{"id":18182,"date":"2015-11-02T21:49:17","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T02:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/2015\/11\/how-our-minds-could-save-healthcare.html"},"modified":"2017-11-28T13:18:38","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T18:18:38","slug":"how-our-minds-could-save-healthcare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/2015\/11\/how-our-minds-could-save-healthcare\/","title":{"rendered":"How Our Minds Could Save Healthcare"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to a report by the Common Wealth<br \/>\nFund:<\/p>\n<p><i>In<br \/>\n2013, the U.S. spent far more on health care than these other countries. Higher<br \/>\nspending appeared to be largely driven by greater use of medical technology and<br \/>\nhigher health care prices, rather than more frequent doctor visits or hospital<br \/>\nadmissions. In contrast, U.S. spending on social services made up a relatively<br \/>\nsmall share of the economy relative to other countries. Despite spending more<br \/>\non health care, Americans had poor health outcomes, including shorter life<br \/>\nexpectancy and greater prevalence of chronic conditions.&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been researching on the various reasons<br \/>\nwhy our nation has such poor outcomes compared to other industrialized nations. <a href=\"https:\/\/dr-lobisco.com\/supplement-risks\/\">Last week<\/a>, I discussed that<br \/>\nthe sole reliance on treatments with high risks for adverse events may be one factor that contributes to this. Other factors, which will be expanded on<br \/>\nin a future blog, include issues with test validity, reliability, and the<br \/>\nover-use of medical technology. <\/p>\n<p>Another major issue has been the division of<br \/>\nthe body and the mind. This week, I&#8217;m going to report on several recent studies<br \/>\nwhich provide evidence of the power of the mind. Science is now validating that<br \/>\nwhat lies between our ears may, in fact, be one of our most important, and<br \/>\nleast invasive health tools we have.<\/p>\n<p><b>How<br \/>\nthe Relaxation Response Could Help Health Care<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The following abstract discusses a controlled cohort<br \/>\nobservational study that compared patients who used the Relaxation Response Resiliency<br \/>\nProgram (ERP) to controls on healthcare utilization outcomes. The results<br \/>\nprovided evidence that mind-body interventions could &#8220;reduce stress and build resiliency&#8221;<br \/>\nresulting in decreased use of health care.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Abstract<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Background<br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><i>Poor<br \/>\npsychological and physical resilience in response to stress drives a great deal<br \/>\nof health care utilization. Mind-body interventions can reduce stress and build<br \/>\nresiliency. The rationale for this study is therefore to estimate the effect of<br \/>\nmind-body interventions on healthcare utilization.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Objective<br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><i>Estimate<br \/>\nthe effect of mind body training, specifically, the Relaxation Response<br \/>\nResiliency Program (3RP) on healthcare utilization.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Design<br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><i>Retrospective<br \/>\ncontrolled cohort observational study. Setting: Major US Academic Health<br \/>\nNetwork. Sample: All patients receiving 3RP at the MGH Benson-Henry Institute<br \/>\nfrom 1\/12\/2006 to 7\/1\/2014 (n = 4452), controls (n = 13149) followed for a<br \/>\nmedian of 4.2 years (.85-8.4 yrs). Measurements: Utilization as measured by<br \/>\nbillable encounters\/year (be\/yr) stratified by encounter type: clinical,<br \/>\nimaging, laboratory and procedural, by class of chief complaint: e.g.,<br \/>\nCardiovascular, and by site of care delivery, e.g., Emergency Department.<br \/>\nSubgroup analysis by propensity score matched pre-intervention utilization<br \/>\nrate.