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ListsMultimedia
- Preparing for Avian Flu (Awesome Library)
Provides links to articles. 03-06
News
- -08-15-09 Factcheck About Health Care (ABC News)
"Each day this week we've run a "Fact Check" report about health care -- trying to cut through the many rumors about health care reform to give you the facts." 08-09
Papers
- -001 Antiviral Drugs for Influenza (Flu) (CDC.gov)
"Although yearly vaccination with the flu vaccine is the best way to prevent the flu, antiviral drugs can be effective for prevention and treatment of the flu." 04-09
- -001 Debate Focuses on Public Insurance Option (CNN News)
"After weeks of battles over aspects of President Obama's proposed health care reforms, the debate focused Monday on one central issue: whether the U.S. government will offer a public insurance option."
"Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, a doctor and one-time presidential candidate, told NBC's 'Today Show' on Monday that he believes a public option 'is the entirety of health care reform; it's not the entirety of insurance reform.' " 08-09
- -001 Debate Focuses on Public Insurance Option (Time.com)
"So what happens if Obama takes the next step and explicitly abandons the public option? The left will be disappointed and its enthusiasm for the whole exercise may wane, though Obama probably won't lose many votes among liberal Democrats on Capitol Hill. At the same time, he probably won't pick up many from Republicans, who are looking less and less like they are in the mood to find a compromise. But it could help keep some shakier centrists aboard. And it would lower the intensity of the heat around the entire debate, by removing an issue that the White House has increasingly come to view as a distraction from the larger goals of its health-care reform." 08-09
- -001 Flu Vaccinations (CDC.gov)
"The single best way to protect against the flu is to get vaccinated each year."
Editor's Note: As of April 27th, a vaccine for "swine flu" had not been made available. 04-09
- -001 Health Care Insurance Guide (Time.com)
Explains the key provisions under consideration in short, easy-to-read paragraphs. 11-09
- -001 One-Stop Access to Pandemic Flu Information (PandemicFlu.gov)
"The CDC is actively investigating isolated human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) in several states (CA, TX, OH, KS, NY) and is working closely with Canada and Mexico and with the WHO. The CDC is continuously updating investigation information." 04-09
- -001 Seven Falsehoods About Health Care (Newsweek.com)
"Does the House bill call for mandatory counseling on how to end seniors' lives sooner? Absolutely not. Will the government be dictating to doctors how to treat their patients? No. Do the bills propose cutting Medicare benefit levels? No on that one, too."
"But on the other hand, has Congress figured out how to pay for this overhaul? Not yet. Or will it really save families $2,500 a year as the president keeps claiming? Good luck on that one, too." 08-09
- -01-14-09 Peanut Butter Linked to Salmonella Outbreak (CNN News)
"Health officials in Minnesota have said that salmonella they linked to an open container of King Nut peanut butter was the same strain of bacteria responsible for the apparently ongoing outbreak, which has infected at least 425 people in 43 states."
"However, the King Nut product is unlikely to be responsible for the entire outbreak, since it distributes its peanut butter only to food service companies in just seven states: Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, Arizona, Idaho and New Hampshire."
"So, the Peanut Corporation of America said it was voluntarily recalling all peanut butter produced in its Blakely plant "out of an abundance of caution." Some of it is distributed to another company." 01-09
- -01-17-09 FDA: Don't Eat Peanut Butter (MSNBC News)
"Federal health authorities on Saturday urged consumers to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream and other foods that contain peanut butter until authorities can learn more about a deadly outbreak of salmonella contamination." 01-09
- -01-22-09 Study: Cleaner Air Has Added Years to Life Expectancy (Time.com)
"Cleaner air over the past two decades has added nearly five months to average life expectancy in the United States, according to a federally funded study. Researchers said it is the first study to show that reducing air pollution translates into longer lives." 01-09
- -01-26-09 Study: Unexplained Infant Deaths Complex Issue (CNN News)
"he study looked at infant death rates between the years of 1984 and 2004 and found that deaths classified as accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed (ASSB) increased four-fold over this time period. But over the same time period, infant deaths classified as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) have declined. The total rate of unexplained death among infants has not changed significantly." 01-09
