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An article by Bridget M. Kuehn in this week's JAMA [JAMA. 2005;294:3072-3073] reports on the rise in syphilis among men and suggests it may be related to chaning lifestyle. I doubt this is 'news' to anyone in public health. She also reports on the disparity between black and white reported GC incidence. I wonder whether this might be due to more black men choosing public health clinics for care than private practices?
News from the State of Oklahoma and Emery U. that "The results of a two-year study involving the Department of Human Services (7,500 employees) of the State of Oklahoma conclude the answer is "yes". A lifestyle management program using step-by-step attainable goals was shown to successfully translate good intentions to live a healthier lifestyle into reality"
An interesting editorial from today's BMJ questions the value of choice in medical care. Multiple choices may not be the equivalent of better, for instance;
"In a recent bestselling business book, psychologist Barry Schwartz argues that the amount of choice on offer in life exceeds our ability to effectively exercise that choice, or even to enjoy it. The debilitating effects of choice overload may be bewilderment and high levels of anxiety and stress. When a brush with illness in the United States caused health economist Rhiannon Tudor Edwards to question the value of choice in health care, she concluded that having less choice in health care is a price well worth paying for universal coverage. The UK Public Administration Select Committee wisely advises caution, calling on the government to be more realistic about the role and limitations of choice. The paradox of choice is that more can sometimes mean less. "
From the University of Central Florida comes this facsinating research that "Enough anthrax vaccine to inoculate everyone in the United States could be grown inexpensively and safely with only one acre of tobacco plants, a University of Central Florida molecular biologist has found.
Mice immunized with a vaccine produced in UCF professor Henry Daniell’s laboratory through the genetic engineering of tobacco plants survived lethal doses of anthrax administered later by National Institutes of Health researchers. The results of the NIH-funded study are featured in the December issue of the Infection & Immunity journal."
Now, if we could just do this for the 'flu' & childhood vaccines!
Released on December 6th by IOM and, I believe, required reading by all of us interested in the public's health is the report on Food Marketing to Children.
An Editorial in the BMJ this week states that "Russia is one of the few developed countries where life expectancy has fallen in recent years. Russia's total life expectancy of 66 years lags behind that of Japan by 16 years, the European Union by 14 years, and the United States by 12 years. High mortality and morbidity from non-communicable diseases, along with a low birth rate, mean that Russia's overall population is rapidly becoming smaller and sicker."
From Yale School of Medicine: This story; the rates of chronic disability in older Americans has been substantially overestimated by about forty percent, researchers at Yale School of Medicine report in the December 12 Archives of Internal Medicine.
“Our projections yielded about two million fewer chronically disabled older Americans in 1999, relative to the published estimate of seven million,” said Thomas M. Gill, M.D., who co-authored the study with Evelyne A. Gahbauer, M.D.
From UT Southwestern:
DALLAS - Dec. 12, 2005 - Our promises to eat less during the holidays seem to disappear when we're faced with parties and family gatherings laden with high-calorie food and drinks. Year's end can also bring out the worst in our eating habits, but a UT Southwestern Medical Center dietitian says breaking those habits can be easier than you think.
Lona Sandon, assistant professor of nutrition at UT Southwestern, says there are some simple tricks everyone can use to keep from getting stuffed this season.
"On average, we gain one to two pounds over the holidays, but unfortunately, we often don't lose that weight," she said. "So over the course of 10 years, you can find yourself 20 pounds heavier and losing the weight can be quite difficult."
This study from Virginia Commonwealth University's Steven H. Woolf, M.D., professor and director of research in VCU’s Department of Family Medicine and a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine concludes:
"“For every dollar Congress gives the National Institutes of Health to develop blockbuster treatments, it spends only one penny to ensure that Americans actually receive them,” said Steven H. Woolf, M.D., professor and director of research in VCU’s Department of Family Medicine and a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine. “This reflects, in part, a misperception that the improved drugs, procedures and the like will improve health outcomes, and that does happen. But the health improvement would be far greater if we worried less about making incremental improvements on existing treatments and more on the system barriers that impede Americans from receiving those treatments correctly.” The study was coauthored by Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D., an associate professor in VCU’s Department of Biostatistics.".
A news release from the University of Florida raises some interesting questions about whether fructose may initiate or enhance obesity. This preliminary communication is well worth reading by all of us trying to find an answer. The link includes a short video from UF.
Today's reports from the Kaiser Family Foundation states that
Only a fraction of the money that states receive from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes is being used to prevent smoking, according to a report released on Wednesday by several advocacy groups, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The report, titled "A Broken Promise to Our Children," was released by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association. The report found that states in total have allocated $551 million for tobacco-use prevention programs in fiscal year 2006, although CDC recommends $1.6 billion in spending. Meanwhile, according to the report, the tobacco industry spends $15.4 billion to market tobacco products -- nearly 28 times the amount states spend on prevention. Maine, Colorado, Delaware and Mississippi are the only states that spend at least the minimum levels recommended by CDC, according to the report."