According to a February 2, 2012 Stroke article, researchers report:
"...a positive correlation between increasing triglyceride levels and the risk for stroke, and this effect was more pronounced among women vs men.
Elevated triglycerides, VLDL size, and the IDL particle number were all significantly associated with an increased risk of stroke.
Women with triglyceride levels in the highest quartile, those with levels >192 mg/dL, had a significant 56% increased risk of stroke compared with women in the lowest quartile.
Similarly, for women in the highest quartile of VLDL particle size and IDL particle number, there was a significant 59% and 46% increased risk of ischemic stroke compared with women in the lowest quartile."
May 29, 2012 - Some Good News About HDL Cholesterol and Women
Percentage of adults aged 20 and over with low HDL cholesterol, by sex and race and ethnicity: United States, 2009–2010
Graphic source: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db92.htm
Cholesterol has received a bad rep for years for causing heart disease. But, it is not that simple. Our body needs cholesterol for many vital functions, which is the reason why it creates the cholesterol it needs. The only problem is some people create too much, especially of the bad kind - the low density lipoprotein, which is the one that deserves the bad rep.
However, high density lipoprotein (HDL) is the "good guy" and its function is to take back to the liver the excess cholesterol circulating in the body so it doesn't gunk up our arteries. Low levels of HDL is a risk factor for heart disease. (http://atvb.ahajournals.org/content/17/1/107.short)
When it comes to HDL, women have a major advantage. Women should build on this advantage by maintaining the higher levels of HDL through aerobic exercise, on a daily basis. An hour a day would be great. Presently, this is the only way to raise HDL without compromising one's health. Alcohol is also known to raise HDL, but scientists are reporting that even one drink a day can increase the risk for breast cancer. (http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/306/17/1884.abstract; http://journal.nzma.org.nz/journal/121-1272/3026/content.pdf)
This graphic depicts the advantage women have over men when it comes to HDL level. According to the NCHS Data Brief
Number 92, April 2012, Total and High-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2009–2010:
"For 2009–2010, 21.3% of adults aged 20 and over had low HDL cholesterol (less than 40 mg/dL). The percentage of adults with low HDL cholesterol was higher for men (31.4%) than for women (11.9%). Percentages among men were also higher than those among women of the same racial and ethnic group. For men, the percentage with low HDL cholesterol was lower among non-Hispanic black men than non-Hispanic white or Hispanic men. No racial or ethnic differences were found among women in the percentage with low HDL cholesterol." Citation source: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db92.htm
Given this natural advantage you have wonder why heart disease is the number cause of death for women. For more information, see Heart Disease and Women
May 28, 2012 - Calcium Supplements and the Increased Risk for Heart Attacks
On May 23rd, Science Daily's "Calcium Supplements Linked to Significantly Increased Heart Attack Risk, Study Suggests" reported:
"...when the analysis looked at vitamin/mineral supplements, it found that those who took calcium supplements regularly were 86% more likely to have a heart attack than those who didn't use any supplements.
And this risk increased further among those who used only calcium supplements. They were more than twice as likely to have a heart attack as those who didn't take any supplements.
...those with an intake of more than 1100 mg daily did not have a significantly lower risk. There was no evidence that any level of calcium intake either protected against or increased the risk of stroke,
...many women taking calcium supplements to ward off brittle bones are already healthier than those who don't, and that the overall protective effect is modest -- in the order of just 10%."
...boosting overall calcium intake from dietary sources confers no significant advantage in terms of staving off heart disease and stroke *
Supplements cause calcium levels in the blood to soar above the normal range, and it is this flooding effect which might ultimately be harmful,
Calcium supplements have been widely embraced by doctors and the public, on the grounds that they are a natural and therefore safe way of preventing osteoporotic fractures,
The authors conclude: "This study suggests that increasing calcium intake from diet might not confer significant cardiovascular benefits, while calcium supplements, which might raise [heart attack] risk, should be taken with caution."
Citation sources:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120523200752.htm; *http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-05/bmj-csl052212.php. Original source: M. J. Bolland, A. Grey, A. Avenell, G. D. Gamble, I. R. Reid. Calcium supplements with or without vitamin D and risk of cardiovascular events: reanalysis of the Women's Health Initiative limited access dataset and meta-analysis. BMJ, 2011; 342 (apr19 1): d2040 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.d2040
However, I should note that this is really nothing new. The July 29, 2010 British Medical Journal's "Effect Of Calcium Supplements On Risk Of Myocardial Infarction And Cardiovascular Events: Meta-Analysis," that was also conducted by Bolland et al, which concluded:
"Calcium supplements (without coadministered vitamin D) are associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction. As calcium supplements are widely used these modest increases in risk of cardiovascular disease might translate into a large burden of disease in the population. A reassessment of the role of calcium supplements in the management of osteoporosis is warranted." There was about a 30% increased risk for heart attack; the range went up to 70%."
"Dairy Products, Calcium, and Vitamin D and Risk of Prostate Cancer, Epidemiologic Reviews, 2001" reports "When serum levels of calcium are low, 1, 25 D [this is active vitamin D] acts on the bones, kidneys, and intestines to increase retention and absorption of calcium until serum levels return to a normal range. Similarly, if serum levels of calcium are high, production of 1, 25 D is suppressed by reduced parathyroid hormone production." (Vitamin D is a hormone which is thought to play a role in, not just bone health, but heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and cancer.) Citation source: http://fanaticcook.blogspot.com/2010/08/calcium-prostate-cancer-now-heart.html
Basically, the evidence is piling up that calcium supplements may be putting women at risk for heart disease. For more information, see Nutrition, and Heart Disease and Women
Here's the map for the EPA's UV Index Forecast for today. Looks pretty raw, mean and hot!
The EPA has come up with the UV Index Scale that is consistent with the international guidelines for UVI reporting established by the World Health Organization:
For example, an index value of 6 to 7 is considered "High"
"A UV Index reading of 6 to 7 means high risk of harm from unprotected sun exposure. Apply a sunscreen with a SPF of at least 15. Wear a wide-brim hat and sunglasses to protect your eyes. Protection against sunburn is needed.
Reduce time in the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Cover up, wear a hat and sunglasses, and use sunscreen. Wearing sunglasses protects the lids of your eyes as well as the lens." (Citation source: http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/uvindex.html)
You can look up the UV Index for your geographic location by plugging in your zip code or city and state. To access this look-up tool, click on this entry's title, map or scale graphics. Protecting your skin against the sun is essential not only for preventing skin cancer, but also from premature aging of the skin. For additional information, see Radiation, Skin Cancer
May 25, 2012 - Women Have Atypical Symptoms for a Heart Attack
On February 21, 2012, JAMA reported:
"Researchers combed a database of more than 1.1 million heart attack cases looking for clues about heart attacks. They found 42 percent of women didn't have chest pain when they were admitted to the hospital with heart attacks. compared with about 31 percent of the men. Overall, about 15 percent of the women died in the hospital, compared with 10 percent of men.
Women are more likely to have heart attacks that don't announce themselves with crushing chest pain,...And women having heart attacks like these are more likely to die than men.
While pain and discomfort in the chest are classic signs of a heart attack, they're not always present.... Shortness of breath, nausea and pain in the jaw or back can also signal a heart attack in progress.
As women get older, the symptoms of their heart attacks and the likelihood they'll die from them starts to look a lot more like the picture for men,
For now, they're recommending that younger women be made more aware of the possibility that a heart attack might not be accompanied by chest pain.