- -01-28-09 Aging Better (U.S. News)
"Baby boomers would like to believe that terms like 'over the hill' will never apply to them. And they could, in fact, be right. While there's no stopping time, there's plenty you can do to foil the aging process. "We now have a much greater understanding of aging mechanisms," says Dean Ornish, professor of medicine at the University of California-San Francisco, "to the extent that we know which changes help you live longer but, more important, age better.' " 01-09
- -01-30-09 Stem Cell Research Resumes (Time.com)
"While embryonic stem cells remain the gold standard for any treatments that find their way into the clinic, newer techniques using the next-generation stem cells may soon surpass the older ones." 01-09
- -02-02-09 Tough Choices for America's Hungry (CNN News)
"With the national economy in meltdown, more Americans than ever are relying on the federal aid program to keep from going hungry. In October, more than one in 10 people -- about 31 million -- were using the food stamp program to get by, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture." 02-09
- -02-11-09 Peanut Company Owner Refuses to Testify (MSNBC News)
"The owner of a peanut company refused to testify to Congress on Wednesday amid the disclosure that he urged his workers to ship bacteria-tainted products, pleading with federal health officials that he should be able 'turn the raw peanuts on the floor into money.' " 02-09
- -02-11-09 Salmonella Hard to Stop (MSNBC News)
"With attention focused on the danger of salmonella in tainted peanut products, it’s easy to forget that foodborne bacterial poisoning more often results from eating contaminated meat, poultry or raw eggs." 02-09
- -02-15-09 Preventing Diabetes in Teens (U.S. News)
"This has to be one of the saddest statistics ever printed in a medical journal: The number of American children taking medication for type 2 diabetes more than doubled from 2002 to 2005, particularly among teenagers. That may be partly because more children are being screened for diabetes or because drugs are more often being used to treat metabolic syndrome. But the recent rise in childhood obesity is the obvious first suspect because overweight and obese children are more than twice as likely as their normal-weight peers to develop the disease." 02-09
- -02-18-09 Protecting Your Eyes (Living.Health.com)
"Try these simple tips to safeguard your vision now and for years to come." 02-09
- -02-19-09 What Pediatricians Get Wrong (U.S. News)
"So Adesman started looking into common beliefs about baby and child care and found that he and his fellow doctors get more than a few things wrong themselves." 02-09
- -02-23-09 Study: Low Carbs and Memory (CBS News)
"Eliminating carbohydrates from your diet may help you lose weight, but it could leave you fuzzy headed and forgetful, a new study suggests."
"The body breaks carbohydrates into glucose, which it uses to fuel brain activity. Proteins break down into glycogen, which can also be used for fuel by the brain, but not as efficiently as glucose."
"So it stands to reason that eliminating carbohydrates from the diet might reduce the brain's source of energy and affect brain function. But there has been little research examining this hypothesis in people following low-carb weight loss diets." 02-09
- -02-26-09 Health Care on the Front Burner (Time.com)
"As part of the $3.5 trillion budget he proposed on Thursday, President Barack Obama is pushing for a down payment on universal health care, a reserve fund of $634 billion over 10 years paid for by higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans and savings from government programs like Medicare and Medicaid." 02-09
- -03-04-09 Dangers of Lead-Based Bullets Examined (CNN News)
"Dr. William Cornatzer, a dermatologist and falconer, saw a presentation about the potential dangers of lead at a board meeting of the Peregrine Fund, a group devoted to conserving birds of prey. He decided to collect and test venison samples that were going to be donated to a local program for the hungry. About half of the 100 samples -- all shot by hunters -- tested positive for lead, he said. Food banks and shelters pulled the meat from their shelves after the report." 03-09
- -03-18-09 A New Approach to AIDS (Time.com)
"In fact, the search for an AIDS vaccine has been thwarted over and over by the tricky, unexpected nature of HIV, whose behavior is only now coming to be understood. The human immune system does not appear to develop an effective response to HIV simply by being exposed to a virus surface protein or two — an approach that has worked for many other vaccines in the past."
