Community Health Digest

The latest news in community health research, policy, and practice.

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Federal reform watch

Keep up with all the action at the federal level:

> Continuous Google News updates

> C-Span Health Coverage

> Congressional Budget Office Health Page

> National Conference of State Legislatures health updates

> New York Times Comparing the Health Care Proposals Site (Interactive)

> Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Digest

11/6/09 - New Jersey medical professionals say number of uninsured women rising, fewer screened for breast cancer

11/6/09 - New Jersey medical professionals say number of uninsured women rising, fewer screened for breast cancer

The Star-Ledger, nj.com, New Jersey

Aretha Hill-Forte has seen some of the worst symptoms of breast cancer at her free clinic, which screens more patients than almost any hospital in the state ...

11/06/2009 Are doctors what ails US healthcare?

11/06/2009 Are doctors what ails US healthcare?

ABS CBN News - Chris Baltimore 

"It's not going to lead us to a sustainable healthcare system from a financing standpoint." But marginal improvements in health care efficiency and quality ...

11/06/09 Black Barbershops Hosting Health Screenings

11/06/09 Black barbershops hosting health screenings

Press-Enterprise - Lauren McSherry

The organization's mission is to eliminate health disparities in the black community and bring culturally relevant programs to the Inland Empire. ...

11/06/09 State Task Force Recognizes Unique Innovations for Healthy Workplaces

11/06/09 State Task Force Recognizes Unique Innovations for Healthy Workplaces

dBusinessNews Detroit (press release)

The Fit Business Awards seek to increase awareness among employers by promoting the positive connection between employee health and the return on investment ...

11/06/09 Physical Education Key to Improving Health in Low-Income Adolescents

11/06/09 Physical Education Key To Improving Health In Low-income Adolescents

Science Daily (press release)

... a statewide program that aims to fight childhood obesity and to develop policy changes that will reduce risk factors for diabetes and obesity. ...

11/5/09 - Acetaminophen May Be Linked To Asthma In Children And Adults

11/5/09 Acetaminophen May Be Linked To Asthma In Children And Adults

Science Daily (press release) 

New research shows that the widely used pain reliever acetaminophen may be associated with an increased risk of asthma and wheezing in both ...

11/5/09 - American Heart Association Launches Quality Improvement Program For Healthcare ...

11/5/09 American Heart Association Launches Quality Improvement Program For Healthcare ...

WCTV

For the first time, this new module will begin to measure the quality of heart disease and stroke care by health care providers in the community. ...

11/5/09 - Obesity Linked to Specific Cancers

11/5/09 Obesity Linked to Specific Cancers

First Coast News 

Obesity also increases a person's risk of diabetes, heart disease and other diseases. Excess weight raises cancer risk in different ways, says Tim Byers, ...

11/05/09 Study Links Children's Sites to Air Pollution

11/5/09 Study Links Children's Sites to Air Pollution

USC News - Stephanie Jones

But research demonstrates that children's health can be adversely affected when attending schools as far away as 1000 feet from freeways. ...

11/05/09 TV Bombards Children with Commercials for High-fat and High-sugar Foods

11/05/09 TV Bombards Children With Commercials For High-fat And High-sugar Foods

Science Daily (press release)

 — Childhood obesity in the United States is reaching epidemic proportions. With more than one fourth of advertising on daytime and prime time ...

11/4/09 - FDA warns Type 2 diabetes drug Byetta side effects: kidney function problems

11/4/09 FDA warns Type 2 diabetes drug Byetta side effects: kidney function problems

Examiner.com 

The FDA is warning both physicians and patients to be aware of possible kidney function problems with the type 2 diabetes drug, Byetta. ...

11/4/09 - Quitting smoking cuts health costs

11/4/09 Quitting smoking cuts health costs

Houma Courier - Chrishelle Harris Stipe 

The American Lung Association encourages employers and employees to take the month of November to explore opportunities in the workplace to promote ...

