When Promoting Fruit Consumption Goes Sour
For many years, the Florida Department of Citrus has produced ads that exaggerate the value of citrus products. The most recent example, appearing both on television and on its Web site, suggests that drinking a single glass of orange juice per day can greatly reduce the odds of having a stroke. According to a press release on its Web site: A study published in the October 6 edition of the Journal of the American
Medical Association (JAMA) found that drinking a glass of orange or
grapefruit juice every day may lower the risk of stroke by 25 percent....
[The researchers] found that increasing overall vegetable consumption
reduced the risk of stroke by just four percent, but increased consumption
of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, etc.)
cut the risk by 32 percent. As for fruit, increasing overall consumption
lowered stroke risk by 11 percent, but simply drinking a glass of orange
juice every day reduced the risk of stroke by 25 percent.
This study, which was well designed, was supported by grants from the U.S. Office of Dietary Supplements and by the Florida Department of Citrus. The researchers examined data on 75,596 women, ages 34 to 59, who were followed for a 14-year period, and on 38,683 men, ages 40 to 75, who were followed for eight years. All of the participants were free of cardiovascular disease when the studies began. The study found that those with the highest intake of fruits and vegetables--particularly cruciferous vegetables, green leafy vegetables, and citrus fruit and juice--had the lowest incidence of strokes caused by obstruction of blood supply to the brain. The researchers noted, however, that "the analyses of individual fruit and vegetable items did not show any single fruit or vegetable that was strikingly more protective than others" (JAMA 282:1233-1239, 1998).The Citrus Department's "25 percent reduction" figure was derived from a table showing that the people reporting consumption of one serving per day of citrus juice had 20% fewer ischemic strokes than the 20% of people who consumed the fewest number of servings of fruits and vegetables. The study provides strong support for the prevailing scientific recommendation to consume at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. But it cannot predict the effect of adding citrus juice to your current diet--as the ad suggests.
In 1986, the department advertised that people who exercised couldn't get enough potassium in their diet and that the potassium in grapefruit juice not only would provide enough, but would "balance sodium levels to regulate blood pressure and fight off fatigue." When the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus investigated, a department spokesperson said that the potassium deficiency claims were based on an opinion survey of athletes conducted by a nutrition consultant, plus a study of the effects of intense conditioning in young men undergoing basic military training. In addition, a literature survey was provided as substantiation of the roles of sodium and potassium as nutritional factors in controlling blood pressure. NAD's investigator replied that the data obtained from the studies could not support broadly stated claims and that the ad had overstated the benefits of drinking normal quantities of grapefruit juice. The spokesperson informed NAD that the claims had been discontinued and that a new campaign would promote grapefruit as a significant source of potassium when part of a healthy regimen, including proper diet and exercise. However, a subsequent ad stated that grapefruit juice was "high in potassium with no sodium: a combination that, along with proper diet and exercise, can help control blood pressure." This was still misleading because drinking normal quantities of grapefruit juice is unlikely to lower blood pressure.
In 1993, the department distributed a booklet containing several pages of misleading information about vitamin C. Among other things, the booklet suggested that vitamin C "may offer remarkable protection against heart disease" and "can help prevent tuberculosis." (The latter claim was attributed to "Dr. Irwin Stone," but did not indicate that Stone's doctoral credential was a Ph.D. from nonaccredited Donsbach University.) The booklet also claimed that vitamin C must be ingested daily because it cannot be stored in the body. This claim was false, because the body normally stores about a month's supply.