"In a very small fraction of people infected with HIV, the body's immune response is able to control the virus and prevent it from progressing to full-blown AIDS. Rockefeller scientists found six such people with high levels of the antibodies that inhibit HIV proliferation and keep it from invading new cells. Taking blood samples from these special few, the researchers isolated the antibodies and set about discovering how they work." 03-09
- -03-18-09 Chinese Drywall Ruining Homes (CNN News)
"Officials are looking into claims that Chinese-made drywall installed in some Florida homes is emitting smelly, corrosive gases and ruining household systems such as air conditioners, the Consumer Product Safety Commission says." 03-09
- -03-19-09 Richardson's Death and Head Injury (MSNBC News)
"Coderre said victims of head trauma often believe they are fine, a mistake that can cost them their lives." Provides a video on how a bump to the head can lead to death. 03-09
- -03-27-09 Female Athletes Have More Concussions (ABC News)
"In sports played by both women and men, women sustain more concussions. The girls' concussion rate in high school soccer is 68 percent higher than for boys. And it's nearly triple the boys' rate in high school basketball, according to research by scientists at Ohio State, Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and the NCAA. Other studies reveal similar differences between softball and baseball, in college sports as well as high school. Yet researchers, including Brooks, find that female athletes get less information than males about concussions from all sources, including coaches, trainers and the media. Generally, women athletes don't consider concussions a serious phenomenon." 03-09
- -04-01-09 Study: ADHD Medications Only Help Short Term (U.S. News)
"Stimulant drugs like Ritalin that are used to treat ADHD don't improve children's symptoms long term, according to new research published online in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. That may come as a surprise to parents, but ADHD researchers have been arguing for the past 10 years over the findings of the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD. Called the MTA study, it is the largest study conducted to compare the benefits of medication to behavioral interventions."
"Earlier reports found that children taking stimulants alone or combined with behavioral treatment did better in the first year than children who got no special care or who got behavioral treatment alone." 04-09
- -04-03-09 Strong Kids May Hold Genetic Secrets (MSNBC News)
"Wells explained that virtually every animal on Earth has a gene that produces a muscle growth-inhibiting protein called myostatin. High levels of myostatin make it hard for the body to build muscle, and low levels of myostatin allow muscle to grow."
"After the mice and cattle discovery, scientists found natural mutations in some dogs and sheep, but never in a human until 2004." 04-09
- -04-03-09 Study: Heart Can Replenish Itself (U.S. News)
"The work looks more than promising. In several studies, using cocktails of patients' own bone marrow stem cells, which can be sifted out of the bloodstream and infused back into the patients in a concentrated and enriched form, has produced better-than-expected heart function and blood flow. (Adult stem cells circulating in the blood are known repairmen that can hone in on injured tissue anywhere in the body.) Recent studies in rats have gone so far as to create a matrix for these cells to grow on that can become a healthy looking, growing and beating tissue graft after being implanted in damaged heart wall." 04-09
- -04-07-09 Oldest Living Person Reaches 115 Years (LATimes.com)
"Gertrude Baines, recorded as the oldest person in the world, celebrated her 115th birthday this morning, and well-wishers including President Obama and the Dodgers sent their regards." 04-09
- -04-08-09 A New Theory on Autism (Time.com)
"The brain region that drew the attention of the authors is known as the locus coeruleus, a small knot of neurons located in the brain stem. Not a lot of high-order processing goes on so deep in the brain's basement, but the locus coeruleus does govern the release of the neurotransmitter noradrenaline, which is critical in triggering arousal or alarm, as in the famed fight-or-flight response. Arousal also plays a role in our ability to pay attention — you can't deal with the lion trying to eat you, after all, if you don't focus on it first. And attention, in turn, plays a critical role in such complex functions as responding to environmental cues and smoothly switching your concentration from one task to another. Those are abilities kids with autism lack."
"Certainly, many other parts of the brain govern concentration and attention, but the locus coeruleus does one other thing too: it regulates fever. Generations of parents of autistic kids have reported that when their child runs a fever, the symptoms of autism seem to abate. When the fever goes down, the symptoms return. In 2007, a paper in the journal Pediatrics reported on that phenomenon and confirmed that, yes, the parents' observations are right. What no one had done before, at least not formally, was tie it to the locus coeruleus — that is, until Drs. Dominick Purpura and Mark Mehler of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine published the idea this week."
"Nobody recommends inducing fevers to kick-start the locus coeruleus, since that could lead to all manner of side effects and other ills. Instead, Mehler and Purpura believe the likeliest answer is in medications that target noradrenaline brain receptors." 04-09
- -04-08-09 Oral Allergy Syndrome (CNN News)
"Have you ever experienced itchiness or hives in your mouth area after eating raw fruit or vegetables? Do you also have seasonal allergies?"
"If so, you may have oral allergy syndrome, whose symptoms occur because the proteins in some fruits and vegetables are similar to proteins in some pollens." 04-09
- -04-08-09 Prostate Cancer Drug Shows Promise (Time.com)
"An experimental drug for advanced prostate cancer has shown preliminary success in the first and second phases of clinical trials, shrinking cancer tumors in the lab and reducing signs of the disease in patients with drug-resistant cancer, according to a report published in the April 10 issue of the journal Science."