To survive a heart attack, it's important to recognize what's happening and get immediate care. "If a patient is more likely to delay, a patient is less likely to be diagnosed promptly and receive life-saving treatment,"
Citation source: In Women, Heart Attacks Often Strike Without Chest Pain, as reported at http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/02/22/147255266/in-women-heart-attacks-often-strike-without-chest-pain; http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/307/8/813.short;
On February 15, 2012, the American Heart Association released a statement about how peripheral artery disease is under-treated and under-studied in women.
"Women with peripheral artery disease, or PAD, are two to three times more likely to have a stroke or heart attack than those without it ― yet it’s often unrecognized and untreated, especially in women,...
PAD is a serious circulatory disease caused by a buildup of fat and other materials in blood vessels outside of the heart, usually in the legs, feet and arms. Left untreated, it can increase heart attack and stroke risk, severely limit walking ability and cause tissue death requiring limb amputation.
About 8 million people in the United States have peripheral artery disease. Most research available suggests nearly equal prevalence among men and women.
Only about 10 percent of those with PAD experience the warning sign of leg pain typically associated with it, and this pain usually goes away while resting. Many people experience no symptoms at all. As a result, few sufferers receive prompt treatment. Even so, PAD care leads to more than 1.1 million medical office visits annually, according to the new statement.
Major risk factors of peripheral artery disease include being 50 and older, smoking and diabetes. High blood pressure and high cholesterol, obesity, sedentary lifestyle and a family history of PAD also may increase the risk.
Treatment includes diet and lifestyle changes, medication and supervised exercise. Rarely, patients may require procedures to insert stents ― small, wire mesh tubes ― to open constricted blood vessels or surgical bypass surgery.
Typically, diagnosis involves a simple test, called an ankle-brachial index to compare arm blood pressure to leg blood pressure.
Citation source: Peripheral artery disease undertreated, understudied in women; http://newsroom.heart.org/pr/aha/peripheral-artery-disease-undertreated-228645.aspx
"Women who smoke tend to suffer cardiovascular events at a younger age than male smokers, and they experience more complications following those events,...
Note that among smokers, after adjusting for age, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and previous myocardial infarction, being a woman remained a significant risk factor for cardiovascular events at six months.
Overall, smokers -- men and women -- were younger than nonsmokers when they presented with their index event: men by nine years, women by 13 (P<0.001 for both).
Smokers of both sexes presented more often with ST-segment elevation MI than nonsmokers
Female smokers outnumbered male smokers in terms of inhospital combined cardiovascular events such as recurrent MI, stroke, and death (11.2% versus 7.7%).
At six months follow-up, women who smoked outnumbered their male counterparts in the following outcomes:
Death -- 5.6% versus 3.2%
Recurrent MI -- 8.7% versus 4.2%
Stroke -- 1.1% versus 0.7%
Cardiac-related rehospitalization -- 36.7% versus 21%
Emergency revascularization -- 13.5% versus 4.4%
Combined cardiovascular disease events -- 54.5% versus 33.1%
Interestingly, men who smoked were less likely than nonsmoking men to have more of these cardiovascular outcomes, but the same was not true for women. Women who smoked invariably had higher cardiovascular outcomes at six months than their nonsmoking counterparts, except in stroke and death.
...intravascular ultrasound studies have shown that culprit lesions in women contain more thrombus. With their smaller arteries, women might need less thrombus for occlusion, "potentially magnifying the thrombogenic effects of smoking,..."
Citation source: Effectiveness-Based Guidelines for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women -- 2011 Update; http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/MyocardialInfarction/28928
According to the March 7, 2012 NIH news bulletin,"Nearly 800,000 deaths prevented due to declines in smoking" publicizing research published in 3/14's Journal of the National Cancer Institute:
"If all cigarette smoking in this country had ceased following the release of the first Surgeon General's report on smoking and health in 1964, a total of 2.5 million people would have been spared from death due to lung cancer in the 36 years following that report,
Since the 1964 report, tobacco control efforts in the United States have included restrictions on smoking in public places, increases in cigarette excise taxes, limits on underage access to cigarettes, and efforts to increase public awareness of the hazards of smoking.
Using [mathematical] models, the researchers were able to estimate the impact of changes in smoking patterns resulting from tobacco control activities on lung cancer deaths during the period from 1975 through 2000. The difference between lung cancer deaths in the no tobacco control scenario and the numbers of actual lung cancer deaths provided an estimate of the numbers of lung cancer deaths averted as a result of tobacco control activities.
An overwhelming majority of lung cancer deaths can be prevented by eliminating cigarette smoking."
The above graph shows a clear relationship between smoking and the incidence of lung cancer. "Because of social mores, significant numbers of American women did not smoke until after World War II, when many social conventions changed. As late as 1963, when lung cancer among males was near current levels, this disease was still rare in women. In the United States that year, only 6588 women died of lung cancer. But as more women smoked, more developed lung cancer, again with a lag of about 20 years. American women today have achieved equality with men in the numbers of cigarettes they smoke, and their lung cancer death rates are today approaching those for men. In 2002, more than 65,000 women died of lung cancer in the United States. The current annual rate of deaths from lung cancer in male and female smokers is 180 per 100,000, or about 2 out of every 1000 smokers each year." Citation source: http://www.txtwriter.com/backgrounders/cancer/cancer5.html
Age-Adjusted Invasive Cancer Incidence Rates for the 10 Primary Sites with the Highest Rates Graphic source: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/uscs/toptencancers.aspx
According CDC's United States Cancer Statistics (USCS) for 2008, the female breast is the most common cancer site for women, regardless of race/ethnicity.
While breast cancer may be the most common cancer for women, fortunately, mortality rates, by race/ethnicity, are low, thanks to mammographies, early diagnoses and aggressive treatment.
If you are sexually active, you should get test for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. It is essential for women to be promptly treated to reduce the damaging effects of pelvic inflammatory disease. While HIV cannot be cured, early diagnosis would mean earlier treatment, prolonging life.
According to the CDC's "Estimated rate of New HIV Infections, 2009, by Gender and Race/Ethnicity," black women are more affected by HIV than women of all other races, accounting for nearly 60 percent (57 percent) of all new HIV infections among women in 2009. The HIV infection rate among black women was 15 times that of white women (39.7 v. 2.6 per 100,000).
In fact, HIV and Black women is a major public health issue:
According to the CDC, in 2009, 61 percent of new HIV infections were among men who have sex with men. However, this is followed by 27 percent among heterosexuals. Citation source: http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/HIVIncidenceGraphics.html)
And, CDC's "Estimated New Infections among Heterosexuals, 2009, by Gender and Race/Ethnicity" indicates there are race/ethnicity differences for heterosexual transmission. More than twice as many new HIV infections occurred among heterosexual black women than among heterosexual black men (5,400 vs. 2,400). (Citation source:http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/TCTT2012Graphics.html)
The purpose of the 10th annual National Women's Checkup Day is to:
Encourage women to visit health care professionals to receive or schedule a checkup.
Promote regular checkups as vital to the early detection of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mental health illnesses, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and other conditions.
Then go to the National Women's Checkup Day: May 14, 2012 Page to make a pledge to schedule an appointment with your healthcare provider. I have! Your quality of life depends on it!
And, when you take the pledge, enter the state you are from and get a certificate to show your commitment to take care of yourself!
