Use Of Yoga, Meditation, And Chiropractors Among U.S. Adults: 2012-2017
A report from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in November 2018 examines changes over time in the percentage of adults who used yoga, meditation, and chiropractors in the past 12 months, as well as variation by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin. Among adults aged 18 and over, increases were seen from 2012 to 2017 in the use of yoga, meditation, and chiropractors. Yoga was the most commonly used complementary health approach among U.S. adults in 2012 (9.5%) and 2017 (14.3%). In 2017, women were more likely to use yoga, meditation, and chiropractors in the past 12 months compared with men. Non-Hispanic white adults were more likely to use yoga, meditation, and chiropractors compared with Hispanic and non-Hispanic black adults. In 2012, seeing a chiropractor was as popular as yoga, followed by meditation, but in 2017, meditation became the 2nd most-used approach ahead of chiropractic.
Increasing Medication Adherence Could Improve Care And Save Health Care Costs
Non-adherence to medication represents a major problem that limits the effectiveness of treatment and adds to the burden of illness and cost of health care. About half of all patients do not take their medication as prescribed, according to a September 2018 report from the National Council for Behavioral Health’s Medical Director Institute. Estimates indicate that medication non-adherence costs the health care delivery system $100 billion to $300 billion annually due to more frequent use of high-cost services, additional prescriptions to offset non-adherence, and interventions to address relapses. The report discusses medication non-adherence in chronic conditions, mental health, and substance use disorders, and offers some possible solutions. If many of these solutions were to be adopted by 2025, a projection is made that the health system would save $2 billion a year from reduced hospital costs alone. Apart from improving communication between patients and providers, some more high-tech solutions include apps and robots.
HEALTH TECHNOLOGY CORNER
Robotic Arm May Help To Rehabilitate Chronic Stroke Victims’ Communication Deficits
Apropos of the article about silos in Health Silo Disruption and Eradication of this issue of TRENDS, treatment in one domain (motor function) may benefit performance in another untreated domain (communication) in individuals with acquired aphasia, the loss of ability to understand or express speech. Research published in Frontiers in Neurology on October 22, 2018 shows that robotic arm rehabilitation in chronic stroke patients with aphasia may promote speech and language function recovery. The rehabilitation in this study targeted the right arm since study participants each had suffered a left hemisphere stroke leading to a deficit in motor function on their right side. The research team observed small, but consistent improvement on measures assessing speech articulation and overall language processing in aphasia. It is believed some treatment approaches may encourage plasticity and reorganization that can span multiple domains. Although this initial finding should be interpreted cautiously, it remains exciting to consider the possibility that stroke rehabilitation in one domain would improve performance in another domain.
Obesity Provides Unexpected Enhancement Of Anticancer Medications
Obesity is associated with increased mortality and reduced longevity, but counter-intuitive findings occasionally suggest evidence of an obesity paradox. An article published in the journal Nature Medicine on November 16, 2018 indicates that overweight patients sometimes respond better than other patients to powerful drugs that harness the immune system to fight tumors. Called checkpoint inhibitors, the drugs block the activation of PD-1, a protein on the surface of immune sentinels called T cells. The body naturally triggers PD-1 to dampen immune responses, but tumors also can stimulate PD-1 to protect themselves. Lifting this molecular “brake” allows the T cells to attack the cancer cells. PD-1 inhibitors have caused untreatable tumors to vanish for years in patients with melanoma, lung cancer, and some other cancer types. Although there is heightened immune dysfunction and tumor progression, there also is greater anti-tumor efficacy and survival after checkpoint blockade that targets some pathways activated in obesity.
More Articles from TRENDS November 2018
HEALTH SILO DISRUPTION AND ERADICATION
Various intramural and extramural factors are identified that serve as artificial boundaries impeding the effective delivery of health care services. Read More
PRESIDENT’S CORNER—ASAHP MEMBER FOCUS
ASAHP President Susan Hanrahan describes recent activities that include upgrades to the Association’s website and the work of the ASAHP International Task Force. Read More
ELECTION RESULTS TO PONDER
The recent mid-term election in November 2018 produced results that suggest health policy initiatives that will be pursued at both federal and state levels. Read More
HEALTH REFORM DEVELOPMENTS
Medicare Advantage will expand to address social determinants of health while developments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and telehealth will influence the delivery of health care services. Read More
DEVELOPMENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
This section of TRENDS has a focus on proposed regulations involving Title IX campus sexual assault, a bill that would allow the Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service to share student data, and reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Read More
AVAILABLE RESOURCES ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONICALLY
Separate & Unequal Public Colleges
Access To High School Courses That Help Prepare Students For College
Understanding Disparities In Access To Genomic Medicine Read More
CELEBRATING ALLIED HEALTH WEEK AT DES MOINES UNIVERSITY
Among other activities, members of an interprofessional student club brought to campus members of a recruitment staff to assist in honing interviewing skills and resumés. Read More
NAVIGATING THE HEALTH FRONTIER
Survey results furnish a deeper understanding of consumers’ decision-making processes in ways that can equip health care providers to retain and engage them effectively as well as attract new ones. Read More