Images of colorfully wrapped presents under a Christmas tree are not supposed to trigger feelings of frustration and risks of possible injury. But trends in the packaging of many popular gifts have been diagnosed as the cause of this scenario — what sometimes is called “wrap rage.”
The real culprit, of course, is the “clamshell” or “oyster” packaging that encases many toys, electronics and other products. These hard plastic containers have emerged as a favorite of manufacturers and retailers because they protect items during shipping and prevent theft from store shelves, while still allowing shoppers to see what they are buying. The problem for consumers, though, is that these coverings are intensely difficult to remove — often requiring tools, muscle and swearing. Sometimes the experience results in a trip to the hospital.
“I’ve worked in the emergency department on Christmas day for six out of the last 10 years. We certainly see lacerations. That’s the most common thing. But we also see punctures,” said David Ross, DO, an emergency physician at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colo. He also is a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians. “That clamshell packaging is absolutely diabolical.”
As a response to this widespread sentiment, some firms are taking steps toward change. In November, several announced projects to address this maddening holiday exercise. Notably, Amazon.com launched an initiative to make 19 products available without the plastic hard shell. Instead, the items will be shipped in a single, easier-to-open cardboard box.
“I think we’ve all experienced the frustration that sometimes occurs when you try to get a new toy or electronics product out of its package,” said Jeff Bezos in a statement. He is Amazon’s founder and CEO. “It will take many years, but our vision is to offer our entire catalog of products in frustration-free packaging.”
A video posted to Amazon’s Web site demonstrates why the company is moving in this direction. The video shows how, with revised packaging, parents can open a Fisher-Price Imaginext Adventures Pirate Ship in 44 seconds. Its previous packaging required 11 minutes and two seconds.
Others, including Microsoft, have announced plans to follow suit.
Another holiday stressor
But these actions are about more than sheer irritation. Statistics show that packaging can be a health hazard.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an average of 6,000 people a year end up in the emergency department for packaging-related injuries. Many more get minor wounds from using sharp implements to extricate products.
Injuries sustained while trying to open packaging send about 6,000 people to the ED each year.
“You have to get a knife or scissors, and I have cut my hand on the plastic several times. You just cannot pull that stuff apart,” said Ken Davis, MD, a family doctor in Conroe, Texas.
Even if blood is not drawn, wrap rage adds aggravation to the holiday season, a situation that has become a part of popular culture.
Since 2006, the magazine Consumer Reports has presented the most difficult-to-open products with an “oyster award.” In addition, the otherwise placid Christian musician Sara Groves sings in her new song, “Toy Packaging,” about resorting to dynamite after spending hours trying to set free a toy robot. Also, a mini-industry has emerged creating tools to ease the angst of this challenge.
“You cannot pull them apart with your nails or your teeth, and it takes away the fun when you get so angry at trying to get the thing open,” said Toni Brayer, MD, a San Francisco internist who wrote about the issue on her blog (www.everythinghealth.net).
Physicians are hopeful about the potential of easier-to-open packaging to cut the incidence of holiday tension as well as minor and major injuries.
“Anything that can reduce stress during the holidays is a good idea for both parents and kids,” said Kenneth Haller, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Many also said simpler packaging would be good for the environment. For example, the revised packaging shown in the Amazon video eliminates 36 inches of plastic-coated wire ties and 1,576.5 square inches of printed, corrugated package inserts.
“Not only does [the Amazon effort] have the potential to reduce temper tantrums, high blood pressure and the inappropriate use of language in front of children, it has a significant ‘green’ impact,” said H. Garry Gardner, MD, a pediatrician at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He also chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics National Committee on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention.
Continue Reading December 15th, 2008
There are quite a few diet wreckers around but I think the very worst is found in every kitchen, cafe and food store and it's hidden in most manufactured food products.
The worst diet wrecker of all time?
It has to be sugar - pure, white and deadly.
Why is sugar such a demon?
- Sugar is calorie dense and without eating very much in quantity you will quickly consume a whole load of calories.