"Prostate cancer, which kills 29,000 men in the U.S. each year, is a tenacious disease in advanced stages." 04-09
- -04-08-09 Question Arise on Gardasil (U.S. News)
"In a perfect world, a doctor suspecting a vaccine injury files a medical report with the government's vaccine adverse event reporting system (VAERS) on the patient's behalf; for a serious or complicated case, the doctor would then follow up to determine if the patient's individual case can be investigated by a researcher from the government's clinical immunization safety assessment network. Parents, too, should be able to get some answers directly from the government or vaccine maker to find out what's being done to determine whether the vaccine is the culprit of their child's illness. But, based on my interviews, that's not usually the way the process goes."
"Although Merck, manufacturer of Gardasil, has a customer service number for dealing with adverse reactions to Gardasil, "calling Merck's help line was like doing technical support for my computer," says Kenney, whose daughter, Nora, experienced her initial seizure five days after her first Gardasil shot and then had two seizures soon after her second shot." 04-09
- -04-15-09 Breakthrough in Prosthetic Arms (CBS News)
"When Americans are wounded in Afghanistan or Iraq, no expense is spared to save their lives. But once they're home, if they have suffered an amputation of their arm, they usually end up wearing an artificial limb that hasn't changed much since World War II. "
"But as 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley reports, that is starting to change. One remarkable leap in technology is called the DEKA arm and it's just one of the breakthroughs in a $100 million Pentagon program called 'Revolutionizing Prosthetics.' " 04-09
- -04-15-09 Resurgence of Bedbugs Reported (CBS News)
"The tiny reddish-brown insects, last seen in great numbers prior to World War II, are on the rebound. They have infested college dormitories, hospital wings, homeless shelters and swanky hotels from New York City to Chicago to Washington."
"They live in the crevices and folds of mattresses, sofas and sheets. Then, most often before dawn, they emerge to feed on human blood." 04-09
- -04-17-09 Limits Placed on Stem Cell Research (MSNBC News)
"Scientists seeking taxpayer money for embryonic stem cell research under President Barack Obama's new plan must use cells originally culled from fertility clinic embryos that otherwise would be thrown away." 04-09
- -04-24-09 Swine Flu in U.S. and Mexico Match (CNN News)
"U.S. health officials expressed concern Friday that a swine flu virus that has infected eight people in the United States matches samples of a virus that has killed at least 68 people in Mexico."
"Sixty-eight people have died in Mexico City, Cordova said at a news conference. More than 1,000 other people have gotten sick...." Also see Swine Flu.04-09
- -04-26-09 Swine Flu Kills 81 in Mexico (CNN News)
"No kissing to say hello. No large crowds. No close contact."
"That's the advice of the Mexican government as more and more people die of swine flu, which has turned into a 'public health emergency of international concern,' according to the World Health Organization." Also see Swine Flu. 04-09
- -04-30-09 Experts: Too Late to Close Borders (Time.com)
"The data matches computer models run by biostatisticians like Longini, who found that even the strictest limits on air travel would only slow the start of a flu pandemic, not stop its spread."
"What works better are social-distancing actions on a local level — closing schools, having employees work at home and limiting public gatherings where the flu can spread easily. Such methods worked during the deadly 1918 Spanish flu — cities that acted quickly to close schools and theaters early in the pandemic had peak death rates 50% lower than cities that acted more slowly. Today doctors could also prophylactically administer antiviral drugs to the close contacts of any swine flu patients, a strategy that has been shown to help prevent the spread of the flu. 'Until you start to see really massive clusters, that can be a really effective method,' says Longini." 04-09
- -04-30-09 Mexico Closes Down (Time.com)
"Mexico is telling citizens to stay home, urging businesses to close for five days and suspending government services as the World Health Organization warns the swine flu outbreak is on the brink of becoming a global epidemic." 04-09
- -04-30-09 Specialists: Containing Flu Is Not Feasible (New York Times)
" 'Containment is no longer a feasible option,' Dr. Keiji Fukuda, deputy director general of the World Health Organization, announced Monday night in Geneva after a meeting of the agency’s emergency committee on the spreading swine flu virus. 'The world should focus on mitigation. We recommend not closing borders or restricting travel.' " 04-09
- -04-30-09 WHO: Swine Flu Epidemic Imminent (Time.com)
"The World Health Organization has raised its pandemic alert for swine flu to the second highest level, meaning that it believes a global outbreak of the disease is imminent." 04-09
- -05-02-09 Obama: U.S. Response to Swine Flu Justified (MSNBC News)
"The strain of flu virus that is alarming the world is so new and poorly understood that it justifies the U.S. government's multi-pronged efforts to fight it, President Barack Obama said Saturday." 05-09
- -05-04-09 Early Signs of Autism (Time.com)
"Among the telltale signs of trouble at 12 months: not responding to one's name; not sharing interests through pointing and eye gaze; lack of joyful expression; an absence of babbling; difficulty establishing eye contact; and staring too long at inanimate objects (see FirstSigns.org for more early-warning signs)." 05-09
- -05-05-09 Swine Flu No Worse than Regular Flu (CNN News)
"The swine flu virus that has sparked fear and precautions worldwide appears to be no more dangerous than the regular flu virus that makes its rounds each year, U.S. officials said Monday."
