Addicts Using Diarrhea Drug Imodium to Get High

THURSDAY, May 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Searching for an alternative to opioid painkillers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin, some addicts are now turning to the diarrhea drug Imodium for a high, researchers say.

This abuse of Imodium — with its key ingredient, loperamide — is a growing problem in the United States, according to the researchers.

“People looking for either self-treatment of [opioid] withdrawal symptoms or euphoria are overdosing on loperamide with sometimes deadly consequences,” said study author William Eggleston.

“Loperamide is safe in therapeutic doses but extremely dangerous in high doses,” Eggleston said in a news release from the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

His team published its findings — case reports involving two patients — in the April 29 online edition of the journal.

The two individuals each took massive doses of loperamide. Both overdosed and even though they received emergency medical treatment, both died.

Experts say the two cases represent a growing, dangerous trend.

According to the report, between 2010 and 2011, there was a 10-fold increase in web forum postings about oral loperamide abuse. Most (70 percent) of the postings discussed using the drug to self-treat a discomforting opioid withdrawal, while 25 percent focused on using loperamide to simply get high.

All of this may be having tragic consequences. According to the researchers, there was a 71 percent jump in loperamide abuse/misuse-related calls to poison control centers across the United States between 2011 and 2014.

“Loperamide’s accessibility, low cost, over-the-counter legal status and lack of social stigma all contribute to its potential for abuse,” said Eggleston, who works with the Upstate New York Poison Center in Syracuse.

He said that as regulators and law enforcement tighten access to prescription opioid painkillers, addicts are “seeking alternative drug sources.”

Speaking to CBS News, addiction specialist Dr. Scott Krakower said the trend is not overly surprising.

Loperamide is “an opioid agent and it helps to bind receptors in the brain and cause a similar euphoria or high,” explained Krakower, a physician at Northwell Health in Glen Oaks, N.Y. But he stressed that the amount needed for a high is enormous — perhaps 50 to 300 pills of Imodium per day.

For his part, Eggleston believes that doctors and health care workers need to be more aware of the danger.

“This is another reminder that all drugs, including those sold without a prescription, can be dangerous when not used as directed,” he said.

More information

There’s help for those seeking to kick a drug addiction habit at the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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Widely Used Heart Drug Tied to Dementia Risk

By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — People with the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation may have a heightened risk of developing dementia — and the quality of their drug treatment may play a role, a new study hints.

Specifically, researchers found, patients on the clot-preventing drug warfarin showed a higher dementia risk if their blood levels of the medication were frequently too high or too low.

And that was true not only for people with atrial fibrillation, but also for those using warfarin for other reasons.

Dr. Jared Bunch, the lead researcher on the study, said the findings uncover two potential concerns: People with atrial fibrillation may face an increased risk of dementia, independent of warfarin use, but warfarin might also contribute to dementia if the doses are not optimal.

“If people’s levels of warfarin were erratic, their dementia risk was higher, whether they had AF or not,” said Bunch, who was scheduled to present his findings Thursday at the Heart Rhythm Society’s annual meeting, in San Francisco.

The results do not prove that either atrial fibrillation or warfarin are to blame, according to Bunch, a cardiologist at Intermountain Medical Center, in Murray, Utah.

But, he said, there is reason to believe that both could contribute to dementia — in part because of effects on blood flow to the brain.

Atrial fibrillation is a common arrhythmia, affecting about 3 million U.S. adults, according to the Heart Rhythm Society. In it, the upper chambers of the heart quiver instead of contracting efficiently. The condition is not immediately life-threatening, but it can cause blood clots to form in the heart. If a clot breaks free and lodges in an artery supplying the brain, that can trigger a stroke.

Because of that, people with atrial fibrillation often take medications that cut the risk of blood clots. Those include aspirin or anticoagulants such as warfarin (Coumadin).

Warfarin is a tricky drug to take, Bunch explained: People need regular blood tests to make sure their warfarin levels are in the “therapeutic range” — high enough to prevent clots, but low enough to avoid internal bleeding. The doses typically have to be changed over time.