Happy Mother's Day to all women who believe in the power of nurturing! On this day, take a moment to reflect on how important it is to take care of ourselves so we can continue to nurture those we love!
Womenhealth.gov wants to raise awareness of why women should adopt the "It's Your Time" attitude. Check out the National Women’s Health Week Fact Sheet for 5 simple steps to good health and wellness!
May 11, 2012- Breast Cancer Update: Decreasing Incidence; Spatial Clustering
Breast Cancer Cell
Graphic source: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Best-Science-Visualizations-of-the-Year.html
According to CDC's "Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2008" "Breast cancer incidence rates, which increased 1.3 percent per year from 1992 through 1999, declined 2.0 percent per year from 1999 through 2005 and leveled off from 2005 through 2008. The factors that influence breast cancer incidence are complex, including changes in reproductive status, obesity, the prevalence of mammography screening, and others. Recent reports suggest that the decrease in breast cancer incidence may be related to the rapid discontinuation of hormone replacement therapy, a known risk factor for breast cancer, and also because of a plateau in mammography screening prevalence." (Citation source: http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/research/articles/arn_7508qa.htm#7)
Geomedicine is the mapping of disease patterns with geographic analysis. According to International Journal of Health Geographics, looking at NCI 2000-2005 data, "...breast... cancers cluster spatially. The Getis-Ord Gi* analysis suggests there were statistically signifcant clusters of counties with high incidence rates of breast cancer ("hot" clusters) in the Northeast, Midwest and northern and mid Pacific West regions."
(Citation source: http://www.ij-healthgeographics.com/content/pdf/1476-072X-8-53.pdf)
According to Medscape's article,"Menopause Management for the Millennium,"
"In the United States, many women believe that the leading cause of death in women is breast cancer.
Many also believe that only a small percentage of deaths are attributable to CVD (Cardiovascular Disease). The truth, of course, is the reverse.
One in 3 women older than 65 years has some evidence of CVD, and the risk of breast cancer after age 65 is 1 in 36.
Although it has been widely asserted that the incidence of breast cancer in women is approximately 1 in 8 women, this is the lifetime risk.
Age-specific data are quite different, and the risk is 1 in 77 in the fourth decade, 1 in 42 in the fifth decade, and 1 in 45 in the eighth decade.
In terms of mortality, the case fatality rate of CVD is several times greater than that of breast cancer; thus, even if the incidence rates of these 2 diseases were similar, many more women would die of CVD.
Soon after menopause, at age 50-54, breast cancer mortality decreases while CVD mortality rises steadily.
...the leading cause of cancer death in postmenopausal women is lung cancer.
Overall, however, 30%-40% of women die of CVD, and by age 55, 20% of all deaths result from CVD."
National trends for Health-related Quality of Life are available from the CDC.
The concept of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and its determinants have evolved since the 1980s to encompass those aspects of overall quality of life that can be clearly shown to affect health—either physical or mental.
On the individual level, this includes physical and mental health perceptions and their correlates—including health risks and conditions, functional status, social support, and socioeconomic status. On the community level, HRQOL includes resources, conditions, policies, and practices that influence a population’s health perceptions and functional status.
HRQOL questions about perceived physical and mental health and function have become an important component of health surveillance and are generally considered valid indicators of service needs and intervention outcomes. Self-assessed health status also proved to be more powerful predictor of mortality and morbidity than many objective measures of health. Citation source: http://www.cdc.gov/hrqol/concept.htm
New data released in February show that women reported greater number of mentally or physically unhealthy days than men. While the average number of such days have risen steadily for both genders since 1993, women report a mean of 6+ days vs. 4+ days for men.
Citation source: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/HRQOL/TrendV.asp?State=1&Measure=5&Category=2&submit1=Go
May 7, 2012 - Women's Health and Mortality Chartbook
The Office of Women's Health's "Women's Health and Mortality Chartbook" is an excellent online interactive resource to search for state-level women's health data pertaining to:
Major causes of death among females (rate per 100,000)
Health risk factors (percent)
Preventive care (percent)
Health insurance coverage (percent)
See how women are doing in your state, by race and ethnicity, against Healthy People 2020 Objectives, and how your state ranks against other states.
Access the chartbook by clicking on the graphic.
May 4, 2012 - Healthy People 2020 Objectives for Women
While I will be covering U.S. women's health and public health issues, I would like to call your attention the missing 4 million women, internationally, who suffered "excess female mortality."
According to the International Monetary Fund, "Since 1980, women have been living longer than men in all parts of the world. But across all developing countries, more women and girls still die at younger ages relative to men and boys, compared with rich countries. As a result of this “excess female mortality,” about 3.9 million girls and women under 60 are “missing” each year in developing countries. About two-fifths of them are never born, one-sixth die in early childhood, and more than one-third die during their reproductive years. Female mortality is growing in sub-Saharan Africa, especially for women of childbearing age and in the countries hit hardest by the HIV/AIDS pandemic (World Bank, 2011, Chapter 3)." Citation source: Empowering Women Is Smart Economics (March 2012) http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2012/03/revenga.htm
According to The Office of Women's Health's "Healthy Women Today" newsletter:
"Get ready for National Women's Health Week
National Women's Health Week is a weeklong health observance coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health. It brings together communities, businesses, government, health organizations, and other groups in an effort to promote women's health. The theme for 2012 is “It's Your Time.” National Women's Health Week empowers women to make their health a top priority. The 13th annual National Women's Health Week kicks off on Mother's Day, May 13, 2012 and is celebrated until May 19, 2012. National Women's Checkup Day is Monday, May 14, 2012."
Once again, I am pleased to be a Womenshealth.gov's Collaborator. Like last year, I will be devoting May's blog entries to Women's Health and Public Health Issues Updates. As you can see, I will be covering a variety of topics, and if it runs over into June, then so be it. Hope you learn something new in the coming weeks about health of over half the world's population!
May 1, 2012 - An Infomous Visualization of Betty C. Jung's Tweets
How cool is this? Here is a visualization created by Infomous that shows what I have been recently posting on Tweeter!
April 30, 2012 - Evolution of the Moon from NASA
April 27, 2012 -
CDC's Interactive Immunization Scheduler Software
For more information about how to download this software to your computer so you know when to get the appropriate shots, see CDC's
Adult Immunization Scheduler
April 26, 2012 - 2012 Recommended Immunizations for Adults with Medical and Other Indications
The latest edition of "The Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases" is now available online. It "provides current guidelines for those directly involved in surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases, especially personnel at the local health departments. For each of the vaccine-preventable diseases, this manual includes a chapter describing the importance of rapid case identification; the importance of surveillance; disease reduction goals; case definitions (including clinical description and case classifications); epidemiologically important data to be collected during case investigation; activities for enhancing surveillance; activities for case investigation; and activities for outbreak control. Other chapters include information on surveillance indicators; surveillance data analyses; reporting adverse events following vaccination; and enhancing surveillance. In addition, the manual includes a section reserved for insertion of state-specific guidance for VPD surveillance and extensive appendices." Citation source: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/surv-manual/index.html
You can access this resource by click on the blog entry title or the graphic.
April 23, 2012 -
Immunization is very important for protecting infants from diseases that used to contribute to high infant mortality rates. Getting all the proper immunizations, at the appropriate age, not only protects the child, but those around from getting sick. It prevents the occurrence of epidemics and reduces potential health issues that can occur if the child is not immunized.
