More links

1. Pneumococcal vaccine: Babies routinely get this vaccine, but older children, adults, and seniors need to keep it in mind too. This vaccine can protect those with underlying health conditions from getting pneumonia, a dangerous complication of influenza.
   

   "But because flu season lasts until May and more outbreaks are likely, some of those officials, including the top ranks at the CDC, have begun talking about the pneumonia vaccine, which they say could save thousands of lives a year and prevent debilitating effects of severe illness in many more."

2. Oh, that unhealthy Santa: Santa, the large jelly-bellied man who "visits" kids at Christmastime, sits around, gets pulled by reindeer, and eats cookies at every house he visits. What an unhealthy image for kids! This article suggests that Santa needs a carrot, not a cookie. And that's not even starting to talk about all the sick, snotty kids who sit on Santa's lap all day, every day this time of year. (Ew.)
   
   
3. Your tap water is legal, but is it healthy? This article discusses the outdated Safe Drinking Water Act, a 35-year-old law that covers a fraction of the thousands of potential chemicals and contaminants. And the effects of these contaminants may not be noticed until years after the exposure, making it difficult to pinpoint the source. The Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) is looking into changing the standards:
   

   ".. Even the E.P.A., which has ultimate responsibility for the Safe Drinking Water Act, has concluded that millions of Americans have been exposed to drinking water that fails to meet a federal health benchmark.."

4. This very interesting blog post examines the latest health care reform proposal in the Senate for public health provisions. Examples include: focus on evidence-based medicine (we'll see how that goes over with the public - see the outcry about mammogram recommendations), emphasis on healthy communities and healthy lifestyles, authorizing the Epidemiology Laboratory Capacity program to increase surveillance capacity (yay!), addressing public health workforce shortages, and an emphasis on prevention.
   
   
5. Trust for America's Health has released a new report "which finds that the H1N1 flu outbreak has exposed serious underlying gaps in the nation's ability to respond to public health emergencies and that the economic crisis is straining an already fragile public health system." Surprise! The report scores states on their preparedness levels.
   
   
6. And finally, CSTE has released its 2009 Epidemiology Capacity Assessment report, which assesses states' capacity to perform essential public health services related to epidemiology and surveillance. Check it out!
   
   

Sugary cokes = Fat

A new video out from the NYC's health department shows, in pretty gross terms, how drinking sugary cokes makes you fat. (In the South, "coke" is a ubiquitous term for "soda.") This article details some of the implications of drinking sugary beverages and some of the action being taken around the country. Watch for yourself:

Some links for you

1. Massachusetts public health officials explain the dissemination of their H1N1 vaccine allotment. Patience, all you patients out there!
2. The WHO has discovered new data that show that 1.2 million people over the age of 5 die of foodborne illness each year in Southeast Asia and Africa. That number is significantly higher than previously estimated, providing new reason to address this issue in the developing world.
3. In case you're one who needs everything, check out these iPhone apps about H1N1.
4. There is a new tool to show where AIDS treatment and care in San Francisco is lacking. Click here for the map itself.
5. Obesity is an alarming public health issue, and this latest article has alarming numbers. If trends stay as they are now, 43% of adults will be obese in 2018. Wow.
6. This article highlights that many public health professionals around the country are being reassigned from their normal job duties to work on H1N1 assignments. This is disrupting usual public health activities that address ongoing problems that are not going away simply because this pesky flu virus has shown up. It's a problem, but it doesn't appear it will be solved.
7. Representative David Camp says in this article about the breast cancer screening recommendations: "I mean, let the rationing begin. This is what happens when bureaucrats make your health care decisions." Right, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is bureaucrats. They're not experienced physicians and trained professionals. Sure.
8. Lots of money is being poured into fighting healthcare-associated infections. This article details the stimulus funding being given to the issue.
   

Links

I know, you're saying "More links? Write a real article!" Well, there are just so many interesting links, I can't help myself.

• The Wall Street Journal reports that H1N1 (we are not calling it swine flu anymore, people!) may affect businesses and the workplace with people out sick. CSTE is heavily involved in putting together a Continuity of Operations plan so that we can carry on our work tasks while at home if needed. Talk to your employer about it!
  
