Important tip for patients
Patients whose surgeons had higher numbers of coworker reports about unprofessional behavior in the 36 months before the patient’s operation appeared to be at increased risk of surgical and medical complications, according to a study in JAMA Network. The researchers concluded that surgeons who model unprofessional behaviors may help to undermine a culture of safety, threaten teamwork, and thereby increase risk for medical errors and surgical complications. The findings suggest that organizations interested in ensuring optimal patient outcomes should focus on addressing surgeons whose behavior toward other medical professionals may increase patients’ risk for adverse outcomes.
From gloom to gratitude
A positive outlook can lead to less anxiety and stress, according to a new study of caregivers, as reported by NPR. Here are eight skills to help cope with stress: 1) identify one positive event each day; 2) tell someone about that positive event; 3) start a daily gratitude journal, identifying even the little things for which you’re grateful; 4) identify a personal strength and note how you’ve exercised it recently; 5) set a daily goal and track your progress; 6) practice “positive reappraisal,” which means reframing unpleasant events in a more positive light (e.g., turn stop-and-go traffic into a moment to savor the stillness); 7) do something nice for someone every day; 8) pay attention to the present moment (try a 10-minute breathing exercise).
Risks associated with vinpocetine
The dietary supplement vinpocetine may cause a miscarriage or harm fetal development, warns the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. These findings are particularly concerning, since products containing vinpocetine are widely available for use by women of childbearing age. Vinpocetine is a synthetically produced compound that is used in some products marketed as dietary supplements, either by itself or combined with other ingredients. Vinpocetine may be referred to on product labels as Vinca minor extract, lesser periwinkle extract, or common periwinkle extract. Dietary supplements containing vinpocetine are often marketed for uses that include enhanced memory, focus, or mental acuity; increased energy; and weight loss.
Sleep regularly
Failure to stick to a regular bedtime and wakeup schedule – and getting different amounts of sleep each night – can put a person at higher risk for obesity, high cholesterol, hypertension, high blood sugar and other metabolic disorders, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in Diabetes Care. In fact, for every hour of variability in time to bed and time asleep, a person may have up to a 27% greater chance of experiencing a metabolic abnormality. “Many previous studies have shown the link between insufficient sleep and higher risk of obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders,” said study author Tianyi Huang, Sc.D., epidemiologist of the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston. “But we didn’t know much about the impact of irregular sleep, high day-to-day variability in sleep duration and timing. Our research shows that, even after considering the amount of sleep a person gets and other lifestyle factors, every one-hour night-to-night difference in the time to bed or the duration of a night’s sleep multiplies the adverse metabolic effect.”
Vitamin D supplement won’t prevent type 2 diabetes
Taking a daily vitamin D supplement does not prevent type 2 diabetes in adults at high risk, according to results of a study funded by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health. “Observational studies have reported an association between low levels of vitamin D and increased risk for type 2 diabetes,” said Myrlene Staten, M.D., D2d project scientist at NIDDK. “Additionally, smaller studies found that vitamin D could improve the function of beta cells, which produce insulin. However, whether vitamin D supplementation may help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes was not known.” The study enrolled 2,423 adults at 22 sites across the United States, and results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the 79th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in San Francisco.
Eat your broccoli
Your mother was right; broccoli is good for you. Long associated with decreased risk of cancer, broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables – the family of plants that also includes cauliflower, cabbage, collard greens, Brussels sprouts and kale – contain a molecule that inactivates a gene known to play a role in a variety of common human cancers. In a paper published in Science, researchers, led by Pier Paolo Pandolfi, M.D., PhD, director of the Cancer Center and Cancer Research Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, demonstrated that targeting the gene, known as WWP1, with the ingredient found in broccoli suppressed tumor growth in cancer-prone lab animals.
Antibiotic shot may prevent childbirth-related infections
A single injection of antibiotics significantly reduces the risk of infections when women who are giving birth require the aid of forceps or vacuum extraction, a study published in Lancet concludes. The routine use of the prophylactic shot actually reduces antibiotic use in the long run, the study found. British researchers randomly assigned 3,420 women who had operative vaginal births to one of two groups: The first received a single shot of Augmentin (amoxicillin and clavulanic acid) within six hours of giving birth, and the second a placebo saline shot. Then they tracked infections over the next six weeks. Compared with the placebo group, women who got the antibiotic had a 42 percent reduced risk for any infection, and a 56 percent lower risk of a bodywide infection. Antibiotic users had about half the risk of perineal wound infection compared with the placebo group, and they used less pain medication.