The New England Journal of Medicine published a review article this month on a new website called, Healthier Longer Life (http://healthierlongerlife.org/). The premise of the article is to bring public awareness to a comprehensive wellness and disease prevention information project which has been published by Drs. Carl Bartecchi and Robert Schrier. Their 224 page book can be downloaded free of charge from their website.The book was distributed in bound form to 60,000 households in Colorado. One of the goals of the project was to try and engage the general population and to "have patients share in decision making about their health care which has been shown to improve patient adherence to prevention guidelines, increasing their satisfaction with the outcome of the clinical treatment or both."
The Journal article goes on to explain that the Internet has been a mixed blessing as "many patients are confused by the contradictory advice retrieved when they enter a search term on Google or Yahoo. Authoritative sources are critically important, and this book is an important addition to Web sites such as the one sponsored by the U.S Preventive Services Task Force."
I will be ordering a copy and reviewing it. At less than $5.00 per copy it might be just the thing to place in each examining room in my office instead of Field and Stream magazine.
Excerpt:
When discussing the risk of heart attacks, the authors note;
"For those who might wonder what a person with low risk factors would look like, here is an example. The ideal is a person between the ages of 35 and 74 who has:
1. Systolic blood pressure less than 120.
2. Diastolic blood pressure less than 80.
3. LDL cholesterol less than 100 mg/dl.
4. HDL cholesterol higher than 60 mg/dl.
5. Fasting glucose level less than 110 mg/dl.
6. Never smoked.
7. Reached the ideal weight.
8. Regularly exercises."
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