Public Health
Pneumonia Hospitalization Rates on the Rise for Older Adults
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Hospitalization rates for pneumonia have increased substantially for U.S. adults 65 to 84 years of age, according to a study in the December 7 issue of JAMA.
Pneumonia is among the top 10 causes of death in the United States and is a significant cause of outpatient visits and hospitalizations, according to background information in the article. Factors that increase the risk for pneumonia include the presence of underlying medical conditions, advanced age, functional disability, and residency in long-term care facilities.
Time Is Right for Vets and Doctors to Debate Food Policy
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The time is right for vets and doctors to join together to examine the case for radical reform of current food policy, say researchers in this week’s BMJ.
They argue that cheap food, particularly meat, is linked to reduced human health and reduced farm animal welfare, both of which are important matters of public interest that are within the professions’ respective purviews.
Hunger kills 6 mln children a year: UN
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The United Nations’ food and farming body on Tuesday renewed its plea for more effort to improve agriculture in poor countries to ease hunger and malnutrition, which kill nearly 6 million children a year.
In its annual report, “The State of Food Insecurity in the World”, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said the world is way behind on hunger reduction goals for 2015 set at political summits over the last 10 years.
A New Addition to Your Family’s Thanksgiving Dinner: The PHR?
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Pass the turkey. Pass the dressing. Pass the cranberry sauce. Pass the PHR?
A personal health record (PHR) may not be on your menu this Thanksgiving Day, but the U.S. Surgeon General and health information management specialists at Saint Louis University’s Doisy College of Health Sciences think it should be.
Nurses, PAs as good as doctors for HIV care
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Nurse practitioners and physician assistants can care for HIV patients as well as doctors specializing in the disease—and may do a better job than non-specialist doctors, researchers reported Monday.
Their study, of 68 HIV clinics in the U.S., found that nurse practitioners and physician assistants offered a quality of care similar to that of doctors specializing in HIV/AIDS. And they generally outperformed generalist doctors in the eight quality-of-care measures the researchers considered.
The Medicare Prescription Drug Law: Is Part D Right for You?
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The changes to Medicare prescription coverage can be confusing to those who are already dealing with the rising costs of prescription drugs. The “Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003,” will officially go into effect January 1, 2006. This gives precious little time to those that will be most affected by these changes.
Adam Welch, assistant professor of pharmacy at Wilkes University, says that the major part of the new law is the addition of a Part D component to Medicare. Part D is a voluntary prescription drug coverage that is run by private insurance companies that have to follow government regulations.
World health experts outline bird flu strategy
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International health experts on Wednesday agreed to the outlines of a global strategy to tackle the spread of bird flu that the World Bank has estimated would cost up to $1 billion over three years.
Wrapping up three days of talks, World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Lee Jong-Wook said the strategy covered minimising the virus threat at source in animals and humans, strengthening early warning systems, strengthening veterinary services, improving countries’ pandemic preparedness, making access to anti-viral drugs fairer and more research into pandemic vaccines.
UK mother challenges child abortion rules
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A British mother launched a legal test case on Tuesday to challenge the “horrifying” practice of young girls having abortions without their parents’ knowledge.
Susan Axon, 50, from Manchester, is contesting a law that allows girls under 16 to receive advice on abortion and sexual health in confidence.
ABC launches anti-smoking ad campaign
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It isn’t just ABC News that’s being enlisted in the battle against smoking and lung cancer in the Quit to Live series, which began airing this month on “World News Tonight.”
A public service campaign launched late last week features President Bush, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., former Secretary of State Colin Powell, actress Geena Davis, Microsoft mogul Bill Gates and sports stars Lance Armstrong and Tom Brady.
Important that GP’s take flu pandemic threat seriously
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Family doctors are advised to plan their response to managing a flu pandemic in this week’s BMJ.
The advice is based on a module that is freely available on BMJ Learning to help keep health professionals up to date with key issues.
Climate change linked to rise in malaria, asthma
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Climate change may promote the spread of deadly diseases like malaria and asthma in both rich and poor countries by increasing the range of parasitic insects and whipping up dust from storms, a new report says.
As climates warm, malaria is becoming more common in the traditionally cool mountains of Africa, Asia and Latin America where 10 percent of the world’s people live, said Dr. Paul Epstein, the lead author of “Climate Change Futures.”
China sets bird flu fund
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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has earmarked $248 million to fight bird flu, state radio said on Wednesday, as U.S. and Chinese officials discussed U.S. chicken exports should bird flu reach the United States.
Wen presided over a special cabinet meeting on Tuesday when it was decided to set aside 2 billion yuan ($248 million) from this year’s fiscal budget to prevent the spread of bird flu, state radio and Xinhua news agency said.
George Bush needs more money to cope with bird flu
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U.S. President George Bush is about to reveal his plans to fight a flu pandemic and apparently he will ask Congress for funding for a vaccine against bird flu as well as infrastructure to deal with any pandemic.
Mr Bush is due to visit the National Institutes of Health to announce the White House strategy on how to prepare for the next flu pandemic, whether it is caused by the bird flu in Asia or some other super strain of influenza.
Gargling May Prevent Colds; Expert Finds Results Hard to Swallow
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Daily gargling with water appears to ward off colds among healthy people, Japanese researchers report in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. But an American expert is throwing cold water on the study.
“The most important finding in our study is that the common cold could be prevented over 30 percent of the time by daily gargling with water,” said lead author Kazunari Satomura, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Kyoto University. “This simple hygienic habit could contribute to public health and it would have obvious economic benefits,” he added.
Risk factors for BC death same for blacks, whites
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African-American women are known to be more likely to die from breast cancer than white women, yet new study findings show that the factors associated with an increased risk of death from the condition are similar in both groups.
“This study found that major known risk factors do not vary considerably between these two groups, so this study underscores the need for all women to follow breast cancer screening guidelines,” said study author Dr. Marjorie L. McCullough, of the Atlanta-based American Cancer Society.