15% of Women Struggle With Pregnancy-Related Depression

One in seven women suffers from depression before, during or after pregnancy, a new study finds.
The consequences of depression can be devastating to the mother, her baby and her entire family, according to the report in the October issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry.
"The prevalence of women diagnosed with depression before, during and after pregnancy was pretty similar," said lead author Patricia Dietz, an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Reproductive Health.
"There are a lot of women who are becoming pregnant with depression, and that's really important for people providing prenatal care to be aware of," she said.
Screening for depression needs to occur during pregnancy and right afterward, Dietz said.
The consequences of postpartum depression, which affects 400,000 women in the United States, can be significant. It can inhibit a woman's ability to bond with her baby, relate to the child's father, and perform daily activities, according to background information for the study.
For the study, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, Dietz's team collected data on 4,398 women who gave birth between 1998 and 2001. They found that 8.7 percent of the women experienced depression in the nine months before pregnancy, 6.9 percent during pregnancy, and 10.4 percent in the nine months following childbirth.
Some 15.4 percent of the women were depressed during at least one of these periods. Almost 75 percent of women with postpartum depression also suffered from depression before pregnancy. And more than 50 percent of women who were depressed before pregnancy were depressed during pregnancy, Dietz said.
"For many women, it's a chronic condition," she said.
In addition, 93.4 percent of the women who were diagnosed with depression before, during or after pregnancy had seen a mental health professional or were taking antidepressants.
Among women with depression, 75 percent had taken antidepressants -- 77 percent before pregnancy, 67 percent during pregnancy and 82 percent after delivery, the researchers found.
Women should report any signs of depression to their doctor, Dietz said.
"There is effective treatment out there for women. You are supposed to be elated when you've had a baby. It is sometimes difficult to even bring depression up," she said. "But doctors should ask."
Dr. David L. Katz, director of Yale University School of Medicine's Prevention Research Center, said the finding that depression is very common before and after, as well as during, pregnancy is of clear importance.
"There are two potential explanations. Either the challenges of pregnancy -- from hormonal changes to psychological adjustment -- induce depression, or the medical monitoring that occurs around the time of pregnancy identifies depression that otherwise would have gone undiagnosed. Of course, both factors may be in play," he said.
There are opportunities for prevention if pregnancy is causing depression, Katz said. "If pregnancy is merely unmasking depression in the population at large, it highlights the need to screen more effectively. Finding depression is prerequisite to treating it," he said.
Dietz thinks that before a woman starts a program of antidepressants, she should discuss the risks and benefits with her doctor.
According to the March of Dimes, a woman who is depressed feels sad or "blue" for two weeks or longer. Other symptoms of depression include:
Trouble sleeping.
Sleeping too much.
Lack of interest.
Feelings of guilt.
Loss of energy.
Difficulty concentrating.
Changes in appetite.
Restlessness, agitation or slowed movement.
Thoughts or ideas about suicide.

Trouble at Home Boosts Kids' Asthma

Poor family support and bad neighborhoods can aggravate asthma symptoms in kids, Canadian research suggests.
Edith Chen and colleagues at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver examined the degree of support that 78 children with asthma received from family and peers. They also looked at social problems, such as crime and violence, in the children's neighborhoods.
They then assessed the children's lung function, asthma symptoms, and certain behaviors that can affect asthma.
The results indicated a correlation between social environment and asthma symptoms and lung function. Children who reported less family support and lived in worse neighborhoods experienced greater asthma symptoms, the team said. Those who reported less family support had poorer lung function.
Further analysis revealed that low levels of family support were associated with greater lung inflammation which, in turn, was associated with poorer asthma outcomes. Family support did not appear to influence behaviors that can affect asthma.
The researchers also concluded that living in worse neighborhoods was associated with higher rates of child smoking and exposure to smoke, which is associated with poorer asthma outcomes.
"Poor family relations may foster psychological experiences with direct physiologic consequences, whereas problematic neighborhoods may operate by providing the role models for maladaptive behaviors," the study authors wrote.
Peer group support had no significant effect on asthma symptoms or lung function. The study was published in the first issue for October of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Kids' TV Viewing Tied to Behavioral Problems
But the 'off' switch may reverse the chance of trouble down the road, study says
-- If your toddler is watching a lot of TV, turn it off now and save yourself a lot of trouble later.
That's the conclusion of a new study that suggests that the negative effects of lots of early TV viewing on children can be overcome by limiting viewing before the age of 6.
The study doesn't confirm that television is actually bad for young kids. Nor does it show exactly how much of a cutback would help children exposed to lots of TV early in life. Still, lead author Kamila Mistry, a doctoral candidate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said it makes a strong case for a "significant" difference in behavioral problems in kids depending on their viewing.
"It's never too late," Mistry said. "That's an important message for parents as well as pediatricians, encouraging parents to turn off the TV and think about alternative activities for kids."
Television, of course, has long been blamed for a variety of ills among children, from lethargy and obesity to shortened attention spans. The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages kids under 2 from watching any TV at all, and it says older kids shouldn't watch more than two hours a day.
Why take another look at TV and children? According to Mistry, the new study is unusual, because it followed kids over time -- from 2.5 years to 5.5 years -- and measured the effects of changing levels of TV watching.
The researchers looked at the results of surveys of 2,702 families who enrolled in a national study between 1996 and 1998. The kids were followed from birth to age 5.5.
Twenty percent of parents said their kids watched at least two hours of TV a day at both 2.5 and 5.5 years. Four in 10 children had TVs in their bedrooms at age 5.5.
Even when the researchers adjusted the study results to account for factors such as income and "parental involvement," they found that kids who watched two or more hours of TV daily at both ages were more likely to suffer from sleep, attention and aggressive behavior problems, and "externalizing of problem behaviors." Also, those who watched more TV over time had greater problems dealing with others.
But those children who reduced TV watching between the two ages didn't have a greater likelihood of either social or behavioral problems.
The researchers also found that kids with TVs in their bedrooms were more likely to have sleeping problems.
The findings are published in the October issue of Pediatrics.
The structure of the study didn't allow the researchers to say how much more likely kids were to have problems depending on their viewing habits, Mistry said. She added that it's not a cause-and-effect study. It's possible that behavioral and social problems may contribute to TV viewing, not the other way around, she said.
The study also didn't look at whether the children were watching educational programming, like "Sesame Street," or other programs, such as those geared toward adults.
"I hesitate to say TV is horrible," Mistry said, "but excessive amounts of any activity is probably not good."
Madeline A. Dalton, director of the Hood Center for Families and Children at Dartmouth Medical School, said she's not sure that reducing heavy early exposure to TV will eliminate the risk of problems. She thinks more research is needed to determine that and to figure out if it's possible that "parents may be more likely to sit their children in front of the TV if they have behavioral problems."
However, "time spent watching TV is likely to reduce the amount of time children spend interacting with adults and other children," Dalton said. "Therefore, it is not surprising that this may have an impact on ability to interact socially."
She added: "We are raising our children in a media-saturated world. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but our knowledge of how media affects children -- both in terms of behavior and health -- has clearly lagged behind its use."

