Survey Finds Allergies Major Cause of Asthma
More than half of current asthma cases can be linked to allergies, and approximately a third of them result from cat allergy, according to data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 111). In the study, researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the National Institutes of Health looked at skin test data for 10 allergens—cat, the fungus Alterneria, white oak, ragweed, dust mites, Russian thistle, Bermuda grass, peanuts, perennial rye, and German cockroach, all of which are "strongly associated" with asthma. Scientists noted, however, that many people who get asthma have no known allergies. "This study tells us that allergy is a major factor in asthma. But it also tells us that there are many people who get asthma who do not have allergies. We need to do more research to understand what is causing the asthma that is not related to allergies," said Dr. Peter George of NIAID.
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Small Diet, Activity Changes Found to Reduce Child Weight Gains
A family intervention program in which families were given pedometers to measure that they walked an added 2000 steps a day and were given cereal for breakfast and a sucralose sweetener to substitute for sugar in the family's diet was effective in reducing the rate of increase in body weight in the children, researchers reported in the October 2007 issue of the journal Pediatrics. The small-changes approach advocated by a group known as America on the Move "could be useful in preventing excess weight gain in families," researchers concluded. Families enrolled in the study had at least one child 7 to 14 years of age who was overweight or at risk of overweight; children were defined as overweight or at risk of overweight if they had body mass index at or more than the 85th percentile. Researchers pointed out that their goal was not to produce weight loss in children but to reduce the increase in body weight, and they said the six-months intervention was successful in doing that. "During a 6-month period children showed significant decreases in BMI for age."
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SEPTEMBER NEWS ALERTS
The following information appeared during the month of September 2007 in the News Alerts section of the website of the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools, at www.healthinschools.org.
September 4, 2007
AMA Launches Campaign for Health Insurance
The American Medical Association (AMA) announced August 23 that it is launching a three-year, multi-million dollar campaign to give American families the means to purchase health care insurance. Timed initially to coincide with the 2008 election cycle, the initiative, called "Voice for the Uninsured," will feature radio, television, and print advertising, pharmacy bags printed with the AMA's message, billboards, placards at transit stations and bus shelters, presentations at state fairs and football games, and a website, www.VoiceForTheUninsured.org. "The AMA is enlisting doctors and medical students in our campaign and asking them to become advocates on this important issue," said AMA President-elect Nancy Nielsen. In its proposal, the AMA is calling for tax credits or vouchers for the purchase of health insurance, individual choice of health plans, and insurance market regulation. The organization is also continuing to lobby Congress for continuance of SCHIP, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
September 7, 2007
CDC Reports 'Significant' Increase in Youth Suicides
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today reported the biggest annual increase in 15 years in suicides by females 10 to 19 years old and males 15 to 19 years old. The increase occurred between 2003 and 2004, and officials said they do not know if the rise in number of suicides was short-lived or represents the beginning of a trend. "Either way, it's a harsh reminder that suicide and suicide attempts are affecting too many youth and young adults. We need to make sure suicide prevention efforts are continuous and reaching children and young adults," said Dr. Ileana Arias, director of CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The overall increase in suicides was 8 percent, with firearms the most common method for both boys and girls, followed by hanging/suffocation. Further information is available at www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/Suicide/youthsuicide.htm.
September 10, 2007
New York Is Told Not to Add SCHIP Children
The state of New York, which had hoped to expand its State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to include children from families that earn 400 times the federal poverty level, was told by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Friday that new federal restrictions bar expansions of SCHIP eligibility beyond 250 percent of the federal poverty level. Specifically, New York was told that it cannot extend SCHIP to higher income levels because it does not currently enroll at least 95 percent of all children in the state who have family incomes below 200 percent of poverty. That is one of several new restrictions on SCHIP eligibility set by the Bush administration August 17 in a letter to state governors. Current law allows state to set their own SCHIP eligibility levels, and New York Governor Eliot Spitzer said Friday that the state is preparing a lawsuit challenging the new policy. New York is the first state to test the federal restrictions, which include a mandatory one-year waiting period before children who previously had private health insurance can enroll in SCHIP, regardless of the reason for the child’s loss of private coverage.