According to Bunch, it’s possible that patients with erratic warfarin levels are more prone to “small clots” or “small bleeds” that could affect the brain.

The findings are based on records from over 10,000 patients who were on warfarin for atrial fibrillation or to prevent blood clots from other causes.

Over six to eight years, almost 6 percent of the atrial fib patients developed dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease — versus less than 2 percent of other warfarin patients.

People with atrial fib were generally older and in poorer health. But even after Bunch’s team accounted for that, the atrial fib patients had more than double the risk of dementia than that other patients.

The quality of warfarin treatment also seemed to matter, whether patients had atrial fibrillation or not.

Compared with patients whose warfarin was in therapeutic range more than 75 percent of the time, those who were usually out of range had 2.5 to four times the odds of developing dementia.

However, there are many reasons a patient could be out of therapeutic range, said Dr. Gordon Tomaselli, chief of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and a past president of the American Heart Association.

So it’s hard to pin the blame on warfarin management, according to Tomaselli, who was not involved in the study.

Still, he said it is plausible that both atrial fibrillation and erratic warfarin levels contribute to dementia.

A study that compared warfarin patients to those on newer anticoagulant drugs could help sort out the medication’s role, Tomaselli said.

For now, Bunch had some advice for patients. “If you’re doing well on warfarin, there’s no reason to worry,” he said.

In other cases, he added, closer monitoring and better management might help patients keep their warfarin levels in range.

“But if you’re someone whose warfarin doses have to be changed a lot,” Bunch said, “you could ask your doctor about alternatives.”

The newer anticoagulants dabigatran (Pradaxa), rivaroxaban (Xarelto) and apixaban (Eliquis) — do not have the same “swings” that warfarin does, he noted. (The study received no funding, and none of the researchers reported ties to the companies that make the newer anticoagulants.)

According to Tomaselli, warfarin patients can take their own steps, too.

Certain foods and medications interfere with the drug, for example. So patients should be careful about major diet changes, and always talk to their doctor before taking any new medication, Tomaselli said.

He also emphasized the importance of lifestyle — in protecting the heart and possibly lowering dementia risk.

“You can’t stress enough the importance of a good diet, being physically active, and getting high blood pressure and other risk factors under control,” Tomaselli said. “What’s good for the heart is good for the brain.”

More information

The American Heart Association has a guide on using warfarin.

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Mini-Camera Mounted on Glasses Helps Blind ‘Read’

THURSDAY, May 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A device mounted onto eyeglasses enables people considered legally blind to “read” and perform other day-to-day activities, according to researchers.

The device, called OrCam, features a miniature camera with optical character-recognition technology. The camera deciphers text and then “reads” it to the user through an earpiece. The device can even be programmed to recognize specific faces and commercial products, according to the report.

“It is easily used and could potentially bring greater independence, particularly for older patients who are struggling with vision loss,” said study co-author Dr. Mark Mannis, chair of ophthalmology at the University of California, Davis.

His team’s pilot study included 12 people, average age 62, with severe vision loss caused by a variety of disorders. All were legally blind. The participants were first trained how to use the device, which operates either by tapping it, pressing a trigger button, or pointing it at an item.

After one week using OrCam, all participants could perform nine of 10 tasks, including: reading a message on an electronic device such as a smartphone or tablet, a newspaper article, menu, letter or page from a book; recognizing paper money denominations; locating a room in a hallway using wall-mounted signs; and recognizing products and distinguishing between similarly shaped and sized cereal boxes.

Only one person had technical difficulties with the device. Overall, the participants said the device was simple and easy to use and they would consider using it in their daily lives.

OrCam could benefit people with age-related macular degeneration or advanced-stage glaucoma, two of the leading causes of vision loss among older Americans, Mannis said.

“Age-related macular degeneration is one of the most common causes of blindness in the elderly and it has no cure in its advanced stages,” he noted in a university news release.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1.8 million Americans aged 50 and older have age-related macular degeneration, and that number is estimated to reach about 3 million by 2020.

“This device offers hope to patients who are beyond medical or surgical therapy for the condition,” Mannis said.

