Should you lose weight quickly or conservatively for better long term results?

Many of us are familiar with the fact that typically if you lose weight more conservatively at a pound a week, we are more likely to keep the weight off. Well, new studies from scientists out of the University of Florida are proving otherwise. They are showing that shedding the weight quickly is the best way to achieve long lasting results.

"Women who lost at a faster rate, greater than 1.5 pounds (0.68 kilos) a week, had lost more and maintained a greater loss in the long run than women who lost at a slower rate of half a pound (0.23 kilos) a week or less," said researcher Lisa Nackers, whose findings are published online by the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

They concluded that losing the weight faster was actually more reinforcing in terms of behavioral change.

Should you lose weight quickly or conservatively for better long term results?

Exclusive MD featured on NBC Action News Tonight at 5pm

Check out our latest interview with Cynthia Newsome about how Exclusive MD fits with current health care reform. The clip is located on the right as the featured video of the month.

Exclusive MD featured on NBC Action News Tonight at 5pm

How certain are you about the food you buy from the supermarket?

My wife and I watched this film, Food Inc, this weekend and I already shared my brief viewpoints on it on Facebook, but I thought we learned so much that it is worth sharing more information. Here is a brief synopsis:

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Here are some interesting statistics also featured in the film:
-- In 1972 the Food and Drug Administration conducted 50,000 food safety inspections; by 2006 that number was down to 9,164.
-- In 2007 there were 73,000 people sickened from the E.coli virus.
-- The average American eats over 200 pounds of meat a year.
-- 70 percent of processed foods have some genetically modified ingredient.
-- One in three Americans born after 2000 will contract early-onset diabetes; among minorities the rate will be one in two.

I know that shopping for all natural or all organic is typically more expensive. But we are in control as consumers. If we all choose to purchase these products, the market will shift and make these options more affordable. The true cost is your health. With rising cost of health care, the best thing to do is to stay healthy. My advice is to make sure you not only know what you are eating but where it is coming from. Apparently there are a lot of businesses that spend a lot of money to make sure we do not know this information. Remember, you have 3 times a day where you can place your vote.

How certain are you about the food you buy from the supermarket?

21.2% Cut on Medicare Reimbursement Starts Today!...April Fools or Not?

Unfortunately this is not an April Fools Joke. After a few small extensions, Congress has put into effect a 21.2% cut on Medicare that affects both patients and physicians. For those that do not understand how this affects everyone, let me explain. First of all, Medicare sets the fees and everyone (other private insurers) uses their fees for a benchmark to set theirs around. What that means is that if Medicare decides to reimburse less to physicians for services, than typically all other third party insurers will follow in suit. Did you know that currently in the traditional model of health care delivery that for every $1.00 that a physician charges he can only expect $0.40 in return. With this cut potentially the $0.40 may turn into $0.32 to a dollar. In the world of primary care, in the private sector, that cut may prove to be so devastating that it causes some to close their doors. When cuts like this occur, one of the ways for doctors to improve or stabilize their bottom end is to see MORE patients. Currently the national average of doctor's time spent with patients is 4-7 minutes per visit. So the only way to feasibly see more patients is to work more hours in the day or decrease the actual time spent per patient. Both of those options are not good for patients or doctors.

The real question is how does this 21.2% Medicare cut affect Exclusive MD. It doesn't! We will still offer the same service averaging our annual visit times at around 60-90 minutes and offering the same great service we started with at an affordable cost.

21.2% Cut on Medicare Reimbursement Starts Today!...April Fools or Not?

I have insurance now...why can't I find a doctor?

That phrase is becoming more and more common. Even prior to Health Care (INSURANCE) Reform passing, many people across the nation have been feeling the pressures of decreased accessibility to primary care physicians. In this article in the Washington Post, a journalist shares her previous story of difficulty in finding a primary care physician despite great insurance.

