Best time of the day to schedule surgery

The hospital might NOT tell you this, but we will:

Evidence suggests that having surgery early in the day may be safer. You’re four times less likely to have surgery-related problems if your surgery starts in the morning instead of between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Fatigue and body rhythm swings among hospital staff may be part of the reason.

Relax to Music, Ease Blood Pressure

Breathing Slowly While Listening to Music for Half an Hour Daily May Improve Mild Hypertension
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Blood pressure a bit too high? Spending half an hour a day listening to music and breathing slowly may help.
That's what happened in a new Italian study of 28 adults taking drugs to control their mild high blood pressure (hypertension).
First, the patients wore a device that tracked their blood pressure for 24 hours. Next, they were given a CD of classical, Celtic, or Indian music. All of the tunes on the CD had similar slow rhythms, Professor Pietro A. Modesti, MD, PhD, of Italy's University of Florence, tells WebMD in an email.
The patients were assigned to listen to the CD for 30 minutes per day for a month and to breathe slowly while listening to the music, taking twice as long to exhale as to inhale. At the end of the month, the patients wore the blood pressure monitor again.
Click here to read how patient's blood pressure changed during the study...

SOURCE: American Society of Hypertension Annual Scientific Meeting, New Orleans, May 14-17, 2008. Email from Professor Pietro A. Modesti, MD, PhD, University of Florence. © 2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.

Take some steps to prevent DVT
It’s called “Coach Class Syndrome”, but it can strike top-class fliers, too. Business travelers, especially those who spend much time flying, can be at higher risk of developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a potentially fatal condition.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), long flights with cramped legroom - along with other factors such as low cabin pressure, low humidity and dehydration - can contribute to DVT.

DVT occurs when blood clots form in the body’s deep veins, particularly those in the legs. Sometimes the clot breaks off and ends up obstructing a lung vessel, which is called pulmonary embolism - and it can be fatal.

The DVT risk is higher for people who have a history of cardiovascular disease, stroke or thrombotic episodes, as well as those who have had surgery - especially orthopedic surgery on the lower extremities. But DVT can affect anyone, including healthy athletes. Often it does not cause symptoms, and it can be difficult to detect, so it’s wise to take preventative measures.

Click here to read about precautions that can lower your risk of DVT

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Just a reminder...
Employer groups that employ 20 or more employees for at least 50 percent of the previous calendar year may continue coverage under a federal law know as COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act). Employer groups under 20 employees would be eligible for State continuation as required under O.R.C. Section 3923.38. New Federal and State guidelines have changed based on the Stimulus Bill signed by President Obama on February 17, 2009 and on the State level a new bill signed by Governor Strickland which went into effect April 1, 2009. For more information on these very important changes contact our office.

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We want to thank those who participated in our last “Sound Off” poll, and wanted to share with our readers the results from our last issue…as a footnote…all votes are confidential and we at R. Kashmiry and Associates have no idea as to who is voting, so in our next “Sound Off” we hope to hear from more readers (click here to vote and comment):

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