A new study has just been released, claiming to be on the conservative side, that roughly 48,000 deaths are due to infections caught while in the hospital. These are mostly preventable infections, that wouldn’t have been caught by the infected outside of the hospital environment.
They are mistakes that cost lives, says study researcher Ramanan Laxminarayan, PhD, MPH, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C. think tank Resources for the Future.
National Heart Failure Awareness Week is set for February 14-20. This is a time for physicians and other health providers to remind patients with heart failure, those at risk and family members of patients how to best manage this syndrome, what heart failure means, to re-evaluate life style and consider changes to improve quality of life. Visit www.abouthf.org to learn more about following a low sodium diet, exercise do’s and don’ts, managing medications, heart rhythm problems, and other factors commonly associated with heart failure. These modules are written in easy to read and understand language and can be downloaded free of charge.
A collection of sport and baby bottles potentially containing the compound bisphenol A, or BPA. The compound, commonly used in polycarbonate plastic bottles (to make them unbreakable), is also found in the linings of food cans. (Jonathan Hayward, Canadian Press)
After months of information being available on the subject of Bisphenol A, the FDA has begun to study the toxicity with novel approaches to test the subtle effects. Thus bringing BPA back into the mind’s eye, as many may have begun to forget the impact that it could have on folks around the world.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical that has been present in many hard plastic bottles and metal-based food and beverage cans since the 1960s.
Studies employing standardized toxicity tests have thus far supported the safety of current low levels of human exposure to BPA However, on the basis of results from recent studies using novel approaches to test for subtle effects, both the National Toxicology Program at the National Institutes of Health and FDA have some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and young children. In cooperation with the National Toxicology Program, FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research is carrying out in-depth studies to answer key questions and clarify uncertainties about the risks of BPA.
Being out in the field, paramedics will tell you that most car accidents could have been avoided. In fact, currently there are many laws being discussed regarding the banning of cellphone use while driving. Many people are texting and driving, and it has caused death. Isn’t a life worth more than 160 characters (the total length that a text message can be)?
There are car companies that are working on making advances in technology that can drastically decrease the number of accidents each year. The fact that we’re not all jumping on this advancement seems pretty foolish to me. “Car Crash Stats: There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005. The financial cost of these crashes is more than 230 Billion dollars. 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed. About 115 people die every day in vehicle crashes in the United States — one death every 13 minutes.”
The following is a statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:
North Carolina on January 2 will take an historic step for health when it becomes the first major tobacco-growing state to implement a statewide smoke-free law that includes all restaurants and bars. This new law will protect the right of North Carolinians to breathe clean air. North Carolina’s hospitality workers can now earn a living and the public can enjoy a night out without putting themselves at risk of lung cancer, heart disease and the other serious illnesses caused by secondhand smoke. North Carolina is setting a powerful example for other tobacco-growing states and communities, indeed for the entire nation, by taking strong action to address the devastating toll of tobacco use and secondhand smoke.
Providence Health & Services employees put together this video to generate breast cancer awareness throughout their hospital system. They had a ton of fun putting this together and hope it inspires others to join in the cause.
The Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF), the largest private, national organization devoted to melanoma in the United States, issued the following statement in response to the media attention regarding the Environmental Working Group’s recent report on sunscreen effectiveness:
“It is important that we remain vigilant in making safe decisions when it comes to the sun. Sadly, approximately 65 percent of melanomas—the most serious form of skin cancer and one of the fastest growing cancers in the U.S.—are attributed to ultraviolet exposure,” said Dr. Allan Halpern, member of the MRF’s Scientific Advisory Committee and Chief of the Dermatology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. “Too many people mistakenly view wearing sunscreen as a blank check for spending unlimited time in the sun. Sunscreen is just one component of sun safety.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2006), approximately 1.5 million Americans sustain traumatic brain injuries every year, 75 percent of which are considered mild. There has been a recent surge in interest concerning mild traumatic brain injuries (MTBI’s) in the U.S., due in large part to the ongoing involvement of American troops in the Middle East. As many as 18% of the 1.5 million American soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan during the past eight years have suffered from a mild traumatic brain injury, reports the New England Journal of Medicine.
Robots that can cook, dance to Michael Jackson songs or guide the blind are among the gadgets aimed at helping humans cope with illnesses on display in Spain at one of the world’s biggest annual gatherings of new technology enthusiasts.
Standing 58 centimetres (23 inches) tall and with a plastic shell for a body, a humanoid robot called Nao drew a crowd at the Campus Party in Valencia as it danced to Jackson’s “Billie Jean” with a black hat on its head.
Seven out of ten U.S. children have low levels of vitamin D, raising their risk of bone and heart disease, according to a study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The striking findings suggest that vitamin D deficiency could place millions of children at risk for high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease.
The study, “Prevalence and Associations of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Deficiency in Children and Adolescents in the United States: Results from NHANES 2001-2004,” was published today in the online edition of Pediatrics.
A new study has just been released, claiming to be on the conservative side, that roughly 48,000 deaths are due to infections caught while in the hospital. These are mostly preventable infections, that wouldn’t have been caught by the infected outside of the hospital environment.
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