Keep Your New Year’s Resolution To Lose Weight
With the sumptuous food and treats available during the holiday season, it’s easy for us overdo it – even while we are adopting a New Year’s resolution to lose weight and be active.
“Making a resolution to lose weight today is an important first step to a long and healthy life,” said Department of Health Services Secretary Karen Timberlake. “You can get a strong start by knowing where you are at today; then set realistic goals to eat healthy and include physical activity into your life.”
Being overweight or obese increases the risk of many diseases and health conditions, including Type II diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, sleep apnea, some cancers, and joint problems. In Wisconsin, 2 of 3 adults are either overweight or obese.
Most people know their overall health depends on being physically active and maintaining a healthy weight. The problem is that most good intentions often get derailed even before they can be put into practice. Suggestions to get started include:
– Writing down what you eat and drink for a few days, including the time and how much you are eating
– Tracking your activity level for a week
– Knowing your numbers — specifically your body mass index (BMI)
“Whether your goal is to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, be physically active on a regular basis, or make healthy food choices, you should recognize that taking small steps can have a lasting impact. Small changes made over time will be more likely to become part of your daily routine,” Timberlake added.
The Department of Health Services website has information and links to online nutrition, activity tracking sheets and BMI calculators to help you determine your numbers – click here.
Wisconsin Department of Health Services
http://dhs.wisconsin.gov
Hawai’i DOH Launches Enhanced Online Licensing For Clinical Laboratory Professionals
Renewing Hawai’i state clinical laboratory personnel licenses just got easier. The Hawai’i State Department of Health (DOH) State Laboratories Division (SLD) now allows clinical laboratory professionals to update their profiles and pay license renewal fees online. The website is a collaboration between SLD and Apusys LLC, which developed the database and web interface, and the Hawai’i Information Consortium, which managed the payment transactions. This electronic system is part of the Lingle-Aiona Administration’s ongoing initiative to expand online government services.
The DOH SLD currently reviews and approves over 1,200 renewals every two years, and processes almost 100 new applications annually. The SLD encourages clinical laboratory directors, cytotechnologists, medical technologists, medical laboratory technicians, and specialists to renew online for real-time payment, receipt, and delivery of the license renewal card.
The online service makes renewing licenses more convenient for clinical laboratory professionals, especially those on the neighbor islands. Renewing online is also environmentally friendly because all communications for processing renewals can be handled through the web site and e-mail, eliminating the need for paper. In addition, the State saves money and time that would normally be spent on postage and processing checks. There are no additional surcharges or fees for renewing online.
“We’ve had a tremendous response to our online renewal service,” said SLD Chief Dr. Chris Whelen. “Since the launch on Monday, December 15, 2008, 91percent of the individuals that visited the payment page paid online.”
It only takes a few minutes for licensed clinical laboratory professionals to review their current profile and pay the license fee online. New applicants can and do build their profiles online, but SLD still requires submission from third parties of educational transcripts and proof of national certification.
“I really like the system enhancements because I don’t have to worry about misplaced checks and can easily verify licensing status,” said Kent Kitagawa, MT (ASCP), quality management technologist for SLD. “The system we rolled out two years ago was pretty good, but the new version has greatly enhanced capabilities that will make transactions and monitoring much more efficient.”
To build a profile and/or renew a license online click here.
DOH State Laboratories Division
Writing Chemotherapy Orders On The Day Of Administration And Improved Communication Could Reduce Medication Errors
Seven percent of adults and 19 percent of children taking chemotherapy drugs in outpatient clinics or at home were given the wrong dose or experienced other mistakes involving their medications, according to a new study led by Kathleen E. Walsh, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and published in the January 1, 2009 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
“As cancer care continues to shift from the hospital to the outpatient setting, the complexity of care is increasing, as is the potential for medication errors, particularly in the outpatient and home settings,” said Dr. Walsh, who is also a Robert Wood Johnson Physician Faculty Scholar.
An analysis of data on nearly 1,300 patient visits at three adult oncology outpatient clinics and 117 visits at one pediatric facility between September 1, 2005 and May 31, 2006 showed that errors in medication were more common than previously reported by oncology patients.
