Markham's Behavioral Health

Homeless in New York City has hit all time record in 09/08.

From the New York Times, 10/29/08:

In what some see as a sign of the economic downturn’s impact on the city’s poorest, more families entered the homeless shelter system in September than in any other month since data has been collected.

Some 1,446 families entered shelter in September, city officials said. That was the highest number in one month since the city began keeping track 25 years ago. In each of the past three months, the city has seen record numbers of families admitted to shelter.

With the increase, roughly 9,300 families are now in shelter, or more than 28,000 people. In 2003, when the previous record was set, the average daily census of families in shelter was 9,200.

The federal government bails out the plutocrats with billions of dollars and the poor people suffer. Something is terribly wrong in America.

To read the whole Times article click here.

 

Demand for food for poor soars in Western New York

The Buffalo News reported on October 22, 2008 that the demand for food in food pantries and soup kitchens has soared. Here is a snippet from the article:

This year, the dining room has been cooking 1,500 to 2,000 more meals per month than in 2007. It’s one example of a growing appetite for donated food.

The Food Bank of Western New York expects to redistribute more than 12 million pounds of food this year — a nearly 12 percent increase over 2007 — to 204 pantries and soup kitchens in Erie, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Niagara counties.

Uninsured not reason for E.R. crowding

Reuters reported on October 21, 2008 that the uninsured are not the reason for the overcrowed Emergency Rooms. Here is a snippet from the report:

Contrary to what many believe, people without medical insurance are not the primary cause of the overcrowding that is typical in emergency rooms at US hospitals, new research indicates.

"There is a commonly held belief that uninsured patients abuse the emergency department, coming in for 'non-urgent' complaints, are overwhelming the system. This is simply not true," lead author Dr. Manya F. Newton told Reuters Health.

On the other hand, the assumption that increasing numbers of uninsured patients are being seen in ERs is, in fact, true, according to the report in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association.

Crowding in the ER is due to many things, including an increased amount of ER use by everyone, fewer emergency departments, and fewer inpatient beds, Newton explained. "People without insurance tend to use the emergency department less than any other group, and when they present they tend to be sicker."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns Americans about military-industry complex

President Eisenhower warns Americans against the military-industrial complex in his exit speech on January 17, 1961. We should have listened to him. He was a Republican.

Video lasts 2:30.

This is article #6 on militarism.

People with income under $35,000 per year more likely to not have health insurance and to have poorer health.

Americans with incomes under $35,000.00 per year more likely not to have health insurance and to have poorer health. This is a #1 problem for America where people needlessly suffer and die. The most important resource in the United States is its citizens health.

48 million Americans have no health care. Barak Obama by far has the best health care plan for most Americans. John McCain's is dismally inadequate and under his plan employers actually have an incentive to stop providing their employees with health care. The $5,000.00 per year McCain's plan would give Americans to buy health insurance is woefully inadequate and more Americans, unfortunately would go uncovered.

Here is a great video from Gallup News which lasts 4:01

Health Care in the next administration from NEJM

From the New England Journal of Medicine web site regarding a recent panel discussion on health care policy in the next administration:

"The future of health care in the United States — access, cost, and quality — is a critical issue in the 2008 presidential election. On September 12, senior health policy advisors — David Cutler of Harvard University for Democrat Barack Obama and Gail Wilensky of Project HOPE for Republican John McCain — discussed their candidates’ positions on health care reform in a symposium cosponsored by the Journal and the Harvard School of Public Health. The debate was moderated by Arnold Epstein, of the Journal and the Department of Health Policy and Management at HSPH, and featured questions from a distinguished panel of experts: Karen Davis of the Commonwealth Fund, Jon Kingsdale of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, and Thomas Lee of Partners HealthCare and the Journal."

To watch the video or access the transcript click here.

Elderspeak has health consequences - Don't "honey", "Sweetie", or "Dear" me

There was an interesting article in the October 7, 2008 issue of the New York Times discussing how condescending and patronizing language like calling seniors "Sweetie" and "Dear" actually have longer term health consequences. Here is a snippet from the article:

Professionals call it elderspeak, the sweetly belittling form of address that has always rankled older people: the doctor who talks to their child rather than to them about their health; the store clerk who assumes that an older person does not know how to work a computer, or needs to be addressed slowly or in a loud voice. Then there are those who address any elderly person as “dear.”

“People think they’re being nice,” said Elvira Nagle, 83, of Dublin, Calif., “but when I hear it, it raises my hackles.”

Now studies are finding that the insults can have health consequences, especially if people mutely accept the attitudes behind them, said Becca Levy, an associate professor of epidemiology and psychology at Yale University, who studies the health effects of such messages on elderly people.

