Worth Noting HHS Promises Physical Activity Guidelines Speaking to a Prevention Summit in Washington, DC, October 26, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Mike Leavitt said the department is developing "comprehensive guidelines drawn from science" to help Americans fit physical activity into their lives. The guidelines, to be issued in late 2008, will "underscore the importance of physical activity to America’s health and assist on the journey to a healthier life," Leavitt said. The Prevention Summit is an annual HHS-supported event intended to highlight successful initiatives in disease prevention and health promotion. Innovation in Prevention awards made at the summit included an elementary school obesity prevention program managed by the University of Texas School of Public Health and the Alhambra United School District Nutrition Network program, a California program that aims to overcome barriers to a healthy diet. See also: "Experts Cite Physical Activity as Key in Preventing Childhood Obesity" at http://www.healthinschools.org/ejournal/2005/dec2.htm and "Keeping Kids Healthy: Overweight, Nutrition & Physical Exercise" at http://www.healthinschools.org/sh/obesity.asp. -----------------------------------Mumps Clusters Reported on College Campuses From May to September this year, mumps clusters have been reported on college campuses in Illinois, Kansas, and Virginia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Ninety-six percent of the cases occurred in persons who had received two doses of MMR vaccine, indicating that mumps-containing vaccines are not 100 percent effective, the CDC said. The CDC urged health care providers to remain alert for suspected mumps cases and to conduct appropriate testing. For school-age children, evidence of immunity to mumps is now defined as one dose of live mumps vaccine. Additional recommendations for outbreak control include administering an additional dose of the vaccine. The CDC’s Brief Report on mumps, dated October 27, 2006, is available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr The following information appeared during the month of October 2006 in the News Alerts section of the website of the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools, at www.healthinschools.org. October 4, 2006Nurses Who Assign Duties Are Supervisors, Labor Board Rules Nurses who exercise "independent judgment" when they assign "significant overall duties" to other employees are supervisors, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled October 3. The ruling would exempt registered nurses who supervise the work of others from union membership if they oversee other employees just 10 to 15 percent of their total worktime. The NLRB issued its rule after the United States Supreme Court ruled in 2001, in a case involving nurses in an acute care facility in Michigan, that the Labor Board had previously been too strict in deciding who is a supervisor. Labor experts predicted that yesterday’s ruling could affect as many as 8 million workers, possibly including teachers who supervise aides, as well as nurses. The ruling is onsite at www.nlrb.gov. October 6, 2006FDA Updates E.coli Search In a statement released October 5, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conceded that it does not yet know the source of E.coli infection that has caused sickness and death in persons who ate spinach grown in California, but the FDA said it is continuing to examine factors such as the water used in growing or processing spinach, the "environment" in which it is grown and processed, and whether animal wastes are involved. To date, the FDA has received reports of 192 cases of illness due to E.coli, with 30 cases of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, 98 hospitalizations, and two deaths. Epidemiological and laboratory evidence obtained so far traces the current outbreak to spinach grown by one large company in central California, but there is a long history of E.coli from leafy greens grown in the region, the FDA said. The statement said that at the present time, any plans developed as part of a long-term strategy for minimizing the risk of another outbreak will be voluntary, though the statement emphasized that both the FDA and the state of California "are not excluding the possibility of regulatory requirements in the future." Further updates on the current investigation will be available at www.fda.gov. October 10, 2006 The federal Food and Drug Administration announced October 6 that it has approved the adult antipsychotic drug Risperdal (risperide) in tablet form for symptomatic treatment of irritability in autistic children and adolescents. Steve Galson, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, noted that Risperdal is "a welcome addition" to the growing number of adult drugs that have been shown to have "an appropriate risk-benefit profile" when tested in children. Risperdal has been in use since 1993 for short-term treatment of adults with schizophrenia and since 2003 for short-term treatment of adults with acute manic episodes associated with extreme mood swings. The drug was tested for safety and effectiveness in children in placebo-controlled trials involving children 5 to 12 years old, the FDA said. Risperdal is the first drug ever approved to treat behaviors generally referred to as irritability in children with autism, which may include aggression, deliberate self-injury, and temper tantrums. Risperdal is marketed by Janssen, L.P., of Titusville, NJ. October 11, 2006 The most comprehensive study to date of the extent to which doctors and hospitals are using electronic health records (EHRs) has found that only one in four doctors use EHRs to improve how they deliver care to patients, and fewer than one in ten uses what experts define as a fully operational system, meaning a system that collects patient information, displays test results, allows providers to enter medical orders and prescriptions, and helps doctors make treatment decisions. The study released today, "Health Information Technologies in the United States: The Information Base for Progress" finds technology adoption rates low because of multiple financial, technical, and legal barriers. "We are pitifully behind where we should be," said study co-author Dr. David Blumenthal. "We must find ways to get more physicians to embrace this technology if we are to make major strides in improving health care quality." The full text of the report, a joint project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the federal government’s National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, is available online at www.rwjf.org. A companion article highlighting key findings of the report is published in the October 1 web edition of the journal Health Affairs at http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.25.w496 October 13, 2006 In a comprehensive report released today, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) details a framework for "a complete and transparent assessment of exposure of environmental agents to children and resulting potential health risks." The EPA says the report lays out a life-stage-specific process for assessing environmental risks and includes web links to specific online publications and scientific papers. The document will be available electronically beginning today through the website of EPA’s National Center for Environmental Assessment at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. October 13, 2006 Almost 10 percent of females ages 14-17 told a national health survey that they use tanning devices such as sunlamps and tanning beds, even though the World Health Organization has warned against the use of such devices by persons under 18 because of the risk of skin cancer. The National Health Interview Survey found girls seven times more likely than boys in the same age group to use artificial tanning, but in both groups, usage increased with age, peaking at age 17. In announcing the survey findings today, the CDC repeated an earlier recommendation that schools should advise students of the dangers of artificial tanning devices as part of programs to prevent skin cancer. The results of the National Health Interview Study are available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm.