Of the 90 medication errors involving adults, 55 had the potential to harm the patient and 11 did cause harm. The errors included administration of incorrect medication doses due to confusion.
over conflicting orders – one written at the time of diagnosis and the other on the day of administration. Patients were also harmed by over-hydration prior to administration of medication, resulting in pulmonary edema and recurrent complaints of abdominal pain and constipation. More than 50 percent of errors involving adults were in clinic administration, 28 percent in ordering of medications, and 7 percent in use of the drugs in patients’ homes.
About 40 percent of the 22 medication errors in children had the potential to cause harm and four children were harmed. More than 70 percent of the errors in children occurred at home. Examples of pediatric errors included parents giving the wrong dose or the wrong number of doses per day of medicines because of a caregiver’s confusion about instructions.
“Requiring that medication orders be written on the day of administration, following review of lab results, may be a simple strategy for preventing errors among adults, while most of the errors involving children may have been avoided by better communication and support for parents of children who use chemotherapy medications at home,” said Dr. Walsh.
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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The study, “Medication Errors among Adults and Children with Cancer in the Outpatient Setting,” was supported in part by the US Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality through its Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics program.
About University of Massachusetts Medical School
The University of Massachusetts Medical School, one of the fastest growing academic health centers in the country, has built a reputation as a world-class research institution, consistently producing noteworthy advances in clinical and basic research. The Medical School attracts more than $193 million in research funding annually, 80 percent of which comes from federal funding sources. UMMS is the academic partner of UMass Memorial Health Care, the largest health care provider in Central Massachusetts. For more information visit http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/www.umassmed.edu.
About Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is the lead Federal agency charged with improving the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. As one of 12 agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, AHRQ supports health services research that will improve the quality of health care and promote evidence-based decision-making.
About Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Physician Faculty Scholars program seeks to attract, develop and retain high-quality individuals with an emphasis on diversity and leadership development. The program will make up to 15 three-year awards of up to $300,000 each to help outstanding junior faculty in medical schools to develop their careers in academic medicine and to improve the nation’s health care. This program is part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Human Capital Portfolio, which seeks to attract, develop and retain a high-quality health and health care workforce, with an emphasis on diversity and leadership development.
Source
Jim Fessenden
University of Massachusetts Medical School
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/www.umassmed.edu
Study Links Molecule To Muscle Maturation, Muscle Cancer
Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered that a molecule implicated in leukemia and lung cancer is also important in muscle repair and in a muscle cancer that strikes mainly children.
The study shows that immature muscle cells require the molecule, called miR-29, to become mature, and that the molecule is nearly missing in cells from rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer caused by the proliferation of immature muscle cells.
Cells from human rhabdomyosarcoma tumors showed levels of the molecule that were 10 percent or less of those in normal muscle cells. Artificially raising the level of the molecule in the cancer cells cut their growth by half and caused them to begin maturing, slowing down tumor growth.
MiR-29 is a type of microRNA, a family of molecules that helps regulate the proteins cells produce. Researchers say this study is unusual because it also sheds light on the how a microRNA itself is regulated.
“This study shows that there is a connection between this microRNA, muscle development and rhabdomyosarcoma,” says principal investigator Denis C. Guttridge, associate professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics and a researcher with Ohio State’s human cancer genetics program.
“The findings should give us a better understanding of muscle repair and development, and of rhabdomyosarcoma, and could lead to new treatments for this and other muscle diseases,” he says.
The study is published in a recent issue of the journal Cancer Cell.
Guttridge and his colleagues discovered that the gene for miR-29 is silenced by the action of a protein, called NF-?B (pronounced, NF kappa B). Their study shows that this protein is present at high levels in rhabdomyosarcoma cells, and that this keeps miR-29 shut off, preventing muscle progenitor cells from maturing.
When they raised the level of the microRNA molecule in the cells, or lowered the level of the NF-?B protein, the cells’ growth rate dropped two fold, and they began taking on the appearance of mature muscle cells. The modified cells also formed significantly smaller tumors when transplanted into an animal model than did typical rhabdomyosarcoma cells.
“High levels of the protein silence miR-29, which blocks differentiation, causing muscle cells to remain immature. If we can restore the levels of miR-29 in patients,” Guttridge says, “it might provide a new therapy for this childhood cancer and perhaps other muscle diseases.”