"There are still concerns that the virus could return in the fall, in the typical flu season, as a stronger strain." 05-09
- -05-05-09 The Gluten-Free Lifestyle (ABC News)
"In her new book, "The G-Free Diet: A Gluten Survival Guide," Hasselbeck tells her personal story and tells you how you can start living a gluten-free life."
"I learned about gluten the hard way. I wrote this book so you don't have to. Most people with celiac disease, like me, have a story to tell. My hope is that in reading mine, and the pages that follow, you will be able to begin your journey to a better body and a better self—without all the heartache (and bellyache!) that I endured for far too long." 05-09
- -05-14-09 Study: Ginger Helps Chemo Nausea (CBS News)
"Ginger, long used as a folk remedy for soothing tummyaches, helped tame one of the most dreaded side effects of cancer treatment - nausea from chemotherapy, the first large study to test the herb for this has found. "
"People who started taking ginger capsules several days before a chemo infusion had fewer and less severe bouts of nausea afterward than others who were given dummy capsules, the federally funded study found." 05-09
- -05-19-09 Chinese Drywall in the Spotlight (CNN News)
"Homeowners allege the gas [from some drywall made in China] is causing home appliances and copper wiring to fail and causes chronic, long-term upper respiratory infections."
"Federal authorities including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) are studying the possible health effects of the drywall, but results are still some time off."
"The CPSC says representatives from the Chinese government are in the U.S. working on the issue." 05-09
- -05-19-09 Stems Cells Target Tumors (U.S. News)
"In mice, genetically engineered cells killed cancer but spared healthy cells." 05-09
- -07-01-09 FDA Panel Votes to Curtail Acetaminophen-Related Deaths (MSNBC News)
"The FDA has assembled a group of experts to vote on ways to reduce liver damage associated with acetaminophen, one of the most widely used drugs in the U.S."
"Despite years of educational campaigns and other federal actions, acetaminophen remains the leading cause of liver failure in the U.S., according to the FDA."
"Panelists cited FDA data indicating 60 percent of acetaminophen-related deaths are related to prescription products. Acetaminophen is also found in popular over-the-counter medications like Tylenol and Excedrin." 076-09
- -07-01-09 Obesity Rates Rise in the U.S. (MSNBC News)
"Obesity rates among adults rose in 23 states over the past year and didn't decline anywhere, says a new report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation."
Recent research suggests that obese persons, compared to non-obese persons, "live nearly as long but are much sicker for longer, requiring such costly interventions as knee replacements and diabetes care and dialysis. Studies show Medicare spends anywhere from $1,400 to $6,000 more annually on health care for an obese senior than for the non-obese." 07-09
- -07-24-09 The Four Grossest Kid Health Problems (CNN News)
"Kids plus germs often equals extreme yuckiness (think stomach flu). But there are some childhood afflictions that -- even though they're not at all dangerous -- are (how to put this?) truly disgusting. First, the good news: The four conditions described here have nothing to do with hygiene and are much more common than you think, so there's no need to be embarrassed." 07-09
- -08-04-09 Researchers Say They Found Malaria's Origin (CNN News)
"Though not a public health issue in the United States, malaria infects 500 million people every year and kills between 1 million and 3 million. Its assault on humans has been relentless, especially among African children."
"Malaria hijacks and kills healthy red blood cells and infects the liver. If not treated soon after onset of symptoms -- such as fever, chills, diarrhea and shortness of breath -- those infected by malaria can have neurological problems or cognitive problems, or ultimately die."
