Home / All Post

Monday, 21 May 2012

Princess Health and School nurses in Fayette cut as public-health dollars shrink.Princessiccia

Add Comment
Takirah Sleet, 7, and school nurse Michelle Marra assess her
lunch to manage Takirah's diabetes. (H-L photo by Pablo Alcala)
As public health and education dollars shrink, school nurses are caught in the middle. The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department is among those scaling back its school-nurse program due to cuts, even as "more students with greater medical needs are appearing in classrooms," reports Mary Meehan for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The cuts and the need present a difficult scenario: "In order to be educated, a student has to be healthy. How do you make that happen?" asked Mary Burch, president of the Kentucky School Nurse Association.

Schools nurses are not mandated in Kentucky, and the way school districts address the issue varies widely. Some districts use a nurse consultant to train school staff. The National Association of School Nurses recommends one school nurse for every 750 students. With 40,000 students, Fayette County falls short of meeting that level of care. The Fayette County school board helps to increase funding to keep nurses in place. About $600,000 would need to be reallocated. (Read more)

Princess Health and HPV-linked cancers on rise, more prevalent in Kentucky.Princessiccia

Add Comment
The human papillomavirus, which is generally blamed for causing cervical cancer, is being linked to the formation of several other kinds of cancer, and Kentuckians are getting these diseases in unusually high numbers, reports Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal.

HPV is being linked to cancers of the vagina, vulva, penis, anus and lung, as well as the head and neck. "It's turning out to be a pretty bad actor ... an extensive health problem," said Dr. Daniel Metzinger, a gynecological oncologist with University of Louisville Physicians.

Kentucky's rates for HPV-related cancer are among the highest in the country. Part of the reason may be that smoking is a risk factor and Kentucky has the nation's highest smoking rate, Ungar reports. "I'm seeing more of it for sure," said Metzinger. "It used to be a disease we'd see in older people. Now, we see it in younger and younger people."

One way to protect against the virus is to be immunized with the HPV vaccine. A federal committee recommends vaccinating 11- and 12-year-old girls through to women up to age 26. Boys and men should also be immunized from age 11 to age 21. The immunization must occur before the patient is sexually active, since HPV is sexually transmitted.

In 2010, just 49 percent of adolescent girls nationwide received at least the first of the vaccine's three doses, and only a third had gotten all three, which are required for full effectiveness. In Kentucky that year, only 25 percent of adolescent females had gotten the first dose, and fewer than 11 percent have received all three doses, according to Cervical Cancer-Free Kentucky.

National Cancer Institute numbers show more than half of sexually active people are infected with HPV at some point. Usually, it goes away on its own within a few years. "But it can also set the stage for cancer," Ungar reports. "Across the nation, about 26,000 new cancers attributed to HPV occur each year, with 18,000 in women and 8,000 in men." (Read more)


Princess Health and Health-care costs are a serious problem, nine of 10 adults say.Princessiccia

Add Comment
Nearly nine of 10 American adults say the cost of health care is a serious problem (chart) and about two-thirds of the general public believe that cost has gone up in the last five years.

These are the results of a poll released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Harvard School of Public Health and National Public Radio.

The poll asked additional questions of Americans who said they have had a serious illness, medical condition, injury or disability in the past year. More than 40 percent said the cost of their medical care caused a "very serious" (20 percent) or "somewhat serious" (23 percent) problem for their or their family's finances.

"The rising cost of medical care affects everyone, but people who have been unwell know firsthand that an illness or injury can mean financial hardship or ruin," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the RWJF. "These findings confirm how thinly individuals and families have been stretched. Having access to high-quality, affordable, comprehensive health coverage is crucial, but we know that even with insurance, rising health care costs leave many Americans with the burden of higher out-of-pocket spending." (Read more)

Princess Health and HBO's 'Weight of the Nation' examines the obesity epidemic.Princessiccia

Add Comment

A compelling four-part documentary delving into the obesity epidemic sweeping the country is being aired on HBO and can be watched free by clicking here. A reporter wanting to write a series of stories on the issue would find "weight of the Nation" a good reference.

The program is divided into four parts. The first segment, "Consequences," looks at the scope of the epidemic and the ramifications of being overweight or obese. "Choices" looks at the science behind how to lose weight, how to maintain weight loss and prevent weight gain. The third part, "Children in Crisis," looks at how the problem is affecting American children, exploring the decline of physical activity, school lunch, the demise of school recess and how marketing of unhealthy food targets children. The final segment, "Challenges," looks at the major forces driving obesity, including agriculture, economics, evolutionary biology, food marketing, racial and socioeconomic disparities, physical inactivity, American food culture, and the influence of the food and beverage industries.

The documentary is on a detailed website that answers questions that range from "What is obesity?" to "How do I know if I'm overweight or obese?"