October 16, 2006 A report on foods available in schools that was scheduled to be released this month will not be available until January 2007, according to the Institute of Medicine. A multidisciplinary committee has held public meetings and surveyed the literature on foods and beverages offered outside the federally reimbursed school lunch and breakfast programs and is considering whether a single set of nutrition standards for such foods is appropriate for elementary, middle, and high schools. The report now due in January is expected to make recommendations for nutrition standards "to assure that foods and beverages offered in schools contribute to an overall healthful eating environment." The report is also expected to develop benchmarks to guide future evaluation studies of the application of the standards. The study is being supported by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. October 19, 2006 When communities and school districts choose sites for schools near cleaned-up toxic waste sites or other sources of radiation or chemicals, they are relying on an outdated measure of the health risks posed to children by such environmental hazards, according to a report released today by a coalition of scientists, physicians, cancer prevention specialists, children’s health organizations, and women’s groups. In an open letter to President Bush, the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research urged a shift of federal regulations from measuring environmental effects on adult males—the current "Reference Man" —to more comprehensive exposure standards that include children. Currently, "Reference Man" is officially defined internationally as being between 20 and 30 years of age, weighing 70 kg (154 pounds), 170 centimeters (5 feet 7 inches) tall, living in a climate with an average temperature of between 20 and 30 degrees centigrade, and "a Caucasian and Western European or North American in habit and custom." That standard is widely used to decide, for example, how much residual radiation will be allowed in radioactively contaminated soil, where a new power plant will be built, or how much medical radiation an individual can safely receive. But the Reference Man criterion leaves out an awful lot of people, especially children and women, the Institute points out, which is important because children and women, especially those who are pregnant or nursing, are especially vulnerable to environmental toxins. The Institute reminds the President that he signed an executive order on protecting children from environmental hazards three years ago, which acknowledges that children are "disproportionately vulnerable to environmental hazards." Information about the Institute’s report, "Science for the Vulnerable: Setting Radiation and Multiple Exposure Environmental Standards to Protect Those Most at Risk," is available at http://www.ieer.org. October 19, 2006 When communities and school districts choose sites for schools near cleaned-up toxic waste sites or other sources of radiation or chemicals, they are relying on an outdated measure of the health risks posed to children by such environmental hazards, according to a report released today by a coalition of scientists, physicians, cancer prevention specialists, children’s health organizations, and women’s groups. In an open letter to President Bush, the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research urged a shift of federal regulations from measuring environmental effects on adult males—the current "Reference Man" —to more comprehensive exposure standards that include children. Currently, "Reference Man" is officially defined internationally as being between 20 and 30 years of age, weighing 70 kg (154 pounds), 170 centimeters (5 feet 7 inches) tall, living in a climate with an average temperature of between 20 and 30 degrees centigrade, and "a Caucasian and Western European or North American in habit and custom." That standard is widely used to decide, for example, how much residual radiation will be allowed in radioactively contaminated soil, where a new power plant will be built, or how much medical radiation an individual can safely receive. But the Reference Man criterion leaves out an awful lot of people, especially children and women, the Institute points out, which is important because children and women, especially those who are pregnant or nursing, are especially vulnerable to environmental toxins. The Institute reminds the President that he signed an executive order on protecting children from environmental hazards three years ago, which acknowledges that children are "disproportionately vulnerable to environmental hazards." Information about the Institute’s report, "Science for the Vulnerable: Setting Radiation and Multiple Exposure Environmental Standards to Protect Those Most at Risk," is available at http://www.ieer.org. October 20, 2006 Two federal agencies—the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)—joined October 19 to warn against deceptive Internet advertisements that claim to treat or cure diabetes. The caution came after a websurf conducted by law enforcement authorities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico uncovered numerous practices that "raise false hopes and bilk consumers of precious health care dollars," according to the FDA. In addition to alerting the public via a consumer education program, the FDA has sent warning letters to 24 firms that market dietary supplements claiming to cure, prevent, or mitigate diabetes; and the FTC has sent warning letters to 84 domestic and 7 Canadian websites that target U.S. consumers. The FDA notes that it maintains special websites in English and Spanish that "amplify the agency’s counsel to consumers to check with their doctor, nurse, or pharmacist before trying any new health care product." Of special interest to diabetes patients, the FDA says, are websites http://www.fda.gov/diabetes and http://www.fda.gov/diabetes/pills.htm. October 27, 2006 Misuse of prescription drugs, including pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives, is second only to marijuana as the nation’s most prevalent drug problem, and many of the people who misuse those drugs are 12 to 17 years old, according to a report released today by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The report specifically mentions some medications that are commonly misused, including OxyContin, Percocet, and Vicodin. "Misuse" is defined as "use of these medications without a prescription or simply for the experience or feeling the drug caused." Young people commonly get their drugs from friends or relatives, or from the family medicine cabinet, the report indicates, and SAMHSA urges parents and other caregivers to store their prescription drugs carefully and to dispose of any unused drugs "before they can fall into the wrong hands." Today’s report, "Misuse of Prescription Drugs: Data from the 2002, 2003 and 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health," is online at http://oas.samhsa.gov. |