Anxiety - What is an Anxiety Symptom?

Am I having a heart attack? Am I dying? Or is it anxiety? Many symptoms of anxiety mirror symptoms of other illnesses. This is because the “fight or flight” response is triggered in anxiety attacks and the body will respond as if it is threatened. The heart will race; the breathing will become shallow, sweats will breakout over the body to keep it cool in preparation for flight, these are all signs of anxiety, or an anxiety attack. Attacking anxiety back and regaining control over your reflex responses will help reduce the number, frequency and severity of your anxiety symptoms.When an Anxiety Symptoms is Harmful and When it Isn'tThere is a wide range of anxiety symptoms that may be no more than a mild feeling of uneasiness and as intense as extreme fear. In some cases, a little amount of anxiety is good and normal and it may even help to improve a person’s performance. There are features like having heart palpitations or a racing heart as well as a lot of sweating that point in the direction of being an anxiety symptom. Symptoms such as irritability and lack of concentration as well as having strange thoughts and having extreme mood changes are psychological symptoms.Treating Anxiety Stress SymptomsOne may wonder as to what the causes of anxiety symptoms are and who the people at greatest risk are. The answer lies in the fact that anxiety symptoms are a result of anxiety disorders which may occur due to a change in the way amygdale, which is a small organ in the subconscious brain, reacts. This is also known as anxiety switch. For treatment to be effective, there is a need for concentrating directly on these symptoms and the treatment should be aimed at the root causes of any anxiety disorders, which in other words, is an inappropriate reaction of the amygdale.It may be noted that everybody may have experienced anxiety symptoms at some point of time in their lives and most are able to effectively deal with such situations. When there is a lot of unusual rise in the adrenaline levels in the blood it sets off a chain reaction of normal but wrong reactions which results in powerful anxiety symptoms that greatly affect the person afflicted.There are also instances of some people experiencing symptoms when there is no obvious cause and these are known as free-floating symptoms that can be discontinuous in nature or may continue over a longer period of time. Some even have situational anxiety wherein the anxiety symptoms can be correlated with particular situations.One may also wonder whether anxiety symptoms are harmful and the answer is certainly not. They do not cause harm to the person even though they elicit a sense of horror and scare the person but in effect anxiety symptoms are not harmful, being exaggerations of normal body sensations and reactions. It bears repeating that to treat anxiety symptoms, one has to address the root cause, which lies in the amygdale, where anxiety is created and stored as well as sustained.

