Health News from Dr Joe
Drugs Are Not The Only Answer To Better Heart Health-Five Ways To Improve Heart HealthIn what could almost be a man bites dog story, Australian researchers have criticized Australian doctors for not prescribing enough pills. The study released this week surveyed 322 General Practitioners (family physicians) looking at their management of patients over 55 with risk factors for cardiovascular (heart) disease. Each doctor filled out a survey on 15-20 consecutive patients. The total number of patients was 5293, of which 29% had established heart disease and 22% had risk factors. The authors concluded there was “substantial under treatment of patients…” and that “ We recommend that GPs … ensure that high-risk patients receive evidence based pharmacotherapy”. It may not come as a surprise to find of the eight authors, five have been paid, in various ways by pharmaceutical companies and two are employed by a pharmaceutical company. Only one of the eight has no financial ties. |
Diet Made Simple - Eat the Foods the Body Needs and Consider Three SupplementsSomething that confuses a lot of people is what to eat and what constitutes a healthy diet. This in turn leads many, particularly those wanting to reduce weight into a pattern of trial and tribulation of diets that do not work, frustration and confusion as to what constitutes healthy eating. As humans we like things to be fairly simple. Even more so today in our often-busy lives, keeping things simple is a big plus. Water and Health-The Importance of Drinking Water and Four Tips to Help You Do ItLast year an Australian town made headlines by being the first to ban the sale of bottled water. This was done on the basis that water comes in plastic containers that “pollute” the environment. Now the health of the planet is important. So is the health of the people who live on it. The second pillar of health is water. The body is comprised of 70% water and to work at its optimum, water in the body needs to be turned over regularly. |
Childhood Obesity - Small Changes Make a Big DifferenceChildhood obesity has been put front and centre by Michelle Obama. An ambitious goal to eliminate childhood obesity in a generation has been made. Whilst this is ambitious,there is an old quote attributed to Michelangelo that it is better to aim too high and miss than to aim too low and hit. There is no particular reason why this goal cannot be achieved. Live Longer by Being Active-Six Tips to Live LongerOK its now “official” - being sedentary does actually kill you. The negative impact of a sedentary lifestyle on our health has been observed for many years but it has not been as clearly shown and quantified as in this latest study from Australia. Those who spent four hours or more watching TV each day had a 46% higher chance of dying and were 80% more likely to die of cardiovascular (heart) disease than those watching two hours or less per day. There was a steady increase in risk of death of 11% per hour spent in front of the TV. |