Naturally, I waited until I wasn't feeling well to seriously initiate this process. But I didn't expect any problems. I was just 23, basically healthy and, most important, insured. So I pulled out my computer, looked up the UnitedHealthcare list of preapproved doctors and started calling.

And I got rejected. Again. And again. (Usually after being put on hold for three or four minutes.)

I talked to one primary-care practice that hadn't accepted new patients in eight years. I talked to another that was accepting new patients only if they had HIV/AIDS.

Ah, so that's what it took to get a doctor within reach: I just had to contract a deadly disease.

So why is this a problem? Lets look at Massachusetts for a brief moment. Our new Health Care Reform for the nation was modeled much like a Universal Coverage Plan instituted in Massachusetts over a year ago. By the end of 2009, the mandate had accomplished getting 97% of their population insured. Hooray!...Right? The truth is everyone now has a special card giving them health insurance to see a doctor, the problem is you are going to have to wait on average of 63 days before you get in to see one. You may also think twice about moving to Washington or New York as the wait is still around 30 days. Keep in mind that these statistics were before the Health Bill passed. You do not have to be an economist to realize supply and demand.

So where are we are headed is quite frightening actually. What we do know is that the older demographic tends to utilize health care the most. Which might be okay if we were not headed for a huge surge in our older demographic. Check out our age distribution back in 2000 and you will soon realize where this big wave is coming from.

via AAPP

What problems have been identified?

1. Shortage of primary care physicians

2. Decreased access to basic medical care

3. Medical students choosing to be everything other than a primary care doctor

My personal goals to fix these problems:

1. Utilize cutting edge technology to allow for alternative solutions to access to basic medical care. This is not intended to depersonalize the doctor-patient relationship, but rather to supplement. As physicians we have been waiting too long for insurance companies to catch up to the 21st century. Every other industry other than health care, has made their processes more efficient by using tools such as email, video conferencing, instant messenger, etc. Don't wait....take action now!

2. Revitalize the field of primary care. My goal is to make this job fun again. Medical students are listening and following the revolution of private physicians.

The future is now. We can all sit back and debate our current situation or we can be a part of change. You decide.

I have insurance now...why can't I find a doctor?

Health Care Bill Passes...now what?

As you all know, the Health Care Bill has passed and depending on when this entry is read, President Obama may have already signed it officially. Now we can all argue and debate, be happy or sad, but the truth of the matter is we have to prepare as a nation to deal with our new situation. Health reform was successful in one thing, health insurance for 95% of the nation. That would be fantastic if we actually had the workforce to support the increased load. Before the bill even passed, we have been battling a dwindling number of physicians in the workforce. Let us now focus on health care innovation. We know that this bill is going to catapult us into even more debt, so it should be our obligation to start now and to be creative so our younger generations will have a sustainable fulfilling future. With the new bill, some surveys are speculating that we may lose an additional 20-30% of the physician workforce because of true frustration and dissatisfaction for their career. Put that on top of our very few new physicians in the pipeline and we have ourselves a national physician shortage dilemma that will be with us for the next couple of decades.

Let us focus on health care innovation and change the delivery of health care. Without sacrificing quality, how do we take the current physician workforce and service the masses? Although I am terrified of the upcoming years and the many struggles we will all face, I am excited to see the great thinkers and innovators of our nation really come to life.

Health Care Bill Passes...now what?

Quit Smoking Using Facebook

I thought this idea was ingenious. Using facebook and other social media networks to help with any bad habits. Think about it, how quick and easy it is to have support from all of your friends and family within minutes or hours of a status update. Beyond the chemical addiction of smoking, there are emotional ties that require methods other than medicine. Studies show that people are better apt to stick to their new plan if the proper support method is in place.

The “T” in the START mnemonic for quitting endorsed by www.smokefree.gov is to “Tell family, friends, and coworkers that you plan to quit.” This recommendation is based on the notion that smoking is not purely a chemical addiction; it has important environmental, social, and cultural elements, too.

via KevinMD.

Quit Smoking Using Facebook