Funding from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases supported this research.
Other Ohio State researchers involved in this study were Huating Wang, Ramiro Garzon, Hao Sun, Katherine J. Ladner, Ravi Singh, Jason Dahlman, Brett M. Hall, Stephen J. Qualman, Dawn S. Chandler and Carlo M. Croce.
Ohio State University Medical Center
http://medicalcenter.osu.edu
Using Gold Particles To Release Multiple Drugs In A Controlled Fashion – Nanoparticles Could Treat Cancer And Other Diseases
Using tiny gold particles and infrared light, MIT researchers have developed a drug-delivery system that allows multiple drugs to be released in a controlled fashion.
Such a system could one day be used to provide more control when battling diseases commonly treated with more than one drug, according to the researchers.
“With a lot of diseases, especially cancer and AIDS, you get a synergistic effect with more than one drug,” said Kimberly Hamad-Schifferli, assistant professor of biological and mechanical engineering and senior author of a paper on the work that recently appeared in the journal ACS Nano.
Delivery devices already exist that can release two drugs, but the timing of the release must be built into the device — it cannot be controlled from outside the body. The new system is controlled externally and theoretically could deliver up to three or four drugs.
The new technique takes advantage of the fact that when gold nanoparticles are exposed to infrared light, they melt and release drug payloads attached to their surfaces.
Nanoparticles of different shapes respond to different infrared wavelengths, so “just by controlling the infrared wavelength, we can choose the release time” for each drug, said Andy Wijaya, graduate student in chemical engineering and lead author of the paper.
The team built two different shapes of nanoparticles, which they call “nanobones” and “nanocapsules.” Nanobones melt at light wavelengths of 1,100 nanometers, and nanocapsules at 800 nanometers.
In the ACS Nano study, the researchers tested the particles with a payload of DNA. Each nanoparticle can carry hundreds of strands of DNA, and could also be engineered to transport other types of drugs.
In theory, up to four different-shaped particles could be developed, each releasing its payload at different wavelengths.
Other authors of the paper are Stefan Schaffer and Ivan Pallares, who were National Science Foundation REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) summer students through the MIT Department of Biological Engineering in 2008.
http://web.mit.edu
Alzheimer’s Society Comment On Research Suggesting That Sleep Disorder May Be An Early Sign Of Dementia Or Parkinson’s Disease
People who act out their dreams through kicking and crying out in their sleep may go on to develop dementia or Parkinson’s disease, according to a study published in the online issue of Neurology.
In the research 93 people with REM sleep behaviour disorder who had no signs of a neurodegenerative disease were followed for an average of five years. 26 participants developed a neurodegenerative disease – fourteen developed Parkinson’s disease, seven Lewy body dementia and four Alzheimer’s disease.
Lewy body dementia is very rare, affecting just 4% of all dementia cases in the UK. It shares symptoms with both Parkinsons and Alzheimer’s.
People with Lewy body dementia often have vivid nightmares, restless sleep and hallucinations. This study suggests that people with the disease may experience sleep disorders years before these other symptoms develop.
One million people will develop dementia in the next 10 years. This important finding could boost our understanding of how Lewy body dementia develops and help us detect it early. With further research we may be able to stop this devastating disease in its tracks. With the right investment, dementia can be defeated.
Reference
R.B. Postuma, MD, J.F. Gagnon, PhD, M. Vendette, BSc, M.L. Fantini, MD, J. Massicotte-Marquez, PhD, J. Montplaisir, MD. Quantifying the risk of neurodegenerative disease in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder. Online version of Neurology, 24 December 2008
Notes
– Alzheimer’s Society funds health and social research, selected by experts, people with dementia and carers.
– 1 in 3 people over 65 will die with dementia.
– 700,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia, more than half have Alzheimer’s disease. In less than 20 years nearly a million people will be living with dementia. This will soar to 1.7 million people by 2051.
– Alzheimer’s Society campaigns for and champions the rights of people living with dementia and the millions who care for them. Alzheimer’s Society works in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
— As a charity, Alzheimer’s Society needs to raise money to care for people today and to find a cure for tomorrow. You can donate now by calling 0845 306 0898 or visiting alzheimers.org.uk.
– Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Helpline number is 0845 300 0336 or visit alzheimers.org.uk
Source
Dr Susanne Sorensen
Head of Research
Alzheimer’s Society
Nebraska DHHS Offers Low-Cost Radon Test Kits – January Is Radon Action Month
To make it easier for Nebraskans to test their homes for radon, the Radon Program of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services is offering low-cost radon test kits.
Governor Dave Heineman has proclaimed January to be Radon Action Month. January is an opportune time for Nebraskans to test for radon in their homes, according to Dr. Joann Schaefer, the state’s Chief Medical Officer. During winter, homes are closed up and can trap the toxic gas, causing it to build to dangerous levels.
Although radon can seep through concrete, homes with cracks or openings in the foundation such as sump pits or crawl spaces may be at higher risk.
“High radon levels are very common in Nebraska,” Dr. Schaefer said. “Homeowners should consider testing their homes.”
Fifty-six percent of tests conducted of homes in the state have exceeded the health standard set by the EPA.
Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer for non-smokers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that approximately 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States are radon-related, second only to tobacco-related lung cancer deaths.
“The bottom line is, it’s easy to identify the level of radon in your home and to reduce your exposure to it,” Dr. Schaefer said. “To encourage testing, we are offering $5 test kits to Nebraskans.”
The EPA recommends that houses with radon levels that exceed the health standard be fixed to reduce risk of developing lung cancer. Most homes can be successfully treated using a standard radon mitigation system. A list of trained professionals is available at the Nebraska Radon Program website: http://www.dhhs.ne.gov/radon.
For more information, call the Nebraska Radon Hotline at 1-800-334-9491. To order a radon test kit, send a check or money order with name and shipping address to: Nebraska Radon Program, P.O. Box 95026, 301 Centennial Mall S., Lincoln, NE 68509.
Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services
http://www.hhs.state.ne.us
Texas DSHS To Resume Annual Wintertime Rabies Bait Drop Jan. 7
The Texas Department of State Health Services’ annual airdrop of vaccine baits, credited with turning the tide against the spread of rabies strains carried by coyotes and gray foxes, will begin next week. Some 2.9 million baits will be dropped over parts of 41 Texas counties.
“The purpose has been to create and maintain zones of vaccinated coyotes in South Texas and gray foxes in West-Central Texas to prevent the spread of rabies to other animals and humans and to eventually eliminate canine and gray fox rabies in Texas,” said DSHS veterinarian Ernest Oertli, director of the department’s Oral Rabies Vaccination Program.
“No human cases of rabies in either area have occurred since the airdrops began,” he said.
Flights of five specially equipped airplanes will be from four airports. Scheduled start dates and locations are:
– Jan. 7, Zapata County Airport near Zapata and Kimble County Airport in Junction
– Jan. 12, Pecos Municipal Airport and
– Jan. 19, Del Rio International Airport.
The number of animal cases of canine rabies in South Texas has declined from a high of 142 animal cases when the program began in 1995 to none through October 2008. Gray fox cases are down overall from an all-time high of 265 cases in 1994 to 11 reported through October 2008.
The specialized baits for coyotes are made of fish meal. The vanilla-flavored bait for gray foxes is made of dog-food and molasses. Encased in each bait are 2 milliliters of oral rabies vaccine. “The vaccine cannot cause rabies in people or animals,” Oertli said.
Because baits contain a biological agent and are less likely to be eaten by wildlife if people touch them, baits should not be handled. The brown baits, measuring 1¼ by 1¼ by ¾ inches, are marked with a DSHS toll-free number, 1-877-722-6725, people may call for information.
“Getting pets vaccinated against rabies by a veterinarian as required by law is still essential to preventing the spread of rabies,” Oertli said. He added that a domestic animal’s rabies vaccination can be safely given even if the animal recently ate an oral rabies vaccine bait.
Note
– The 11 counties in the 2009 South Texas vaccine distribution area are:
Cameron, Dimmit, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, La Salle, Maverick, Starr, Webb, Willacy, Zapata and Zavala.
– The 30 counties in the 2009 West-Central Texas vaccine distribution area are:
Concho, Crane, Culberson, Ector, Edwards, El Paso, Irion, Jeff Davis, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, Loving, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Midland, Pecos, Presidio, Real, Reeves, Regan, San Saba, Schleicher, Sutton, Terrell, Tom Green, Upton, Val Verde, Ward and Winkler.
