new released reports on arthritis/exercise and assessing cancer care

Does Exercise Contribute to Arthritis? Assessing and Improving Value in Cancer Care

Two respected sources for medical information have released reports recently:

The Harvard Medical School; The knees of Framingham

In 1948, more than 5,200 residents of Framingham, Mass., volunteered for the Framingham Heart Study, which has produced major insights into the causes of heart attack and stroke. In 1971, scientists began a new study of the children of the original volunteers and the spouses of those children. Between 1993 and 1994, 1,279 members of the Framingham Offspring Cohort enrolled in a study of exercise and arthritis. Their average age was 53.

All the volunteers were free of arthritis when the study began. Each answered detailed questions about their patterns of exercise, including walking, jogging, being active enough to work up a sweat, and their overall exercise level. All the people provided information about knee injuries and symptoms of knee pain and stiffness. In addition, all the volunteers were weighed and measured, and they each had a full series of knee x-rays.

Between 2002 and 2005, the subjects answered the same questions about knee pain and injury, and the x-rays were repeated. All the x-rays were independently evaluated by two experts who had no knowledge of the subjects’ exercise histories.

When the results were tallied, the researchers found no link between exercise and arthritis of the knee. The most active people had the same risk of arthritis as the least active, in terms of both symptoms and x-ray abnormalities.

Read the rest of the Harvard Medical School Article.

Another report of interest regarding health and treatments is: Assessing and Improving Value in Cancer Care, Workshop Summary: (Note: Workshop Summaries contain the opinion of the presenters, but do not reflect the conclusions of the IOM.

Like other areas of health care, oncology is under pressure to control expenses while improving patient outcomes and the quality of care. Unlike many other areas of health care, however, oncology faces unique challenges that can make it especially difficult to control costs. Many cancer patients have a grim prognosis and are facing imminent death, so patients and professionals feel a sense of urgency to try every possible treatment in the hopes of at least prolonging life. Providers face pressure to apply the newest technologies and treatments - which are often among the most expensive - even when supporting evidence is incomplete or uncertain. Cancer treatments can be highly toxic or even life-threatening, and providers are often reluctant to switch from toxic treatments to palliative care, even at the end of life. These and other challenges can inhibit objective discussions about the value of oncology care.

On February 9-10, 2009, the National Cancer Policy Forum held a workshop to explore these issues from multiple perspectives, including those of patients and patient advocates, providers, insurers, health care researchers, federal agencies, and industry. Assessing and Improving the Value in Cancer Care summarizes workshop discussions and presentations, which focused the goal of describing value in oncology. Workshop participants sought to provide an objective concept of value to those faced with difficult decisions regarding developing, evaluating, prescribing, and paying for cancer care.

Read the report online for free.

Does Exercise Contribute to Arthritis? Assessing and Improving Value in Cancer Care

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