A Silent Epidemic among Children

Every year, millions of students come face to face with a recurring problem that seems to haunt them more than the proverbial “monster under the bed.” This persistent challenge has been called by academicians and behavioral experts as ---- test anxiety.This form of school-related stress hounds the kindergarten pupil as much as the Ivy League scholar. Test anxiety is when a student becomes so nervous about taking an examination that he can no longer perform well. This is actually a type of performance anxiety that prevents a student from reading and writing the right answers to a test. Sometimes, a little anxiety can serve as a motivation for a student to prepare and study harder for an upcoming examination. But if it already creates a paralyzing effect and disrupts daily routine, it may already be a case that must be referred to the academic supervisor or to the school psychologist.How do our children get test anxiety in the first place? Among the most common reasons for getting “school stress” is the student's lack of discipline and preparation. Knowing that insufficient or no preparation was made to satisfactorily hurdle an examination, a student would naturally feel nervous about taking the test. Another cause of test anxiety is the inappropriate content or level of difficulty of a test. Using the principles of learning, a teacher cannot force a student to learn a specific body of knowledge or learning content that is usually reserved for higher academic levels. The frustration and difficulty of learning a specific lesson may end up discouraging the student. Sometimes, the high expectations of parents can also lead to stress in children. Being young, children also need to play and have fun. An exaggerated emphasis on academics may leave your child feeling left out of games other children play. Too much study may also drive children to eventually disdain the tough of going to school and taking exams. So what can parents do to help their children cope with test anxiety?First, parents should set regular study periods so that their children do not “cram” for the exams. Second, parents must monitor the test results without nagging their children about the scores. The act of questioning them about how well they did in the exam may only cause more test anxiety.Third, it is best for parents to regularly meet with teachers to find out the real score on how their children perform in school. Indeed, school should be fun and it must be the last place for our children to have fear. It should be a place of adventure where they can express themselves without nervousness...where every test would be a chance to show their knowledge, skills, talents --- without any concern except to do their very best.

The Use Of Modern Air Purifiers In Today's Home

Air purifiers are an important part in today’s modern home. Air purifiers will help rid you of awful odours such as pet and stale cigarette smoke. Your rooms will be agreeably aromatic. Additionally, air purifiers scrub the air clean and therefore they are highly recommended for fellow sufferers of Asthma or other allergic conditionsThere are quite a few types of air purifiers on the market. as a general rule, the distinction comes from the way the air is filtered. You can have an air purifier with mechanical filters made of fibres, or filters containing filtering and air purifying substances, for example charcoal. Of late, there are also Air Ionisers that use electrostatic charges to help clean the air.What is important for air purifiers is the type of the fibres it uses. They should meet certain standards in order to “capture” all dust, bacteria, or any other air borne particles. HEPA filtration systems are the best filters you can get however they come with a higher price tag.A charcoal air purifier as its name suggests, contains charcoal filters. In essence, charcoal is a substance that can suck up and deactivate dangerous particles. Charcoal was often used in gas masks during World War II. And in fact, my Grandmother made gas masks for children during that war, they were in the image of Disney’s’ Mickey Mouse to make them easier to get used to.Ionisers enrich the home with oxygen and produces ozone. The oxygen particles practically burn any other particle they meet. For that reason ionisers are very good for people who have pet allergy, dust allergy, pollen allergy. Ozone is the reason that I benefited from spending a few years at the coast… my Asthma improved considerably.There are a huge variety of air purifiers obtainable on today’s market. When thinking about purchasing one, you should consider the cost of the air purifier, and the running costs of replacement filters. Some air purifiers are really cheap to buy outright, but their filters are costly – sometimes filters can cost the same as the purifying device itself. There are filters that can be re-used several times – you can wash or clean them in another way, I have a similar system in my vacuum cleaner – this is a great cost cutter. Air purifiers are not silent; they contain a small motor and fan to move the air through the filters. You should consider in which room of your home you want to place an air purifier, consider if it is noiseless enough for this room. For instance, if you are thinking about an air purifier for your bedroom, it is vital that you pick one that works silently. For shared areas such as the lounge or the kitchen you can afford to have a noisier one. It is also important to consider that some rooms create more air borne particles than others. If buying a filter for your kitchen, you need to make sure it will cope well in this environment.Some air purifiers utilise timers – you can leave them working when you need them too. This is a vital feature to consider when you’re buying an ioniser. Although ozone is harmless, it can be harmful if it reaches certain levels.Ultimately, regardless of the type of air purifier you use, it is vitally important to ventilate your rooms well. When you have let in the fresh air, you can close your windows and turn on your air purifier. This is the best way to keep your homes air fresh, clean and nicely scented.