Texas Dept. of State Health Services
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us
ADHS Stresses Importance Of Folic Acid For Young Women
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That old adage is quite true when it comes to reducing brain and spinal birth defects. Today, the Arizona Department of Health Services launched an awareness campaign to stress the importance of preventing those birth defects by taking a multivitamin. In Arizona, more than 50 babies are born with brain and spine birth defects each year. Future mothers can prevent up to 70% of these cases and greatly increase the likelihood of having a healthy newborn simply by consuming 400 mcg of folic acid daily.
“Taking a multivitamin should be part of everyone’s daily routine, like brushing their teeth, especially for women in their reproductive years,” said Jeanette Shea-Ramirez, Assistant Director for Public Health Prevention. “It is so simple to do, and the benefits can be life changing for a newborn.”
Brain and spine birth defects not only have a tremendous effect on families, they also impact the healthcare system. The annual medical costs to treat a child with these types of birth defects are about $294,000 per child.
“Women in high risk categories need to be extra vigilant and do everything possible to take the recommended amount of folic acid, in case they decide to be mothers some day,” said January Contreras, ADHS Acting Director. “A simple multivitamin with 400 micrograms will do the trick.” Infants most at risk for brain and spinal birth defects are those whose mothers fall into certain risk groups: being obese, having diabetes, coming from a lower socio-economic background, taking anti-seizure medication, having Latina/Hispanic ancestry, or having high fevers early in pregnancy.
The campaign consists of two bilingual public service announcements, an informational brochure, and a bilingual educational website. The website, www.takemultivitamins.com, invites community organizations and institutions to participate in this initiative by placing the informational components of the campaign in areas where 15 – 25 year olds can see them. All materials are free of charge.
This campaign is a collaboration between several programs at the Arizona Department of Health Services and the March of Dimes.
Arizona Department of Health Services
www.azdhs.gov
Central United States Earthquake Consortium And CDC To Host Post-Earthquake Public Health And Medical Issues Course In Arkansas
On February 4, 2009, the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC), in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is presenting a one-day class titled “Disaster Medicine 101: Post-Earthquake Public Health and Medical Issues in the New Madrid Seismic Zone” at the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) Auditorium. The class will begin at 8:30 a.m. and conclude around 4:00 p.m. The class is being offered in conjunction with Arkansas’ Earthquake Awareness Week sponsored by the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.
The class will present a big-picture overview of public health concepts related to the earthquake threat in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. It is open to first responders, medical professionals, public health officials, emergency managers, and others concerned with public health issues following an earthquake. The instructors are recognized experts from the federal, state, and local levels of government. Topics for the class include:
– The New Madrid Earthquake Threat and the Effects on Key Infrastructure
– Rapid Assessments and Disease Surveillance Activities during a Major Disaster
– Role of the Environmental Health Specialist during a Disaster
– Earthquake Disaster-Related Injuries and Injury Prevention
– Disaster Mental Health Consequences: Protecting the Responders
All who are interested in attending the class in Little Rock or via the videoconferencing sites are to register through the ADH learning management system known as A-TRAIN at https://ar.train.org. The Course ID number is 1015426. If you do not have an A-TRAIN account, you can create one by clicking on “Create Account.” To register, please select the site you will be attending. If you plan on attending at a hospital site that is not listed, please register for the Arkansas Hospital Association site.
The class size in ADH’s auditorium is limited to 100, and all registrations will be taken online on a first-come, first-served basis. The class will also be available on a limited basis via videoconferencing by IP to the CUSEC member-states’ public health agencies. The course is part of an ongoing effort to address catastrophic planning issues related to the earthquake threat in the Central U.S. This is the third presentation of the course. CUSEC and CDC are also working on a course called “Disaster Medicine 201,” addressing medical issues following an earthquake, with the pilot to be presented in Memphis this spring.
Charter Members Alabama • Arkansas • Illinois • Indiana • Kentucky • Mississippi • Missouri • Tennessee
Associate Members Georgia • Iowa • Louisiana • Nebraska • North Carolina • Ohio • Oklahoma • South Carolina • Virginia
http://www.healthyarkansas.com