The project is a presentation of HBO and the Institute of Medicine in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, with support from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and health insurer Kaiser Permanente.

Friday, 18 May 2012

Princess Health and Healthy food is less expensive than junk food, study finds.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Healthy food is less expensive than junk food, study finds.Princessiccia

Add Comment
Though it's widely believed that healthy food is more expensive than junk food, a new government analysis shows that does not have to be the case.

"In fact, carrots, onions, pinto beans, lettuce, mashed potatoes, bananas and orange juice are all less expensive per portion than soft drinks, ice cream, chocolate candy, French fries, sweet rolls and deep-fat fried chicken patties," reports Nanci Hellmich for USA Today.

"We have all heard that eating a healthy diet is expensive, and people have used that as an excuse for not eating a healthy diet . . . but healthy foods do not necessarily cost more than less healthy foods," said Andrea Carlson, an economist and co-author of the report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. "The price of potato chips is nearly twice as expensive as the price of carrots by portion size."

Carlson and colleague Elizabeth Fraz�o analyzed national pricing data on more than 4,000 foods and ranked them according to price based on calories, weight and portion size. The foods were placed in five food groups: grains, dairy, protein, fruit and vegetables. Another category was added for unhealthy items, which did not fall into any of the other calories or were high in sugar, sodium and/or saturated fat such as cookies, desserts, granola bars and many cereals. They found:

� Given portion size, the ranking from least expensive to most expensive is: grains, dairy, vegetables, fruit, protein and less healthy foods. Protein and less healthy foods cost nearly the same.

� Meat, chicken and fish are the most expensive sources of protein but there are low-cost options like eggs and beans.

� Fruit and vegetables are lower in cost overall than unhealthy foods.

� Grains, such as bread, oatmeal, pasta and rice, are the cheapest foods no matter how the portion is measured. (Read more)
Princess Health and For first time, annual health costs for families exceed $20,000.Princessiccia

Princess Health and For first time, annual health costs for families exceed $20,000.Princessiccia

Add Comment
For the first time, the average annual costs of workplace-provided health insurance and other costs for a family of four has exceeded $20,000, a new study has found. Costs are $20,728 this year, an increase of $1,335 over 2011.

An average family will pay $5,114 in premiums for a preferred provider organization plan, plus $3,470 in out-of-pocket costs like co-pays and prescriptions,  Jeffrey Young reports on The Huffington Post. The rest of the costs are paid by employers, according to the report released by Milliman, a firm that consults with companies on employee benefits.

"The rate of increase is not as high as in the past but total dollar increase was still a record," the report states. "The dollar amount of the increase overshadows any relief consumers might derive from the slowing percentage increase."

The report also found health-care costs vary among 14 metropolitan areas Milliman analyzed. Miami and New York City are most expensive where costs are 20 percent higher than the national average. Louisville and Lexington were not among the areas studied. (Read more)

Princess Health and National effort to combat Alzheimer's disease begins; as research continues, there are preventive steps you can take.Princessiccia

Add Comment
Country singer Glen Campbell, who has Alzheimer's disease,
stands with wife Kim during a national conference Tuesday.
Associated Press photo by Charles Dharapak.
With numbers expected to jump to 16 million Americans by 2050, research is being conducted in earnest to find a way to ward off Alzheimer's disease.

One plan of attack is testing therapies before people show symptoms of memory loss, since the disease starts attacking the brain at least 10 years before memory problems appear. An international study will see if an experimental drug can halt the disease in "people who appear healthy but are genetically destined to get a type of Alzheimer's that runs in the family," reports Lauran Neergaard for The Associated Press. In another study, researchers will see if a nasal spray that shoots insulin to the brain can help patients with early memory problems.

Part of the challenge in combatting the disease is researchers are still not sure what causes it. "The chief suspects are a sticky gunk called bata-amyloid, which makes up the disease's hallmark brain plaques, and tangles of a protein named tau that clogs up dying brain cells. One theory: "Amyloid may kick off the disease while tau speeds up the brain destruction," Neergaard reports.

Given the expected increase in the number of people with Alzheimer's, the Obama administration has adopted a national strategy to fight the disease, part of which is a website that is a "one-stop shop for families" to offer information about dementia and links to community resources. Today, there are 5.4 Americans with Alzheimer's or related dementias.

There are steps people can take to protect their brains from the disease, including intellectual and social stimulation to help build "cognitive reserve." Doing crossword puzzles, for example, can help. So can physical activity. "Any time your heart is healthier, your brain is healthier," said Dr. Elizabeth head of the University of Kentucky. Diet is another consideration, since foods that are heart healthy are brain healthy, including omega-3 fatty acids found in fish. (Read more)
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)