"It is a biological menace, constantly morphing, eluding the best efforts to fight it." 08-09
- -08-19-09 Editorial: Frightening Future If Health Reform Fails (CNN News)
"Milliman Inc., an employee benefits consulting firm, publishes annually its Milliman Medical Index on the total health spending by or for a typical American family of four with private health insurance. The index totals the family's out-of-pocket spending for health care plus the contribution employers and employees make to that family's job-related health insurance coverage." 08-09
- -09-03-08 Medication Repairs Brain Tissue After Stroke (U.S. News)
"A little-used cancer drug called bryostatin can repair brain tissue if it's administered within 24 hours after a stroke, according to U.S. researchers."
"More than 780,000 strokes occur each year in the United States. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and the leading cause of long-term disability in the developing world. Almost 75 percent of all strokes occur in people older than 65, and the risk of suffering a stroke more than doubles each decade after age 55, according to background information in the news release." 09-08
- -09-07-09 Study: Face Masks Can Be Effective (CNN News)
"From Mexico to China, people around the world have worn face masks to protect against swine flu, also known as the H1N1 virus. The problem? Experts could never say for sure whether such masks actually help you stay healthy."
"Now, the largest study to date on the subject suggests they do. When sick people and their families wear surgical face masks and wash their hands within the first 36 hours of symptoms, healthy family members are indeed less likely to get seasonal flu, researchers say. They think the results may apply to H1N1 as well."
"However, those who started using masks or washing their hands after the 36-hour time period had passed saw no benefit." 09-09
- -09-12-09 Oldest Person Dies at 115 Years (LATimes.com)
"Gertrude Baines, the world's oldest person, has died in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 115, according to the home where she lived and Guinness World Records said Saturday." 09-09
- -09-12-09 President Obama: Illegal Immigrants Will Be Barred (ABC News)
" 'Undocumented immigrants would not be able to buy private insurance on the exchange. Those who are lawfully present in this country would be able to participate.' " 09-09
- -09-15-09 FDA Approves a Vaccine for Swine Flu, H1N1 (CBS News)
"The Food and Drug Administration approved the new swine flu vaccine Tuesday, a long-anticipated step as the government works to get vaccinations under way next month." 09-09
- -09-19-09 Added Sugar Hurts (U.S. New)
"Added sugars, which are sprinkled on and processed into packaged foods and beverages, have become all too common in the American diet, says the American Heart Association. The group argues that sugar bingeing is helping drive the uptick in metabolic changes in the American population, including the exploding obesity rate, and has now recommended an upper limit on daily consumption. Women should consume no more than 100 calories per day of added sugars, and men should not top 150 calories per day. There goes the soda habit: One 12-ounce can contains about 8 teaspoons or about 33 grams of added sugar, which equals approximately 130 calories, notes the AHA. (One gram of sugar serves up 4 calories, according to the American Dietetic Association.)" 09-09
- -10-06-09 Children Begin Receiving Swine Flu Shots (ABC News)
"The first doses of H1N1 flu vaccine were given to children today, a day after health care workers began getting doses in what is likely to be the largest flu vaccination campaign in U.S. history." 10-09
- -10-07-09 CBO Scores the Baucus Bill (Time.com)
"The good news/bad news seems to be that it reduces the deficit by $81 billion over 10 years, but leaves 25 million uninsured (one-third of them illegal immigrants)." 10-09
- -10-09-09 Blind Boy Learns to "See" With His Ears (CNN News)
"To 'see' the world around him, he clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth and listens to the echo that bounces back. From the sound, he can make out the location, depth and shape of objects around him, allowing him to navigate even unfamiliar areas." 10-09
- -10-12-09 Stem Cells Grow New Cheek Bones (ABC News)
"Brad had an experimental eight-hour operation in May at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, where doctors implanted cadaver bone into his face. They then injected Brad's own stem cells into the donor bone."
"From a medical standpoint, the results were miraculous." 10-09
- -10-16-09 Will the Attacks of Insurers Backfire? (Time.com)
"Indeed, the insurers seem to have done nothing so much as galvanize the often fractious Democrats. Before this week, a proposed government-funded public plan to compete with private insurers to reduce costs seemed to be off the table. In the Senate it most likely still is; but in the House, Pelosi is using the industry's assault to coax recalcitrant moderates to sign on to a strong public option." 10-09
- -10-28-09 House Health Reform Bill Ready for Vote (and Don't Do) List (ABC News)
"After weeks of intense, closed-door negotiations with House Democrats, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi plans to unveil her health care bill tomorrow. "
"It includes a public option, but it will not be the Medicare-like public option she wanted. The government-run insurance company created by her bill would negotiate payment rates with health care providers just like private insurance companies. Pelosi simply could not get the votes to pass the 'robust' version she prefers." 10-09
- -11-01-09 Study: Preventing H1N1 From Spreading(U>S. News)
"Perhaps I should take a hint from a coworker who yesterday forwarded me a study showing that H1N1, the virus that causes swine flu, remains contagious long after those first few can't-get-out-of-bed days."