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Results<br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><i>At one<br \/>\nyear, total utilization for the intervention group decreased by 43% [53.5 to<br \/>\n30.5 be\/yr] (p &lt;0.0001). Clinical encounters decreased by 41.9% [40 to 23.2<br \/>\nbe\/yr], imaging by 50.3% [11.5 to 5.7 be\/yr], lab encounters by 43.5% [9.8 to<br \/>\n5.6], and procedures by 21.4% [2.2 to 1.7 be\/yr], all p &lt; 0.01. The<br \/>\nintervention group&#8217;s Emergency department (ED) visits decreased from 3.6 to<br \/>\n1.7\/year (p&lt;0.0001) and Hospital and Urgent care visits converged with the<br \/>\ncontrols. Subgroup analysis (identically matched initial utilization rates&#8211;Intervention<br \/>\ngroup: high utilizing controls) showed the intervention group significantly<br \/>\nreduced utilization relative to the control group by: 18.3% across all<br \/>\nfunctional categories, 24.7% across all site categories and 25.3% across all<br \/>\nclinical categories.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Mind body interventions such<br \/>\nas 3RP have the potential to substantially reduce healthcare utilization at<br \/>\nrelatively low cost and thus can serve as key components in any population<br \/>\nhealth and health care delivery system. <\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Why Washing Dishes Is Good for Your<br \/>\nHealth<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The good news is, you<br \/>\ncan find relaxation as close as the dirty dishes in the sink:<\/p>\n<p><i>This study sought to investigate whether washing<br \/>\ndishes could be used as an informal contemplative practice, promoting the state<br \/>\nof mindfulness along with attendant emotional and attentional phenomena. We<br \/>\nhypothesized that, relative to a control condition, participants receiving<br \/>\nmindful dishwashing instruction would evidence greater state mindfulness,<br \/>\nattentional awareness, and positive affect, as well as reduce negative affect<br \/>\nand lead to overestimations of time spent dishwashing. A sample of 51 college students<br \/>\nengaged in either a mindful or control dishwashing practice before completing<br \/>\nmeasures of mindfulness, affect, and experiential recall. Mindful dishwashers<br \/>\nevidenced greater state mindfulness, increases in elements of positive affect<br \/>\n(i.e., inspiration), decreases in elements of negative affect (i.e.,<br \/>\nnervousness), and overestimations of dishwashing time. Implications for these<br \/>\nfindings are diverse and suggest that mindfulness as well as positive affect<br \/>\ncould be cultivated through intentionally engaging in a broad range of<br \/>\nactivities. <\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Being Mindful May Fight Fat<\/b><\/p>\n<p>According to Health<br \/>\nDay, mindfulness may also assist with the obesity epidemic:<\/p>\n<p><i>Being self-aware may help reduce your risk of<br \/>\nobesity, a new study contends.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Researchers looked at more than 400 people in New<br \/>\nEngland and found that those with higher levels of what is known as dispositional<br \/>\nmindfulness &#8212; an awareness and attention to current feelings and thoughts &#8212;<br \/>\nhad less belly fat. They were also less likely to be obese than those with<br \/>\nlower levels of such mindfulness.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>The<br \/>\nHealing Words of Docs Before Surgery<\/b><\/p>\n<p><i>Few<br \/>\nmoments in life are more daunting than those just before a surgery. But a new<br \/>\nstudy finds that some reassuring words from a doctor just before an operation<br \/>\nbegins may be more effective than drugs in easing patient anxiety.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Placebo Effect Grows in U.S.,<br \/>\nThwarting Development of Painkillers <\/b><\/p>\n<p><i>Stronger<br \/>\nplacebo responses have already been reported for trials of antidepressants and<br \/>\nantipsychotics, triggering debate over whether growing placebo effects are seen<br \/>\nin pain trials too. To find out, Mogil and his colleagues examined 84 clinical<br \/>\ntrials of drugs for the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain (pain which<br \/>\naffects the nervous system) published between 1990 and 2013.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Based<br \/>\non patients&#8217; ratings of their pain, the effect of trialled drugs in relieving<br \/>\nsymptoms stayed the same over the 23-year period&#8211;but placebo responses rose. In<br \/>\n1996, patients in clinical trials reported that drugs relieved their pain by<br \/>\n27% more than did a placebo. But by 2013, that gap had slipped to just 9%. The phenomenon<br \/>\nis driven by 35 US trials; among trials in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, there<br \/>\nwas no significant change in placebo reponses. The analysis is in press in the<br \/>\njournal Pain.