2013
Workplace Safety and Health Topics
OverviewPrimary themes in the NIOSH job stress research program:
Job Stress and NORAIn 1996, NIOSH established an interdisciplinary team of researchers and practitioners from industry, labor, and academia to develop a national research agenda on the "organization of work." Work organization refers to management and supervisory practices, to production processes, and to their influence on the way work is performed. (In... |
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Thursday, November 28, 2013
Dying Young: Why your Social and Economic Status May be a death sentence in America
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Wednesday, November 20, 2013
FDA warns of rare but serious risk of heart attack and death with cardiac nuclear stress test drugs Lexiscan (regadenoson) and Adenoscan (adenosine)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning health care professionals of the rare but serious risk of heart attack and death with use of the cardiac nuclear stress test agents Lexiscan (regadenoson) and Adenoscan (adenosine). We have approved changes to the drug labels to reflect these serious events and updated our recommendations for use of these agents. Health care professionals should avoid using these drugs in patients with signs or symptoms of unstable angina or cardiovascular instability, as these patients may be at greater risk for serious cardiovascular adverse reactions.
Lexiscan and Adenoscan are FDA approved for use during cardiac nuclear stress tests in patients who cannot exercise adequately. Lexiscan and Adenoscan help identify coronary artery disease. They do this by dilating the arteries of the heart and increasing blood flow to help identify blocks or obstructions in the heart’s arteries. Lexiscan and Adenoscan cause blood to flow preferentially to the healthier, unblocked or unobstructed arteries, which can reduce blood flow in the obstructed artery. In some cases, this reduced blood flow can lead to a heart attack, which can be fatal.The Warnings & Precautions section of the Lexiscan and Adenoscan labels previously contained information about the possible risk of heart attack and death with use of these drugs. However, recent reports of serious adverse events in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting... |
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Friday, November 15, 2013
Nearly 1,500 Hospitals Penalized Under Medicare Program Rating Quality
Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from www.kaiserhealthnews.org
More hospitals are receiving penalties than bonuses in the second year of Medicare’s quality incentive program, and the average penalty is steeper than it was last year, government records show. Medicare has raised payment rates to 1,231 hospitals based on two-dozen quality measurements, including surveys of patient satisfaction and—for the first time—death rates. Another 1,451 hospitals are being paid less for each Medicare patient they treat. For half the hospitals, the financial changes that started last month are negligible: they are gaining or losing less than a fifth of one percent what Medicare otherwise would have paid. Others are experiencing greater swings. Gallup Indian Medical Center in New Mexico, a federal government hospital on the border of the Navajo Reservation, will be paid 1.14 percent less for each patient. Arkansas Heart Hospital in Little Rock, a physician-owned hospital that only handles cardiovascular cases, will get the largest bonus, 0.88 percent. The bonuses and penalties are one piece of the health care law’s efforts to create financial incentives for doctors and hospitals to provide better care. They come at a tumultuous time as the technical problems of the healthcare.gov insurance portal and premium prices are stoking questions about the law’s viability. The incentives are among the law’s few cost-control provisions that have kicked in, but it is too early to tell how effective they will be in making... |