- Not only that but it's very natural to love sweet foods - so you want to eat more and more of it
- Sugar is often combined with high fat foods - just think about cakes, cookies, ice cream and chocolate so you get extra calories along with your sugar
- And because sugar has very little nutritional value or bulk it does not help to satisfy your appetite
- Last but not least, eating sugar rapidly raises blood sugar and insulin levels which increase your tendency to store excess energy as fat
The innocent looking white stuff has a lot to answer for but it's easy enough to avoid if you can see it.
The real problem is that we all eat a whole load of sugar when we don't even know it's there.
- It's often consumed in beverages
- It's hidden in almost every manufactured food product.
- Not all of the products which contain sugar mention sugar in the list of ingredients on the packaging - sugar comes in all different variants so it's important to understand that fructose including high-fructose corn syrup, glucose, lactose, molasses, sucrose, dextrose, galactose and honey are all forms of sugar too and many products will have several of these included in the ingredients making up a huge proportion of the total.
To avoid eating too much sugar
- look out for those hidden ingredients and avoid buying products which load up their foods with empty calories
- eat (rather than drink) your calories - drink plain or sparkling water, herbal tea or black coffee
- eat slow-release whole grain carbohydrates which don't cause insulin levels to spike in place of sugar
Of course I'm not saying ban sugar altogether (unless it's a real addiction and once you start you just can't stop). Just keep your sugar eating in moderation (maybe a square of chocolate after dinner) rather than filling yourself with empty calories and piling on the pounds.
Continue Reading December 11th, 2008
Do your friends and family sabotage every diet you go on by offering you food you can't resist?
You know how it is.
It just takes a declaration that you need to lose 10lbs to fit into your party dress, for someone in your office to treat everyone to cakes or chocolates. Or for your partner to say, “Let's eat out tonight. How about trying that new “all-you-can-eat” place?”
Why do they do that?
It's probably just coincidence - because food and offers of food are all around us. Eating is a social activity after all and so you will often be invited to eat.
But if you want to reduce those offers and temptations you have to show your friends and family you mean business.
You do that by saying “No!” without worrying about what they think of you.
Say “No I'd rather not because I am cutting back on food until I lose 10lbs” or whatever.
And the more you keep saying “no” the more respect you will earn and your friends will see that this time you really do mean it.
You can't really blame them for ignoring your half-hearted attempts to lose weight before can you?
How many times have you said to friends “I really shouldn't eat that” and then instantly followed it with “But go on then, just a small piece/just one”? It's no wonder that they don't believe you when you say you're on a diet.
Approach saying “No” like a sport that you are out to master. Try, try and try again until it comes naturally and your friends start to respect your efforts and stop pushing food on you.
Continue Reading December 9th, 2008
Childhood vaccines are entangled in a vast public controversy, and doctors often find themselves helping perplexed parents sort through misinformation before making a decision on immunization.
Mindful of these discussions, a panel of physicians and journalists offered pointers to those on the front lines during the joint meeting of the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, held Oct. 25-28 in Washington, D.C.
Panelist Paul Offit, MD, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, believes one way to address parents’ fears is for physicians to sharpen their message and stop using the scientific language of the many reports that have found no link between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
A developer of the vaccine RotaTeq and author of Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure, Dr. Offit said the language of science can confuse lay people. Instead, physicians should ratchet up the message and state their point emphatically — that the vaccine does not cause autism, he said.
“After you have done 10 studies and spent millions of dollars looking for the association between autism and MMR, I think you can be a little more definitive in your language.”
One conversation at a time
Simon Dobson, MD, clinical associate professor of pediatrics at British Columbia Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, often has what he calls the “eyeball-to-eyeball” conversation with a parent who is concerned about immunizations.
He recommends patience and good listening skills. Parents are often worried about something close to home, he said. “If you can nail that family myth or whatever it is that concerns them, the rest is easy.”
A drop in MMR vaccination rates in the United Kingdom has led to outbreaks of measles.
Most worried parents relate stories about growing up knowing a child who had autism or another disability. After all, many panelists noted, because of vaccines, measles and other serious childhood diseases have never been seen by parents, or even many physicians, while autism is much more in evidence.
But the more difficult cases involve parents who have been “bombarded by the media,” Dr. Dobson said. “They just don’t know what to do and are paralyzed by indecision.”
He, too, recommends cutting back on scientific evidence when discussing vaccine benefits. “I would go on and on about the benefits of the vaccine and the risk of the disease, and parents would get a glazed look.”
