CPR123 Newsletter January 31, 2012

Health and Industry News from CPR123

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Going to the Dentist Gets Even Safer

New York State Dental Association Gets AED Bill Signed into Law

 ALBANY, NY, June 17, 2011 – The New York State Dental Association (NYSDA) announced today at its annual House of Delegates meeting that Governor Cuomo signed a bill into law on June 8th that will improve public health and safety of New Yorkers statewide. Beginning January 1, 2012, all dentist offices in New York State will be required to have Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s) on-site. Dentists in New York are already required to be trained to use these devices. AED’s save lives and now over 10,000 dental offices across the State will have them available.

“We are pleased that Governor Cuomo has signed this important piece of legislation,” said Dr. Robert Doherty, President of NYSDA. “Over the years NYSDA has been a leader in public health legislation advocating proactively for appropriate protection from radiation and for certification requirements for administering anesthesia. This is just another way that the dental community is working to ensure the overall health and safety of all patients.”

New York is the second and largest state to statutorily, uniformly require that all dental offices possess AEDs. Illinois is the only other state that requires all dental offices to have AEDs. Other states have laws that require various conditions under which a dental office must have an AED usually related to the use of sedation.

“The American Red Cross strongly supported this legislation, and we commend the efforts of the Governor, the New York State Legislature and the New York State Dental Association for recognizing the important and proactive effects the installation of AED’s in dental offices will have,” said Gary Striar, CEO of American Red Cross of Northeastern New York.

NYSDA’s support of AEDs in dental offices is a result of the indisputable evidence that they greatly improve outcomes for people experiencing cardiac arrest. The prognosis of pre-hospital cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation is dependent on the first few minutes following the arrest. The importance of early defibrillation cannot be over-emphasized. The availability and use of AEDs has resulted in a marked increase in the effectiveness of pre-hospital CPR in saving lives.

It is estimated that an individual’s chances for survival decreases by 10% for each minute that defibrillation is delayed. Early defibrillation has been shown to be more effective than CPR alone. The national average for survival after sudden cardiac arrest is 5-6% without immediate defibrillation. In metropolitan areas, the survival rates are actually lower, 1-2%, leading many communities to equip first responders with AEDs. Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) programs have raised survival rates up to 60%.

While dental offices are not a site where cardiac arrest is likely to occur, as many people frequent dental offices, the availability of an AED provides additional protection for those in a dental office who may experience an unanticipated cardiac event, regardless of the cause. Read the entire article here.

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The Salty Stuff

Salt, Blood Pressure and Your Health

Salt is essential to our body’s fluids. That’s likely why we evolved to enjoy its taste. On the other hand, anyone who’s gotten a mouth full of seawater knows that too much salt tastes terrible. Maybe your body’s trying to tell you something. It turns out that too much salt can lead to a host of health problems.

The chemical name for dietary salt, or table salt, is sodium chloride. Since 90% of the sodium we ingest is from salt, it’s difficult to separate the effects of salt and sodium in many studies. However, it’s the sodium part most doctors focus on.

“The best known effect of sodium on health is the relationship between sodium and blood pressure,” explains Dr. Catherine Loria of NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Dozens of studies, in both animals and people, have shown that a higher salt intake raises blood pressure. Reducing salt intake, on the other hand, lowers blood pressure.

Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries as the heart pumps out blood. When this pressure rises—a condition called high blood pressure, or hypertension—it can damage the body in many ways over time. High blood pressure has been linked to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and other health problems.

There are 2 blood pressure numbers, and they’re usually written with one above or before the other. Systolic, the first, is the pressure when the heart beats, pumping blood through the arteries. Diastolic is the pressure when the heart is at rest between beats. The numbers 120/80 mmHg are the ones you should aim to keep your blood pressure below.

Some research also suggests that excessive salt intake might increase the risk of stomach cancer. Scientists continue to investigate this possible connection.

“A very modest decrease in the amount of salt, hardly detectable in the taste of food, can have dramatic health benefits for the U.S.,” Bibbins-Domingo stresses.

The salt we sprinkle on our food actually accounts for less than 10% of our salt consumption. Most of the salt we eat salt comes in processed foods from stores, restaurants and dining halls. You may already know that fast food, cold cuts and canned foods tend to have a lot of salt. http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2010/March/feature1.htmhttp://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2010/March/feature1.htm

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Pressure check in both arms catches artery disease

By MyHealthNewsDaily Staff

Measuring blood pressure in both the right and left arm may be an effective way of catching a silent but serious disease of the blood vessels, a new review says.

The findings showed that a difference in systolic blood pressure between the arms was linked with an increased risk of peripheral artery disease (PAD), a condition that involves a narrowing of the arteries in the extremities, particularly the legs and feet.

