The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a screening tool called the Listing of Impairments to identify claimants who are so severely impaired that they cannot work at all and thus immediately qualify for benefits. In this report, the IOM makes several recommendations for improving SSA's capacity to determine disability benefits more quickly and efficiently using the Listings.
Ideal for cardiologists who need to keep abreast of rapidly changing scientific foundations, clinical research results, and evidence-based medicine, Braunwald’s Heart Disease is your indispensable source for definitive, state-of-the-art answers on every aspect of contemporary cardiology, helping you apply the most recent knowledge in personalized medicine, imaging techniques, pharmacology, interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, and much more! Practice with confidence and overcome your toughest challenges with advice from the top minds in cardiology today, who synthesize the entire state of current knowledge and summarize all of the most recent ACC/AHA practice guidelines. Locate the answers you need fast thanks to a user-friendly, full-color design with more than 1,200 color illustrations. Learn from leading international experts, including 53 new authors. Explore brand-new chapters, such as Principles of Cardiovascular Genetics and Biomarkers, Proteomics, Metabolomics, and Personalized Medicine. Access new and updated guidelines covering Diseases of the Aorta, Peripheral Artery Diseases, Diabetes and the Cardiovascular System, Heart Failure, and Valvular Heart Disease. Stay abreast of the latest diagnostic and imaging techniques and modalities, such as three-dimensional echocardiography, speckle tracking, tissue Doppler, computed tomography, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Consult this title on your favorite e-reader, conduct rapid searches, and adjust font sizes for optimal readability.
This report considers the biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the pathogenicity of tobacco smoke. Many Surgeon General's reports have considered research findings on mechanisms in assessing the biological plausibility of associations observed in epidemiologic studies. Mechanisms of disease are important because they may provide plausibility, which is one of the guideline criteria for assessing evidence on causation. This report specifically reviews the evidence on the potential mechanisms by which smoking causes diseases and considers whether a mechanism is likely to be operative in the production of human disease by tobacco smoke. This evidence is relevant to understanding how smoking causes disease, to identifying those who may be particularly susceptible, and to assessing the potential risks of tobacco products.
Pathophysiology of Cardiovascular Disease has been divided into four sections that focus on heart dysfunction and its associated characteristics (hypertrophy, cardiomyopathy and failure); vascular dysfunction and disease; ischemic heart disease; and novel therapeutic interventions. This volume is a compendium of different approaches to understanding cardiovascular disease and identifying the proteins, pathways and processes that impact it.
Chronic diseases are common and costly, yet they are also among the most preventable health problems. Comprehensive and accurate disease surveillance systems are needed to implement successful efforts which will reduce the burden of chronic diseases on the U.S. population. A number of sources of surveillance data-including population surveys, cohort studies, disease registries, administrative health data, and vital statistics-contribute critical information about chronic disease. But no central surveillance system provides the information needed to analyze how chronic disease impacts the U.S. population, to identify public health priorities, or to track the progress of preventive efforts. A Nationwide Framework for Surveillance of Cardiovascular and Chronic Lung Diseases outlines a conceptual framework for building a national chronic disease surveillance system focused primarily on cardiovascular and chronic lung diseases. This system should be capable of providing data on disparities in incidence and prevalence of the diseases by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic region, along with data on disease risk factors, clinical care delivery, and functional health outcomes. This coordinated surveillance system is needed to integrate and expand existing information across the multiple levels of decision making in order to generate actionable, timely knowledge for a range of stakeholders at the local, state or regional, and national levels. The recommendations presented in A Nationwide Framework for Surveillance of Cardiovascular and Chronic Lung Diseases focus on data collection, resource allocation, monitoring activities, and implementation. The report also recommends that systems evolve along with new knowledge about emerging risk factors, advancing technologies, and new understanding of the basis for disease. This report will inform decision-making among federal health agencies, especially the Department of Health and Human Services; public health and clinical practitioners; non-governmental organizations; and policy makers, among others.
The New York Times bestselling guide to the lifesaving diet that can both prevent and help reverse the effects of heart disease Based on the groundbreaking results of his twenty-year nutritional study, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn illustrates that a plant-based, oil-free diet can not only prevent the progression of heart disease but can also reverse its effects. Dr. Esselstyn is an internationally known surgeon, researcher and former clinician at the Cleveland Clinic and a featured expert in the acclaimed documentary Forks Over Knives. Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease has helped thousands across the country, and is the book behind Bill Clinton’s life-changing vegan diet. The proof lies in the incredible outcomes for patients who have followed Dr. Esselstyn's program, including a number of patients in his original study who had been told by their cardiologists that they had less than a year to live. Within months of starting the program, all Dr. Esselstyn’s patients began to improve dramatically, and twenty years later, they remain free of symptoms. Complete with more than 150 delicious recipes perfect for a plant-based diet, the national bestseller Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease explains the science behind the simple plan that has drastically changed the lives of heart disease patients forever. It will empower readers and give them the tools to take control of their heart health.
Arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease and heart fail ure are the commonest cardiovascular conditions to present in clinical practice. Over the past few years it has become in creasingly clear that they are closely and causally interrelated and that their relationship can have a significant bearing on prognosis. Epidemiological studies have shown that arterial hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for de veloping heart failure. Only one in four patients with hyper tension is adequately managed, and in 50% of cases, the hypertension has not been recognised or treated. Patients with pre-existing hypertension who go on to suffer an acute myocardial infarction have usually not previously had typi cal angina symptoms, the infarct territory is larger, life threatening arrhythmias are commoner and hence in-hospi tal mortality and long-term prognosis are markedly worse. The presence of raised blood pressure in the post-infarct phase doubles the risk of manifest heart failure. The close relationship between hypertension, coronary heart disease and heart failure makes the choice of therapeu tic strategy particularly important. Agents and classes of agents that have prognostic value in all three conditions should be considered first, as synergy might result in addi tional benefits. In such patients, this sort of therapeutic deci sion-making might have further advantages. The use of these agents may prevent complications which are not yet clinically obvious (such as heart failure).
