Stressed Workers More Frequently to The Doctor

The effects of stress are not only related, emotionally or psychologically but also physically. For workers who are familiar with the stress in their daily lives, they are known to be more frequent doctor visits. People suffering from the stress of his job to visit the doctor more often 26 percent and 27 percent visited a specialist more often than workers who are low stress levels.

This was revealed in a study published in the journal BMC Public Health. The study was conducted by analyzing data Canadian National Population Health Survey with respondents aged 18-65 years.


Stress levels are determined by workers' control over decisions and psychological demands at work. The researchers also divided respondents in some vulnerable areas of work stress, such as trade, professional, mechanical, healthcare, field service, managerial, and agriculture.

"Quite a lot of research showing the direct impact of stress on the immune system. People who are stressed are more susceptible to the disease is known, " says lead researcher Mesbah Sharaf, researchers from Canada.

Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, United States, also examines how stress affects the immune system by increasing levels of cortisol or stress hormones. If stress hormones are circulating for a long time the result is a decrease in durability.

Other studies have also shown a poor work environment affects the health of workers. People working in an inhospitable environment, good support from colleagues or superiors, have worse health status than people who work in a pleasant working environment.

We can recognize the signs of stress began to attack. The first is the change in psychology to become angry, frustrated, and feeling helpless. Stress can also arise in the form of physical disorders such as insomnia, headache, nausea, and heartburn.

Although it is difficult to avoid, but the stress can be managed. When the piles start making your job stress, take time to do recreational activities. Gathered with family can also be a powerful means of relieving stress.

Lessons From Tainted Peanut Butter Outbreak Apply Today

A look back at the tainted-peanut butter salmonella outbreak of 2008-2009 is giving scientists valuable lessons on how to minimize deadly onslaughts of foodborne illness in the future.

That outbreak, which caused 714 illnesses and nine deaths across 46 states, was linked to infection with Salmonella Typhimurium from tainted peanut butter and peanut butter paste products.

Researchers who were on the frontlines of that investigation said the experience may help them get a better handle on the ongoing ground-turkey outbreak, which has sickened more than 100 people in over 30 states.

"There were real challenges posed with peanut butter because it served as ingredients in many foods with different distribution channels," said Dr. Casey Barton Behravesh, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

"We had to look at invoices for those foods to help identify the food item and provide rapid trace back to the manufacturer," she said. State and local officials also conducted interviews with people who fell ill, she said.

Ground-turkey, like peanut butter, is an ingredient in many processed foods, including sauces. Contamination can occur during different stages of production, which complicates detection.

Investigators have traced the recent illnesses to infection with Salmonella Heidelberg found in some ground-turkey made by Cargill, Inc.

The 2008-2009 outbreak fueled a massive recall of peanut butter products, some of which were precautionary. The source was traced back to two Peanut Corp. of America processing plants in Georgia and Texas. Inspections revealed rats, insects, roaches, standing water and roof leaks inside the plants. This company filed for bankruptcy amid fallout from the outbreak.

Writing in the Aug. 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Behravesh and colleagues said tainted peanuts and peanut butter products probably caused many more consumers to become ill than was reported at the time.

"For every case that is lab-confirmed, there are others that didn't go to the doctor or get stool tested. It likely caused thousands of illnesses," said Behravesh.

That outbreak may have had a silver lining, though, in that national attention was redirected toward food safety and prevention of foodborne illnesses. In March 2009, the President's Food Safety Working Group was created, and earlier this year the Food Safety Modernization Act was enacted. The law gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration unprecedented power to order food recalls and insist that U.S. and foreign food suppliers develop food-safety plans, the authors said.

"What is important with all of this is to improve outbreak responses and detection, identify sick people quickly, interview them more quickly and identify foods causing outbreaks more quickly," Behravesh said.

But these improvements and changes do not take the onus away from individuals, she said. Following safe food-handling precautions when cooking meats and avoiding cross-contamination in the kitchen are still important ways to lower risk of foodborne illness.

