Health Politics. Politics affects health, hospital management, physicians and patients in a big way. Dr. David Samadi will explore major national and global health political issues and debates affecting the patient outcome. Learn what you need to know and get Dr. Samadi's take.
Every day, 40 people die in the U.S. as a result of prescription drug overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Media outlets, schools, and the medical community are starting to get the word out – to the degree that more and more people are shying away from opioids completely.
That could be its own problem.
Read MoreThe main concern was that PSA screening for prostate cancer leads to the detection of indolent, low-grade prostate cancer that is not life threatening even in the absence of any treatment action
Read Moret’s a sad fact of reality but the elderly in the United States who are unable to care for themselves are being let down by a high-priced, dysfunctional system of long term care.
Read MoreInternational patients seeking medical expertise and treatment in the United States is a growing part of the U.S. healthcare landscape.
Read MoreToo much sitting can also increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.
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Read MoreWith a name like a Bond villain's and no known prevention nor treatment, it's no wonder the Zika virus has caught the attention of the tabloid press. But what is it really, and are we at risk?
Read MoreAn Oklahoma 2 year old died after ingesting button batteries, or lithium batteries. Died six days after swallowing one of the batteries, which are small, silver, and shaped like a button
Read MoreImprove your sleep quality by going to bed at the same time each night. According to the Sleep Health Foundation, routine sets your body clock and makes you more likely to get the recommended eight hours’ sleep each night.
Read MoreNew Year’s is quickly approaching
· This means New Year resolutions that are made and quickly abandoned
· Estimated that only 8% of Americans successfully achieve their New Year resolutions
· Make sure this year is different
Read MoreA new study finds obesity rates of many US states are actually higher than previously thought. The research is based on doctors’ measurements of peoples’ height and weight. Previous reports were based on people’s own report. The problem is not that people underestimate their weight, but they overestimate their height. Previous reports said most states have rates under 30%, and no states have a rate over 40%.
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Read MoreIn the last ten years, marijuana use among American adults has doubled. According to surveys, it has risen to almost 10 percent, or more than 22 million mostly recreational users. Researchers say this trend reflects increasingly tolerant views about the drug. Other studies have shown more adults think marijuana should be legalized. There are now four states which permit recreational use of marijuana: Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.
The study was from a comparison of health surveys from 2001-02 and 2012-13 sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The study involved almost 80,000 adults 18 and older who were interviewed about various health-related behaviors. The results showed that almost one in three people who were reportedly using marijuana showed signs of marijuana dependence or abuse. This is a slight reduction compared to ten years ago. The results were published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
The study participants were asked whether they had used marijuana in the past year, and about signs of abuse. Those include trying but unable to reduce heavy use, and continued use despite knowing it may be damaging health or causing depression or anxiety. This is a problem affecting about 6.8 million adults. Use increased among all ages but was most common in adults 18 to 29.
Marijuana use was higher among teenagers. About 23 percent of high school students had used the drug in the past month in 2013. However, research shows that teen use has been somewhat stagnant during the past decade.
The results likely reflect mostly recreational use because most states didn’t have medical-marijuana laws during the years the surveys took place. The results show that people can use marijuana without harms, but there are risks. More research is needed to determine the causes of problematic use.
Every year, thousands of people end up in the emergency room as a result of using supplements for various purposes such as for an energy boost, to lose weight or build muscle mass.
Read MoreA new study suggests that when patients are hospitalized more than once in the same month. It may have more to do with their income or education levels than the quality of care they received.
According to the analysis of data from Medicare, patients 85 and older are more likely to return to the hospital within 30 days of being sent home than people a decade or two younger.
Patients also have higher odds of returning soon after discharge if they lack a high school diploma, have limited income and assets or have health benefits from Medicaid.
The White House isn't likely to wait long to challenge Wednesday's ruling allowing House Republicans to sue the Obama administration for spending federal funds on the Affordable Care Act's cost-sharing assistance.
Read MoreRepublicans in Congress are again demanding the government to cut all funding for Planned Parenthood which has been around for over a 100 years, providing women's health services. This latest uproar sparked after videos of officials from Planned Parenthood went record discussing compensation for providing fetal tissue from abortions. Other challenges the group is facing is with the Affordable Care Act. Formerly uninsured women are not less reliant on Planned Parenthood for access to birth control, abortions and other reproductive healthcare.
Read MoreAnthem will buy Cigna for about $54.2 billion, creating the largest U.S. health insurer by membership and accelerating the industry's consolidation from five national players to three. The proposed acquisition, the health insurance industry's largest, comes three weeks after Aetna Inc agreed to buy Humana Inc for $37 billion. Health insurers are finding it tougher to raise prices following the roll-out of President Barack Obama's healthcare law, while grappling with soaring expenses of medications including cancer drugs that can cost each patient more than $100,000 a year.
Read MorePuerto Rico is beginning to face another budget cut to a highly-used Medicare program as well as an alarming shortage of Medicaid funds. The health care system is moving towards a crisis which could further undermine the island's gutted economy. The first sign of this crisis regarding the health care system was seriously in trouble when a large amount of doctors, a total of 3,000 in 5 years, began to leave the island for better positions, more money and less stress in the United States.
Read MoreA new cholesterol lowering drug called Praluent was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and introduced to the market. Praluent is said to be a better alternative to statins. There are millions of people in the United States that currently take statins. Statins are a medication that people take to lower cholesterol in order to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Examples of statins include Lipitor, Lescol, Altoprev, Livalo, Pravachol, Crestor and Zocor.
Read MoreA group of 118 leading cancer experts have developed a list of proposals designed to reduce the cost of cancer drugs. Also in support of a grassroots patient protest movement to pressure drug companies to charge what they deem a fair value for treatments. Experts include former presidents of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Society of Hematology. An insured cancer patient who needs a drug that costs $120,000 a year would pay as much as $30,000 in out-of-pocket costs, which is more than half of the average U.S. household income of $52,000.
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