Two experts unconnected to the new study agreed.

While “more research is warranted . . . advancement in this technology could eventually make visually impaired individuals more independent,” said Dr. Nazanin Barzideh. She is chief of vitreoretinal surgery at Winthrop-University in Mineola, N.Y.

Dr. Mark Fromer is an ophthalmologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He noted that most instruments that currently help people with low vision are simply “magnifying” devices.

The OrCam works in a different way. “This small pilot study demonstrates that portable artificial vision devices may be an effective aid to the visually impaired,” Fromer said.

He believes the technology “deserves further exploration, to aid the millions of individuals severely limited by their visual status.”

More information

The U.S. National Eye Institute has more about low vision.

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Stay Lean, Live Longer

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Keeping trim throughout your life could help you live longer, while being obese might do the opposite, two new studies show.

In the first study, U.S. scientists found that slim people had the lowest risk of dying over a 15-year period — 12 percent for women and 20 percent for men. Meanwhile, obese men and women had the highest risk — 20 percent for women and 24 percent for men.

“People who maintain the leanest body shape have the lowest risk of dying prematurely,” said lead researcher Dr. Mingyang Song, a research fellow in the departments of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston.

Weight management should start early and last throughout life, Song said. “By the time you reach middle age, it’s difficult to lose weight,” he said. “Obesity should be prevented by managing weight in childhood and adolescence.”

Preventing obesity may also prevent its consequences, which include diabetes and heart disease, Song said, though the study did not prove a cause-and-effect link between weight and life span.

For the study, Song and colleagues collected U.S. data on more than 80,000 women who took part in the Nurses’ Health Study and more than 36,000 men who were enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

Participants were asked to recall their body shape at ages 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40. They also provided their weight at 50. They were followed from age 60 over an average of 15 to 16 years. In addition, participants completed questionnaires on lifestyle and health every two years and on diet every four years.

In a second study in the same journal, international researchers found that gaining weight over time was linked with higher risks of premature death.

In their analysis of 230 previously published studies that included more than 30 million people and nearly 4 million deaths, they found that among people who never smoked, the leanest lived the longest.

“A BMI [body mass index] in the range of 20 to 23 may be optimal for reducing premature mortality in adulthood,” said lead researcher Dagfinn Aune, from the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, in England.

BMI is a measure of weight that takes into account the ratio between height and weight. A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal, while a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight. A BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.

“The findings demonstrate the importance of smoking and health conditions in influencing the association between BMI and mortality, and reinforce concerns about the adverse effects of excess weight,” Aune said.

The report was published May 5 in the BMJ.

“Weight management throughout life is important, particularly during middle age,” said Dr. Sarah Wild, a professor of epidemiology with the Centre for Population Health Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland.

“We need to continue to try and support healthy environments, as well as expecting individuals to resist the temptations of the obesogenic [promoting weight gain] environment,” added Wild, who wrote an editorial that accompanied the two studies.

One expert agreed.

“There has also been some argument that fitness matters, while fatness matters less,” said Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, in New Haven, Conn.

However, these new studies show that, “being lean, and staying that way, confers the health benefits long suspected,” he said.

More information

Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on obesity.

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FDA Banning E-Cigarette Sales to Minors

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it is banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, as part of its long-awaited plan to extend the agency’s regulatory powers across all tobacco products.

The new rules would halt the sale of e-cigarettes and any other tobacco product to anyone younger than 18.

The regulations also would require photo IDs to buy e-cigarettes, and ban retailers from handing out free samples or selling them in all-ages vending machines.

The rules will go into effect in 90 days, the FDA said, and also cover other alternative forms of tobacco like cigars, hookah tobacco and pipe tobacco.

Electronic cigarettes are battery-operated devices designed to create an aerosol that delivers nicotine, flavor and other chemicals when inhaled by the user. Manufacturers have marketed the products as a way to help smokers quit cigarettes, but opponents contend that the nicotine-laden e-cigarettes actually encourage people — especially vulnerable teens — to pick up the smoking habit.