11/4/09 - Severe Swine Flu Can Kill Young, Old Alike

11/4/09 Severe Swine Flu Can Kill Young, Old Alike

Atlanta Journal Constitution

However, while infants had the highest rate of hospitalization, people over 50 were most likely to die once they ended up in the hospital. ...

11/4/09 - A third of Americans die in hospitals, study finds

11/4/09 A third of Americans die in hospitals, study finds

Reuters - Bill Trott

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly a third of Americans who die are in the hospital at the time and their last treatments cost the US economy $20 billion, ...

11/04/2009 U.S. spends most, but health quality lags

11/04/2009 U.S. spends most, but health quality lags

Reuters - Julie Steenhuysen 

While the United States spends more than twice as much as other developed countries on healthcare, it lags well behind in key measures of quality, ...

11/04/09 Study Finds Life-Threatening Risks from Medication Errors in Hospitals ...

11/04/09 Study Finds Life-Threatening Risks from Medication Errors in Hospitals ...

Reuters 

A separate telephone survey found that 17 of 18 nurses at pulmonary arterial hypertension centers reported serious medication errors, including three deaths ...

11/04/09 TV May Increase Aggression in Toddlers

11/04/09 TV May Increase Aggression in Toddlers

U.S. News & World Report

"Television exposure may act directly to increase aggression by providing models for aggressive behaviour or normalising the behaviour,"said the study ...

11/04/09 Internet Proves Important to Teens with Chronic Conditions

11/04/09 Internet Proves Important to Teens With Chronic Conditions

Health Behavior News Service - Glenda Fauntleroy

In the study, 731 adolescents between 16 and 20 reported having a chronic condition, which the study defined as a disease lasting more than six months and ...

11/04/09 The California Endowment, Consortium of Foundations Address the Role of Health...

11/04/09 The California Endowment, Consortium of Foundations Address the Role of Health ...

Reuters

The project will explore the complex connection between health and education with the goal of developing policy recommendations that foster healthy and ...

11/04/09 Lap Band Surgery Effective for Morbidly Obese Children, Study Finds

11/04/09 Lap Band Surgery Effective For Morbidly Obese Children, Study Finds

Science Daily (press release)

... the co-director of the Obesity Institute at Children's National Medical Center, which is comprehensively addressing the epidemic of childhood obesity. ...

11/3/09 - UA Researcher Receives CDC Grant to Study Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

11/3/09 UA Researcher Receives CDC Grant to Study Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

EVLiving

... developmental and behavioral abnormalities known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) that result from maternal alcohol use during pregnancy. ...

11/3/09 - CDC Finds US 30th in Infant Mortality

11/3/09 CDC Finds US 30th in Infant Mortality

Atlanta Journal Constitution 

There's also not enough attention on social and behavioral factors that affect prematurity, such as smoking and alcohol and drug use, he said. ...

11/3/09 - What direct link is there between healthy behaviors and student achievement?

11/3/09 What direct link is there between healthy behaviors and student achievement?

Yakima Herald-Republic

Thirteen risk factors were evaluated: Cigarette smoking, alcohol use, marijuana use, obesity, severe asthma, not eating breakfast, insufficient fruits and ...

11/3/09 - Low cholesterol may be an effect, not cause, of cancer

11/3/09 Low cholesterol may be an effect, not cause, of cancer

OregonLive.com - Andy Dworkin 

Doctors followed more than 29000 men involved in the Alpha-Tocopheral, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study. Over 18 years, 7545 cases of cancer were ...

11/03/09 Half of US Children will be on Food Stamps

11/03/09 Half Of US Children Will Be On Food Stamps

RedOrbit

Poverty is estimated to result in rising costs on children's health care by approximately $22 billion per year. "Children in poverty are significantly more ...

11/03/09 Decrease in Physical Activity May Not Be a Factor in Increased Obesity Rates...