• The 2009 Flu Vaccination Challenge - the beginning of flu season means the beginning of the flu challenge, a campaign to raise vaccination rates among health care workers. The podcast linked to on this page features Dr. William Schaffner, a great speaker!
• There is a new vaccine being developed for norovirus, very interesting. This vaccine stems from the tobacco plant; plant-based vaccines can be developed more quickly and therefore get to the public more quickly.
• A new study in Science (as reported here in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) indicates that students and parents should get the H1N1 vaccine first, so that those most likely to get the virus are protected. The current guidance is for those who are most likely to be hit hard by the virus to be vaccinated first. An interesting debate.
• This article reports on a new finding that individuals enrolled in the food stamp program are more likely to gain weight. One of the recommendations of the study is that there be economic incentives for food stamp recipients to buy healthier foods.

Obesity & Upstream Issues

Essentially, obesity boils down to one issue: People take in more calories than they expend. But of course we know there are many other issues that contribute to this: cost of food, access to healthy foods and environments, media and advertising, school lunch programs, agricultural subsidies, and more.

According to CDC, obesity costs the U.S. $47.5 million, and that's a 1998 figure! This USA Today article puts that figure much higher, around $147 billion. And check out this website to see a chronological view of how obesity has spread throughout the U.S. from 1985 to 2008 - it's disgusting how widespread it is!

The new movie Food, Inc. hits on some upstream issues associated with obesity, some of which are mentioned above in this posting. Cost of and access to healthy foods and environments are a huge issue; healthy foods cost more than unhealthy foods.

Agricultural subsidies are a huge part of this. The U.S. government pays farmers to grow tons upon tons of corn and soybean crops which lead to tons upon tons of high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated soybean oil, and feed for beef and pork. I did some fascinating research on this subject in grad school and found that many, many issues are intertwined to make this issue very complex.

Some links to get you started:
A report from UC-Davis
A NY Times article
A British Medical Journal article
"The Fat of the Land"
Food and Water Watch - a watch-dog type group
A Michael Pollan article

Happy reading! Now you'll see why I try to eat organic or grass-fed beef and chicken now. And why the Farm Bill should be called the Food Bill.

It's all connected. A very interesting topic.

Are you too salty?

After attending the CSTE annual conference and hearing a plenary on reducing sodium levels in our foods, it got me thinking... how much sodium is actually in my diet? I think I eat relatively normal foods with the occasional processed foods. I always choose the low-sodium or sodium-free soups from the grocery store but is that enough of an effort?

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal in April, nearly 70% of the US population is hypertensive and should follow a stricter guideline of 1,500 mgs a day. You can cut your risk of hypertension by lowering your salt intake early on in life. So, why is it so difficult for Americans to regulate their sodium levels? Because Americans eat enormous amounts of processed foods and restaurant meals. We don't cook at home anymore as a nation (and in fact, neither do I) and this is resulting in higher blood pressures and expanding waist lines.

What suprised me about the article is that even raw chicken is enhanced with salt water to make it plumper and heavier ($$ cha ching!) AND that bakery goods and breakfast bars have higher sodium levels than you would expect.

"Even low-sodium labels have different meanings: "Sodium free" means less than 5 mg per serving; "very low" has less than 35 mg; "low" is less than 140. "Reduced sodium" just means that it's down 25% from what an earlier formulation was -- but could still be high in sodium, just like "No added salt" doesn't mean salt free."

What to do? You can ask restaurants to use less salt when you order, experiment with natural herbs and spices, use half the salt the recipe calls for and just get used to consuming less salt. Actually, those are all REALLY EASY things to do.

"It may take a while to get accustomed to less salt, but once your tastes adjust, you may not want to go back. Commissioner Frieden likens reducing salt to switching from whole milk to skim milk. "If you go back, whole milk tastes like heavy cream," he says."

I'm in favor for people taking ownership of their diet. Not enough people are 'active eaters' and really consider what they are eating before they buy or eat it. People with diabetes have had to monitor their diets for years. But I argue (and the article does too) that we ALL need to monitor our intake of sodium, sugar and other minerals and vitamins. If our nation is going to collectively reduce our belt size, we need to be mindful of what we put in our mouths. Perhaps reducing salt is the first step to putting the consumer back in control of their diets.