Here is the latest global mortality statistics from the World Health Organization, issued 11/2011. Africa has the highest death rates, followed by Asia.
The World Health Organization annually releases health statistics. The 2011 edition contain data for 193 Member States, and includes a summary of the progress made towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and associated targets.
Key facts from this report include:
Fewer children are dying. Annual global deaths of children under five years of age fell to 8.1 million in 2009 from 12.4 million in 1990.
Fewer children are underweight. The percentage of underweight children under five years old is estimated to have dropped from 25% in 1990 to 16% in 2010.
More women get skilled help during childbirth. The proportion of births attended by a skilled health worker has increased globally, however, in the WHO Africa and South-East Asia regions fewer than 50% of all births were attended.
Fewer people are contracting HIV. New HIV infections have declined by 17% globally from 2001-2009.
Tuberculosis treatment is more successful. Existing cases of TB are declining, along with deaths among HIV-negative TB cases.
More people have safe drinking-water, but not enough have toilets. The world is on track to achieve the MDG target on access to safe drinking-water but more needs to be done to achieve the sanitation target.
While this Webpage is specific to the reporting on indicators specific for data pertaining to those 65 and older, this page could serve as a template for reporting all data pertaining to Healthy People indicators. Check it out!
April 16, 2012 - Determinants of Health: A Framework for Reaching Healthy People 2020 Goals
Here is a video developed by the US DHHS that summarizes the public health approaches to achieving Healthy People 2020 objectives by addressing determinants of health. For more information, see Healthy People 2020 Page, and Determinants of Health
April 13, 2012 - Tracking Environmental Debris from March 2011 Japan Tsunami
The effects of the March 2011 Japan Tsunami continues to cast its shadow on the environmental. Most notably, everything that got washed and swept away by the tsunami is now traveling on the Pacific Ocean, to reach the U.S. in the foreseeable future.
Here is a map from NASA's "Surface Currents from Diagnostic (SCUD) model" that attempts to simulate where and how that debris would disperse. Orange and red shaded areas represent parcels of water with a high probably of containing floating debris. The deeper the red color, the higher the likely concentration. The debris field stretches roughly 5,000 kilometers by 2,000 kilometers across the North Pacific.
As of April 3, 2012, there had been very few reports of debris at Midway Island and Kure Atoll. Observers in Canada recently detected an abandoned 150-foot Japanese fishing vessel floating offshore of British Columbia. Other reports of debris in Washington and Hawaii came in months ago." Citation source: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77489&src=eoa-iotd
April 12, 2012 - Categorizing the Determinants of Health
The various factors that impact the Public's health are called the determinants of health. I like how the National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity categorizes these factors:
Social determinants of health Examples include gender, socioeconomic status, employment status, educational attainment, food security status, availability of housing and transportation, racism, and health system access and quality
Behavioral determinants of health Examples include patterns of overweight and obesity; exercise norms; and use of illicit drugs, tobacco, or alcohol
Environmental determinants of health Examples include lead exposure, asthma triggers, workplace safety factors, unsafe or polluted living conditions
Biological and genetic determinants of health Examples include family history of heart disease and inherited conditions such as hemophilia and cystic fibrosis
Authors of May 2009's "What You Don't Know Can Hurt You" concluded "There is a strong association between educational attainment and health." (Source: http://www.american.com/archive/2009/may-2009/what-you-dont-know-can-hurt-you/article_print)
The Robert Wood Johnson continues its exploration of how social factors impact health status in its recently released series of issue briefs. The following are snippets from the 3 briefs.
From "Early Childhood Experiences: Laying the Foundation for Health Across a Lifetime"
"...children in families of all socioeconomic levels experience benefits from early childhood programs that translate into improved development and health....it is widely recognized that factors such as nutrition, housing quality, and household and community safety - all linked with family resources, are strongly linked with child health....experiences in early childhood affect children's brain, cognitive and behavioral development...Parents' social and economic resources can affect the quality and stability of their relationships with their infants, and parent-infant relationships affect children's emotional development and the cognitive stimulation they receive."
From "How Social Factors Shape Health: The Role of Stress"
"During childhood and adolescence, stress appears to increase risk of poorer mental and physical health....children and adolescents exposed to higher levels of stress have increased risks of being overweight and/or obese...Among adults, exposure to work-related and other stressors has been linked in multiple studies with cardiovascular illness such as coronary heart disease and heart attacks, as well as with cardiovascular disease risk factors....prolonged activation of the stress response due to chronic stressors is more likely to lead to poor health....Chronic stress, particularly early in life, can result in long-term damage in multiple body organs and systems and can affect the ability to respond to stress, impairing the body's ability to appropriately "switch off"; the stress response later in life...Lower levels of both family income and educational attainment have been associated with greater financial, marital and parental stress among U.S. adults over age 25."
From "What Shapes Health-Related Behaviors? The Role of Social Factors"
"...our behaviors protect us from, or put us at risk for, disease. A person's behaviors are shaped in part by his or her individual characteristics, including genetics, but there is growing evidence that the environments in which people learn, adopt and maintain behaviors also play an important role....increases in income and educational attainment typically correspond to decreases in the prevalence of health-harming behaviors and increases in the prevalence of health-promoting behaviors...we often see incremental improvements with each step up the income or education ladder...higher rates of sedentary behavior seen at lower levels of income and educational attainment...Lower-income neighborhoods often lack safe places to exercise...A person's educational attainment is closely linked with his or her options for employment and income, which in turn can influence behaviors... Having more education and a better job is also linked with the kinds of social support, networks and norms that support healthy behaviors and discourage behaviors that are health-harming."
I highly recommend these briefs for all public health professionals because they provide a comprehensive, yet concise overview of why social determinants need to be addressed in developing policies and interventions that are meant to improve the health of all the populations we serve through the programs and projects we work on. You can find links to these briefs on my Public Health Practice Page, under, "Social Determinants of Health."
April 10, 2012 - Introduction to the 1940 Census Data, available 4/2/2012
April 9, 2012 - Coming May 13 - 19, 2012: Women's Health Week
Bullying is such a public health problem that the federal government has a Web site devoted to raise awareness about the problem of bullying. While bullying used to occur in school settings, starting from kindergarten onwards, the increased use of technology has worsen the impact of bullying. Now children can be bullied all the time, even while they are at home, via the Internet.
Children really do need a safe environment to grow in and nurture the development of who they really are without feeling threatened at emotional and psychological levels. I urge adults in positions of authority to take a proactive approach to intervening when they see bullying occurring. It is not reasonable to expect children work out issues of intimidation on their own. Children need to be taught not only to respect others, but to also respect themselves. Children who have good positive self-images do not need to bully others to feel good about themselves.
April 4, 2012 - National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is spearheading a new initiative called the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities (NPA). "The mission of the NPA is to increase the effectiveness of programs that target the elimination of health disparities through the coordination of partners, leaders, and stakeholders committed to action."
"The goals of the NPA and its National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity are:
Awareness - Increase awareness of the significance of health disparities, their impact on the nation, and the actions necessary to improve health outcomes for racial, ethnic, and underserved populations.
Leadership - Strengthen and broaden leadership for addressing health disparities at all levels.
Health System and Life Experience - Improve health and healthcare outcomes for racial, ethnic, and underserved populations.
Cultural and Linguistic Competency - Improve cultural and linguistic competency and the diversity of the health-related workforce.
Data, Research, and Evaluation - Improve data availability and coordination, utilization, and diffusion of research and evaluation outcomes.
