| ORLive Presents: A Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding for ...
A laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding procedure for obesity will be performed live over the Internet from Tampa General Hospital on March 6, 2007 at 4 PM EST on www.OR-Live.com. The LAP-BAND(R) System procedure involves placing an adjustable band around the connection between the food pipe and stomach to restrict the amount of food an individual can consume at one time. Since it is adjustable, the band can gradually be tightened by the physician during office visits, allowing individuals to use it as a tool to change their eating behaviors and lose weight. The procedure is intended to help patients reach a healthier weight in order to lead more mobile and active lives. Obesity is a chronic disease that affects more than 60 million Americans over the age of 20. It affects every organ system in the body and can cause major illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, acid reflux disease and degenerative joint disease.
TRICARE wants retirees to use mail-order drugs
Defense officials are weighing new initiatives to limit access to the TRICARE retail drug network, particularly for older beneficiaries who are using neighborhood drug outlets to get their maintenance medications. Proposals under review, some of which require congressional action to implement, were discussed Feb. 6 at the second public meeting of the Task Force on the Future of Military Health Care. The Department of Defense wants help from the task force to drive a larger proportion of 6.7 million TRICARE pharmacy users into the mail-order program which is far more efficient. Prescriptions filled by retail outlets cost TRICARE about 40 percent more than drugs obtained by mail. After a yearlong marketing campaign, the number of beneficiaries using mail order rose by only 11 percent, a figure that disappointed officials.
Health & fitness beat: Jan. 15
FEEL THE BURN To relieve the heartburn of gastroesophageal reflux, many people take acid suppressants, including a type called proton-pump inhibitors. The inhibitor drugs are thought to interfere with the body's use of calcium, so researchers wondered whether this might lead to more broken bones. Funded by GlaxoSmithKline (a company that makes a different type of reflux-combating drug as well as marketing an osteoporosis drug), researchers analyzed data on 148,942 people older than 50. During a 15-year period, 13,556 of them sustained a broken hip. Taking proton-pump inhibitors for more than a year was found to increase the likelihood of a hip fracture by 44 percent, compared with never taking them. As the dose and length of treatment increased, so did the risk, especially among men.
Easy-to-stomach pain relief
THE gastrointestinal tract is quite amazing. Measuring about 23ft from the lips to the anus, its responsible for the digestion and absorption of the food we take in everything that we eat has to pass through this organ. Essentially we are what we eat; and absorb. But inadequate or faulty digestive processes can lead to a variety of disorders. And these gastrointestinal disorders have a major impact on health. Some common gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are bloating, belching, burning, flatulence, indigestion, diarrhoea and constipation. This complex host of symptoms can be due to a variety of reasons. In the course of treating patients both young and old, great care needs to be practised so that the root of the gastrointestinal problem is correctly diagnosed and addressed.
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