New Nanoparticle Could Provide Simple Early Diagnosis Of Many Diseases

Most people think of hydrogen peroxide as a topical germ killer, but the medicine cabinet staple is gaining steam in the medical community as an early indicator of disease in the body.

The nanoparticle polymer is made of peroxalate esters. A fluorescent dye (pentacene) is then encapsulated into the polymer. When the nano particles bump into hydrogen peroxide, they excite the dye, which then emits photons (or light) that can be detected (Credit: Image courtesy of Georgia Institute of Technology)

Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University researchers are the first to create a nanoparticle capable of detecting and imaging trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide in animals. The nanoparticles, thought to be completely nontoxic, could some day be used as a simple, all-purpose diagnostic tool to detect the earliest stages of any disease that involves chronic inflammation — everything from cancer and Alzheimer’s to heart disease and arthritis.

The research, lead by the laboratories of Niren Murthy at the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University and Dr. Robert Taylor in the Division of Cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine, will appear in the October issue of Nature Materials and was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Hydrogen peroxide is thought to be over-produced by cells at the early stages of most diseases. Because there were previously no imaging techniques available to capture this process in the body, the details of how the hydrogen peroxide is produced and its role in a developing disease must still be determined.

The Georgia Tech and Emory nanoparticles may be the key to better understanding the role of hydrogen peroxide in the progression of many diseases and later play an important diagnostic role, Murthy said.

“These nanoparticles are incredibly sensitive so you can detect nanomolar concentrations of hydrogen peroxide. That’s important because researchers aren’t yet certain what amounts of hydrogen peroxide are present in various diseases,” Murthy said.

The ultimate goal, however, is that the nanoparticles could some day be used as a simple, all-purpose diagnostic tool for most diseases. In the future, the nanoparticle would be injected by needle into a certain area of the body (for instance, the heart). If the nanoparticles encountered hydrogen peroxide, they would emit light. Should a doctor see a significant amount of light activity in the area, the doctor would know that the patient may be presenting early signs of a disease in that area of the body.

The Georgia Tech and Emory nanoparticles penetrate deep tissue and operate at a high wave length, making them sensitive indicators of the presence of hydrogen peroxide produced by any sort of inflammation.

The nanoparticle polymer is made of peroxalate esters. A fluorescent dye (pentacene) is then encapsulated into the polymer. When the nano particles bump into hydrogen peroxide, they excite the dye, which then emits photons (or light) that can be detected in a simple, photon-counting scan.

“It’s using this nanoparticle made of peroxalate esters that allows you to do this three component reaction in vivo. If you were to inject a peroxalate ester and a dye, they would go their own ways once in the body. With the nanoparticles, we can sequester both of these reagents within nanometers of each other, in vivo,” Murthy said.

The goal was to maximize the wavelength of the particles. Wavelength determines the sensitivity in vivo. And if the particle’s wavelength is high enough, it can penetrate the skin and display clearly on a scan.

The research team started with a nanoparticle that was made of dye and filled with peroxide esthers. They later realized that the reverse (a particle made of peroxalate esters and filled with dye) was more effective at imaging hydrogen peroxide, Murthy said.

The group will conduct further tests with the nanoparticles to confirm their safety and effectiveness.

How to effectively use voice recognition for patient documentation

If you don’t already own a copy of voice recognition software, you probably know someone who does. Some have had great experiences with it, MOST have not. Why?

Voice Recognition Software has come a long way since the early IBM Via Voice and Dragon Naturally Speaking days. But is it there yet? Is it ready to be the documentation solution that you’ve been waiting for all these years? It just might be.

Voice recognition software has been around for longer than you think. Try 1970. It’s sort of one of those technologies that everyone has been waiting for 30 years but it just never really got finished. Like alternative energy cars. However the advancements made in this technology over the past 10 years have been remarkable and more and more products coming to market these days are equipped with voice activation ie. Cell Phones, Cars.