"The study, published last week in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that H1N1 is most contagious within the first three days after symptoms appear but that infected individuals could still spread the disease after a week."
"Bottom line: If you've got flulike symptoms, do your best to avoid close contact with others for several days or even a week. Skip family gatherings, especially if you know that certain high-risk individuals may be present: kids younger than 5 years old; seniors over 65; pregnant women; and those with asthma, diabetes, impaired immunity, or heart or lung conditions. While the CDC no longer recommends that we stay home from work or school until all our symptoms are gone, the agency does still have this recommendation in place for healthcare workers or those visiting relatives in the hospital." 10-09
- -11-01-09 U.N. Needs $39 Billion to Combat Top Killer of Children (Time.com)
"To fight pneumonia, the world's top killer of children, United Nations officials say they need $39 billion over the next six years." 10-09
- -11-13-09 Why Small Businesses Are Against the Health Bills (Time.com)
"When it comes to finding quality, affordable health insurance, few have it worse than small-business owners and their workers shopping for coverage on the open market. They are charged the most per person, have the least amount of choice and, as a result, are some of the most likely to be uninsured."
"Some 70% of the nation's estimated 50 million uninsured are full-time workers or their dependents, many of whom work for small businesses. Just 39% of workers in firms with three to 24 staff are covered by job-sponsored insurance, down from 50% in 1999."
"Business groups like the Chamber and the NFIB vehemently oppose the public option. The Chamber says it would pay below-cost reimbursement rates, leading doctors and hospitals to charge private insurers (and the employers who purchase coverage from them) more to make up the difference. But even if that were true — and there are many observers who say this fear is overblown — it's not clear that small-business owners would be the ones to suffer." 11-09
- -11-18-09 CBO: Senate Health Plan to Reduce Deficit over 10 Years (MSNBC News)
"The Congressional Budget Office estimated it would cost $849 billion over 10 years, spread coverage to 31 million Americans who currently lack it while still reducing federal deficits by a total of $127 billion in that decade."
"An aide said the CBO also estimated that the bill would achieve cuts of $1 trillion over a decade in projected health care costs. The estimate of 94 percent coverage was less than the 96 percent estimated for legislation the House passed earlier this month, but no precise comparisons were possible without as-yet-unreleased CBO documentation." 11-09
- -11-22-09 Fat Fees and Smoker Surcharges (Time.com)
"Companies have long promoted healthier behavior by subsidizing gym memberships and smoking-cessation classes. But several private and public employers have started tying financial incentives to their health-insurance plans." 11-09
- -11-24-09 Paralyzed Man Was Awake for 23 Years (ABC News)
"A paralyzed Belgian man who spent the past 23 years incorrectly diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, was fully conscious and could hear everything around him the entire time." 11-09
- -11-30-09 Too-Fat-To-Graduate Rule Under Fire (CNN News)
"Students at Lincoln University with a body mass index of 30 or above, reflective of obesity, must take a fitness course that meets three hours per week. Those who are assigned to the class but do not complete it cannot graduate."
"Now that the first class to have this requirement imposed is nearing graduation day -- students who entered in the fall of 2006 -- the school faces criticism from both students and outsiders about the fitness class policy." 11-09
- -12-05-09 Face Recognition in Babies May Help Diagnose Autism (ABC News)
"Nelson's work has shown that infants are capable of distinguishing happiness, fear, anger, sadness and disgust even before they can speak. Humans are especially good at recognizing fear." 12-09
- -Medicare Advantage Cuts Could Affect Millions (U.S. News)
"Democrats say they're not trying to kill the program, but they are trying to change it. Between the House and Senate healthcare bills, they've proposed cutting $120 billion to $150 billion from Medicare Advantage over the next decade. The savings are a major slice of how Democrats intend to pay for reform." 11-09
- 05-08-09 Nurses Are a Key to Health Care Reform (Time.com)
"One of the few things that just about all sides agree upon in this health care debate is that we need more primary care providers -- lots more. And an already serious shortage will only get worse if we succeed in expanding coverage to some or all of the 47 million Americans who now lack it. That is one of the lessons of health care reform in Massachusetts, whose success in moving toward universal coverage has created what the Massachusetts Medical Society deems a 'critical' need for internal medicine and family practice physicians." 05-09
- 05-12-09 WHO: Swine Flu Is Likely a Pandemic (U.S. News)
"This may be just the first weeks of a three-to-five-year pandemic, with wave after wave of sickness and death."