The FDA action earned universal praise from medical associations, which have been concerned that e-cigarettes serve as a gateway drug to draw teenagers into a lifetime of smoking addiction.

“Youth use e-cigarettes more than any other tobacco product on the market today, serving as an entry point to more traditional tobacco products and placing kids at risk to the harms and addiction of nicotine and other tobacco products,” said Harold Wimmer, national president and CEO of the American Lung Association. “Ending the tobacco epidemic is more urgent than ever, and can only happen if the FDA acts aggressively and broadly to protect all Americans from all tobacco products.”

Until now, e-cigarettes and other alternative tobacco products have gone unregulated by the FDA, despite a 2009 law that granted the agency the authority to govern any tobacco sold in the United States.

Manufacturers of e-cigarettes also will be required to submit new and existing products to the FDA for review and evaluation, unless the product was sold prior to Feb. 15, 2007.

That cut-off date means that 99 percent of all e-cigarette and “vaping” products now on the market will have to be submitted for FDA review, according to a statement by the Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association.

The FDA anticipates that existing e-cigarette brands will have at least three more regulation-free years on the market — two years while manufacturers prepare their product application and another year for FDA review.

The new regulations bring e-cigarettes and other alternative tobacco products in line with the FDA rules that already govern traditional cigarettes, the agency said. As a result, e-cigarette manufacturers will have to:

• Report all ingredients, including potentially harmful ones.
• Place health warnings on product packages and advertisements.
• Refrain from selling their products as “low-risk” tobacco alternatives unless specifically authorized by the FDA.

The American Academy of Pediatrics praised the new FDA rules, but criticized the agency for not going further.

“FDA passed up critical opportunities in this rule by failing to prohibit the sale of tobacco products coming in flavors like cotton candy, gummy bear and grape, or to prevent marketing tactics that target children,” said AAP President Dr. Benard Dreyer.

E-cigarette trade associations condemned the new regulations.

“If the FDA’s rule is not changed by Congress or the courts, thousands of small businesses will close in two to three years,” said Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association. “Tens of thousands of jobs will be lost and consumer choice will be annihilated. Absurdly, ex-smokers will face the prospect of having to purchase products that help them remain smoke-free on the black market.”

The Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association stated: “Today’s final rule pulls the rug out from the 9 million smokers who have switched to vaping, putting them in jeopardy of returning back to smoking, which kills 480,000 Americans each year and costs the U.S. more than $300 billion in annual health care expenses. These new regulations create an enormously cost-prohibitive regulatory process for manufacturers to market their products to adult smokers and vapers,” crippling a “multi-billion job-creating industry.”

More information

For more on the FDA ruling, click here.

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Lung Cancer Surgery Worthwhile for Older Patients

THURSDAY, May 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Older lung cancer patients are surviving longer when they have lung cancer surgery, a new study suggests.

“This greater than expected survival in older patients selected for operative therapy is noteworthy, especially considering that the prevalence of lung cancer is expected to increase as the population continues to grow older and more people survive into old age,” said study author Dr. Felix Fernandez, from Emory Clinic in Atlanta.

The median age of U.S. lung cancer patients at the time of diagnosis is 70, according to the American Cancer Society. About 17 percent of all patients diagnosed with lung cancer live for at least five years, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

In the study, researchers examined data from tens of thousands of patients aged 65 and older who had lung cancer surgery in the United States between 2002 and 2012. Median survival after surgery for early stage lung cancer was 6.7 years — nearly two years longer than the benchmark five-year survival rate.

The analysis also showed that five-year survival rates for certain older patients with advanced lung cancer who had surgery were 30 percent for stage 3 cancer and 27 percent for stage 4 cancer.

The study was published online May 5 in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

The findings offer more information about survival after surgery, “which is important to patients. This information can be included in the shared decision-making process when discussing treatment options with patients,” Fernandez said in a journal news release.

The elderly population in the United States is expected to nearly double, from 43 million in 2012 to 80 million by 2050, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about lung cancer.