Instead, he tries to tap parents’ imaginations and urge them to think about what could happen if they forgo vaccines for their children. The anti-vaccine people use anecdotes, he said. “But we get the anecdotes beaten out of us in medical school.” Nevertheless, he noted, “I can tell a tragic story. It has a great impact on parents.”
For example, he asks parents to imagine what might happen if their child grows up to do good works in far-off countries where diseases such as polio are still endemic. If the child is not immunized, he or she could become infected, he relates.
“Parents may think of me as pompous — a windbag in the pay of the government, big pharma and big business — but they do respect my opinion,” he said.
No link has been found between autism and the MMR vaccine.
Also remember the conversations can take place over several office visits, Dr. Dobson said. “You don’t need to do it all in one go. This is particularly true in the primary care setting.”
British journalist Vivienne Parry, who also served on the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, noted that the drop in the MMR vaccination rate in her country has led to outbreaks of disease. “People are much more afraid of autism than they are of measles.”
Parry urged physicians to stand up in support of vaccines. “It has distressed me to see Paul Offit out there by himself,” she said, referring to Dr. Offit’s outspoken defense of vaccine safety, which has made him a target of anti-vaccine activists and the recipient of death threats. “Where are the other physicians supporting him?”
Physicians need to engage patients with simple and emotional language, she added. “You need to understand where the problems are coming from. The fears are natural. You need to think about that when you are communicating with patients.”
Dr. Offit said he would like to see a recasting of the characters in this ongoing drama. Now, the anti-vaccine people are often identified as the only ones who care about children. “I just wish the story was told a different way,” he said. As a result of the suspicion being raised that vaccines are connected to autism, “we continue to divert resources away from more promising leads.”
Continue Reading December 8th, 2008
Washington — Awareness of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is on the rise, but few patients have a good understanding of its origins or of available treatment, according to a new survey.
Although 64% of respondents to the HealthStyles questionnaire mailed early last summer had heard of the disease — compared with 49% four years earlier — only half recognized that it is a leading cause of death, and just 44% knew it could be treated.
In addition, while 74% correctly identified shortness of breath as a symptom, only 5% recognized chronic cough as an additional symptom. Although smoking is a major risk factor, most survey respondents were unaware of this fact. And only 22% of current smokers reported recognizing they are at greater risk.
However, COPD typically affects those who are current or former smokers, with most older than 45.
The survey was conducted by the public relations firm Porter Novelli, and the data were analyzed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Results were released Nov. 13.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease typically affects current or former smokers older than 45.
COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, affecting an estimated 24 million people, with only about half diagnosed.
Despite having recognizable symptoms, such as dyspnea, chronic cough or sputum production, and a decline in level of activity, about 12 million people remain undiagnosed, according to the NHLBI. Although other major causes of death have been declining, COPD mortality continues to climb.
NHLBI launched a campaign last year aimed at increasing awareness and underscoring the benefits of early detection and treatment in slowing the disease. Primary care physicians were identified as lead players in the campaign.
Asking questions of patients suspected of having COPD is a good first step for physicians, said Gail Weinmann, MD, deputy director of the Division of Lung Diseases at NHLBI. “The disease is insidious at the onset, and often patients attribute their symptoms to aging.”
Physicians should zero in on how far a patient can walk as a sign of diminished lung capacity and whether the patient has a cough, she advised.
If patients are at risk, whether because of smoking, working in a dusty environment or having a family history of the disease, spirometry is the main diagnostic tool, she added. “There are some accurate, inexpensive devices available.”
Uncomplicated COPD can be handled by the primary care physician, said Dr. Weinmann, with bronchodilators and inhaled glucocorticosteroids the most commonly prescribed treatments. Since influenza can present a major health problem for patients with COPD, yearly flu immunization is an important preventive step, she added. Pneumonia vaccine is also appropriate for some patients.
“We are encouraged that people are becoming more aware of the term COPD,” said NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD.
“But the survey also indicates that we, as a public health community, have much more work to do to promote greater understanding of the disease, its symptoms and risk factors, so that we can improve rates of diagnosis and treatment.”
Continue Reading December 8th, 2008
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