|
For Your Information
Publications - General Media
July 2011
Years of eating seafood from county waters could raise
health concerns, state report says
HeraldNet.com, July 16, 2011
You'd have to eat an awful lot of fish and shellfish from Everett
waterways over many years for it to hurt you, according to
the state Department of Health. If you were to do that,
it could give you cancer. That's the conclusion of a report
issued last month by the Health Department about the
condition of fish, shellfish and plants in Port Gardner and
the Snohomish River estuary.
Smoking Quitline a victim of cuts
HeraldNet.com, July 18, 2011
More than a decade ago, Washington
received millions as part of the national tobacco
settlement. That money's long gone. And now, in the
budgetary scramble to cut, cut, cut, the state is cutting a
big chunk out of the Quitline, a toll-free number people
could call who wanted help to stop smoking. "If you're
uninsured and not on Medicaid … there is no longer free help
in this state," said Tim Church, a state Department of
Health spokesman.
WHO: Blood tests for tuberculosis are unreliable
tricityherald.com, July 17, 2011
Widely used blood
tests to detect tuberculosis are "dangerous" to patients
because they are unreliable and can produce wrong results,
the World Health Organization warned Sunday. The U.N. health agency said it will issue an
unprecedented recommendation against using such tests for
the infectious lung disease that affects some 14 million
people worldwide. As much as a third of the world's
population is thought to harbor the bacteria that causes TB.
U.S. to settle 139 claims of downwinders
Seattle Times, July 14, 2011 SPOKANE —
The U.S. Department of Energy has agreed to settle claims
brought by 139 people with thyroid disease who think
radiation releases from the Hanford nuclear reservation
caused their illnesses. The proposal marks the largest
settlement so far in a civil case that has lasted 20
years. Details of the settlement, which were filed this week
in U.S. District Court in Spokane, must be accepted by the
individual plaintiffs.
Obesity may cut a generation's lifespans
Seattle Times, July 13, 2011
For the first time in decades, young
adults today might live shorter lives than previous
generations, a new study suggests. In a collaboration
between the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Utah
State University and the University of Illinois-Chicago,
researchers used new statistical tools to predict the number
of deaths from obesity-related illnesses.
Fast-food playgrounds fail the yuck test
The Seattle Times, July 20, 2011
Erin Carr-Jordan was crawling through
the tubey slides of a McDonald's PlayPlace on the West Side.
"Without a doubt this was one of the worst and definitely in
the top five," she said after climbing out of the tubes.
"There was food everywhere." A reporter crawled through a
few minutes later to find sticky surfaces, filmy windows,
several broken pieces of equipment, food morsels in every
compartment, trapped hair, garbage and thick black schmutz
in most crevices. She's found that some fast food companies
regularly clean their playlands and are happy to provide
customers with their cleaning protocols — she singles out
Chick-fil-A — but that representatives of Burger King, Chuck
E. Cheese and McDonald's have either indicated they don't
have any such protocols or have not responded.
Special clothing combines sunblock ability and summer
fashion
HeraldNet, July 12, 2011
The Northwest may remain devoid of hot,
sunny days for the most of the year, but the clouds don't
stop much of sun's ultraviolet radiation from damaging our
skin. More than 80 percent of sun's ultraviolet radiation
gets through clouds, exposing us to UV rays that can pose a
potentially life-threatening danger, skin cancer. According
to American Academy of Dermatology, the country's largest
dermatologic association, more than 1 million cases of skin
cancer are diagnosed in the United States each year.
Water holds pleasures, and lurking menaces
Seattle Times, July 12, 2011
Swimming is the second most popular
sports activity in this country (after walking), replete
with health benefits. Swimmers have about half the risk of
death of inactive people. But whether you swim in a river,
lake, ocean or pool, the last thing you want afterward is
what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls a
"recreational water illness," an infection or irritation
caused by germs or chemicals contaminating the water.
Radiation-Tainted Beef Spreads Through Japan’s Markets
The New York Times, July 18, 2011
Even after explosions rocked the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Kuniaki Sato, who
raises cattle here about 20 miles from the crippled complex,
said he had received no clear warning from the government
about the possible dangers of radiation to his herd. Beef
from the tainted area has been sent across Japan. So six
weeks after the accident, on April 23, he shipped 12 of his
prized cattle from his farm to market.
