RedScrubs
The Resource for Medical Professionals

Using the BMI rather than blood cholesterol to predict future risk of cardiovascular disease would have profound effects on the affordability and availability of a screening program in developing countries. Initial screening without having to use blood would keep testing to a minimum.

A symposium at the American Society for Nutrition’s annual meeting at Experimental Biology was held recently where infant feeding practices as it related to obesity in childhood were explored. Utilizing randomized clinical trials (inclusive of breastfeeding promotion) and sibling pairs analysis, new insights were gained into possible associations between infant feeding and health outcomes such as obesity.

Graduation time is almost here. Time to clean out the lockers, sell those old books that you don’t want, make plans for the summer, or perhaps get some new clothes for that job you were able to set up during a recent employment expo. Everything looks good; you’ve made it through college and are ready to face the world. So where are you going to get your health insurance coverage?

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) has been used successfully to take off pounds. It generally works for a good two months before stalling out according to some human studies. Used in a dose of 3.4 grams it has been claimed to speed metabolism, decrease abdominal fat, enhance muscular growth, decrease cholesterol and triglycerides, decrease insulin resistance and enhance immune responses. It is commonly sold as Tonalin in 1,000 mg caps.

In the age of an ill healthcare system can small business owners survive without offering health benefits? Small businesses have been hit hard by rising healthcare benefit costs, with more and more small business owners canceling their health benefit coverage for employees because of the added costs. SurePayroll conducted a survey of small businesses recently in the Midwest which outlined the disparaging numbers of small business that can’t afford to offer health benefits to employees.

In a new study, published in the April 8 edition of the journal Circulation, it was found that a dose of 10 mg/day of folic acid fed to rats prior to a heart attack yielded smaller infarcts than in the rats fed no supplements. This finding comes on the heels of the international studies in humans which suggested that folic acid supplementation can prevent dementia in the elderly and premature births.

Congratulations to this week’s Scrubby Winner and Honorable Mentions! We haven’t been getting many submissions by you lately. Shame, Shame! This forces our poor Dr. Incognito to search much deeper and harder (which we can assure you that he does not like). So, remember to plug a post or two of one of your favorite […]

Bitter melon is a fruit used in cooking around the world. It has been used historically as a treatment modality for diabetes and as a stimulant for digestion, dyspepsia, constipation, demulcent and as an inflammation modulator. It has been theorized to contain bioactive compounds effective for treating HIV infection. These compounds have been identified as glycoprotein lectins.

Establishing health insurance providers as non-profit entities is an interesting concept in today’s healthcare system. What would happen if the multitude of health insurance companies switched status from for profit to a non-profit status? Putting away multi-million dollar compensation packages for industry executives and replacing them with premium dividends and improved coverage for members, could it really happen?