“Those little insults can lead to more negative images of aging,” Dr. Levy said. “And those who have more negative images of aging have worse functional health over time, including lower rates of survival.”

In a long-term survey of 660 people over age 50 in a small Ohio town, published in 2002, Dr. Levy and her fellow researchers found that those who had positive perceptions of aging lived an average of 7.5 years longer, a bigger increase than that associated with exercising or not smoking. The findings held up even when the researchers controlled for differences in the participants’ health conditions.

Senior Day At The Kentuck State Fair, video lasts 5:36

Bail out bill oddly also provides more mental health coverage to millions of Americans

According to an article in the October 6, 2008 issue of the New York Times the bail out bill passed by congress includes parity for mental health coverage.

Here is a snippet from the New York Times article:

WASHINGTON — More than one-third of all Americans will soon receive better insurance coverage for mental health treatments because of a new law that, for the first time, requires equal coverage of mental and physical illnesses.

The requirement, included in the economic bailout bill that President Bush signed on Friday, is the result of 12 years of passionate advocacy by friends and relatives of people with mental illness and addiction disorders. They described the new law as a milestone in the quest for civil rights, an effort to end insurance discrimination and to reduce the stigma of mental illness.

Most employers and group health plans provide less coverage for mental health care than for the treatment of physical conditions like cancer, heart disease or broken bones. They will need to adjust their benefits to comply with the new law, which requires equivalence, or parity, in the coverage.

For decades, insurers have set higher co-payments and deductibles and stricter limits on treatment for addiction and mental illnesses.

By wiping away such restrictions, doctors said, the new law will make it easier for people to obtain treatment for a wide range of conditions, including depression, autism, schizophrenia, eating disorders and alcohol and drug abuse.

Frank B. McArdle, a health policy expert at Hewitt Associates, a benefits consulting firm, said the law would force sweeping changes in the workplace.

“A large majority of health plans currently have limits on hospital inpatient days and outpatient visits for mental health treatments, but not for other treatments,” Mr. McArdle said. “They will have to change their plan design.”

Federal officials said the law would improve coverage for 113 million people, including 82 million in employer-sponsored plans that are not subject to state regulation. The effective date, for most health plans, will be Jan. 1, 2010.

12% of United States troops in Iraq and 17% of troops in Afghanistan are on anti-depressants

On June 5, 2008, Time Magazine ran a story entitled, "America's Medicated Army". Here is a snippet from the article:

The medicines are intended not only to help troops keep their cool but also to enable the already strapped Army to preserve its most precious resource: soldiers on the front lines. Data contained in the Army's fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report indicate that, according to an anonymous survey of U.S. troops taken last fall, about 12% of combat troops in Iraq and 17% of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope. Escalating violence in Afghanistan and the more isolated mission have driven troops to rely more on medication there than in Iraq, military officials say.

It seems that fighting pre-emptive and immoral wars is not good for one's mental health. I wonder when we as a nation will realize the error of our ways and demand that our government do something about it?

I don't know of any other occupation that has this high a rate of mental illness. Would you want your loved one to enter such a career?

Prozac: The Military's Secret Weapon, MSNBC with Joe Scarborough. Video lasts 3:25

This is article #4 on militarism.

Pediatric drug samples unsafe practice

Free drug samples pose risk to children's health according to a study in the October, 2008 issue of the journal, Pediatrics, as reported by Reuter's HealthDay on October 6, 2008. Here is a snippet from the Reuters HealthDay article:

 Free prescription drug samples distributed to pediatric patients may be unsafe, research suggests.

The study, published in the October 2008 issue of Pediatrics, examined data on 10,295 children and adolescents from the 2004 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

The researchers found that one in 20 American children received free drug samples in 2004. And among those who took at least one prescription drug that year, nearly one in 10 received free samples.

This in concerning, since the researchers also found that some of the most frequently distributed samples may be unsafe.

Four of the 15 most frequently distributed samples in 2004 were identified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as having significant new safety concerns, including new black box warnings or significant revisions to existing warnings.

The top 15 samples included (among others) Strattera (atomoxetine) and Adderall (amphetamine/dextroamphetamine), drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Both of those medications are Schedule II controlled substances, meaning they are controlled and monitored by the Drug Enforcement Agency due to high potential for abuse.

Some physicians welcome the use of free sample medications as a way to get medications to needy patients. But this study's findings showed that few free samples actually go to the children who most need them.

Only 16 percent of the children who received free samples were uninsured for all or part of 2004, and less than one-third had low family incomes, defined as less than $38,000 for a family of four.

This is article #2 in a series on medications.