Monday, February 1, 2010
Fears about losing status at job and about confidentiality are among the main reasons that many American workers are more hesitant to seek dealing for mental health issues than for physical health problems, according to a national survey released this week by the American Psychiatric Association.
More than 40 percent of the 1,129 respondents said their employer was supportive or enormously supportive of their workers seeking care for health concerns. However, the online review also found that barriers persist for workers who said their workplace is contrary of employees seeking treatment, especially for mental health concerns.
Among employees, 76 percent believed their work status would be injured by seeking treatment for drug addiction, 73 percent for alcoholism, and 62 percent for depression, compared with 55 percent who thought seeking care for diabetes would concern their work status and 54 percent for heart disease.
"It is important to support an environment that encourages employees taking care of their physical and mental health," Dr. Alan Axelson, chairman of the relations Partnership for Workplace Mental Health Advisory Council, said in an association news release. "Research supports the fact that when people receive wanted care, they are healthier and more productive -- and employers comprehend the return on their health care investment."
The partnership offers the suggestions for employers:
- Supervisors and managers should front by example by taking care of their physical and mental health.
- Workplaces should promote prevention, premature intervention and wellness programs. This includes holding health fairs, providing good meals and snacks at meetings, encouraging exercise and promoting a balance between work and the rest of an employee's life.
- Employees should be depressed from coming to work if they're ill.
Workers should be reminded of health benefits and accessible programs, and efforts should be taken to make sure they know how to access care. - Employees should be free from worry about confidentiality, especially that seeking mental health treatment
Friday, January 29, 2010
Children are likely to account for about forty four percent of the estimated number of Haitians injured in the devastating 12th January 2010 earthquake -- information that could be used to guide rescuers, say U.S. researchers.
The statistical study by the team at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the University of Southern California determined that extra than 110,000 children under age 18 are among the 250,000 injured people in Haiti. The researchers have set up a blog to help straight the choice and distribution of relief supplies.
Injured children have special requirements, including thinner hypodermic needles, children's doses of drugs and doctors who specialize in pediatrics.
For their study, the researchers used a software tool called the Pediatric Emergency Decision Support System (PEDSS), intended to help medical service provider's better plan for, train for and respond to serious incidents and disasters affecting children.
PEDSS uses statistical methods to estimation how many potential victims of a disaster in a exact location will be children and what types of medications and supplies they'll need.
The system analyzes 7 age groups, ranging from 0-1 months up to 12 to 18 year-olds. It also predicts how many injuries are predictable for each of 11 diagnoses, ranging from abdominal trauma to spinal injury, in each age group.
For example, PEDSS estimates that about 1,000 children ages 6 to 8 suffered crush injuries and that 265,263 doses of calcium gluconate 1g/10mL will be required to treat these victims.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Roche's cancer drug Xeloda enabled elderly patients being treating for colorectal cancer to be alive free of the disease for longer, the world's largest maker of cancer drugs said on Thursday.
A study showed that patients over the age of 65 or 70 years who took Xeloda, or capecitabine, with Xelox, or oxaliplatin, instantaneously after surgery lived disease-free for longer compared with those treated with regularly used chemotherapy regimen 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin.
In July, Roche said Xeloda, which is by now approved for the treatment of early-stage colon cancer as a monotherapy, increased the time patients lived when taken with oxaliplatin, meeting its prime goal in a late-stage trial.
Colorectal cancer is the 2nd most common cause of death from cancer in men and women in Europe, with nearly 1 million cases each year globally, said Roche.
Age is the biggest risk factor for the disease and above 90 % of cases are diagnosed in individuals above the age 50, Roche said.
Labels: Roche drug keeps patients cancer-free for longer time