Don’t take swim lessons lightly
The Spokane Review, July 18, 2011
Nearly half of child drownings occur in
freshwater lakes, rivers and canals; about 30 percent happen
in swimming pools – even inflatable ones. The American
Academy of Pediatrics recommends lessons for all kids 4 and
up but doesn’t recommend them for kids under 1 year. Many
swim schools offer classes for toddlers, and even infants,
in order to build a foundation necessary for further
instruction. And some organizations, such as Infant Swimming
Resource, focus on teaching babies basic water survival
skills, such as rolling over and floating in water.
The Flu Vaccine is On its Way
The Wallstreet Journal, July 18, 011
The FDA said today it’s approved the
formulation for the 2011-12 vaccine. The new vaccine looks a
lot like it did last year — it will protect against the type
of influenza A virus that caused the H1N1/swine flu
pandemic, another type of influenza A virus (H3N2) and a
type of influenza B virus. But, you can’t skip the shot even
if you had it last year, since the immunity it confers isn’t
particularly long-lived. The CDC has recommended since last
year that everyone six months and older be vaccinated.
More whooping cough in Seattle area
Reuters, July 5, 2011
Whooping cough has been unusually
common in Seattle-area babies in recent years. Now a new
report suggests the problem could be corrected by
encouraging vaccination of the people who care for them. In
the Seattle area between 2002 and 2007, 136 out of every
100,000 infants developed whooping cough each year, on
average. Among every 100,000 U.S. infants overall, however,
only 97 developed whooping cough in 2005.
E.P.A. Chief Stands Firm as Tough Rules Loom
The New York Times, July 5, 2011
In the next weeks and months,
Lisa P. Jackson, the Environmental Protection Agency
administrator, is scheduled to establish regulations on
smog, mercury, carbon dioxide, mining waste and vehicle
emissions that will affect every corner of the economy. She
is working under intense pressure from opponents in
Congress, from powerful industries, from impatient
environmentalists and from the Supreme Court, which just
affirmed the agency’s duty to address global warming
emissions, a project that carries profound economic
implications.
How Hospitals Save More Preemie Lives
The Wallstreet Journal, July 19 2011
Hospitals are changing how they care
for premature infants amid growing evidence that some
longtime practices, intended to keep the most vulnerable
babies alive, may increase risks of serious and potentially
deadly complications.
Obesity
'leading driver' of breast cancer
BBC Health News, July 19, 2011
Obesity is the biggest driving force
behind the most common form of breast cancer in older women,
say researchers. Alcohol and then cigarettes are the next
largest culprits, according to Cancer Research UK. One in
eight women in the UK develop breast cancer in their
lifetime, data shows, and the majority of these tumours are
"hormone sensitive" meaning their growth is fuelled by
hormones.
Restaurant calorie counts not always accurate
Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2011
Dieters beware: Offerings at popular
restaurants may have more calories than what's stated on
menus or company websites. A team of scientists purchased
items from 42 fast-food and sit-down eateries in Indiana,
Arkansas and Massachusetts, then measured the calories they
contained. Only 7% of the 269 foods tested were within 10
calories of what the restaurants stated, the scientists
found. And almost 20% packed at least 100 more calories than
what was indicated.
HHS Announces Plans for LGBT Health Data Collection
U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, June, 29, 2011
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today
announced new draft standards for collecting and reporting
data on race, ethnicity, sex, primary language and
disability status, and announced the administration’s plans
to begin collecting health data on lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender (LGBT) populations. Both efforts aim to help
researchers, policy makers, health providers and advocates
to identify and address health disparities afflicting these
communities.
Why Black Women, Infants Lag In Birth Outcomes
NPR, July 20, 2011
The overwhelming majority of babies in
the U.S. are born healthy, and their growth brings joy and
comfort to their parents. But across the country, there is a
whopping disparity in birth outcomes based on race. Black
women fare worse than white women in almost every aspect of
reproductive health. "Any state you look at, you see the
same disparities, and race is the strongest predictor of
disparities," says Dr. Deborah Ehrenthal, of Christiana Care
Health System in Delaware. "So we see higher rates of infant
mortality, higher rates of preterm delivery." Black women
are about 60 percent more likely than white women to deliver
babies early, and black infants are about 230 percent more
likely than white infants to die before their first
birthdays.
