Category: PublicHealth

MEwens
Social Media and Funding Brouhaha: Social media helped galvanize supporters of Planned Parenthood last week after Susan G. Komen for the Cure said it would cut off funding for the women’s health nonprofit — and then reversed its stance, the WSJ reports. According to social-media monitor NetBase Solutions, Komen-related chatter rose 80% from […]

MEwens
New Yorkers are living longer than ever — babies born in the city in 2009 can expect to live to 80.6, higher than the national average of 78.2 years, the WSJ reports today. But why?
Some city officials are pointing to the city’s anti-tobacco efforts — bans on smoking in bars, restaurants, parks and […]

Katherine Hobson
Fears over bioterrorism have the U.S. government asking scientists to hold back on publishing details of their experiments with the bird flu virus.
That development comes against a backdrop of declining preparedness on the part of U.S. public-health departments to respond not only to potential bioterrorism attacks, but also outbreaks of new diseases […]

MEwens
It’s no secret that reversing the childhood obesity epidemic in the U.S. will be a long slog. While obesity rates among children and teens appear to have leveled off in recent years, nearly a third remain overweight, and about 17% are obese.
And while many cities and towns have programs and events to attack […]

MEwens
Seasonal flu has been tame this year, but more people are getting vaccinated in hopes of protecting themselves against the virus, according to government data out today.
The growth is strongest among children. Some 36.7% of children aged 6 months to 17 years had received a flu shot as of early November, an increase […]

MEwens
When the Health Blog last visited the subject of music-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the hit song under consideration was Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees. The American Heart Association says the beat of the popular disco tune helps rescuers achieve the desired chest compression rate of about 100 per minute when trying to revive […]

MEwens
Public Citizen is calling for federal inspectors general to investigate the deaths of two patients who were transfused with contaminated blood this summer that came from the Bethesda National Naval Medical Center.
The hospital, now part of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, sent blood to the NIH that had previously been identified […]

MEwens
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is stepping up efforts to improve infection control at outpatient oncology clinics, where lax safety standards at some facilities have raised the risk of problems, today’s Informed Patient Column reports.
An infection-control guide issued today is targeted specifically at oncology clinics. It follows a CDC guide issued […]

MEwens
The Energy Star program makes it easier for consumers to pick appliances. Now the Institute of Medicine is recommending the government create a similar system for foods and drinks sold in the grocery store.
In a new report, the IOM — an independent group that advises the government on health policy — recommends instituting […]

MEwens
Excessive drinkers aren’t just racking up a tab at their favorite pub or liquor store.
Heavy boozers cost the U.S. economy more than $220 billion in 2006 from lost work productivity, increased health care costs and law enforcement, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Binge drinking also leads to […]