So what does this all mean for healthcare professionals and there endless amounts of paper work? The technology is mature enough to revolutionize your documentation, however it is not for the faint of heart. Do not expect to be able to go to your local computer store pick up a copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking and be able to dictate that 10 page report that night. Your success will be based on these three factors:

Hardware – A powerful computer and a digital quality microphone (usually USB) is your first step to starting out on the right foot. Your computer should be at least a 1 GHz and should have 512MB RAM. A headset microphone or digital array microphone is your best bet. If you’re thinking about using a Tablet PC, Motion Computing’s M1400 has a built-in microphone that works very well.

Training – The reality 9 out of 10 people will not go home and read the entire users manual to learn all the features that the software has to offer. Training from someone who is experienced in using the software is a great way to go. An hour or two will go a long way in getting a good voice profile setup.

Practice – Expect to spend at least 5-10 hours of learning the features, training your profile, making corrections and getting comfortable with using it from day to day.

Taking these simple steps should get you to a level where you will favor voice recognition over typing, and it’s only up from there. The end result of the development of this technology will be a universal profile that will achieve extremely high accuracy with no training at all, meaning anyone can just pick up the microphone and use it. This will then allow for the development of real-time language translators (already in the works).

EMR Benefits in a Urology Practice

An interview article by John Deutsch describing his experience with A.I.med, an EMR and practice management product by Acrendo Medical Software

Electronic Medical Records has been a popular topic of discussion throughout the healthcare industry, with extensive pressure from the government for physicians to convert to EMR. However, there has been little concrete data on the actual return physicians will receive on their investment. The percentage of small private practices who have implemented EMR is still below 10%. Dr. Moez Khorsandi, a urologist in Los Angeles made the leap to EMR and comments that he would “never go back to paper”. The following is an interview between John Deutsch of Acrendo Medical Software and Dr. Khorsandi.

John: “Dr. Khorsandi, how did you reach the decision to purchase an EMR?”
Dr. Khorsandi: “Two reasons John, no. 1 was that handwriting became so painful for me that I had to find an alternative method to charting my notes, and no. 2 was I needed to improve the profitability of my practice. The potential of EMR was obvious to me but I was skeptical and wondered whether the $10K to $15K dollar investment would be worth the risk.”

John: “What key features were you looking for in an EMR?”
Dr. Khorsandi: “Efficiency was my no.1 priority. In order for EMR to successfully work in my practice it had to be easy to use, and robust enough to keep up with me, even when I see up to 10 patients per hour. Before I went with Acrendo, I looked at multiple products, many of which were very point and click intensive. Most of my patient visits are routine and I needed a system that would allow me to move quickly from screen to screen and a system that would allow me to create customized EMR templates. I was also concerned about the support we would receive from the company I chose. I felt the implementation process would be challenging and I needed a company that would be there for us when we needed help. Acrendo has always provided that high level of help.”

John: “How has EMR helped you save time?”
Dr. Khorsandi: “EMR has greatly reduced my overall charting time by reducing the redundant data entry. As a specialist, I often have to write duplicate notes – one for my own records and another for the primary care physician. A.I.med’s EMR has eliminated this problem completely.”

John: “How has EMR helped increase your revenues and profitability in an industry facing deep reimbursement cuts?”
Dr. Khorsandi: “EMR has integrated with my billing system by pushing the CPT/ICD-9 codes from my notes to the billing system in real-time. This has resulted in more accurate and timely billing. Documentation is much more accurate and accessible to every user in the system. Providing proof of documentation to insurance companies is now very fast and easy as well.”

John: “How has EMR helped improve your quality of care?”
Dr. Khorsandi: “For starters, we don’t have to look for charts anymore. There has been a significant improvement in the quality of patient care. And by having quick access to medical records, it gives us the ability to have patients’ information at our fingertips within seconds from any computer.”

John: “How long did it take you to achieve a 100% Return on Investment?”
Dr. Khorsandi: “Even with a small practice, a relatively low number of daily patient visits and buying the necessary hardware I have seen a 100% ROI in approximately 12 months.”

John: “What challenges did you experience during the implementation phase?”
Dr. Khorsandi: “Scanning in our old records was a big hurdle.”