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Sleep Apnea May Raise Heart Risks in People With Pacemakers

THURSDAY, May 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — People with heart pacemakers and sleep apnea are at much greater risk for a dangerous heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation, a new study suggests.

With sleep apnea, breathing stops or becomes critically shallow during sleep. It’s very common in people with pacemakers. The sleep disorder is a known risk factor for atrial fibrillation, but the risk for pacemaker patients with sleep apnea was unclear, the study authors said.

“In recent years, pacemakers have increasingly become equipped with sleep apnea-monitoring measures, and in using these tools, we were able to identify how pacemaker patients with sleep apnea are at risk for developing atrial fibrillation,” said Dr. Andrea Mazza, from Santa Maria della Stella Hospital in Orvieto, Italy.

“Our results are the first to show that patients with pacemakers and sleep apnea are at a higher risk of developing atrial fibrillation,” Mazza said.

However, the findings did not prove the combination caused an irregular heartbeat.

In the study, more than 150 people were checked for sleep apnea during the first week after receiving a pacemaker.

Over the following eight months, atrial fibrillation occurred in 36 percent of the patients, including 28 percent of those who had no history of the heart rhythm problems, the study found.

Severe sleep apnea was diagnosed in 85 patients, including 56 with no history of atrial fibrillation. Overall, those with severe sleep apnea had a threefold higher risk of atrial fibrillation, but the risk was about sixfold higher among those with no history of atrial fibrillation, the researchers found.

The study was presented Wednesday at the Heart Rhythm Society’s annual meeting, in San Francisco. The research should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

“Now that we understand the connection, it’s important that patients and doctors, collectively, are more diligent about monitoring for sleep apnea in order to engage in solutions that may prevent the development of atrial fibrillation and, possibly, [blood clots],” Mazza said in a Heart Rhythm Society news release.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more on atrial fibrillation.

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Race May Influence Risk for Irregular Heart Beat

THURSDAY, May 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — There’s a strong link between the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation and race, a new study says.

Whites with heart failure are much more likely to have atrial fibrillation (AF) than blacks or Hispanics with heart failure, the study authors said.

Heart failure is a common risk factor for atrial fibrillation. Heart failure affects 5.8 million people in the United States and more than 23 million worldwide, the researchers said.

The researchers reviewed information from more than 68,000 Americans with heart failure. They were between ages 45 and 95. The group included more than 28,000 Hispanics, more than 25,000 blacks and more than 14,000 whites.

The risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) was about 23 percent lower in blacks than whites. The odds were nearly 27 percent lower in Hispanics than whites, the researchers found.

The study was presented Wednesday at the Heart Rhythm Society’s annual meeting, in San Francisco.

The results of this study are “especially interesting because, despite having many risk factors for AF, Hispanic and African-American patients had a lower risk of developing AF,” study researcher Dr. Eric Shulman said in a society news release.

Shulman, who’s with Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, said there may be underlying genetic reasons for these differences. He suggested that better awareness and understanding of these disparities may help doctors develop individualized care for their patients.

Findings presented at meetings are generally viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more on atrial fibrillation.

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Exercise Is Good for You, Even in Polluted Cities: Study

THURSDAY, May 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Even in cities with badly polluted air, the health benefits of walking or bicycling outweigh the risks of breathing dirty air, a new study contends.

Researchers used computer simulations to compare the risks and benefits of walking or cycling in a range of air pollution levels. In most cities worldwide, the risks from air pollution do not cancel out the positive effects of cycling and walking, the study found.

Only 1 percent of cities have air pollution levels high enough to negate the benefits of cycling 30 minutes every day, the researchers said.

“Our model indicates that in London health benefits of active travel always outweigh the risk from pollution. Even in Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world — with pollution levels 10 times those in London — people would need to cycle over five hours per week before the pollution risks outweigh the health benefits,” said study leader Dr. Marko Tainiio, of the University of Cambridge in England.

“We should remember, though, that a small minority of workers in the most polluted cities, such as bike messengers, may be exposed to levels of air pollution high enough to cancel out the health benefits of physical activity,” Tainiio added in a university news release.

