...people and groups while the links show relationships or flows between the nodes. SNA provides both a visual and a mathematical analysis of human relationships (Orgnet, 2013). It is a study of social networks and how the network someone belongs to affects that individual and also how the individual selects or affects (influences) the network. This report will focus on the concepts namely influence, selection and homophily separately and also with reference to the literature, ‘The Collective Dynamics of Smoking in a Large Social Network’ by Christakis and Fowler (2008) and will then attempt to assess the results of the study and discuss the various questions in poses for its readers. Andrew Lansley, Member of the British Parliament said, ‘’Peer pressure and social norms are powerful influences on behaviour, and they are classic excuses’’. This quote is very apt to what the literature in question talks about. Christakis and Fowler (2008) inspect the scale of person-to-person spread of smoking behaviour and the extent to which clusters of people quit together, using network analytic methods and longitudinal statistical models. They have based their study on a largely interconnected network of 12,067 people regularly and repeatedly examined from 1971 to 2003 as a part of the Framingham Heart Study. Over the period of more than 30 years of research it was found that there was a considerable decrease in the overall smoking population however the size of clusters of smokers remained...
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...Abstract The United States is one of the leading countries with the most overweight people. There are many parents who are unaware of the situation and do not have enough information to address this issue. As Michelle Obama is trying to get schools to eat healthier, the responsibility lies in the parents because what children eat at home also affect their weight. Research shows that being obese or overweight is linked to risks of chronic disease, disability, death, and decreased productivity and quality of life. These individuals have high risk of hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, etc. And that Child obesity increases the risk of having heart disease and stroke before they turn 30. Studies have also found that more children are eating away from home, snacking in between meals, consuming more junk food, and the lack of exercise due to more TV time can lead to being overweight and obesity. A survey was done and one of the findings that were expected was the correlation between more TV hours and the effect on the weight of the children. It was confirmed with the surveys received that as TV hours went up, weight also went up. It also holds true that children don’t eat as much fruits and vegetable servings as recommended. Parents need to reshape their thinking about the way they live to help prevent or reduce obesity in their children. Parents should be aware that what the kids do or eat at home has a direct effect on the children’s...
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...Heart Failure Prevention Daniel Ruiz Grand Canyon University: NRS-429V March 16, 2014 Heart Failure Prevention There has begun a shift from acute care in the hospital setting to a more preventative approach, taking place in the community. With this shift, nurses will be taking a more involved role in preventing disease and promoting health. As healthcare evolves and changes over time, so has the role of the nurse. They will be seeing an increase in their responsibilities in implementing health promotion and disease prevention that can be approached in three different levels, primary, secondary and tertiary health promotion prevention. Health promotion is the process of helping people improve their lifestyle and taking steps towards more optimal health. The purpose of health promotion in nursing practice is just that, to help those they care for increase their health and quality of life. The nurse implements this improvement in several different areas. The nurse collaborates with those around them, other nurses, physicians, social workers and other interdisciplinary staff. The nurse advocates for individuals to ensure they are receiving the care they deserve and to help the individual learn to advocate for themself. The nurse is a case manager, collecting information and passing it along. They are a consultant and educator, teaching and providing information to help promote the health of the individual, family and community. The nurse provides direct...
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...many health issues such as diabetes, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. Types of physical activity can produce significant health benefits. One does not have to achieve a high fitness level to achieve health benefits Heart disease and stroke are two of the leading causes of death in the United States. But following the Guidelines and getting at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity can put one at a lower risk for these diseases. Regular physical activity can also lower one’s blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels. Regular physical activity can even reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a condition in which you have some combination of too much fat around the waist, high blood pressure, or low HDL cholesterol. (High-density lipoprotein) HDL is also known as good cholesterol because it is thought to help remove bad cholesterol from the body, high triglycerides, or high blood sugar. Research shows that lower rates of these conditions are seen with 120 to 150 minutes a week of at least moderate-intensity aerobic activity. And the more physical activity you do, the lower ones risk will be. Physical activity, especially aerobic activity, is good for the heart. Physical...
