To Test, Or Not To Test, Kids’ Genes For Adult Diseases
More than 200 parents surveyed thought that the benefits of genetic testing for children outweighed the risk. Overall, the parents said conditions like high cholesterol and diabetes were serious health risks, and that it was very important to know the relationship between genetics and health.
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OHIO: Changes in Ohio Law; Hurdles to HIV Testing Removed
Many doctors remain unaware of changes made to Ohio’s HIV testing law in 2009, prompting the state Department of Health to issue screening guidelines this past fall. Previously, doctors had to conduct pre-test HIV consultations and obtain separate consent to test for the virus. When the results were in – regardless of whether they were positive or negative – doctors again had to consult with the patient. “Essentially, the patient had to get down on their knees and beg for the test,” said Dr. Ron Reynolds, a Cincinnati provider who helped push for the change. Under the new law, consultations are no longer mandatory and no separate consent is required. “An HIV test can now legitimately be handled just like a blood-sugar test or cholesterol test,” said Reynolds. Government-supported testing sites, including those at health departments, must still offer counseling after a negative test, said Bill Tiedemann, who runs the state health department’s HIV prevention program. The law “doesn’t reduce someone’s confidentiality around their health information; what it does is reduce the barriers at the clinical level,” he said. Ohio State University Medical Center’s Dr. Michael Para said HIV testing rates will rise when physicians become educated on the law. “We basically have to change physicians’ ideas, and that happens slowly,” he said. The state health department last year was awarded a $1.18 million grant to expand HIV testing by 53,000 residents during a three-year period. Five emergency departments across Ohio will receive grant funds to support routine testing. CDC reported last year that 55 percent of US adults, including 28 percent with a known risk factor, have not been tested for HIV. An estimated one in five Americans with HIV do not know they are infected. [Article source: http://www.dispatch.com]
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UNITED STATES: Diagnosis Reinforces Need for HIV Testing in Older Adults
“Wanda, a 68-year-old widow and retired bank worker, was admitted to the hospital by her family physician, who was worried about her diarrhea and 30-pound weight loss. … “On the second day of her hospitalization, the hospitalist … explained that he needed to share with her some bad news. … “The doctor told her she had HIV, and her white blood cell counts were very low, a sign that the infection had been present in her body for some time. Her jaw dropped. ‘HIV? Me? But how could that have happened? I don’t use drugs.’ Her primary care doctor had never tested her for HIV. “Given that 15 percent of all new cases of HIV occur in people older than 50, [CDC] recommends routine HIV testing for older adults. “While doctors often are aggressive about checking old people for cholesterol, blood sugar, and thyroid hormones, they often forget about HIV. Perhaps that is because they are uncomfortable talking with older people about their sexual behaviors, or perhaps doctors stereotype those with HIV as young people who engage in high-risk behaviors. “Doctors have overlooked the fact that 73 percent of people in their late 50s and 60s engage in sexual activity, and the percentage who are sexually active drops only slightly as people get older. “In addition, as lifetime partners die from any number of causes, the survivors often seek out new partners without thinking about, or even knowing, the risk of [STDs] like HIV. They are often not aware of the need to use condoms, feeling that there is no reason to fear an unwanted pregnancy. “When we delay diagnosis of HIV in older adults, this often leads to poorer outcomes as the infection has a chance to cause more damage to the immune system. “It makes sense for doctors and their patients to talk about sexual behaviors and to consider requesting permission from the person for an HIV test along with other tests that are intended to look for hidden diseases.” The author is a professor of medicine at the University of California-Davis. Identifying characteristics were changed to protect patient confidentiality. [Article source: http://www.sacbee.com]
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NHS Not Routinely Testing For Killer Disease, UK
100,000 people in the UK are at risk from an undiagnosed heart condition called familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), says the Royal College of Physicians. FH is an inherited condition causing high levels of LDL cholesterol, which causes early heart disease. Roughly half of men with FH, if untreated, will have developed heart disease by the age of 55 years, and roughly one third of women by the age of 60. Crucially, half of their first degree relatives (brothers, sisters and children) will be similarly affected but are often unaware of the condition…
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Muscle Strength Testing Can Measure Health
Muscle Strength Testing Can Measure Health. Doctors are really good at measuring all sorts of things like blood pressure, hematocrit, FCV, TSH, cholesterol, bone density, size, shape and mass. In fact, they can measure nearly everything except the two things that really matter, health and pain. Imagine if scientists could measure health. What would they measure? To measure something you have to be able to define it. The World Health Organisation’s definition is 0ptimal physical, mental and social well being, not merely the absence of disease. How is any doctor going to measure that? Blood tests? X-Rays? Does your doctor measure how fast you can run 200 metres? Swim against a current? Carry someone to safety? Jump off a 6 foot fence? Cope with divorce? Respond to someone who needs your help? Surely those are all signs of optimal well being. Without a way of measuring health, doctors are forced to look for indicators of disease. This must not be confused with preventative medicine. Nobody is healthier because they had their blood pressure taken or their cholesterol measured. These tests are searching for early indicators of disease which are then an excuse for treatment, which may include diet and exercise, but will most often result in a prescription for medication, prompting the question, how does the ingestion of a known poison make you healthier? Anyone interested in improving their health must first decide what health is and how they will measure it. While longevity and early death are fairly good indicators of health, by the time they are measured, it’s probably too late to do much about them.
