When The Dinner Table Is A Battle Field: Eating Disorders Examined

For some people eating is a constant battle. What causes people to have eating disorders? Women especially seem to be susceptible because they feel that they must be skinny like the models to be attractive. A popular reality TV show The Biggest Loser forces contestants to go through drastic life style changes to lose weight but also teaches how to eat healthy and how to set realistic goals. The success of shows like The Biggest Loser tells me something about America. Many Americans are over weight and scarily enough many who are not overweight believe themselves to be. Society pressures individuals to look a certain way or risk not meeting a mate or not being able to get a job. This causes pressures that we all know cause adolescents to develop eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating. Now new research shows that women of all ages suffer from eating disorders and it seems to occur during major life changes such as puberty, going to college, post pregnancy and even when children move away from home. As stated in the article titled “When Eating Disorders Strike in Midlife”.

The article blames our “thin-obsessed” culture because friends, family and even doctors fail to realize that a persons physique as dangerously unhealthy. These pressures not only are affecting teenagers but women of all ages. The article explains that middle age women affected with these eating disorders seek out help on their own whilst teenagers must be coerced into treatment. Even with treatment eating disorders are difficult to recover from it seems as if the bigger issue here is how as a society can we reduce the amount of people who start down the road of an eating disorder? Should it be seen as more of a focus in health classes? Or as a society that predicates so much on looks are we too far gone to realistically be able to stem the tsunami of people suffering from eating disorders caused by the very values of our culture its self?

The Business of Health Care

The transformation of medicine into a profit driven business is a worrisome trend. Capitalism is beautiful in its simplicity and tends to be the most efficient way to allocate scarce resources dependent on the “invisible hand” of the market. But perhaps unfettered capitalism when it comes to the professions in the medical field is a recipe for disaster. Especially when we consider the thousands of people losing their jobs and with those jobs their health insurance. Doctors are being pressured to fluff up there billing such that insurance companies must spend more. They accomplish this through the use of tests that may not be entirely necessary to try to gain more money from the insurance companies to offset off set the thousands of Americans who have no coverage. This leads to higher insurance premiums.

It seems as if the current economic climate may be hitting the medical field harder then most experts have predicted. The old adage is that doctors have excellent job security because “ people will always get sick and need doctors”. Part of this is true; people will always get sick and need doctors. But what happens when the masses can’t afford the health care and those that can are fiscally sacrificed on the behalf of those who cannot pay the unreasonable cost of health insurance. Is it possible that in the current economic climate that medical care can become more about dollars and cents then that of patient care?

According to Dr. Sandeep Jauher recent pledges from the hospital, drug and insurance industry to keep the costs down will likely fail unless drastic changes in how the health industry is financed occur. As Dr. Jauher states “Doctors will not willfully cut their own income. Hospitals and individual doctors are having to aid those who have no insurance due to the economic down turn. So in order to pay for all these people without health insurance, doctors have to charge more and thus health insurance is costlier”.

It seems to me that some sort of restructuring of the health care industry is needed. Or perhaps in times of economic down turn there needs to be something more then unemployment so when times are tough people can still seek medical care that is affordable. The right to be healed of an ailment that can be easily treated should be a fundamental human right. Regardless of income level, how ever those who can pay for their health insurance should be able to without having to foot the bill on their insurance bill. Perhaps in times of economic down turn the country itself should spend more diligently and responsibly to ensure that although we may have to cut back on the extras we all can be happy and most important healthy.

“We have to ask ourselves whether medicine is to remain a humanitarian and respected profession or a new but depersonalized science in the service of prolonging life rather than diminishing human suffering”
- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

A Simple Discussion about Healthcare Reform

Healthcare reform is an extremely hot subject right now. Many people fear change, others encourage it-where do you stand? I believe the escalating costs of healthcare make it imperative to open a discussion. There are several underlying issues at play and unfortunately we can not discuss them all here.

From what I’ve heard from physicians, they feel their hands are tied because of what they are allowed to bill. There is an extreme shortage of internists right now and I sense it is a direct correlation to the amount of time they spend with patients and production value they receive versus a cardiologist who can triple production value after a twenty minute session with a patient. On this basis and very simply, reform is needed because there can not be a shortage of internists or a surplus of cardiologists.

Another fear involves socialized care. Everyone wants to receive the best care possible and some are more than willing to pay. Does this put the average patient at a disadvantage because they are not able to afford to use whatever resources possible to receive the best possible care? Will such a scenario reduce the competency level of physicians in a socialized system? A. Hugh Greene, CEO of Baptist Health recently stated there should be a happy medium between the two. I think this is what President Obama is pushing for as well.

Recently, President Obama has begun his efforts at healthcare reform by forming alliances with state governors such as Christine Gregoire of Washington and Michael Rounds of South Dakota. Mr. Obama has asked them to speak to congress about their innovative approaches to healthcare reform. His push according to David Axelrod, Mr. Obama’s senior advisor, “is to involve as many people as possible and demonstrate in a variety of ways the level and degree of intensity of support that this has.” At the very least this seems a call to action among all citizens regardless of political motivation to voice their opinion.

We have barely hit the surface with our brief discussion. What is your opinion and what other angles will have a direct affect on you, either as a healthcare provider or receiver? What innovative approach do you propose?

Irresistible Foods?