11/03/09 Decrease In Physical Activity May Not Be A Factor In Increased Obesity Rates ...

Science Daily (press release)

... of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). ...

11/3/09 Identifying Mental Illness Early Through Routine Mental Health Screening

11/3/09 Identifying Mental Illness Early Through Routine Mental Health Screening

Medscape - John H. Genrich, Leslie C. McGuire

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Data and statistics. YRBSS: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. ...

11/2/09 - For uninsured, big bills follow ER visits

11/2/09 - For uninsured, big bills follow ER visits

The News & Observer, newsobserver.com, Raleigh, NC

With her diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol under control, Gail Johnson expects to be around to see her grandchildren grow up. But the 56-year-old figures she'll die long before she's able to pay off her hospital bills ...

11/02/09 Bipolar Disorder and ADHD in Children: Confusion and Comorbidity

11/02/09 Bipolar Disorder and ADHD in Children: Confusion and Comorbidity

Medscape - Laura A. Stokowski

National Mental Health Information Center. Children's mental health facts: children and adolescents with mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. 2003. ...

11/02/09 Medical Errors, Malpractice, and Healthcare Reform

11/02/09 Medical Errors, Malpractice, and Healthcare Reform

MedPage Today - David B. Nash, Alexis Skoufalos 

Preventable medical errors are a critical driver of healthcare costs, both in human and financial terms, so it's in everyone's best interest to improve ...

11/2/09 Mild Exercise Boosts Lifespan Of Heart Patients

11/2/09 Mild Exercise Boosts Lifespan Of Heart Patients

RedOrbit 

Mild exercise can significantly reduce the risk of early death from heart disease, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Medicine. ...

11/2/09 - FDA Okays Diabetes Drug for First-Line Use, Adds Warning

11/2/09 FDA Okays Diabetes Drug for First-Line Use, Adds Warning

MedPage Today - Cole Petrochko 

By Cole Petrochko, Staff Writer, medpage Today WASHINGTON -- The FDA has expanded the indication and prescribing language for the type 2 diabetes drug ...

11/2/09 - What Soft Drinks are Doing to Your Body

11/2/09 What Soft Drinks are Doing to Your Body

24 Medica - Glenn Rosenberg

... is responsible for many health problems that include tooth decay, nutritional depletion, obesity, type-2 diabetes, and heart disease. ...

11/2/09 - 1 dose of flu vaccine working in pregnant women

11/2/09 1 dose of flu vaccine working in pregnant women

The Associated Press - Randolph E. Schmid 

WASHINGTON — A single dose of the swine flu vaccine works well for almost all pregnant women, but young children will still need two doses for best results, ...

11/2/09 - Multivitamins may help cut allergy risk

11/2/09 Multivitamins may help cut allergy risk

Food Consumer - David Liu 

... multivitamins had no effect on the incidence of allergic rhinitis, eczema, asthma or atopic sensitization in more than two thousand 8-year old children. ...

11/02/09 Nonprofit Executives Try to Deliver Despite Dwindling Resources

11/02/09 Nonprofit executives try to deliver despite dwindling resources

Washington Business Journal - Jonathan O'Connell

White is a member of a class of nonprofit leaders in the bittersweet position of taking over organizations during a recession that has forced many executive ...

11/02/09 More Kids Have Diabetes, Fewer Schools Have Nurses

11/2/09 More kids have diabetes, fewer schools have nurses

USA Today - Mary Brophy Marcus

... day for blood sugar checks, insulin and snacks if needed, says nurse practitioner Jacqueline Kelderhouse with Montefiore's School Health Program there. ...

10/30/09 Undocumented Hispanics Face Health Care Roadblocks in US

10/30/09 Undocumented Hispanics Face Health Care Roadblocks in US

U.S. News & World Report

... health care among Latinos," the study authors concluded. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about Hispanics and health disparities.