Symptoms of Salmonella, the most common foodborne illness in the United States, include fever, diarrhea, abdominal cramps and headache.

Dr. Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University Langone Medical Center, said if he had to grade the United States on how it handled the peanut butter outbreak, he would give a C-plus. "I wouldn't give a B but we are bordering on a B," he said.

The room for improvement lies in preventing outbreaks, he said. "We are fairly good in terms of having a mechanism in place to track outbreaks, close factories and warn the public, but we are not that good at prevention and that is what we have to work on," he said.

Prevention starts with cutting down on the antibiotics used in agriculture, including plants and meats, he said. This practice has given rise to antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria identified in some of these outbreaks.

"In the U.S., we use 25 million pounds of antibiotics in agriculture [a year] and only 3 million pounds to treat disease," he said. "We can identify a problem after it happens, but until we eliminate the use of antibiotics in the agriculture industry, this country will be waylaid with outbreaks," he said.

Difficult Conversations: How To Talk To Someone About Incontinence

Incontinence in a relative or someone else close to you is impossible to ignore: the odor, the mess, the cleanup. Ironically, the subject is often ignored anyway at least for a while because of the complicated emotions connected to a loss of bodily control. Embarrassment and frustration may feed denial on either side. And because urination and elimination are so personal, awkwardness about broaching the issue can feel almost paralyzing.

Looking after someone in failing health is fraught with tough conversations. But as challenging as unfamiliar and emotionally charged topics can be especially those that tend to flip our usual family dynamics -- they don't have to be forbiddingly uncomfortable. Talking is almost always better than ignoring, provided you prep yourself first on what to say and how to say it.

In later stages of dementia, the person may no longer be capable of insight into the fact that they've been incontinent. They may wake up and say, "Oh, you must have spilled water in my bed." An hour later, they may forget even that.

At this stage of impairment, Robbins says, the person may remain cooperative. Or the person may begin to refuse therapies such as scheduled bathroom visits or may even try to remove a diaper. It can be difficult to convince someone in late-stage dementia about the importance of following doctor's orders or staying clean. By this point, there are usually other behavioral problems going on as well.

It's often not helpful to try to reason with someone who has late-stage dementia. Often their beliefs are fixed, and your attempt to change their mind will be met with anger rather than as new information to consider.

6 Things Never To Say To An Incontinent Person

Worried about how to talk to someone about incontinence? These potentially awkward conversations proceed best when you're casual, candid, and calm.

Avoid approaches like these:

1. "I'm sick and tired of cleaning up after you, so I bought you these diapers." (You'll only make the person embarrassed and defensive.)

Better: "I notice you had another night accident. I think it's time to have the doctor check out what's going on." (Acknowledge that it's likely a medical issue.)

2. "Why can't you control yourself?" (They can't. If they could, they wouldn't be incontinent.)

Better: "I know this bothers you. But don't worry; we'll figure out what's wrong and how to work with it." (Use an empathetic approach to make yourself an advocate, not an enemy.)

3. "Are you doing this to spite me?" (No, this isn't about mean-spiritedness.)

Better: "Are you embarrassed? Don't be. I've heard there are lots of different kinds of incontinence, and it's really common." (Keep it from becoming an emotional issue.)

4. "That's it, nothing liquid for you after noon." (People need adequate hydration; rather than arbitrarily withholding liquids, work with a physician to determine the cause of the problem and the right remedy.)

Better: "Not drinking anything isn't healthy for you, so that can't be the answer; let's find out what the doctor thinks." (Be supportive instead of controlling.)

5. "I can't take you anywhere." (You can, with preparation such as incontinence products, using the toilet right before an outing, and slowing beverage intake beforehand.)

Better: "I know it's stressful when you go out and worry about accidents; that's why these briefs are such a good idea. You don't want to stop enjoying life just because of this." (Show that there are solutions.)

6. "Looks like you'll be wearing these for the rest of your life." (Many problems with incontinence are reversible, but even if not, there's no point in emphasizing the negative.)

Better: "Let's see how it goes using these for now." (Don't set up negative -- or unrealistic -- expectations.)