Sometimes a trip to the doctor is a guilt trip with consequences

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Leanne Jenkins---Truth or dare, have you been doing what your doctor ordered?  It turns out for many of us a trip to a doctor is a guilt trip with consequences.Often that guilty person, in order to make the doctor happy, will tell the physician he or she has complied with doctor's orders.  In other words, there are those little white lies.  On the other hand, this fibbing can be a big mistake when it comes to accuracy in the physician overview of one's health status.

While lying about our health, to our doctor, is sometimes done, more often than it should be, it is not a good idea, medical experts remind us.  That's because doctors must have the facts in order to prescribe a medication or direction for health.

If the doctor believes a patient has been complying with a certain type of medication, and there has not been compliance; and a medical problem persists, the doctor may prescribe a different medication or a different approach.  And that different medication or different approach may not have been necessary if the doctor knew the truth.

The doctor's visit is important because not only is the doctor evaluating medical problems but is also interested in preventing them.  That's why regular tests are ordered to determine a patient's status.  So when the status does not mirror the expected results, given the doctor's original recommendations, problems can occur.

Researchers examined this behavior of obfuscation on the part of patients that has been published in Basic and Applied Science and found people lie to their doctors for a number of different reasons, most of whom involve shame.  Women often feel more shame than men, researchers determined.  Furthermore, there are certain topics that people lie about the most that include weight and smoking but also include not following doctors orders.  Much of this behavior is dependent upon the patient's view of the anticipated response from the doctor.

What's particularly critical is this cited statement in an article about the research and the author's remarks,   Gaining insight into patient reactions is important because “more than one third of all deaths in the United States are still essentially preventable and largely due to unhealthy patient behavior.”

Social isolation may predict mortality as accurately as smoking

[caption id="attachment_17068" align="alignleft" width="299"] elderly women[/caption]

Carol Forsloff----If you are among those who shrink from social interaction or you live in a remote area where you don't see other people much, research says that can be as bad, or even worse, for your health than smoking.  

 In fact social isolation is a predictor of mortality, as much or more than other factors like smoking, obesity or high cholesterol.

New research from the American Journal of Public Health reports the findings of researchers who analyzed social isolation by reviewing marital or partnership status, frequency of contact with other people, participation in religious activities and participation in other club or organizational events. Those who don't participate with others have been found to have a higher likelihood of death than those who are interactive and social.

Infrequent religious activity, being unmarried and being socially isolated in general individually predicts mortality of both men and women.

The authors write, “Our findings highlight the value of isolation as a risk factor for mortality and emphasize the clinical importance of understanding a patient's social integration and support.

25% of men over age 75 live alone and nearly half of women 75 and older, many of them by choice, although seniors relate they do this as a way of being independent and because they don't want to be an imposition on children. It is this group that scientists maintain need to be given extra support during aging and that society should reach out to seniors who are isolated.