Why are certain foods difficult for people to resist eating? In the article “How The Food Makers Captured Our Brains” the author discuses how the makers of foods utilize the right combination of ingredients especially sugar, salt and fat to reach the perfect combination. The author referred to this combination as the “bliss point” which is a point where greatest pleasure is derived from the food. Great time and money is put into researching the “bliss point” because this keeps their consumers coming back for more and increasing the food makers’ profits. Foods rich in sugar, fat and salt are newer arrivals on the food market and maybe aiding to an atmosphere of “conditioned hyper eating” which the author explains as being a state at which people over eat due to an over stimulated food environment as opposed to just a lack of will power. The advice given by the author to defeat “conditioned over eating” is to have planned structured eating mixed with understanding your own personal food triggers and education on portion control. The author explains that “conditioned hyper eating” can be managed but not cured.
With America in the midst of an obesity crisis this article may explain a reason why people are having a tough time dieting and keeping weight off. Although food is now being engineered to be irresistible it seems like we all still have free will and the ability to make choices even though these choices are perhaps being made more difficult. The author advises planning and structuring eating and education on portion control. These definitely will help but until an individual makes a decision to take control over there life and to understand and take responsibility for there actions breaking a habit of over eating can be difficult if not impossible.

Alcohol Good or Bad?

We have heard many people over the years say that drinking wine and for that matter drinking moderately can have health benefits. But scientists are now saying they are not sure if the evidence points to that conclusion. In a recent article in the New York Times titled “Alcohol’s Good For You? Some Scientists Doubt It” the author explains that there has never been a conclusive study that proves or disproves whether alcohol is beneficial to health. The article goes on to explain that there are many outside variables because those who drink moderately often exercise the same self control when it comes to eating both in the quantity of their food and type of foods and these people often exercise regularly. So the question being asked is are these people healthy because they drink or are they healthy in spite of the fact that they consume moderate amounts of alcohol?
We feel that there is a need for a serious study to look into whether moderate amounts of alcohol can have health benefits. Without said study it will be next to impossible to have a conclusive answer.

Swine Flu Mutation

In the article how a “Mild Flu May Turn Vicious” it explains how a flu similar to the swine flu could mutate. Possibly into a more virulent strain if it were to include two proteins known as PB1-F2 and NS-1. This action could greatly increase the virulence of the virus. The article goes on to explain how this is very unlikely to happen but it has occurred in the past. The example given was of when the Spanish influenza, which began as a mild, strain, and then mutated into a horrifically virulent strain, killing 20 million to 100 million people in 1918-19.
Our opinion of this possibility is it is a risk that health professionals should be cognascent of although the likely hood of it actually coming to fruition is low. The main problem as the article states is that these viruses are so unpredictable because it is how they react to old viruses in our cells that affect greatly how these flu’s can mutate.

Sun Block Regardless of Skin Tone

In the CNN article “Skin Cancer is Color Blind – No Free Pass” the article explains that those with a darker skin tones should use sun block. It states that people of darker skin tones have a natural protection from the sun, people with the darkest skin tones reaching SPF of 13. Which although is interesting is well underneath the American Academy of Dermatology’s recommendation of a daily SPF of 15 for everyone. Sadly, some African Americans, Hispanics and Asians feel that because they have skin with darker pigmentation makes them immune from skin cancer. Continuing on the this point only 27 percent of people with darker skin tones use sun block when they are exposed to the sun for four or more hours. Compared to 64 percent of fairer skinned people who use sun block when exposed to the sun for four or more hours. The article explains that even well known celebrities have fallen victim to sun caner the most famous being Bob Marley who died of malignant melanoma that spread to his lungs and brain.
Being based in Fernandina Beach, Florida many of our employees enjoy going to the beach and lounging, surfing and various other water sports. So this article was extremely interesting to us because protection from skin cancer during these activities is of the utmost importance to us. With that being said more information especially regarding the rates of skin cancer for the prospective groups would be helpful. We at the Buckman Medical Group do agree with the author’s assessment that the use of sun block regardless of skin tone is in everyone’s best interest.

The Dangers of Texting

Recently an article in the New York Times caught my eye. In the article "Texting May Be Taking a Toll" it explained the dangers of texting for adolescents. According to the article, teenagers send an average of 2,272 text messages a month or in other words 80 texts a day. Physicians are worried that this repetitious activity could do damage to more then just their grades and have lasting affects on their thumbs similar to the injuries you find with computer users who develop musculoskeletal disorders in there upper extremities. These kinds of disorders could cause temporary or permanent damage to their thumbs. Then there are a laundry list of other problems such as sleep deprivation and increased anxiety caused by themselves while trying to prevent from being out of the loop. Some health professionals are saying that they also fear that texting between parents and children may inhibit their development hampering adolescents from becoming independent adults. Some think because it is easier to ask mom and dad or have mom and dad to tell them what to do instead of thinking through a problem to a solution they will lose the opportunity to grow through the process of learning for themselves.

The article is extremely interesting considering texting has become an everyday occurrence for most people in the United States. However, it may be a little early to say that texting is hampering adolescent development in decision-making. The bottom line is that parents need to stay in touch with their children, and make sure that texting isn't occurring at inappropriate times or to excess.

Welcome to the Buckman Medical Group blog. We will be updating our blog weekly and plan to address issues in the general medical field and well as those pertaining to recruiting. It will be posted every Tuesday by 5:00 pm. Our goal is to delve deeper into the health care industry in order to gain a broad knowledge and also to share the knowledge we gain about current events and how they are helping to shape and mold the health care industry to fit into an ever changing world. We at the Buckman Medical Group are committed to helping to leave a positive mark on the health care industry not only as an industry leader in physician recruitment, but also as a springboard for the free exchange of ideas.

"A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.”
-John Fitzgerald Kennedy