“Event: National Asthma Week - Better Health Channel” plus 4 more |
- Event: National Asthma Week - Better Health Channel
- Motorcyclists hit the road for asthma research - Calgary Sun
- Wisconsin prepares for effects of health reform - Herald Times Reporter
- As school starts, students to get flu lesson - Gloucester Daily Times
- Scientists Identify Novel Genetic Region for Childhood Asthma in ... - Med India
| Event: National Asthma Week - Better Health Channel Posted: 31 Aug 2009 12:16 AM PDT |
| Motorcyclists hit the road for asthma research - Calgary Sun Posted: 30 Aug 2009 10:55 AM PDT Fifty motorcyclists hit the road today, revved up to raise awareness about asthma and its potentially life-threatening effects. As part of Richard's Ride for Asthma Research, now in its 14th year, motorcyclists are riding from the city to Longview to raise money for the Calgary Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Asthma Program, a program for adults with the disease at hospitals in the city. The ride supported by the United Motorcycle Club International was launched in memory of 19-year-old Richard Dawson, a motorbike enthusiast who lost his life to a fatal asthma attack on Sept. 24, 1994, said event organizer Amin Thawer. "He loved to ride," he said, adding Dawson had asthma since childhood. His family established Richard's Ride for Asthma Research in 1995 to raise awareness about identifying asthma early and to educate other young people about the potentially life-threatening disease. "You can't cure it but you can control it," he said. "Richard never got referred to a specialist ... and didn't realize it got that bad." Asthma becomes fatal when the airways become so inflamed and makes it difficult for oxygen to get in and out that the person can no longer breathe. Money raised will help purchase breathing equipment for different clinics in the city and directed to asthma education programs, Thawer said. Health Canada data shows an estimated 2.7 million Canadian adults and children have asthma. katie.schneider@sunmedia.ca  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Wisconsin prepares for effects of health reform - Herald Times Reporter Posted: 31 Aug 2009 12:09 AM PDT WASHINGTON Some members of Congress feel relieved they will be getting back to work in little more than a week, given the anger and frustration they encountered at local town hall meetings on health-care reform during the August recess. But the respite may be brief. Partisan tension is not likely to lessen over Democrats' proposals to provide health insurance for the roughly 46 million people who don't have it and to corral costs that have more than tripled since 1990 and are expected to amount to one-fourth of the economy by 2025. Before recessing for the summer, three committees had forged a reform package in the House with an estimated price tag of more than $1 trillion over 10 years. In the Senate, one committee has passed a bill, while a separate committee is working on the financial aspects of it. Both the House and Senate bills would require most people to obtain insurance and most employers to help pay for it. Both proposals would expand Medicaid coverage and other government programs. Most proposals call for an exchange, or marketplace, that would allow individuals and small companies to choose from a variety of options, including a government-run plan. The goal would be to create competition between insurance options to lower costs. Small-business owners would get tax credits to help pay for health-care coverage for their workers. But most small businesses would be exempt from the employer mandate because of a $500,000 payroll threshold. Individuals also could receive subsidies based on income. If passed, health-care reform will affect Wisconsin consumers, employers, health-care providers and taxpayers. Wisconsin's health care The uninsuredMore than 465,000 Wisconsinites have no health insurance. As a percentage of the total population, that's roughly half the national average, and one of the lowest rates in the nation. As is the case nationwide, Wisconsin's uninsured rate is particularly high among poor, non-elderly adults. About 35 percent of Wisconsin adults 19 to 64 who are in poverty lack insurance. Wisconsin ranks 42nd in that category.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| As school starts, students to get flu lesson - Gloucester Daily Times Posted: 31 Aug 2009 03:15 AM PDT NEWBURYPORT — As kids return to school this week, their first lesson will be among the year's most important — how to help control the spread of H1N1 flu. A vaccine for the flu strain will not be available until October or November, according to the state Department of Public Health. Vaccinations this year will come as a series of three shots — a seasonal flu shot as early as this month, and two H1N1 flu shots administered three weeks apart. Because the median age for people diagnosed with the pandemic flu is 14 years old, prevention measures are being focused on young people between 6 months and 24 years old. "It never stopped spreading over the summer," said Jennifer Manley, a spokeswoman from the state Department of Public Health. "We think once school comes, we're going to see numbers way back up again. ... People will be in schools two months before the vaccination comes out, so there's a significant time for it to spread." To prepare, schools will be educating staff and students alike on simple ways to prevent the spread of cases, focusing on three main tenets that will be repeated time and again: Wash hands regularly Cough or sneeze into a tissue or your elbow, not your hands If you're sick, stay home Dr. Joe Gross, the infectious disease doctor for Anna Jaques Hospital, said implementing those simple steps will go a long way to limiting the spread of the pandemic. Pandemic refers to the spread, not the severity, of the flu strain. More than 1,400 cases of H1N1 have been confirmed in Massachusetts, and the virus claimed 11 lives, including a 26-year-old last month who was otherwise perfectly healthy. "We will see (H1N1) in Newburyport," Gross said. "It's being seen everywhere." The seasonal vaccine is expected to be distributed in September, and the H1N1 vaccine may be available sometime in October, though some reports have said November may be more likely. Newburyport Superintendent Dierdre Farrell said last week that she and the district's lead health officials — public health nurse Melinda Gibbons and nurse leader Beverly Hines Lacey — have worked through the summer to coordinate H1N1 efforts. Farrell said that mixed in with all of the other tasks that go into getting ready for the new school year, she's checking daily for updates on the public response to the pandemic. "Things are changing on a day-to-day basis," she said. "We're trying to stay on top of not only what changes are happening, but also what mandates the feds or state might come out with. We're specifically looking to understand from both the federal and state government what they want schools to do regarding potential inoculation clinics." The DPH's Manley said the state is working with more than 100 school districts about potential mass inoculation clinics inside schools. Other efforts are focused on people with other health issues, like those with asthma and diabetes as well as pregnant women, and the over-65 population. She said some health officials are comparing the widespread vaccinations to people lining up for polio shots in the 1950s. Manley said while everyone will be encouraged to be inoculated, DPH has set a realistic goal of inoculating half of the population for seasonal and H1N1 influenza. A recent report revealed a worst-case scenario of 90,000 deaths nationwide from the pandemic, but other reports refute that number, saying it's overly pessimistic, according to the DPH H1N1 blog. The great majority of those who get sick will feel like they have a bad flu but won't need to be hospitalized. Gross noted that some people who catch the H1N1 go undiagnosed because their symptoms aren't severe. But because H1N1 has proven to be unpredictable, the severity of individual flu cases is nearly impossible to predict. Influenza season typically kicks into high gear in January, but H1N1 isn't a typical flu, evidenced by the fact that cases continued to be discovered over the summer. "Nobody can predict how it will change, both in its scope and its severity over the next several months," Gross said. "One of the key turning points will be the onset of flu season." For more information, visit http://publichealth.blog.state.ma.us/h1n1-swine-flu/  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Scientists Identify Novel Genetic Region for Childhood Asthma in ... - Med India Posted: 29 Aug 2009 04:54 PM PDT [fivefilters.org: unable to retrieve full-text content] Researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institute of Public Health (Mexico) and their collaborators at universities in the US and the UK* conducted a genome-wide association (GWA) study, in which they ... This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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