Study senior author James Woodcock said: “Whilst this research demonstrates the benefits of physical activity in spite of air quality, it is not an argument for inaction in combating pollution. It provides further support for investment in infrastructure to get people out of their cars and onto their feet or their bikes — which can itself reduce pollution levels at the same time as supporting physical activity.”

Regular exercise reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes and several cancers, and one way for people to boost their physical activity levels is through “active travel” such as walking and cycling, the study authors said.

The study appears May 5 in the journal Preventive Medicine.

More information

The World Health Organization has more about air pollution and health.

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6 Years Later, Obamacare Still Divides America: Poll

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Six years after the introduction of Obamacare, Americans are still divided over the controversial health reform law even though most tend to support many parts of the measure, a new HealthDay/Harris Poll found.

However, none of the current crop of presidential candidates appears to inspire much hope that they’ll properly handle health care policy if elected, the poll results show.

Only 28 percent of U.S. adults have a “great deal” or “some confidence” that Donald Trump could successfully manage the nation’s health care policy, and only 30 percent feel the same way about Ted Cruz, who abandoned his campaign Tuesday night.

As for the Democratic candidates, about 44 percent of Americans have a “great deal” or “some confidence” in Hillary Clinton, while Bernie Sanders — at 47 percent — inspires the most confidence.

“While attitudes about the ACA (Affordable Care Act) remain divided and highly polarized by party, several key elements of it continue to enjoy the support of most people — including the regulations relating to pre-existing conditions, the employer mandate and the expansion of Medicaid,” said Humphrey Taylor, chairman emeritus of The Harris Poll. “However, the individual mandate is still very unpopular.”

Support for the Affordable Care Act remains about the same as it has been since President Barack Obama signed it into law in 2010. About 23 percent of Americans want to keep it as it is, and another 30 percent would like to see the law kept but tweaked. About 33 percent call for repeal of the law.

But attitudes toward individual parts of the law vary greatly:

• 74 percent, including 62 percent of Republicans, want to keep the ACA rule that requires insurers to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions.
• A more modest 51 percent favor keeping the ACA provision of subsidies to enable people with low incomes to buy insurance.
• A similar 53 percent favor keeping the rule requiring employers with more than 50 full-time employees to provide them with insurance.
• Only 41 percent favor keeping the rule increasing the numbers of people eligible for Medicaid.
• However, 64 percent would like to repeal the ACA’s “individual mandate,” which requires most people to have insurance or pay a penalty.

The amount of political opposition on the national level inspired by the Affordable Care Act likely has caused opinions to harden, even though the benefits of the law have proven popular, said Ron Pollack, founding executive director of Families USA, a nonprofit health care consumer advocacy group.

“The debate about the Affordable Care Act has been sufficiently contentious that often people have strong viewpoints even if they do not yet understand what is in the legislation,” Pollack said. “We have seen responses that support virtually all of the major provisions of the ACA, and people think those things are very valuable to them, but they have ambiguity over whether they support the ACA itself.”

The continued opposition to the individual mandate reflects the public’s general distaste for any mandate or additional tax, Pollack said.

“A lot of people are not fully aware of why the mandate is really essential in any program that expands [health insurance] coverage to people with pre-existing conditions,” he said. “Without the mandate, if there’s greater accessibility to coverage, a fair number of people may say, ‘I’m not going to pay for coverage until I get sick or have an accident.’ Were that to occur, premiums would skyrocket. I’m not sure many people have thought of that.”

Given that the poll results reflect more national confidence in Democrats than Republicans regarding health care policy, Pollack said the coming election might see the end of the longstanding Obamacare debate.

“If the November elections turn out to be such that Hillary Clinton becomes president, I think the contentiousness that has existed for quite a few years is going to diminish, and there won’t be any credible sense that the ACA should be or can be repealed,” he said.

The HealthDay/Harris Poll was conducted online, in English, within the United States between April 15 and 19 among slightly more than 2,000 adults.

Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. “Propensity score weighting” was also used, to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

More information

For more on the Affordable Care Act, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

For more details on the poll, visit The Harris Poll.

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