"This virus causes 1.4 to 1.6 new cases of flu from each infected person, on average, which is similar to or lower than the pandemics of 1918, 1957, and 1968."
"These numbers mean that swine flu/H1N1 is acting like a pandemic flu, and that we should act as if it’s a pandemic, too." 05-09
- Avian Flu (Awesome Library)
Provides information and news on the avian (bird) flu. 10-05
- Pigs (Wikipedia.org)
"Pigs, like all suids, are native to the Eurasian and African continents. Juvenile pigs are known as piglets.[1] Pigs are omnivores and are highly social and intelligent animals.[2]"
- Study Links Alcohol and Cancer Risk in Women (PBS News)
"Researcher Naomi Allen and her colleagues at the University of Oxford analyzed data from the Million Woman Study, which has been collecting health information from 1.28 million women between ages 50 to 64 since 1996. The researchers wanted to see whether the women's self-reported drinking habits were linked to the 68,775 cases of cancer that developed during the study."
"They found that drinking just one alcoholic drink per day increased the risk of breast, liver and rectal cancer. For women who also smoked, drinking increased the risk of mouth and throat cancer as well. The type of alcohol didn't matter -- women who drank only wine increased their risk as much as women who drank other kinds of alcohol." 02-09
- What Would You Do? (ABC News)
"Imagine walking down a busy street and suddenly hearing a cry coming from a parked car. When you look closer, you spot a baby in the backseat and notice that all the windows are closed. It's a hot summer day and the parents are nowhere to be found." 02-09
- -001 Obama Declares Swine Flu a National Emergency (MSNBC News)
"President Barack Obama has signed a proclamation declaring swine flu a national emergency, the White House said Saturday." 10-09
- -01-23-09 Hospitals Demanding Cash Up Front (CBS News)
"Rich Umbdenstock of the AHA says hospitals are in a very tough position. He sees lots of plans like Lisa Kelly's, which may be enough to cover the costs of a broken bone, but fall far short when it comes to catastrophic illnesses." 01-09
- -04-17-09 Fitness Balls Recalled (ABC News)
"People searching for motivation to exercise may have another excuse to sit still: Inflatable fitness balls that might be key to toning your abs also could explode and send you crashing to the floor." 04-09
- EPA: Greenhouse Gases Pose a Threat to Health (Time.com)
"So the possibility that in the face of Congressional inaction the EPA might take matters into its own hands and directly regulate greenhouse gases can be seen as a not so subtle threat. Either act on your own, or let an EPA bureaucrat do it for you. Said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch: 'If business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce continue to oppose Congressional action, they ought to ask themselves, in the immortal words of Clint Eastwood: Do you feel lucky?' "
"The EPA's move on Friday was characterized by the top global warming analyst for the National Wildlife Federation as the 'single largest step the federal government had taken to fight climate change.' " 04-09
- Study: Exercise Helps the Brain (CBS News)
"According to Bell, researchers are finding that exercise can do more than keep you fit; it can also make you smarter. One school in Illinois has developed a program that gets kids moving and learning."
"Although it may appear that these kids are working out, they are actually trying to adjust their brains chemistry to maximize their ability to learn."
" 'Kids who took P.E. before they took the math class had double the improvement of kids who had P.E. afterward,' Zientarski, explained." 'Ratey cites studies showing that exercise promotes the growth of new cells in the hippocampus, an area in the brain associated with memory and learning."
" 'Exercise promotes more than anything else we know the growth of new brain cells,' Ratey said."
- Women May Have More Difficulty Than Men in Hunger Control (CBS News)
"Hungry women can't control their desire for food as well as hungry men can, a brain imaging study suggests."
"The finding may explain why women are more prone to emotional eating and why women are less likely than men to lose weight while dieting."
" 'Women have a much stronger reaction to food, such that whether they try to inhibit their desire or not, they have stronger signal [in the part of the brain that controls hunger perception and desire to eat],' study leader Gene-Jack Wang, MD, tells WebMD." 01-09
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