The slides from Comminsure CMO Dr. Bill Monday’s presentation on May 26, 2010.

Intensive sports and exercise at young age may be the cause, experts say.

Dr. J. Carl Holowaty MD, DBIM revists his September 2005 piece looking at the epidemiological trends relating to obesity, Weighing-In On Obesity, and explores three other important topics: Prostate Cancer and PSA, Viral Hepatitis B and C, and MRSA.

Receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs) are a popular way to summarize the resolution power of a diagnostic test. ROCs plot the trade-off between a test's sensitivity and its false positive rate (1- specificity) as the cutoff point that defines a positive test is varied. (Article by David Wesley, Vice President, Medical Research and Development, Transamerica Reinsurance)

Americans, at least as a group, may have reached their peak of obesity, according to data the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released recently.

This Gen Re Risk Matters issues describes the changes to the HbA1c measurement and how underwriters should interpret them.

Microfluidics chips allow scientists to study circulating cancer cells and determine their vulnerabilities.

• Success Beyond Infertility Treatment
• Cognitive Changes Associated with Chemotherapy
• Radiology Benefit Management: A Primer for Health Plans
• When is the Right Time to Treat HIV Infection?
• Earn CEUs through ING Reinsurance Teleconferences

This article considers the effect smoking bans have had on passive smoking and overall heart attack rates.

Obesity is associated with increased health-care costs, reduced quality of life, and increased risk for premature death. Common morbidities associated with obesity include coronary heart disease, hypertension and stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. As of 2007, no state had met the Healthy People 2010 objective to reduce to 15% the prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults. An overarching goal of Healthy People 2010 is to eliminate health disparities among racial/ethnic populations. To assess differences in prevalence of obesity among non-Hispanic blacks, non-Hispanic whites, and Hispanics, CDC analyzed data from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys conducted during 2006-2008.

In the spring of 2009, an outbreak of severe pneumonia was reported in conjunction with the concurrent isolation of a novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-OIV), widely known as swine flu, in Mexico. Influenza A (H1N1) subtype viruses have rarely predominated since the 1957 pandemic. The analysis of epidemic pneumonia in the absence of routine diagnostic tests can provide information about risk factors for severe disease from this virus and prospects for its control. (New England Journal of Medicine)

The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) was initiated in 1987 and is an ongoing state- and population-based surveillance system designed to monitor selected maternal behaviors and experiences that occur before, during, and after pregnancy among women who deliver live-born infants in the United States.

You can check out the latest on the global spread of influenza here.

Some diabetics who received a stem-cell transplant do not need insulin injections years later.

To update 2006 state-specific estimates of cigarette smoking, CDC analyzed data from the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey and examined trends in cigarette smoking from 1998--2007. Results of these analyses indicated substantial variation in current cigarette smoking during 2007.

Presentation by Rick Bergstrom and Anna Hart at the 2009 MUD Group meeting.

CDC and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have combined their cancer incidence data to produce United States Cancer Statistics (USCS): 1999--2005 Incidence and Mortality Data, a web-based report. The report is produced in collaboration with the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries.

From Gen Re's Risk Insights publication.

During a recent visit to an insurer’s offices, Heritage was asked “What reflex rules are being used by your clients regarding Hepatitis C? Our internal studies convinced our company to start reflex testing even when the LFT’s are highly normal.” -- February 2009 article by Danny Perkins.

Hank George has written a comprehensive research paper on a new test ideally suited for mortality and morbidity risk screening. It will serve well in tandem with NT-proBNP and other blood tests, as an alternative to treadmill ECGs and other slow, costly requirements we currently use.

In the setting of a worldwide increase in obesity and diabetes, reviews the protective value of current testing strategies. In plausible scenarios, shows that choosing uniform testing with HbA1c produces mortality savings that recover testing costs within short durations.

This Question of the Month came from a client visit where the lipid profile was discussed. The comment expressed was that sometimes all 4 components of the profile are not given, most often the LDL which is sometimes not provided in an APS. When a suggestion was made to use the “lipid formula,” the inquiring underwriter had no knowledge of the formula or how to use it.

Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death for Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control.1 Fair, inexpensive, and accurate assessment of health risk presents a challenge to all insurance companies. Research in clinical medicine is impacting insurance medicine in new and exciting ways and is transforming how companies assess the cardiac risk of a proposed insured. New laboratory testing evaluating insurance risk profiles will assist in more accurately classifying cardiac risk. It is important, therefore, to review the new and existing laboratory markers that are available in your clients’ cardiac mortality risk.

A form of screening to identify persons who are likely to need complex health care, who are at risk of adverse health outcomes, and who will benefit from care management programs.

Homeostasis is either the equilibrium itself or the process through which equilibrium is maintained between various chemical compositions and/or physiologic function in the body. Homeostasis is achieved by what engineers call “negative feedback loops” – sensors detect deviation and trigger corrective forces to bring the system back into equilibrium. There are thousands of such equilibria in the body, and the condition known as frailty in the elderly is thought to result from impaired homeostatic processes. (David Wesley, Vice President, Medical Research and Development)

The October website article by Hank reviews patient noncompliance with routine medical screening and how this is a major risk-taking behavior. It is fully documented from the worldwide medical literature. In this article, Hank argues that both risk-taking behaviors and findings consistent with the "healthy adherer" effect should be included in teleinterviews and used in risk assessments.

This paper highlights the menace of overweight and obesity which are on the rise. Health care systems and insurance industries are directly affected. Liability claims are on waiting. The food related damage claims are costly. Insurers are therefore driven to find a solution: classify overweight and obesity as a group, adjust their premium to reflect the cost, and justify the classification and the adjustments.

Daniel Perkins, JD, FALU writing in Heritage Labs' eNews, August 2008. Part II is at this link: http://www.hooperholmes.com/Skins/Image/HL_Cocaine_UnderwritingII.pdf.

Published in January, this issue covers:

• Measuring GFR
• A1c
• 21st Century Geriatric Medical Underwriting
• New Tools for Older Age Underwriting

...and more.

Presentation at the MUD Group meeting in January 2008 by Charles Levy, MD, Chief Medical Director, AIG American General Domestic Life Companies.

Presentation at the MUD Group meeting in January 2008 by Charlotte A. Lee, M.D., FLMI, 21st Services, LLC.

Presentation by Transamerica Reinsurance's Vice President & Chief Medical Director Steven E. Zimmerman M.D., FLMI, CLU at the MUD Group Meeting in January 2008.

http://www.scor.com/www/fileadmin/uploads/publics/Focus_cardio_en.pdf

The potential for positive medical impact of preventive dental care.

Profiles heart attack cover in critical illness insurance contracts, how wording has evolved in the clinical setting, and illustrats the practical challenges of assessing these insurance claims with a case study.

Explores the difficulties in analysing and handling Child CI claims and looks at how providers generally manage their risks via benefit design.

Hank George reviews patient noncompliance with routine medical screening and how this is a major risk-taking behavior. It is fully documented from the worldwide medical literature. In this article, Hank argues that both risk-taking behaviors and findings consistent with the "healthy adherer" effect should be included in teleinterviews and used in risk assessments.

Presentation by Robert L. Stout, Ph D.

Presentation by F. Sestier, MD, PhD and A. Naslafkih, MD, PhD.

Profiles heart attack cover in critical illness insurance contracts, how wording has evolved in the clinical setting, and illustrates the practical challenges of assessing these insurance claims with a case study.

This article considers the benefits of managing hypertension with combination therapy and what under writers must consider in reviewing applicants that disclose such regimens.

Gen Re on Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) / Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) / The Concept of "Scarless" Abdominal Surgery / A Look Across the Fence - Underwriting in Mexico / An Exceptional Sport: Chessboxing - Involving Brains and Brawn / An Exceptional Occupational Profile: Perfumer - In a Frenzy of the Senses.