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...10-year ASVD Risk > 7.5% A second key difference is lack of LDL goals in order to monitor the effectiveness of cholesterol lowering medications. There were no recommendations made on follow up LDL testing, which differs from previous guidelines. The best way to accomplish the AHA/ACC recommended goals is to focus on decreasing cardiovascular disease events or ASCVD. Another major change to the guidelines states that non-statin therapies do not provide acceptable ASCVD risk reduction benefits compared to their potential for adverse effects. This recommendation will decrease the amount of non- statin medication being used for treatment. Another change made by the ACC/AHA was utilization of a pooled cohort risk assessment instead of the Framingham Risk Calculator to estimate 10-year risks...
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...CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an abnormal functioning of the heart or blood vessels. Heart disease (HD) is a general term for a variety of heart conditions. The most common form of HD is coronary heart disease (CHD), also called coronary artery disease (CAD) because it involves the coronary arteries. Other types of CVD include hypertension, congestive heart failure, stroke, congenital cardiovascular defects, hardening or narrowing (atherosclerosis) of the blood vessels, including the coronary arties, and other diseases of the circulatory system. The majority of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is caused by risk factors that can be controlled, treated or modified, such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, overweight/obesity, tobacco use, lack of physical activity and diabetes. However, there are also some major CVD risk factors that cannot be controlled. In terms of attributable deaths, the leading CVD risk factor is raised blood pressure (to which 13 percent of global deaths is attributed), followed by tobacco use (9 percent), raised blood glucose (6 percent), physical inactivity (6 percent) and overweight and obesity (5 percent). MODIFIABLE RISK FACTORS: 1) Hypertension (high blood pressure) Blood pressure is measured as two numbers, written one over the other and recorded in millimeters of mercury – for example, 120/78 mm Hg. High blood pressure is defined as a repeatedly elevated systolic pressure of 140 or higher OR a diastolic pressure of 90...
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...Minority Health Institute, Los Angeles, California Introduction Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has long been considered a disorder which principally affects men in our society; consideration of the occurrence of heart attacks in females, for example, has been largely an afterthought. In the past few years, however, it has become increasingly obvious that this is not a problem limited to males, but that it occurs with great frequency in women. We now know that CVD is the cause of death more than any condition in women over the age of 50, including cancer (1) and in fact is responsible for more than a third of all deaths in women (2). It is estimated that 370,000 women in the United States die from heart disease each year. However, our knowledge base regarding CVD in African American (AA) women has not kept pace with the accumulation of data on white females. Thus, there is a deficit of information about this subgroup and the prevalence of CVD despite the fact that black women have more risk factors for CVD than do white women (3). The purpose of this paper is to review the subject of CVD in African American women and to focus upon four principal CVD categories: Coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertension, stroke, and congestive heart failure (CHF).The impact of gender and race on each of these entities will be examined in comparison to white women, and a determination will be made as to whether a different approach to the management of these disorders should...
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...factor for coronary artery disease (CAD) and it has shown to be a contributing factor for CAD. An estimated 785,000 Americans will have a new CAD event and approximately 470,000 will have a recurrent attack. The cost of CAD is astounding and is estimated at $172 billion annually (Heidenreich, el. al., 2011). Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States (US) and is responsible to 17% of the national health expenditures. It has been eight years since new cholesterol guidelines have been updated and the new guidelines have created a little controversy. The ATP IV guidelines set by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) have created many waves in the treatment of cholesterol and lipid management. The guidelines stress the prevention of stroke as well as heart disease and focuses on statin therapy rather than other alternative unproven therapeutic agents. It also recognizes that more intensive treatment is superior to less intensive treatment for many patients. History Cholesterol screening guidelines have evolved and changed over the past couple of years, but there continues to be gaps in care with an insufficient number of patients receiving standard of care with lipid-lowering therapy. The numerous guidelines set out by specialty practices have been shown to be a contributing factor to suboptimal management of cholesterol management. The new ATP IV guidelines established by the ACC/AHA have sparked considerable...
