NEWS worthy Clips (2/2)

Update your vocabulary with news clips from around the world 

An ounce of prevention

Instead of asking patients to come in every year for a checkup, physicians should be out which patients need what types of preventive care and making sure they get those services, experts suggest.

Some believe that for many patients an annual checkup may not be needed at all. In fact, the new Archives of Internal Medicine study found most patients receive the bulk of preventive care-such as counseling about weight or blood-pressure checks-not during physicals but on other occasions, such as when they see doctors about a cold or a chronic condition like diabetes.

A chance to talk

There’s good reason to ask “whether the time and resources being spent are worth it,” said Dr.Ateev Mehrotra, the study’s lead author and assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Many patients, however, wouldn’t consider doing without a traditional physical, said Dr. Kathleen Miller, a family physician who said she often yearly checkups because patients insist.

“Frankly, there are people who would feel I wasn’t doing my job if I didn’t lay hands on them and look them over. They have the expectation this is something doctors are supposed to do,” Miller said.

As for physicians, may remain attached to the practice as well. A 2005 report in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that two-thirds of primary-care doctors believe yearly physicals were necessary and nearly mine in 10 perform them.

“the exams allow a physician to step back, pause, refresh their perspective on a patient, and have that about issues that may not be addressed in an urgent visit,” said Dr. Bill Corwin, medical director of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care in New England.

Vocabulary Focus

scant(adj)---  very littlie and not enough

streamlined (adj)---  having improved the effectiveness of something often by making the way its activities are performed simpler

endorse (v) --- to make a public statement of your approval or support for something or someone

an ounce of prevention (is worth a pound of cure) (idiom) --- better to stop something bad from happening that to deal with the results after it happens

the bulk of (something) (n phr) --- most of

worth it (adj phr) --- beneficial despite the effort needed

lay hands on (something) (phr v)--- to make physical contact

attached to (adj phr) --- having an emotional connection to something and liking it very much

Specialized terms

reflex(n)--- a sudden, automatic reaction to something, especially a physical reaction

American College of Physicians (n phr)---  a national organizational of doctors who are dedicated to the diagnosis and medical treatment of adults

Archives of Internal Medicine (n phr)---  a bi-monthly international professional medical journal started in 1908, that publishes articles dealing with the medical care of the inside of the human body