When researchers examined study participants' systolic blood pressure readings, those who had a difference between their right and left arms of 15 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or more were 2.5 times more likely to have PAD than those who had a smaller difference between their arms, the researchers said. Systolic blood pressure is the "top" number in a blood pressure reading.

The findings support the need for it to become the norm to take blood pressure readings from both arms, said study researcher Dr. Christopher Clark, of Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. Such tests could identify patients without symptoms at high risk for PAD who would benefit from further assessment or treatment, they say.

The researchers reviewed 28 studies that measured blood pressure in both arms of participants. The studies typically included patients at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, the researchers noted.

In addition to an increased risk of PAD, a 15mm Hg blood pressure difference between arms was also associated with a 70 percent increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and a 60 percent increased risk of dying from any cause.

Which arm has the higher pressure can vary between individuals, but it is the size of the difference that counts, not which arm is higher and which is lower, the researchers said. Read the entire article here.

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Home Births in U.S. Rise to Highest Level on Record, Study Shows

By Elizabeth Lopatto

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) — Home births rose 29 percent from 2004 to 2009, to almost three quarters of a percent of all U.S. live deliveries, the highest level since 1989, according to health authorities.

They were most common among non-Hispanic white women, where about 1 in 90 births are at home, according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics. Also, women ages 35 and older who already had children were more likely than others to have chosen a birth at home rather than a hospital.

In 2009, the most recent year for which data is available, there were 29,650 babies born at home, the highest level since the NCHS began collecting data in 1989. Over 60 percent of the deliveries were attended by midwives, 5 percent by physicians, and 33 percent by “others,” including family members or emergency medical technicians. Most of the non-hospital births were planned, according to the report.

“Women may prefer a home birth over a hospital birth for a variety of reasons, including a desire for a low-intervention birth in a familiar environment,” the authors of the report wrote. They may also deliver at home for religious reasons or a lack of transportation in rural areas.

Fewer babies born outside a hospital were to unmarried mothers or teenagers, the report said. In addition, the babies were less likely to be preterm, low birth weight or multiple births, which suggests that home birth attendants are screening women, preferring those who were low risk, the report said.

In 2009, Montana had the highest percentage of home births with 2.6 percent, followed by Oregon and Vermont. Read the entire article here.

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Study Finds Good Intentions Ease Pain, Add To Pleasure

A nurse's tender loving care really does ease the pain of a medical procedure, and grandma's cookies really do taste better, if we perceive them to be made with love – suggests newly published research by a University of Maryland psychologist. The findings have many real-world applications, including in medicine, relationships, parenting and business.

"The way we read another person's intentions changes our physical experience of the world," says UMD Assistant Professor Kurt Gray, author of "The Power of Good Intentions," newly published online ahead of print in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. Gray directs the Maryland Mind Perception and Morality Lab.

"The results confirm that good intentions – even misguided ones – can sooth pain, increase pleasure and make things taste better," the study concludes. It describes the ability of benevolence to improve physical experience as a "vindication for the power of good."

PAIN: EXPERIMENT 1.
Does kindness reduce pain? Three groups of participants received identical electric shocks at the hand of a partner. Members of the first group were in the "accidental" condition: They thought they were being shocked without their partner's awareness. The second, or "malicious condition, group thought they were being shocked on purpose, for no good reason. The final group ("benevolent" condition), also thought they were being shocked on purpose, but because another person was trying to help them win money. The result: Participants in the "benevolent" group experienced significantly less pain than both the "malicious" and "accident" participants. This finding should "provide relief to doctors and even those caring parents who are sometimes compelled to inflict pain on their charges for their [charges] own good," Gray writes in the paper.

PLEASURE: EXPERIMENT 2.
Do good intentions also heighten the experience of pleasure? People sat on an electric massage pad in an easy chair which was repeatedly turned on – either by an indifferent computer or a caring partner. Although the massages were identical, Gray found that partner massages caused significantly more pleasure than those administered by a computer. "Although computers may be more efficient than humans at many things, pleasure is still better coming from another person," the study concludes.

TASTE: EXPERIMENT 3.
Does benevolence improve how things taste? Subjects were given candy in a package with a note attached. For the benevolent group, the note read: "I picked this just for you. Hope it makes you happy. The non-benevolent (indifferent) version read: "Whatever. I just don't care. I just picked it randomly." The candy not only tasted better to the benevolent group, but it also tasted significantly sweeter. "Perceived benevolence not only improves the experience of pain and pleasure, but can also make things taste better," the study concludes.

For those in relationships, which is pretty much everyone, the message is to make sure your partner, sibling, friend, etc. knows you care. Gray notes, "It's not enough just to do good things for your partner – they have to know you want them to feel good. Just imagine saying, 'fine, here's your stupid hug,' – hardly comforting." The same would also seem to apply to cooking, where emphasizing your concern about the experience of the diners makes things taste better. Read the entire article here.

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