10/30/09 - Halloween Safety: Trick-or-Treating Tips for Children With Diabetes, Food ...

10/30/09 Halloween Safety: Trick-or-Treating Tips for Children With Diabetes, Food ...

U.S. News & World Report - January W. Payne 

For kids with diabetes, food allergies, and asthma, Halloween presents a few special challenges, but that needn't take away from the fun of the day as long ...

10/30/09 - Healthy Lifestyle Choices Can Reduce Diabetes Risk

10/30/09 Healthy Lifestyle Choices Can Reduce Diabetes Risk

HealthNews - Madeline Ellis

For example, each day in the US, more than 4000 people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a chronic condition marked by high levels of blood glucose that ...

10/30/09 - Low vitamin D linked to most African American kidney disease

10/30/09 Low vitamin D linked to most African American kidney disease

eMaxHealth - Kathleen Blanchard 

... which has now reached epidemic proportions globally, heart disease risk, which is now extremely prevalent among Americans, decreased immune function, ...

10/30/09 - Experts say improved medication adherence could save $300B a year

10/30/09 Experts say improved medication adherence could save $300B a year

HealthcareFinanceNews.com 

"Fifty percent of patients with heart disease are not taking their potentially life-saving medications, but it is our hope that recommendations like these ...

10/30/09 Wellness Programs Can be Costly, But Have Proven Successful at One Coporation

10/30/09 Wellness Programs Can Be Costly, But Have Proven Successful At One Corporation

Kaiser Health News

"Studies have shown the program -- called 'Live for Life' -- has resulted in significant improvements in employee health as well as a reduction in company ...

10/29/09 - Child deaths linked to lack of insurance

10/29/09 - Child deaths linked to lack of insurance

U.S. News & World Report, usnews.com

An estimated 17,000 children in the United States might have died unnecessarily over nearly two decades because they didn't have health insurance, according to a report from researchers at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore ...

10/29/09 - Pregnant Women Should Be Encouraged to Receive H1N1 Vaccine, Say Researchers

10/29/09 Pregnant Women Should Be Encouraged to Receive H1N1 Vaccine, Say Researchers

HealthNewsDigest.com 

Pregnant women are in the highest-priority group recommended by the CDC to receive the current H1N1 vaccine. Despite these recommendations, however, ...

10/29/09 - Heat Device Treats Asthma

10/29/09 Heat Device Treats Asthma

Wall Street Journal - Jennifer Corbett Dooren

The product is made by Asthmatx Inc., a closely held firm based in Sunnyvale, Calif., and is designed to be used in adult asthma patients whose disease ...

10/29/09 Linkage Between Teen Girls' Weight and Sexual Behavior

10/29/09 Linkage Between Teen Girls' Weight and Sexual Behavior

HealthNewsDigest.com

Other authors contributing to this study include Cheryl Lynch, MD, MPH, Center for Health Disparities Research, Medical University of South Carolina; ...

10/29/09 Pittsburgh Partners Launch Promising Family-Centered Care Model: Special

10/29/09 Pittsburgh Partners Launch Promising Family-Centered Care Model: Special

PR Newswire (press release)

PITTSBURGH /PRNewswire/ -- A Pittsburgh-based maternal and child health care collaborative will undertake a unique and innovative initiative to ...

10/29/09 Research and Markets: Hospitals in a Medical Home: Partners in Enhancing...

10/29/09 Research and Markets: Hospitals in a Medical Home: Partners in Enhancing ...

Reuters

... The multiple roles of the hospital in the medical home network; * Deploying disease management and chronic care to a financially vulnerable population; ...

10/29/09 Let Kids Sleep Late on Weekends to Fight Fat: Study

10/29/09 Let Kids Sleep Late on Weekends to Fight Fat: Study

U.S. News & World Report - David Freeman

The findings, published in the November issue of Pediatrics, could be helpful in preventing and managing childhood obesity, the authors noted. ...