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...in patients with heart failure ` ` Ofelia Aguado, MD, Cesar Morcillo, MD, PhD, Jordi Delas, MD, PhD, Mark Rennie, MD, Siraj Bechich, MD, ´ndez, MD, and Franscesc Rosell, MD, PhD Anna Schembari, PhD, Francesc Ferna OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a single home-based educational intervention for patients admitted with heart failure. METHODS: There were 106 patients: 42 in the intervention group and 64 in the control group. Patients were randomly assigned to receive an intervention by nursing staff 1 week after discharge. Primary end points were readmissions, emergency department visits, deaths, costs, and quality of life. RESULTS: During the 24-month follow-up, there were fewer mean emergency department visits in the intervention group than in the control group (.68 vs 2.00; P = .000), fewer unplanned readmissions S14 www.heartandlung.org NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 HEART & LUNG Aguado et al Educational intervention in heart failure patients readmissions, emergency department visits, and deaths. The impact on healthcare costs and quality of life measures is also assessed. MATERIALS AND METHODS Design We previously5 described a randomized clinical trial performed at the Sagrat Cor University Hospital (a 400-bed urban teaching hospital). The trial included patients admitted to the internal medicine and cardiology services between July 2001 and October 2003 with systolic HF according to the Framingham criteria. All patients...
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...COMMENTARIES 3. 25]. Available from: http://www.ccl-cca.ca/ccl/Reports/HealthLiteracy.html Petch E, Ronson B, Rootman I. Literacy and health in Canada: what we have learned and what can help in the future? A research report. Clear language edition [monograph on the Internet]. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Institutes of Health Research; 2004 [cited 2011 Nov 25]. Available from: www.cpha.ca/ uploads/portals/h-l/literacy_e.pdf Public Health Agency of Canada [homepage on the Internet]. Ottawa, ON: Public Health Agency of Canada; 2003 [updated 2011 Oct 21; cited 2011 Nov 26]. What determines health?; [about 3 screens]. Available from: http:// www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ph-sp/determinants/index-eng.php. Scott Murray, Data Angel Policy Research, Incorporated, Rima Rudd, Harvard School of Public Health, Irwin Kirsch, Educational Testing, Service, Kentaro Yamamoto, Educational Testing Service and, Sylvie Grenier, Statistics Canada. Health literacy in Canada: initial results from the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey 2007 [monograph on Internet]. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Council on Learning; 2007 [cited 2011 Nov 26]. Available from: www.ccl-cca.ca/pdfs/HealthLiteracy/HealthLiteracyinCanada.pdf Rao JK, Anderson LA, Inui TS, Frankel RM. Communication interventions make a difference in conversation between physician and patients: a systemic review of the evidence. Med Care. 2007;45(4):340-9. Stewart MA. Effective physician–patient communication and health outcomes: a review. CMAJ. 1995;152(9):1423-33...
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...Madhya Pradesh, India- 462021 SBRL Indrapuri, Bhopal (M.P.) *Corresponding Author E-mail: jyotisahupharma@gmail.com 2 1 ABSTRACT: In the present study the hypolipidemic activity of methanolic extracts of aerial parts of Quisqualis indica (QI) including flowers on passive smoking (PS) induced hyperlipidemia in rats had been evaluated. Hyperlipidemia was induced by passive smoking in a closed chamber having 1 burning ciggrette inside it. The hypolipidemic activity was analysed by reading the blood serum level in UV at 505 nm after treated with reagent present in auto span diagnostic kit. Dose of Methanolic extracts of QI had been prepared by using distilled water i.e. 200 mg/kg p.o. Methanolic extracts of QI significantly reduce the harmful lipid layer in blood serum at varying concentration and dose dependent manner which shows that the plant carries the hypolipidemic properties. It reduces the LDL, VLDL, cholesterol, triglyceride and raise HDL level in blood serum upto certain extent which was may be due to the inhibition of lipid peroxidation as the plants contain some active ingredients acting as antioxidants. Our result shows that the plants extracts recover the disorders in lipid metabolism noted in hyperlipidemic state. KEY WORDS: Hypolipidemic, Hypocholesterolemic, Passive smoking (PS), Hyperlipidemia, Quisqualis indica, Coronary heart disease. 1. INTRODUCTION: Hyperlipidemia refers to elevated levels of lipids and cholesterol in the...