In order to have a healthy nation, everyone has to be healthy. Addressing health disparities is the best way to achieve a healthy nation. I have taken the pledge and doing my part. So can you! The more people working on this, the greater the possibility of success in reducing health disparities!
"April is National Minority Health Month. This year’s theme, Health Equity Can’t Wait. Act Now in Your CommUNITY!, is a call to action and unity for the regions, the state and local offices of minority health, the health departments and all the organizations and partners involved and invested in reducing health disparities. Citation source: http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/Actnow/
Public Health gets taken for granted when it is doing its job. While it is "public" in scope, most of what happens for the good of the public goes on behind the scenes. It is only when things break down do we realize just how important Public Health is to our daily lives.
To learn more about Public Health practice, check my Public Health Practice Page and the rest of this Web site, which is predominately devoted to Public Health.
March 30, 2012 - GAO's Designing Evaluations, 2012 Revision
During times of limited funding, it is no longer acceptable to develop a program without having an evaluation component. Including evaluation shows you are accountable for what you are doing and that you will make a concerted effort to offer an effective program. And, if the program isn't effective, you have the data you have been collecting to help you make corrections along the way. Funders like to see this because they will know that the money they are giving you won't be wasted. That's the basic idea behind the importance of evaluation.
In January, the Government Accounting Office released Designing Evaluations 2012 Revision It is well-written and a wonderful primer of what Evaluation is all about. It is generic enough to provide guidance across a variety of programs, but provides the nuts and bolts needed to build a solid evaluation component into any program you are involved with. Additionally, it provides additional resources for more information. Click on the graphic or links above to access the PDF document.
CDC recently released,"Data Security and Confidentiality Guidelines for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Disease, and Tuberculosis Programs: Standards to Facilitate Sharing and Use of Surveillance Data for Public Health Action." This is a really useful and needed resource for any Public Health Professional who must handle data. While surveillance data are not as sensitve as medical record data, it still contains confidential information that should be handled appropriately. To access the document, click on the blog entry title or the graphic.
March 28, 2012 - CDC's Database of State Legislative and Regulatory Action to Prevent Obesity and Improve Nutrition and Physical Activity
Strategies taken to address obesity can occur at many levels. Passing legislation can provide environmental support to individual action. For example, it would be really great if we can devote an hour a day to physical activity outdoors. Making changes to the environment that would allow for such physical activity can enhance individual efforts, such as just having accessible sidewalks can go a long way.
Do you know what legislation or regulations have been passed in your neck of woods addressing obesity, nutrition and physical activity? Well, now you can search the CDC's Database of State Legislative and Regulatory Action to Prevent Obesity and Improve Nutrition and Physical Activity! Here are two examples:
Here is a new site from the federal government that is totally devoted to helping teens think wisely about tobacco use. If you are a teen and smoke, you can quit! The sooner you do, the better off you will be in the years to come. And, if you are a teen and don't smoke, you are smart! Best yet, never start!
Click on blog entry title or graphic to get on the site. For more information, see Tobacco
March 26, 2012 -
Toolkit to Identify Teens with Mental Health Issues
According to 10/28/2011 HealthDay article, a toolkit has been developed to spot teens with mental health issues.
"One in 10 youths have a mental health condition that is severe enough to impair functioning, either at home, school or in the community,"
"This toolkit will allow pediatricians, teachers and others that could help get the word out to families we can close the gap so the three out of four children with mental health disorders who aren't identified do get identified,"
About half of mental health disorders manifest themselves by the time a child has turned 14, and 75 percent manifest by age 24,
Because differentiating a true mental health disorder from the inevitable ups and downs of adolescence is difficult, the authors chose to focus on the more severe end of the mental health spectrum.
If your child has any of these 11 warning signs, he or she may have a mental health disorder and should be referred to treatment as soon as possible:
Feeling very sad or withdrawn for two or more weeks;
Seriously trying to harm or kill themselves, or making plans to do so;
Sudden overwhelming fear for no reason, sometimes with a racing heart or fast breathing;
Involved in multiple fights, using a weapon, or wanting badly to hurt others;
Severe out-of-control behavior that can hurt the teenager or others;
Not eating, throwing up, or using laxatives to lose weight;
Intense worries or fears that get in the way of daily activities;
Extreme difficulty in concentrating or staying still that puts a teenager in physical danger or causes school failure;
Repeated use of drugs or alcohol;
Severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships;
Drastic changes in behavior or personality
Citation source: Oct. 28, 2011, teleconference with Peter Jensen, M.D., Gary M. Blau, Ph.D., Lisa Hunter Romanelli, Ph.D., Abigail Schlesinger, M.D.; Oct. 28, 2011, Pediatrics, reported by HealthDay
SAMHSA's "Suicidal Thoughts and Behavior in the Past Year among Adults Aged 18 or Older: 2010":
"Among the 1.1 million adults who attempted suicide in the past year, 752,000 (67.2 percent) received medical attention for their suicide attempt in the past year, and 572,000 (51.1 percent) stayed overnight or longer in a hospital as a result of their suicide attempt in the past year.
In 2010, the percentage of adults aged 18 or older having serious thoughts of suicide in the past year was 2.4 percent among Hispanics, 3.2 percent among Asians, 4.0 percent among whites, 4.1 percent among blacks, 4.6 percent among Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders, 5.4 percent among persons reporting two or more races, and 7.5 percent among American Indians or Alaska Natives.
The percentage of college-aged adults (i.e., those aged 18 to 22) who had serious thoughts of suicide in the past year was higher in 2010 (7.3 percent) than in 2009 (6.3 percent).
In 2010, full-time college students aged 18 to 22 were less likely than other adults aged 18 to 22 to have serious thoughts of suicide (6.5 vs. 7.8 percent), make suicide plans (1.8 vs. 2.5 percent), and attempt suicide (0.9 vs. 1.6 percent) in the past year."
SAMHSA's "Any Mental Illness (AMI) in the Past Year among Adults Aged 18 or Older, by Age and Gender: 2010":
"The percentage of adults with AMI in the past year was highest for adults aged 18 to 25 (29.9 percent), followed by adults aged 26 to 49 (22.1 percent), then by adults aged 50 or older (14.3 percent).
Adult women in 2010 were more likely than adult men to have AMI in the past year (23.0 vs. 16.8 percent). Among adult males, the percentage having AMI in 2010 was higher than in 2009 (15.6 percent).
In 2010, the percentage of persons aged 18 or older with past year AMI was 15.8 percent among Asians, 18.3 percent among Hispanics, 18.7 percent among American Indians or Alaska Natives, 19.7 percent among blacks, 20.6 percent among whites, and 25.4 percent among persons reporting two or more races. The estimate of past year AMI among Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders aged 18 or older could not be reported due to low precision."
March 21, 2012 -
U.S. Adult Mental Illness Surveillance Report
On September 2, 2011, the CDC released "U.S. Adult Mental Illness Surveillance Report." According to the CDC:
"The term mental illness refers collectively to all diagnosable mental disorders. Effects of the illness include sustained abnormal alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior associated with distress and impaired functioning. The effects of mental illnesses include disruptions of daily function; incapacitating personal, social, and occupational impairment; and premature death. The most common mental illnesses in adults are anxiety and mood disorders.