Heavy teens need more health talks
Reuters, July 18, 2011
Pediatricians often miss important
opportunities to talk about nutrition, exercise, and
emotional issues with overweight teens, suggests new
research from California. Focusing on these issues in
overweight adolescents may give doctors a chance to stop
unhealthy behavior that could be setting kids up for obesity
before it's too late.
Frogs tied to Salmonella being sold again
Tricity Herald, July 20, 2011
A California company has resumed
selling a kind of pet frog that caused salmonella illnesses
in more than 240 people, most of them children. And federal
health officials are not happy. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention officials on Wednesday warned consumers that
Blue Lobster Farms in June had resumed shipping African
dwarf frogs from its Madera County, California, breeding
facility. They say the frogs may still pose a serious health
risk.
Trying a new approach to primary care: prevention
Associated Press, July 20, 2011
A budding model for primary care that
encourages the family doctor to act as a health coach who
focuses as much on preventing illness as on treating it has
shown promising results and saved insurers millions of
dollars.
Local churches launch fresh-food market to change the way we
eat
The Seattle Times, July 20, 2011
Starting this week, a half dozen local
churches are doing more than spreading the word of God.
They're trying to change the way we eat. They're using fruits
and vegetables, and they have the support of local farmers
and businesses to do it.
Every Wednesday morning until Aug. 31, Mount Zion Baptist
Church will host the Seattle Wholesale Market, with farmers,
butchers and bakers from as far as Arlington and as near as
South Lake Union packing the church's grass- and
gravel-covered parking lot with everything from basil to
cold-cuts.
Chickenpox deaths plummeted since vaccine
Seattle PI, July 24, 2011
Chickenpox vaccine has dramatically cut
deaths from the disease, especially in children, says a new
government study proclaiming an important public health
victory. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention found that chickenpox deaths fell from an
average of 105 per year to 14 after the vaccine had been
available for a dozen years.
Bigger fork size means less eating at restaurants
The Seattle Times, July 24, 2011
When it comes to overeating, size
matters. The size of the fork, that is, according to
forthcoming research. University of Utah marketing
professors Arul and Himanshu Mishra went to restaurants to
investigate how bite sizes influence the amount of food
eaten and found something counterintuitive. Diners using
smaller forks eat more than those using bigger ones.
New
foodborne illness identified in King County
The Seattle Times, July 16, 2011
Public health and poison-control
experts have identified three cases in which eaters were
temporarily felled by unusual foodborne toxins in King
County over the past few months. All the victims recovered
from the toxins, which are rare, but weird and interesting.
Minorities lag in mental health treatment
The Tri City Herald, July 26, 2011
Summer Blast, held July 9, addressed a key challenge -
getting minorities to seek treatment for mental illness. So
important is the issue that in 2008 the U.S. House of
Representatives designated July as National Minority Mental
Health Month, thanks in part to the efforts of author Bebe
Moore Campbell, an advocate for greater mental health
awareness among minority communities.
New tests for newborns may bring dilemmas for parents
The Wallstreet Journal, July 26, 2011
Within days of an infant being born, a
few drops of blood are taken from the baby's heel and tested
for signs of more than two dozen different conditions,
including congenital hypothyroidism and sickle-cell
diseases. In many places, babies also are given tests to
identify the likelihood of hearing or vision disorders. "The
question is no longer whether we can test for them," says
Alan Fleischman, medical director of the March of Dimes
Foundation, "but what we want to know."
Only one deadly strain of E. coli is
illegal
USA Today, July 26, 2011
The food-safety world knows there are a
half-dozen or more lethal forms of E. coli ending up in our
meat or on our leafy greens that are so virulent they can
send people to the hospital and even kill them. But in the
United States only one, E. coli O157:H7, is officially
termed an adulterant, meaning any raw ground beef that tests
positive for it cannot be sold for human consumption.
There's no requirement that companies test for the other
lethal strains, and it's not illegal for them to be in the
food.
22 people sickened from eating Washington oysters
SeattlePI, August 4, 2011
The state Department of Health is
advising people to cook local shellfish, after 22 people
became sick from eating raw oysters harvested in Puget Sound
and along the Washington coast. Officials said the oysters
contained the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria. The
naturally occurring bacteria thrives in July and August with
warm temperatures and low tides.
Back to Top/
Back to July FYI
Back to FYI Home |