John: “If you had to do it all over again what would you do differently?”
Dr. Khorsandi: “Nothing”

A.I.med by Acrendo Software is a state-of-the-art Practice Management and Electronic Medical Record software system. Designed with the small-medium size practice in mind, A.I.med is both affordable and easy-to-use. A.I.med’s award winning “back-end” allows for real-time customization and is designed for Windows 2000 and XP. Based in Southern California, Acrendo Software boasts a 100% client retention rate as a result of their excellent support and products.

EMR Article - Tablet PCs and Electronic Medical Records

Which is the best Tablet PC for physicians? What is the difference between slate-style and convertible-style Tablet PC's? How long is the battery life? What type of CPU is best? Will using a tablet improve my quality of care?

Tablet PC's are the hottest technology in the world of Electronic Medical Records and truly deliver on their promise to provide physicians with an electronic solution for their patient charts. Here are some answers to some of the most common questions regarding Tablet PC's.

Which is better: Slate or Convertible style Tablet PC's?
Tablet PC's come in 2 styles, the slate-style and the convertible-style. The primary difference is that the convertible-style comes equipped with a built-in keyboard while the slate style does not. Using a slate-style Tablet PC requires the user to use the stylus/digitizer pen as the primary user interface. If a keyboard is needed the Tablet PC must be connected to a docking station connected to a keyboard. While the convertible still has full Tablet PC capabilities like hand-writing recognition, speech recognition and mobility, convertible-style Tablet PC's tend to be thicker and heavier as their keyboard is simply unnecessary weight when being used in Tablet PC mode; this weight difference is usually about 1-2 pounds. In most cases the slate-style Tablet PC is a better choice as it is lighter (usually 3.5 lbs), easier to carry and offers more advanced features. However if you think you will be using the Tablet PC out of the office, or need to frequently use a keyboard the convertible is a more robust option.

How do Tablet PC's connect to my network?
Almost all Tablet PC's these days come equipped with built-in wireless networking. In order for a Tablet PC to send or receive data from your Electronic Medical Record Software in real time you must be connected to a wireless network. In order to do this you will need a Wireless Access Point which will enable you to connect the Tablet PC(s) wirelessly to your wired network. A high quality Wireless Access Point should be purchased as its proper functioning will be a major determining factor in how well your network performs. Business-quality access points from Cisco, 3COM, NetGear, D-Link are all good options and generally cost between $150-$400.

What type of CPU is best for Tablet PC’s?
Tablet PC's come equipped with two types of CPUs, the Intel Celeron and the Intel Centrino w/ Pentium M technology. While the Celeron is significantly less expensive, it lacks some of the important features that come with the Centrino including integrated wireless, faster performance, improved stability and advanced power-saving controls. The wireless chipset included with the Centrino platform are generally high-quality wireless cards that function in both 802.11b and 802.11g environments. In a physician office setting, heavy use of the wireless is expected so picking a Tablet PC with good wireless capabilities is very important.

How long is the battery life on a Tablet PC?
Battery life ranges from 2 hours to 6 hours depending on the model. While many of the Tablet PC manufacturers claim to have higher battery life they often do not take into account how the Tablet PC is being used. For example, the built-in wireless networking can suck up a lot of battery life as do large applications such as Electronic Medical Records Software. Even under these circumstances almost all Tablet PCs have a minimum battery life of 2 hours and some of the Tablet PC's by Motion, HP, Fujitsu and Electrovaya can achieve consistent battery life of over 3.5 hours under heavy use.

How can Tablet PCs help physicians deliver better patient care?
Tablet PC's provide physicians with an endless amount of information right at their finger tips. This translates into better patient care because the physician can access a more thorough patient record, access patient education databases, access medication databases to aid in prescription of medications, document at the point of encounter and send prescriptions/lab requests electronically using a more secure, less error prone method of transmission.

Which Tablet PCs are best for use in physician offices?
While there is no clear choice when it comes to purchasing a Tablet PC there are 3 models that have become very popular among physicians and are generally good choices. The new Motion LE1600 Tablet PC by Motion Computing and Fujitsu ST5000 Tablet PC by Fujitsu are arguably the best Slate-Style Tablet PC's on the market; both range between $2000-$2500. The Toshiba Portege is a great option as a convertible Tablet PC. The new Acer C200 and IBM Thinkpad Tablet PC's are also great convertible-style options.