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>The Power of Placebo Explained in<br \/>\nDepression, Study<\/b><\/p>\n<p>A recent study found<br \/>\nthe mechanism in which placebo may effect depression outcomes: <\/p>\n<p><i>Conclusions and Relevance<\/i><i> These data demonstrate<br \/>\nthat placebo-induced activation of the \u00b5-opioid system is implicated in the<br \/>\nformation of placebo antidepressant effects in patients with MDD and also<br \/>\nparticipate in antidepressant responses, conferring illness resiliency, during<br \/>\nopen administration.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><br \/><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Now, I want to hear what you think with all these latest findings? Will you make some time for minding your health?<i><br \/><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Sources:<\/p>\n<p>The Common Wealth<br \/>\nFund. U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective: Spending, Use of Services,<br \/>\nPrices, and Health in 13 Countries.2015.http:\/\/www.commonwealthfund.org\/publications\/issue-briefs\/2015\/oct\/us-health-care-from-a-global-perspective\/<\/p>\n<p>ABIM. About. Choosing<br \/>\nWisely. org. 2015. Available at: http:\/\/www.choosingwisely.org\/about-us\/<\/p>\n<p>Deardoff J. What&#8217;s<br \/>\nnormal for bloodwork? How blood test &#8216;reference ranges&#8217; are calibrated, why<br \/>\nthey may vary from lab to lab. Chicago Tribune.November 21, 2011.<br \/>\nAvailable at:<br \/>\nhttp:\/\/articles.chicagotribune.com\/2011-11-21\/a-z\/sc-health-1123-bloodwork-20111121_1_labs-range-glucose<\/p>\n<p>Mayo Clinic. Mayo School of Health. Medical<br \/>\nLaboratory Sciences. May 8, 2015. Available at: http:\/\/www.mayo.edu\/mshs\/careers\/laboratory-sciences<\/p>\n<p>Relaxation Response<br \/>\nand Resiliency Training and Its Effect on Healthcare Resource Utilization. PLOS<br \/>\nOne. October 13, 2015. http:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0140212<\/p>\n<p>This Could Cut Your<br \/>\nHealth Costs by $25,000 a Year, Study Finds: Time. October 13, 2015. <i>http:\/\/time.com\/4071897\/stress-relief-healthcare-costs\/<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Mindfulness. <u>October 2015, (6)5: 1095-1103<\/u><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Being Mindful May<br \/>\nGuard Against Belly Fat. Health Day. Oct. 21, 2015 (Journal Link:<br \/>\nhttp:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007%2Fs12529-015-9513-z) <\/p>\n<p>Surgeon&#8217;s Calming<br \/>\nWords May Ease Stress of Surgery. Oct. 27, 2015. Health<br \/>\nDay News. <\/p>\n<p><i>Scientific<br \/>\nAmerican<\/i>. October 7, 2015. http:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/placebo-effect-grows-in-u-s-thwarting-development-of-painkillers\/<\/p>\n<p>Link to journal: http:\/\/journals.lww.com\/pain\/Abstract\/publishahead\/Increasing_placebo_responses_over_time_in_U_S_.99737.aspx<\/p>\n<p><i>JAMA Psychiatry<\/i><i>. <\/i>Published<br \/>\nonline September 30, 2015. doi:10.1001\/jamapsychiatry.2015.1335 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to a report by the Common Wealth Fund: In 2013, the U.S. spent far more on health care than these other countries. Higher spending appeared to be largely driven by greater use of medical technology and higher&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[764,857,858,992,1048],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>How Our Minds Could Save Healthcare - Living Well In Saratoga Springs NY: Saratoga&#039;s Holistic Health Forum Blog<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/2015\/11\/how-our-minds-could-save-healthcare\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Our Minds Could Save Healthcare - Living Well In Saratoga Springs NY: Saratoga&#039;s Holistic Health Forum Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to a report by the Common Wealth Fund: In 2013, the U.S. spent far more on health care than these other countries. 