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...34% of Americans were obese (Flegal, 2014). The overweight and obesity problem has become a major health problem in the U. S. In America a lot of our health problems stem from being overweight and obese. They represent nearly all ages and socio‑economic groups of peoples. . Obesity and overweightness depends on how much energy you take in (the calories in When the body has an excess of unused calories, the body will store the calories as fat. Consuming more calories than burned can be the result of unhealthy diet and eating habits. An unhealthy diet lacks fruits and vegetables and is high in fat. Lack of exercise or sedentary lifestyle can also contribute to excess calories. The American Heart Association recommends that people commit to increasing their heart rate through exercise or physical activity for thirty minutes per day, five times a week. Things such as walking, stair climbing, swimming, jogging, biking, or playing sports are considered appropriate forms of exercise or physical activity. Lack of sleep and certain medications such as corticosteroids can aid in obesity. In rare cases medical problems such as Prader-Willi syndrome and Cushing’s syndrome can lead to obesity. A person should consider all possible risk factors for obesity before making the assumption that the obesity is caused...
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...421–430 doi:10.1093/ejechocard/jeq175 REVIEW Left atrial function: physiology, assessment, and clinical implications Gustavo G. Blume 1, Christopher J. Mcleod 1, Marion E. Barnes 2, James B. Seward 1, Patricia A. Pellikka 1, Paul M. Bastiansen 1, and Teresa S.M. Tsang 2* 1 Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; and 2Division of Cardiology, University of British Columbia, 2775 Laurel Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada Online publish-ahead-of-print 12 May 2011 The interest in the left atrium (LA) has resurged over the recent years. In the early 1980s, multiple studies were conducted to determine the normal values of LA size. Over the past decade, LA size as an imaging biomarker has been consistently shown to be a powerful predictor of outcomes, including major public health problems such as atrial fibrillation, heart failure, stroke, and death. More recently, functional assessment of the LA has been shown to be, at least as, if not more robust, a marker of cardiovascular outcomes. Current available data suggest that the combined evaluation of LA size and LA function will augment prognostication. The aim of this review is to provide a critical appraisal of current echocardiographic techniques for the assessment of LA function and the implications of such assessment for prediction and disease prevention. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Keywords ...
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...Something called the Danish Twin Study established that only about 10 percent of how long the average person lives, within certain biological limits, is dictated by our genes. The other 90 percent is dictated by our lifestyle. So the premise of Blue Zones: if we can find the optimal lifestyle of longevity we can come up with a de facto formula for longevity. But if you ask the average American what the optimal formula of longevity is, they probably couldn't tell you. They've probably heard of the South Beach Diet, or the Atkins Diet. You have the USDA food pyramid. There is what Oprah tells us. There is what Doctor Oz tells us. The fact of the matter is there is a lot of confusion around what really helps us live longer better. Should you be running marathons or doing yoga? Should you eat organic meats or should you be eating tofu? When it comes to supplements, should you be taking them?How about these hormones or resveratrol? And does purpose play into it? Spirituality? And how about how we socialize? Well, our approach to finding longevity was to team up with National Geographic, and the National Institute on Aging, to find the four demographically confirmed areas that are geographically defined. And then bring a team of experts in there to methodically go through exactly what these people do, to distill down the cross-cultural distillation. And at the end of this I'm going to tell you what that distillation is. But first I'd like to debunk some common myths when it comes...
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... Ethics and Corporate Governance – LEG-500 March 18, 2014 Abstract The PharmaCARE scenario is a case study based on a real life tragedy. Corporate corruption is alive and well and, as this case proves, unethical corporations will break the law for extra profit. Utilitarian ethics should be considered when in the business of providing consumable products to the public. Unfortunately, there are pharmaceutical corporations operating in the U.S. who are not abiding by the law and who are endangering public safety. Introduction This case study involves a pharmaceutical company that violated the intellectual property rights of a foreign nation; violated state compounding regulations, and violated product safety laws. The company established a compounding pharmacy to mass-produce a new drug formulation that executives believed would earn huge profits. The most disturbing aspect of this case is that there was a tremendous loss of life as a result of the company’s decisions. The federal government has granted authority to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure drugs are safe for human consumption. Today, the FDA faces obstacles relating to lack of oversight control, funding, and human resources needed to provide adequate oversight over compounding pharmacies. This paper covers a broad-brush of ethical and legal issues relating to the PharmaCARE case study. The aspects of this case provide insight into federal and state law, corporate values, direct-to-consumer...
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