Here are some interesting facts about mental illness:
"according to the World Health Organization, mental illnesses account for more disability in developed countries than any other group of illnesses, including cancer and heart disease;
published studies report that about 25% of all U.S. adults have a mental illness and that nearly 50% of U.S. adults will develop at least one mental illness during their lifetime;
mental illness is associated with increased occurrence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, epilepsy, and cancer.".
Since stress is a part of living, we have all found ways to deal with stress. Health-risk behaviors such as smoking, substance abuse, overeating, etc. are ineffectual ways to handle stress because they compromise our health in the process.
Here is a graphic of the various ways
Americans use to handle stress, as reported in APA's "Stress in America 2010 Report."
It is good to see that the most popular methods are not health-compromising. Over a three-year period, it is good to see that fewer people are eating, or smoking to manage stress.
Originally, the FDA was charged with raising public awareness of the dangers of smoking. To that end, the FDA developed a series of graphic anti-smoking ads and then elicited public participation in choosing which ads to use on cigarette packaging. Unfortunately, Ongoing litigation to stop such labeling has prevented the FDA from doing what it was mandated to do.
"The lawsuit was filed in Kentucky. It's one of two suits by tobacco companies against the federal rules that would make them slap large images on cigarette packs depicting the health ravages of smoking.
The other case has so far resulted in a federal judge in Washington blocking the new requirement, arguing last month it violated free speech,..That decision is being appealed by the government.
But on Monday, an appeals court in Ohio ruled 2-1 to uphold parts of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which also restricts how tobacco products may be marketed."
The HHS Statement on Cigarette Health Warning Ruling shows that the main federal agency for Public Health supports the need to warn young people about the hazards of smoking. I applaud the CDC for stepping in and picking up the banner to continue this important duty to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking in a graphic way. After all, tobacco companies think nothing of using devious means to get children and teens to smoke by promising intangibles as popularity among peers, social attractiveness, etc. Such labeling is effective as attested to by Big Tobacco's efforts to block such labeling.
According to WebMD's coverage:
The $54 million campaign consists of eight television spots, including one about secondhand smoke in Spanish; seven radio spots that are 30 seconds and 60 seconds in length; seven print ads in various sizes; and five billboard and bus stop ads. About 70% of current smokers say they want to quit, according to the CDC, so the broadcast spots and print ads include a toll-free phone number, 800-QUIT-NOW, and a web site smokers can contact in search of help quitting.
In just the first two days of the year, the tobacco industry spent more on marketing cigarettes than the CDC will spend this year on its ad campaign, CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, said at the news conference.
Each year, more than 443,000 Americans die from smoking-related illnesses, according to the CDC, which will study the new campaign’s impact on smoking in the United States. “For every person who dies, 20 more Americans live with an illness caused by smoking,” Sebelius said.
As I end this series on the importance of sleep, I wanted to share what a National Sleep Foundation study reported on how much sleep we need to function at our optimum.
"Overall, respondents reported that they need, on average, 7 hours and 25 minutes of sleep to function at their best during the day, about one hour less than what they report getting on a typical weeknight.
Specifically, more than one-third (37%) said they need at least 8 hours of sleep to function at their best.
At the same time, more than one in ten (13%) said they needed less than 6 hours of sleep to function at their best.
The results of the number of hours respondents said they need to function at their best during the day was compared to the number of hours respondents reported they actually slept.
Oregon State University researchers reported in the December 2011 issue of the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity:
"People sleep significantly better and feel more alert during the day if they get at least 150 minutes of exercise a week,
...150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week, which is the national guideline, provided a 65 percent improvement in sleep quality. People also said they felt less sleepy during the day, compared to those with less physical activity.
Among adults in the United States, about 35 to 40 percent of the population has problems with falling asleep or with daytime sleepiness.
"Increasingly, the scientific evidence is encouraging as regular physical activity may serve as a non-pharmaceutical alternative to improve sleep."
After controlling for age, BMI (Body Mass Index), health status, smoking status, and depression, the relative risk of often feeling overly sleepy during the day compared to never feeling overly sleepy during the day decreased by 65 percent for participants meeting physical activity guidelines.
Similar results were also found for having leg cramps while sleeping (68 percent less likely) and having difficulty concentrating when tired (45 percent decrease).
"Physical activity may not just be good for the waistline and heart, but it also can help you sleep,"..."There are trade-offs. It may be easier when you are tired to skip the workout and go to sleep, but it may be beneficial for your long-term health to make the hard decision and get your exercise."
March 9, 2012 - 2011's top ten pages with the most hits; Web site update
Graphic created by BCJung
Here are the latest statistics for my Web site, for those who are interested. "Graphing Resources on the Internet" continues to be the most popular page on the Web site, surpassing the Home Page!
The Public Health Blog webpages also continue to be popular destinations for Web site visitors. What's most interesting is that visitors come by way of the Google Image search!
Finally, it wasn't until the past week that I have decided to spend some time to make the blog pages more accessible that I discovered that my first tweet was actually made on March 1, 2010! So, I have been actually tweeting for two years! I did not really use this social media to its full advantage until last year when I decided to use it to publicize blog postings, which have become more regular and frequent. Starting this month I will use Twitter to publicize the links I am adding to my various pages, so this should increase accessibility to the various resources I have on the Web site.
I have also found a way to create RSS feeds so those with RSS readers can access updates to the current Public Health 2012 Blog and my other webpages. This is, however, a work in progress, as setting up a current feed requires a lot time. Instead, I have decided to use the feeds that Twitter.com have, as well as the Page2RSS.com's service to make Webpages available for RSS readers. Enjoy! E-mail your suggestions to: bettycjung@yahoo.com!
March 8, 2012 - Reason to Sleep: Reducing the Risk for Type 2 Diabetes
According to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia researchers:
Obese teenagers who don't get the proper amount of sleep may have disruptions in insulin secretion and blood sugar (glucose) levels,
...getting a good night's sleep may stave off the development of type 2 diabetes in these adolescents.
...to keep glucose levels stable, the optimal amount of sleep for teenagers is 7.5 to 8.5 hours per night."
...this is consistent with research in adults showing an association between sleep deprivation and increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
The optimal sleep duration was neither too little nor too much,...both insufficient and excessive sleep were linked to higher glucose levels. While sleep stages did not predict glucose levels, lower duration of N3 ("deep" sleep) correlated with decreased insulin secretion.
...getting adequate sleep in adolescence may help protect against type 2 diabetes."
Citation source: "Sleep Architecture and Glucose and Insulin Homeostasis in Obese Adolescents," Diabetes Care, published online Sept. 20, 2011, to appear in November 2011 print edition; as reported at: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-09/chop-agn091611.php
According to WebMD's "How Your Sleep Affects Your Heart"
"Sleep duration has decreased 1.5 to 2 hours per night per person in the last 50 years.
...recent studies show links between shortened sleep duration, defined as less than six hours of sleep, and increased risk of heart disease.
A 2011 European Heart Journal..found that short sleepers had a 48% increased risk of developing or dying from coronary heart disease (CHD) in a seven to 25-year follow-up period (depending on the study) and a 15% greater risk of developing or dying from stroke during this same time.
Interestingly, long sleepers -- those who averaged nine or more hours a night -- also showed a 38% increased risk of developing or dying from CHD and a 65% increased risk of stroke.
One 2008 study from the University of Chicago found a link between shortened sleep and increased coronary artery calcification (calcium deposits), "a good predictor of subsequent coronary artery disease,"
...shorter sleep predicted worsening hypertension (high blood pressure). "For most people, blood pressure falls at night,"..."so it could be that with shorter sleep it's just not enough for that dip to take place."
