Health Insurance Blog - Usay Compare

Health insurance news - Birth defect risk increased by diabetes

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:01:26 +0000

Research has suggested that the risk of birth defects increases four-fold if the pregnant health insurance policyholder suffers from diabetes.

Published in the Journal Diabetologia, the study analysed more than 400,000 pregnancies in the north-east of England. The risk of defects such as congenital heart disease and spina bifida were increased.

National guidelines currently recommend having good control over blood sugar levels when attempting to conceive. Both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes lead to problems controlling the amount of sugar found in the blood at any one time.

The results of the study found that birth defects went from 19 in every 1,000 births for women without pre-existing diabetes to 72 in every 1,000 for medical insurance subscribers with the condition.

Lead researcher of the study Dr Ruth Bell from Newcastle University told BBC News said sugar levels in the run-up to conception were the most important risk factor that needed to be controlled.

"It is a problem when the pregnancy is not intended or when people are not aware they need to talk to their doctors before pregnancy," she said.

Dr Bell added that with expert advice before and during conceiving, most women with the condition can have a healthy baby. The risk of problems can be reduced by taking care to have the best possible glucose control while attempting to conceive.

Director of research at Diabetes UK Dr Iain Frame said messaging needs to be highlighted in the mainstream that women with the condition must to seek advice from professionals.

"It also highlights the importance of using contraception if you are a woman with diabetes who is sexually active but not planning to become pregnant," the expert continued.

Research conducted by Diabetes Care said last week that artificial pancreas' given to pregnant women with diabetes could save mothers' lives, while also improving the health of their babies.

Medical insurance news - Malaria deaths underestimated

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:01:26 +0000

The number of deaths as a result of malaria throughout the world has been grossly underestimated, a new study has claimed.

Published in the British medical journal the Lancet, the research suggests that 1.24 million people died from the disease in 2010 alone, which compares to the World Health Organization's estimate of 650,000 deaths.

The research, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, used new data and new computer modelling in order to build an historical database for malaria between 1980 and 2010.

It concluded that worldwide deaths have risen from 995,000 in 1980 to a peak of 1.82 million in 2004, before showing a fall in 2010.

The rise in 2004 is attributed to a growth in populations at risk of malaria, while the decline since then is as a result of rapid malaria control actions, it has been claimed.

While the most deaths were among young children and in Africa it was noted that there was a higher proportion of deaths among older children and adults than had been previously suggested. More than 433,000 deaths occurred among children over five and adults in 2010 than in the World Health Organization's estimates.

Dr Christopher Murray of the University of Washington in Seattle said that it was previously though that people exposed to malaria as children develop an immunity and rarely die from the disease but this research disproves that theory.

"We estimated that if decreases from the peak year of 2004 continue, malaria mortality will decrease to less than 100,000 deaths only after 2020," he continued.

The Lancet's editor Richard Horton told BBC News: "Right now we don't actually have any reliable primary numbers for malaria deaths in some of the most malarious regions of the world, so what numbers we have come from estimates."

Medical insurance customers in Africa were recently warned about buying potentially fake and poor quality anti-malaria drugs that are threatening the efforts to control the disease.

Health insurance news - Measures to reduce suicide rates have been 'successful'

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:01:26 +0000

Measures that were taken to lower the suicide rate in both England and Wales appear to have been successful, according to an analysis.

Published in the Lancet, the study said there had been little evidence previously to show that the strategies were actually working. It stated that interventions such as round-the-clock community "crisis teams" had led to 200-300 fewer deaths as a result of suicide each year.

In 2001, a series of recommendations were made to try and reduce suicide rates in the number of health insurance customers that were receiving mental health care.

This included setting up 24-hour crisis teams, plans for patients that refused treatment and also holding reviews after all suicides.

The recommendations were introduced at different times by NHS mental health trusts, which allowed researchers at the University of Manchester to analyse the impact of introducing the reforms.

At the end of the study in 2006 the suicide rate was 9.1 per 10,000 patient contacts per year for authorities that had introduced at least seven of the recommendations, while the rate was found to be 11 per 10,000 for those that implemented six or less.

Professor Louise Appleby from the University of Manchester told BBC News that community care reforms seem to have had a positive impact on the number of suicides as patients are afforded more intensive support.

Dr Yeates Conwell from the University of Rochester Medical Center added: "We cannot take for granted that even the most seemingly obvious intervention designed to reduce suicide is necessarily effective without evidence."

Dr Peter Byrne of the Royal College of Psychiatrists said this study shows how local implementation of comprehensive mental health services reduces the number of people that die by suicide.

A study published in November claimed that one in 12 people self-harm in their teenage years.

Health insurance news - Prostate cancer drug too expensive

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:01:26 +0000

A drug that can extend the life of health insurance subscribers with advanced prostate cancer by more than three months has been provisionally rejected for use by the NHS as it is too expensive, it has been claimed.

Draft guidance from the health watchdog for England and Wales says the drug's benefits are not enough to justify the price that the NHS has been asked to pay.

Although a final decision is yet to be made a number of cancer charities have been angered by the decision to reject abiraterone as it is one of the few drugs available to men in the final stages of prostate cancer.

Chief executive of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Sir Andrew Dillon said the drug was effective and one of its key benefits is that it can be taken orally in the medical insurance customers' own home.

Sir Dillon said NICE is disappointed with the decision not to recommend it for use on the NHS, however, he does concede that it is a very expensive drug.

Abiraterone costs just under £3,000 for a month's supply but has been offered to the NHS at an undisclosed discounted price.

Chief executive of The Prostate Cancer Charity Owen Sharp stated that the draft decision is a bitter blow to thousands of men and their families.

Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK's chief clinician added: "Only one other drug is available on the NHS that has been shown to prolong survival but it has more severe side-effects than abiraterone and is effective in fewer men."

Each year 37,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 10,000 of those eventually die from the disease.

Almost 500 men have successfully applied for abiraterone in the past nine months through the alternative route of the Cancer Drugs Fund in England, which was created to give greater access to drugs.

Medical insurance news - Ulcer drugs 'linked to fractures'

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:01:26 +0000

New research from the US has suggested that female medical insurance customers who take certain ulcer drugs could be at an increased risk of hip fractures in later life.

A study that has been published in the British Medical Journal claims to have found a link between long-term use of proton pump inhibitors and bone fractures, particularly among smokers.

Proton pump inhibitors are generally used to treat heartburn, reflux and ulcers.

The research tracked almost 80,000 nurses in the US aged between 30 and 55 and they were then followed up later in life to see how many had developed hip fractures after the menopause.

Researchers claimed that smokers or ex-smokers taking proton pump inhibitors had a 50 per cent increased risk of hip fracture when compared with women not taking the medication.

The experts, led by a team at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, wrote in the British Medical Journal: "Chronic use of PPIs is associated with increased risk of hip fracture, particularly among women with a history of smoking."

Lead author Hamed Khalili said the research conducted showed there was an absolute risk of five hip fractures per 10,000 people because of proton pump inhibitor use.

Dr John C Stevenson, consultant physician and reader at the Royal Brompton Hospital, said it has been suspected for many years that a certain type of indigestion pills could increase the risk of fracture. This study confirms that suspicion while the absolute risk is relatively small.

"Women should not be put off using proton pump inhibitors if they are needed, but these results provide yet another reason not to smoke," he added.

President of the Menopause Society Tobie de Villiers said this study is important in view of the widespread use of proton pump inhibitors.

In 2010 US regulators warned patients that drugs used to protect brittle bones may in fact increase the risk of fractures in some cases.