Anxiety - What is an Anxiety Symptom?

Am I having a heart attack? Am I dying? Or is it anxiety? Many symptoms of anxiety mirror symptoms of other illnesses. This is because the “fight or flight” response is triggered in anxiety attacks and the body will respond as if it is threatened. The heart will race; the breathing will become shallow, sweats will breakout over the body to keep it cool in preparation for flight, these are all signs of anxiety, or an anxiety attack. Attacking anxiety back and regaining control over your reflex responses will help reduce the number, frequency and severity of your anxiety symptoms.When an Anxiety Symptoms is Harmful and When it Isn'tThere is a wide range of anxiety symptoms that may be no more than a mild feeling of uneasiness and as intense as extreme fear. In some cases, a little amount of anxiety is good and normal and it may even help to improve a person’s performance. There are features like having heart palpitations or a racing heart as well as a lot of sweating that point in the direction of being an anxiety symptom. Symptoms such as irritability and lack of concentration as well as having strange thoughts and having extreme mood changes are psychological symptoms.Treating Anxiety Stress SymptomsOne may wonder as to what the causes of anxiety symptoms are and who the people at greatest risk are. The answer lies in the fact that anxiety symptoms are a result of anxiety disorders which may occur due to a change in the way amygdale, which is a small organ in the subconscious brain, reacts. This is also known as anxiety switch. For treatment to be effective, there is a need for concentrating directly on these symptoms and the treatment should be aimed at the root causes of any anxiety disorders, which in other words, is an inappropriate reaction of the amygdale.It may be noted that everybody may have experienced anxiety symptoms at some point of time in their lives and most are able to effectively deal with such situations. When there is a lot of unusual rise in the adrenaline levels in the blood it sets off a chain reaction of normal but wrong reactions which results in powerful anxiety symptoms that greatly affect the person afflicted.There are also instances of some people experiencing symptoms when there is no obvious cause and these are known as free-floating symptoms that can be discontinuous in nature or may continue over a longer period of time. Some even have situational anxiety wherein the anxiety symptoms can be correlated with particular situations.One may also wonder whether anxiety symptoms are harmful and the answer is certainly not. They do not cause harm to the person even though they elicit a sense of horror and scare the person but in effect anxiety symptoms are not harmful, being exaggerations of normal body sensations and reactions. It bears repeating that to treat anxiety symptoms, one has to address the root cause, which lies in the amygdale, where anxiety is created and stored as well as sustained.

Hypertension - Forget The Salt And Spice Up Your Life

If you have hypertension, or are worried about developing high blood pressure, then you will probably know that one of the first things you need to do is to reduce your intake of salt. However, that is not always as easy as it sounds.

Salt has been around for thousands of years and is used in most food products both as a preservative and to bring out the flavor of the food. This means that when it comes to cutting down on salt you have two problems - trying to avoid buying foods which contain a lot of salt and finding an alternative way to add flavor to your meals.

Fortunately today both the government and food manufacturers often come to our rescue when it comes to helping us to choose food products which are low in salt. As far as the government is concerned almost all foods today are required to carry nutritional labeling, which includes the amount of salt, or sodium, which the food contains. At the same time, more and more manufacturers are now producing sodium free, or very low sodium, varieties of many of our favorite foodstuffs.

But, when it comes to good old fashioned home cooking, what do we do with all those recipes which call for a pinch of salt?

Well, a pinch of salt is probably okay here and there. After all, we are not talking about cutting salt out of our diet altogether, but simply about reducing our intake. But the pinches soon add up and so, while a little bit of salt in some recipes will not do any harm, you need to look for ways of replacing this salt wherever possible.

One answer is to turn to spices and herbs or to low sodium seasonings such as onion powder, garlic powder and sodium free bouillon.

Of course you will need to experiment to see what you like and do not like, but start with a few simple ideas like seasoning and marinating fish and meat well ahead of cooking to bring out the flavor. You will also find that there are all sorts of things that you can add to your food at the table to add flavor. For example, try squeezing a little fresh lime or lemon juice onto your vegetables.

Cutting down on salt to help lower hypertension, or to prevent you from developing high blood pressure in the first place, is not too difficult but it will take a little bit of thought and some experimentation.