"It's pretty safe advice for the majority of people that sleeping less than six hours a night is probably not good,"
Good-quality sleep decreases the work of your heart, as blood pressure and heart rate go down at night.
People who are sleep-deprived show less variability in their heart rate, meaning that instead of fluctuating normally, the heart rate usually stays elevated. "That is not a good sign,"..."That looks like heightened stress."
Lack of sleep can increase insulin resistance, a risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Shortened sleep can increase CRP, or C-reactive protein, which is released with stress and inflammation. "If your CRP is high, it's a risk factor for cardiovascular and heart disease,"
Shortened sleep also interferes with appetite regulation. "So you may end up eating more or eating foods that are less healthy for your heart,"
...something 63 percent of Americans are not getting, according to the U.S. National Sleep Foundation.
"People may be learning while they sleep, dramatically improving their memory in some cases.
"There is substantial evidence that during sleep, your brain is processing information without your awareness and this ability may contribute to memory in a waking state."
"Simply improving your sleep could potentially improve your performance in the classroom,"
Citation source: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General;
Michigan State University, news release, September 2011; HealthDay
March 5, 2012 - National Sleep Awareness Week — March 5–11, 2012
How fortuitous that National Sleep Awareness Week falls right in the midst of my series on the importance of sleep! As this graphic shows, the problem of not getting enough sleep affects people of all ages, especially teens. Poor sleeping habits perpetuates itself in a vicious cycle.
According to the MMWR:
"The National Sleep Foundation recommends that U.S. adults receive, on average, 7–9 hours of sleep per night; however, 37.1% of adults report regularly sleeping <7 hours per night.
Persons reporting sleeping <7 hours on average during a 24-hour interval are more likely to report unintentionally falling asleep during the day at least 1 day out of the preceding 30 days (46.2% compared with 33.2%) and nodding off or falling asleep at the wheel during the previous 30 days (7.3% compared with 3.0%).
Frequent insufficient sleep (14 or more days in the past 30 days) also has been associated with self-reported anxiety, depressive symptoms, and frequent mental and physical distress.
Tweet or re-tweet anything on the page with these buttons!
When you click on the Tweet button or Tweet This! you will be able to post a tweet about the Webpage you are on. It will automatically provide the name of the Webpage. You can add a message, up to 140 characters, and post a tweet on your Twitter page!
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March 3, 2012 - Betty C. Jung Twitter Alternate Feeds
Alternate #1 Twitter Feed
Alternate #2 Twitter Feed
Aside from following my Tweets using a Twitter widget, you can read these tweets using any RSS reader you have by clicking on either of these RSS icons. It is taking me a little while to familiarize myself with how to set up an RSS feed. Fortunately, Twitter has made it possible for me to do this in a simple way. Enjoy!
March 2, 2012 - Now available on the Web site: Betty C. Jung Twitter widget!
I am pleased to announce that I can now stream all my tweets with a Twitter widget. I will be adding this to all my Blog pages in the coming days. This is exciting!
March 1, 2012 - THANK YOU!!!
February 29, 2012 - Rare Diseases Day
Graphic source: http://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/
February 29 is Rare Disease Day. According USA.gov,"A disease is rare, or "orphan," if fewer than 200,000 people in the United States have it. There are close to 7,000 rare diseases and about 25 million people in the U.S. have one. Some diseases affect fewer than 100 people nationwide." (Source: http://answers.usa.gov/system/selfservice.controller?CONFIGURATION=1000&PARTITION_ID=1&CMD=VIEW_ARTICLE&ARTICLE_ID=11331&USERTYPE=1&LANGUAGE=en&COUNTRY=US)
According to an October 14, 2011 LiveScience.com report, "Antarctic Ozone Hole 5th Largest on Record":
"The ozone hole above the Antarctic has reached its maximum extent for the year, revealing a gouge in the protective atmospheric layer that rivals the size of North America,
Spanning about 9.7 million square miles (25 million square kilometers), the ozone hole over the South Pole reached its maximum annual size on Sept. 14, 2011, coming in as the fifth largest on record.
The largest Antarctic ozone hole ever recorded occurred in 2006, at a size of 10.6 million square miles (27.5 million square km), a size documented by NASA's Earth-observing Aura satellite.
On the Earth's surface, ozone is a pollutant, but in the stratosphere it forms a protective layer that reflects ultraviolet radiation back out into space, protecting us from the damaging UV rays.
The international banning of ozone-destroying oxidizing chemicals like CFC's (chlorofluorocarbons) has helped to reduce the loss of protective ozone. Even so, these ozone-destroying compounds are still in the stratosphere where they slowly break down over time. As such, years with large ozone holes are now more associated with very cold winters over Antarctica and high polar winds that prevent the mixing of ozone-rich air outside of the polar circulation with the ozone-depleted air inside, the scientists say.
This year, for the first time scientists also found a depletion of ozone above the Arctic that resembled its South Pole counterpart. "For the first time, sufficient loss occurred to reasonably be described as an Arctic ozone hole,"
February 24, 2012 - What does it say about physicians who lie on their training applications?
Graphic source: BCJung, based on results retrieved 2/22/12: http://jobsearch.about.com/gi/pages/poll.htm?linkback=%3C%21--&poll_id=0143484537&poll=1
According to 3,775 responses tallied on 2/22/12, for an About.com online survey,"Would you lie on your resume?" ONLY 42% said they would not lie on their resume! This means that 58% are not telling the truth about who they are. Then again, I am wondering just how truthful these responses were.
This is extremely disturbing, and very foolish that people think they can get away with lying on a resume. Employers can pretty much find out as much as they want on any applicant with very little expense by googling you online, or search your presence on social networks. Other than being caught in a lie, what does it really say about those who lie?
On February 21st, Reuters released findings from research published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, March 2012:
"Honesty and attention to detail are qualities expected of physicians, yet two studies looking at applications to training programs in obstetrics show that up to 30 out of every 100 applicants took credit for research publications that could not be found.
Anywhere from one to 30 percent of applications to training programs in radiology, emergency medicine, orthopedics and others include references to published research that can't be located by reviewers.
The biggest error was that 62 applicants had listed a publication as "peer-reviewed" when it wasn't. Peer review involves submitting a study for scrutiny by other researchers before it gets published, and therefore implies a high degree of rigor.... study could not tell whether these were honest mistakes or intentional misrepresentations.
Applicants might be deliberately padding their resumes to try and get a spot, and it's concerning. The whole thing about being a physician is that you are expected to be honest,"....
Amies Oelschlager and her colleagues suggested that medical schools should include training in authorship and peer review."
If these doctors feel they have to lie on their applications, what does that say about their moral values? If they lie on their applications that is important to their career, what else would they lie about? What it really comes down to is this: If you need medical advice, wouldn't you want to see a doctor who would be honest with you? I would.
February 23, 2012 - Increased Risk for Hypertension in Men Who Lack Deep Sleep
"Sleep plays a vital role in maintaining physical and psychological health, and disordered sleep may increase the risk for cardiovascular disease. Metabolism and neuroendocrine systems may be affected by sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), sleep duration, and sleep architecture.
...decreased percentage of time in slow-wave sleep was related to increased odds of obesity.