September 13, 2007
Senate Asked to Nullify New SCHIP Restrictions
Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate yesterday would block implementation of guidance issued by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) August 17 that would block states from enrolling children with family incomes above 250 percent of the federal poverty level in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Senate sponsors of a bill, the Better Health for Children Act, Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), said the CMS policy would have "a devastating impact" on states' ability to extend SCHIP to more children. Kennedy noted that a bill already passed by the Senate would allow states to cover children with family incomes up to 300 percent of poverty, and he noted that 18 states, including Massachusetts, already provide SCHP coverage to families with incomes above the CMS-proposed limit. The new Senate bill, S. 2049, can be read and tracked at http://thomas.loc.gov.
September 17, 2007
Study to Look for Heart Risks from ADHD Medications
Two agencies in the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today that they are conducting the most comprehensive study to date of whether taking prescription medication to control attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, or other cardiovascular problems in children and adults. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will examine the clinical data of about 500,000 individuals who took ADHD medication during a seven-year period ending in 2005. The data will be analyzed by researchers at Vanderbilt University and will include all drugs currently marketed for ADHD. The study announcement describes ADHD as "a behavioral disorder that may have significant impact on school performance and social functioning" that is believed to affect approximately 3 percent to 5 percent of school-age children and 4 percent of adults. A recent AHRQ analysis found that the top five drugs prescribed for ADHD in children under 17 accounted for $1.3 billion in medical expenditures in the year 2004.
September 20, 2007
Flu Vaccination Urged for All Children
A coalition that includes almost all professional organizations involved in child and adolescent health has pointed out the importance of immunizing children--including infants 6 months to 5 years of age, schoolchildren, and adolescents--against influenza, starting early in the coming flu season and continuing through the fall and winter months. Although the main goal of vaccination is to protect children from an illness that caused 153 child deaths in the 2003-2004 flu season, there is also evidence to suggest that vaccinating children will provide additional benefits to society, the coalition said. "Widespread childhood vaccination can interrupt influenza transmission, since influenza outbreaks usually begin in children and then move on to the community at large." Noting that well-informed health care professionals are best equipped to educate parents and guardians about the importance of influenza immunization, the coalition is urging that practitioners use every opportunity, including back-to-school visits, to encourage parents to get annual flu vaccinations for their children beginning as soon as vaccine becomes available in the fall and well into January and later, since the vaccine continues to be of benefit while the virus circulates.
In an unrelated development, the federal Food and Drug Administration announced September 19 that it has approved the use of the nasal influenza vaccine FluMist for children between the ages of 2 and 5. The nasal vaccine had previously been approved for children 5 years of age and older and adults up to age 49. The announcement noted, however, that FluMist should not be administered to anyone with asthma or to children under the age of 5 with recurrent wheezing.
The coalition's recommendations and a complete list of members are available at www.preventchildhoodinfluenza.org.
September 24, 2007
Senate Bill Cites Looming Shortage of Nurses
Noting that the federal Health Resources and Services Administration predicts a shortage of more than a million nurses in the United States by the year 2020, a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate last week would encourage career ladders to nursing for currently employed ancillary health care workers by providing English as a second language education, GED education, pre-college counseling, and support with entry-level college classes that are a prerequisite to nursing. The bill, S.2064, introduced September 18 by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), would also fund programs that would allow currently working nurses to return to school to take advanced degrees and would enable “bedside nurses” to take leave from their jobs to teach in nursing programs at colleges and universities. Durbin’s bill is similar to legislation introduced in the House of Representatives September 19 that would amend the Higher Education Act to create a capitation grant program "to increase the number of nurses and graduate-educated nurse faculty to meet the future need for qualified nurses." The House bill, H.R. 3597, and the Senate bill can be read and tracked on the Congressional Record website at http://thomas.loc.gov.
September 26, 2007
Conference SCHIP Bill Allows Funds to SBHCs
A 300-page compromise between the U.S. House and Senate on reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that was approved by the House yesterday and is expected to pass the Senate today, includes language allowing states to use SCHIP funds for "items and services furnished through school-based health centers." Specifically, the conference bill reads:
"Section 2103(c ) (42 U.S.C.1397(cc) c)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
'(8) AVAILABILITY OF COVERAGE FOR ITEMS AND SERVICES FURNISHED THROUGH SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH CENTERS – Nothing in this title shall be construed as limiting a State’s ability to provide child health assistance for covered items and services that are furnished through school-based health centers."
President Bush has said he will veto the SCHIP bill because it authorizes more spending that the administration wants over the next five years, and it is expected that House Republicans will sustain the veto, meaning the bill in its present form may not become law.