My preferred definition is ‘Resistance to illness and injury.’ This is fairly easy to measure based on how often you are sick or in pain. It’s fairly easy to compare yourself to your friends and see how you’re doing (try to choose healthy friends) Actually, there is a measurement that predicts both longevity and resistance to disease. A major study published in the British Medical Journal in July 2008 measured muscle strength relative to muscle mass and found that weaker men tended to die earlier than stronger men, even after allowing for activity level and cardiovascular fitness. The researchers measured the maximum strength of over 8000 men and followed them for 19 years on average. They found the highest death rates from all causes, including heart disease and cancer, in men with the lowest strength relative to their muscle mass.
Interestingly, the effect was still present in those who did no exercise at all, meaning that exercise was not the major factor in determining strength.(1) Until more doctors recommend this fairly basic test, I recommend you test your strength against fairly mundane measures, like how many push ups or squats someone of your height, weight and age should be able to manage, something any personal trainer or gym instructor should be able to tell you.
What You Should Know About Cholesterol Testing
When should I undergo a cholesterol test? What would the results say about my health? How many tests are there and which will give me the best results?
Unlike any other health tests, cholesterol testing does not diagnose disease. Instead, it reveals the risks of developing heart disease. Cholesterol testing is considered necessary in preventive health care for individuals over 20 years of age. The test should be repeated once every five years for healthy individuals.
Cholesterol testing, along with HDL, LDL and triglyceride testing is called the lipoprotein profile.
Cholesterol testing is done several times a year for individuals who are on a prescribed diet and for those who are taking cholesterol lowering medications.
Usually blood samples are drawn from the arm. Sometimes blood samples are taken from the fingertip. The samples are analyzed by a cholesterol testing device. Cholesterol tests are used to monitor the progress in lowering the cholesterol level.
Test results are grouped in three types:
* Desirable – the cholesterol level of 200 mg/dL below is regarded to be desirable because it has a low risk of heart disease.
* Borderline high – a total cholesterol level of 200 mg/dL to 240 mg/dL is at fair risk of having heart disease. Your doctor may decide to give you have a lipid profile in order to determine which cholesterol level is high.
* High Risk – a 240 mg/dL cholesterol level is considered to be at high risk of heart disease. Expect a lipid profiling if your cholesterol level is this high. It is more likely that you will be given a cholesterol lowering medication along with a low cholesterol diet.
Cholesterol tests are usually given when the individual is healthy because the blood cholesterol level of an individual who has an acute illness, (after a heart attack or after surgery or accident) is likely to be low. Individuals are advised to wait at least six weeks after any illness before taking cholesterol tests. Pregnant women are also advised to wait six weeks before having their cholesterol level measured.
A Brief Explanation of Cholesterol Ratios:
Cholesterol ratios consist of total cholesterol. Total cholesterol includes low level lipoprotein cholesterol levels (LDL cholesterol), triglycerides and high density lipoprotein cholesterol level (HDL cholesterol).
Cholesterol is measured by milligrams of cholesterol per deciliter of blood (mg/dL). Usually, only the total cholesterol amount is given when a person is tested for cholesterol. Sometimes you are given the HDL cholesterol and the total cholesterol results.
The desirable total cholesterol level is 200mg/dL and the beneficial amount of HDL is more than 40mg/dL.
There are two important cholesterol ratios. These they are LDL/HDL cholesterol ratios and total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratios.
In the latter cholesterol ratios, your cholesterol result is given by the total cholesterol divided by the HDL cholesterol. According to the American Heart Association, the desirable amount should be below 5:1 with the optimal amount of 3.5:1 or 3.5 to 1.
The LDL/HDL is done by dividing LDL cholesterol by the HDL cholesterol. The desirable amount in this ratio should be 3.5 below. The American Heart Association recommended that physicians must use complete numbers for total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol in determining the appropriate treatment.
A normal cholesterol level as suggested by the National Institute of Health:
* total cholesterol – 200mg/dL
* LDL – 100mg/dL
* HDL (man) – 40mg/dL above
* HDL (woman) – 50mg/dL above
* Triglycerides – 150mg/dL
It is important to remember to fast the night before, prior to taking a lipid profile test (a test that profiles the HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and total cholesterol) the next day.
If this information was useful, visit our website The Low Cholesterol Recipe to find out more.
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