In men 65 years and older, increased percentage of time spent in slow-wave sleep appears to be associated with a lower risk for incident hypertension,
...obstructive sleep apnea, sleep deprivation, and/or short sleep duration, is strongly associated with hypertension.
...slow-wave sleep is the third and final stage of non-REM sleep and is considered to be the most restorative of the rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM stages of sleep. Slow-wave sleep has also been linked to many health benefits, including enhanced cognitive skills, positive changes in glucose metabolism, and decreased heart rate and blood pressure."
Source citation: http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/early/2011/08/28/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.174409.abstract?sid=9d93bff0-394d-4a48-9003-bf4a66d837c8; as reported by Medscapehttp://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/748847
February 22, 2012 - Inadequate Sleep Causes Premature Aging
"What number is just right [for sleep]? The answer is really a range: somewhere between 6-8 hours. Any more or less than that may do more than just make you sleepy and it may cause your brain to age prematurely.
... both men and women who averaged seven hours of sleep performed better on reasoning tests than both people who slept fewer than six hours, as well as people who slept more than eight hours.
...consistent sleep routines that include sleeping for around seven hours a night every night can help reduce the regular cognitive decline that happens to all of us as we get older
...people who got too little or too much sleep showed a loss in brain function that was like aging 4 to 7 years!
People tend to sleep less when they age, so maintaining between 6-8 hours of sleep a night may be a great natural way to prevent some of that natural memory loss that occurs with aging.
"AeroShot delivers an airborne shot of caffeine powder through a small dispenser. The company’s materials claim that the product is safe and does not enter the lungs, but rather is dissolved in the mouth and swallowed. There is no evidence on the company’s website to substantiate these broad, health-related claims. On the contrary, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), while caffeine has been shown to enhance physical performance in adults, these effects are extremely variable, dose dependent, and most importantly, have not been thoroughly studied in children and adolescents. Moreover, because of the potentially harmful developmental and addictive effects of caffeine, the AAP discourages the non-medical use of caffeine by children and adolescents. The impact of inhaled caffeine on the lungs of children and teens has never been examined."
"United States Senator Charles E. Schumer announced Sunday that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to conduct a full review of the safety and legality of the new caffeine inhaler, AeroShot, which hit stores in New York and Boston this past month. The product, a lipstick sized disposable inhaler, allows the user to inhale a powder that sends 100mgs of caffeine into the body. The product was introduced into New York and Boston markets in January without an age restriction on its purchase, without ever having been reviewed by the FDA, and without having its safety claims independently verified by regulators."
Astronomy books may have be rewritten with a new discovery made by Andrew McCann, a Ph.D. candidate at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and published in October 7, 2011, Science.
"...astronomers detected intense radiation pumping out of the Crab Nebula,
...inexplicably powerful gamma-rays came from the very heart of the Crab Nebula, where an extreme object called a pulsar resides.
High-energy rays coming from the nebula are well-known, but coming from the pulsar is something nobody expected."
The photogenic Crab Nebula is really the wreckage of a long-dead star that emitted an explosion of light that reached Earth in the year 1054, and was seen and recorded by Chinese and Native American skygazers. The dying star was located 6,500 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Taurus when it erupted in a brilliant supernova explosion.
At the heart of the nebula's colorful layers of gas is a so-called pulsar, which is the remains of the original star's core that collapsed in on itself into a super-dense, spinning neutron star. The Crab pulsar spins 30 times a second and is so dense that it has a greater mass than the sun.
The gamma-ray beams that were detected from the Crab pulsar exceeded 100 billion electron-volts, stronger than anyone or any theories projected — a million times more energetic than medical X-rays and 100 billion times stronger than visible light,
These new details of the Crab pulsar could change scientists' understanding of gamma-ray emissions and how they are generated."
On November 8th, the Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology reported:
"Insomnia is an all-too-common sleep disorder, affecting as many as a third or more of American adults.
There are two basic types of insomnia. Acute insomnia consists of short-term episodes of sleeplessness. Chronic insomnia, on the other hand, can last for months or years. Most people with chronic insomnia spend several nights a week struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep.
"...people who suffer from insomnia are at higher risk for heart attacks.
People who had difficulty falling asleep had a 45% greater risk of heart attack compared to those who regularly fell asleep without trouble.
People who had trouble staying asleep throughout the night had a 30% greater risk of heart attack than people who were able to sleep through the night.
People who woke feeling tired and unrested had a 27% higher risk of heart attack than people who woke feeling refreshed.
...disordered sleep, such as insomnia, increases the risk of cardiovascular problems for both men and women.
Track your sleep. Being mindful of your sleep patterns is the best way to catch and treat any sleep problems early, before they become more entrenched.
Keeping a journal or a log can help, keeping regular track of bedtimes and wake times, as well as how you feel in the morning when you wake up, can give you a clear picture of how you are really sleeping.
Exercise. Physical activity is good for your heart, your overall health, and your sleep. There is also evidence that it helps alleviate insomnia.
Manage your stress.... Mind-body activities such as meditation, yoga, and even massage can help.
Take that sleep journal with you to your next checkup and have a real conversation with your physician about your sleep before it becomes a problem.
February 15, 2012 - Coronary Artery Disease and Lack of Sleep
A report at this year's European Society of Cardiology's EuroPRevent meeting indicates how lack of sleep increase the risk for heart disease:
"Short sleep duration of poor quality was associated with a significant 65% elevated risk of cardiovascular disease and significant 85% excess risk of coronary heart disease
Anything less than seven hours of sleep per night appeared to raise total cardiovascular disease risk, but the greatest risk was when short duration combined with poor sleep quality,
Sleeping for eight or more hours tended to be protective against both overall cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease."
Citation source:
Hoevenaar-Blom MP, et al "Short and long sleep duration in relation to 10-year cardiovascular disease incidence: The MORGEN Study" EuroPRevent 2011; Abstract 351; as reported inhttp://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/EuroPRevent/26012?utm
According to WebMD, "There are several causes of sleep problems for people with type 2 diabetes, including obstructive sleep apnea, pain or discomfort, restless legs syndrome, the need to go to the bathroom, and other problems associated with type 2 diabetes.
Obesity, or too much body fat, is often associated with snoring, sleep apnea, and sleep disturbance. Obesity increases the risk of sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, arthritis, and stroke." Citation source: http://diabetes.webmd.com/type-2-diabetes-sleep
According to a 1/1/2012 American Academy of Sleep Medicine, news release:
"Poor sleep may be undermining the efforts of children with type 1 diabetes when it comes to controlling their blood sugar,
...about one-third of the children with type 1 diabetes had sleep apnea, irrespective of their weight. What's more, those who had sleep apnea also had much higher blood sugar levels. Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes frequent pauses in breathing during sleep, which leads to daytime sleepiness and fatigue.
...sleep apnea is a condition that has previously been associated with type 2 diabetes (which typically affects adults).
"sleep problems were associated with lower grades, poorer performance on state standardized tests, poor quality of life and abnormalities in daytime behavior. On the upside, sleep is a potentially modifiable health behavior, so these kids could be helped by a qualified professional to get a better night's sleep."
This graphic depicts the advantage women have over men when it comes to HDL level. According to the NCHS Data Brief
Number 92, April 2012, Total and High-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2009–2010:
I highly recommend these briefs for all public health professionals because they provide a comprehensive, yet concise overview of why social determinants need to be addressed in developing policies and interventions that are meant to improve the health of all the populations we serve through the programs and projects we work on. You can find links to these briefs on my 