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She became interested in holistic medicine when she was able to heal two herniated discs through nutrition, yoga, supplementation, and chiropractic. She has mentored with holistic practices throughout New York, Vermont, and Connecticut. In addition to her Naturopathic and Functional Medical training, Dr. LoBisco has extensive training in a variety of healing modalities, including therapeutic essential oils, nutraceuticals, herbs, whole food supplements, nutritional medicine, and mind-body therapies. She is a graduate of the accredited, four year post-graduate program in Naturopathic Medicine at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. This program includes clinical rotations and a demanding scientific curriculum in integrating conventional and natural medicine. Dr. LoBisco holds her license from the state of Vermont. Dr. LoBisco has completed her postdoctoral training as a certified functional medicine practitioner. She is also certified in Applied Kinesiology and holds a BA in psychology from SUNY Geneseo. She has contributed as an item writer for the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners (NABNE) and has several articles that have been published in the Naturopathic Doctor News and Review Digest (NDNR) and the Townsend Letter, both physician- based journals. Dr. LoBisco is also a hired speaker on integrative medical topics for medical professionals. Dr. LoBisco currently incorporates her training in holistic medical practices and conventional medicine through writing, researching, private practice, and through her independent contracting work for companies regarding supplements, nutraceuticals, essential oils, and medical foods. She has a small, private wellness consultation practice through telephone and Skype. Dr. LoBisco also enjoys continuing to educate and empower her readers through her blogs and social media. Her new book, BreakFree Medicine, is now available on Amazon and through Barnes &amp; Noble.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/author\/slobisco\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Our Minds Could Save Healthcare - Living Well In Saratoga Springs NY: Saratoga&#039;s Holistic Health Forum Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/2015\/11\/how-our-minds-could-save-healthcare\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Our Minds Could Save Healthcare - Living Well In Saratoga Springs NY: Saratoga&#039;s Holistic Health Forum Blog","og_description":"According to a report by the Common Wealth Fund: In 2013, the U.S. spent far more on health care than these other countries. 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She became interested in holistic medicine when she was able to heal two herniated discs through nutrition, yoga, supplementation, and chiropractic. She has mentored with holistic practices throughout New York, Vermont, and Connecticut. In addition to her Naturopathic and Functional Medical training, Dr. LoBisco has extensive training in a variety of healing modalities, including therapeutic essential oils, nutraceuticals, herbs, whole food supplements, nutritional medicine, and mind-body therapies. She is a graduate of the accredited, four year post-graduate program in Naturopathic Medicine at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. This program includes clinical rotations and a demanding scientific curriculum in integrating conventional and natural medicine. Dr. LoBisco holds her license from the state of Vermont. Dr. LoBisco has completed her postdoctoral training as a certified functional medicine practitioner. She is also certified in Applied Kinesiology and holds a BA in psychology from SUNY Geneseo. She has contributed as an item writer for the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners (NABNE) and has several articles that have been published in the Naturopathic Doctor News and Review Digest (NDNR) and the Townsend Letter, both physician- based journals. Dr. LoBisco is also a hired speaker on integrative medical topics for medical professionals. Dr. LoBisco currently incorporates her training in holistic medical practices and conventional medicine through writing, researching, private practice, and through her independent contracting work for companies regarding supplements, nutraceuticals, essential oils, and medical foods. She has a small, private wellness consultation practice through telephone and Skype. Dr. LoBisco also enjoys continuing to educate and empower her readers through her blogs and social media. Her new book, BreakFree Medicine, is now available on Amazon and through Barnes &amp; Noble.","url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/author\/slobisco\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18182"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27671,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18182\/revisions\/27671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}