Did you know that...
James Windeck, mD
…the car Americans keep the longest is a Volvo? Volvos averaged 7.05 years before being turned in…Jaguar, 7 years…Buick, 6.92 years…Mitsubishi, 6.92 years…Lincoln, 6.79 years.
How not to Get sick on a Cruise
247WallSt.com.
…heart disease risk is linked to mental decline? Evaluating an individual’s risk for cardiovascular disease by taking into account age, blood pressure, smoking, diabetes and cholesterol is a better indicator of the likelihood of mental decline later in life than the standard dementia risk test, which looks at age, education, blood pressure, body mass index and other factors. Study of 7,800 people by researchers at French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Paris, published in Neurology.
…hedge funds overall have underperformed the market since the October 2007 bull market high? The funds tend to attract sophisticated investors. But the 8,000 hedge funds tracked in the Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index had annualized returns of 3.3% from October 2007 through April 30, 2013, on average, versus 3.4% for the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index of all US stocks.
Title photo: Bigstock/jgroup; photo of woman: Thinkstock/iStockphoto
Mark Hulbert, editor, The Hulbert Financial Digest, writing in The Wall Street Journal.
…brains of migraine sufferers look different from those of people without migraines? People with migraines have a smaller and thinner cortex (outer layer of the brain) in areas that process pain, making these people more vulnerable to migraines. Massimo Filippi, MD, professor, neurology, University Vita-Salute’s San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy, and senior researcher of a study published online in Radiology.
…school buses have video cameras to catch dangerous drivers? The cameras are mounted on the sides of buses to catch motorists who pass a stopped school bus illegally. A citation is sent by mail—and a violation can cost as much as $1,000. USA Today.
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(The stomach Virus Is the Least of Your Worries)
N
orovirus outbreaks on cruise ships inevitably receive media attention, but passengers’ odds of contracting this unpleasant gastrointestinal ailment actually are very low. Only a few thousand of the roughly 10 million cruise passengers who depart from US ports each year catch it, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control’s Vessel Sanitation Program. In fact, we’re no more likely to catch Norovirus on a cruise ship than in any other crowded location—we just hear about cruise ship outbreaks most often because cruise lines are required to report them. With all the attention paid to the Norovirus, other more serious and more common cruise health issues often are ignored. To stay healthy on a cruise… n Bring copies of key medical records. Large cruise ships generally have high-quality doctors and wellequipped medical facilities. What they might not have is fast access to your medical records in an emergency (although the ability of cruise ship doctors to obtain digital copies of medical records from sea is improving). Self-defense: Bring copies of key medical records with you onto the ship. This includes copies of prescriptions for medications that you currently are taking, paperwork related to recent or ongoing medical conditions, your doctor’s contact information and—if you’ve had heart problems—a copy of your most recent electrocardiogram (EKG). Be sure a travel companion knows where this information is.
Also, be sure to bring sufficient quantities of any prescription and over-the-counter medications you currently use—more than you think you’ll need. The ship’s pharmacy might have these in stock, but it probably won’t accept Medicare or health insurance in payment, and its prices likely will be several times what you would pay onshore. n Control your eating and drinking. Overconsumption of food and alcohol is extremely common on cruises, and it can lead to gastrointestinal distress or worse—binge eating and drinking have been linked to increased risk for heart attack. n Choose a large ship if you’re prone to seasickness (or if you’re not certain whether you’re prone to seasickness). Ships with passenger capacities of roughly 3,000 or more are so massive that you would barely feel them moving even in a big storm, greatly reducing the risk for seasickness. Larger ships also tend to have more extensive medical facilities. n Purchase travel health insurance that includes emergency evacuation if your cruise leaves US waters. This is particularly important if your ship calls at ports in parts of the world where the medical care is not as good as in the US. Web sites SquareMouth.com and >> Bottom Line/Personal interviewed James Windeck, MD, a retired physician who formerly worked as a cruise ship doctor for the Royal Caribbean cruise line. He also is a frequent cruise passenger and author of Cruise Ship Doctor (Amazon Digital Services).
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July 15, 2013
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