Integrating Health Promotion Programs with Health Benefits: The Next Generation of Wellness
Tuesday, April 17th
9 a.m. – 11 a.m.
The American University
Kay Spiritual Center Lounge
Cost:
$15 Professionals/$10 Students
Light breakfast will be available
Payments can be made via check or cash at the door
Please RSVP to cturner@virginiahospitalcenter.com
MEDSCAPE EDUCATION
Medscape Education offers free nursing continuing education hours. Visit the Public Health & Prevention Learning Center at: http://www.medscape.org/publichealth
Research, reference and news updates are also shared on the Medscape website.
February 15, 2011
Contact: Office of Communications
Phone: 202-693-1999
OSHA Issues Enforcement Guidance on Personal Protective
Equipment to Protect General Industry Workers' Safety, Health
WASHINGTON - The Occupational Safety and Health Administration today issued the Enforcement
Guidance for Personal Protective Equipment in General Industry,
a directive that provides enforcement personnel with instructions for
determining whether employers have complied with OSHA personal
protective equipment (PPE) standards.
The directive was effective Feb. 10.
OSHA issued a final rule on Employer Payment for Personal Protective Equipment
in November 2007. The rule required employers in general industry,
shipyard employment, longshoring, marine terminals and construction to
provide most types of required PPE
at no cost to the worker. The agency also issued a final rule in September 2009 updating its PPE standards so that they are more consistent with current
consensus standards.
This directive replaces Inspection Guidelines for 29 CFR 1910 Subpart I, the revised Personal Protective Equipment Standards for General Industry
issued in June 1995. Changes in this directive include clarifying what
type of PPE employers must provide
at no cost to workers and when employers are required and not required
to pay for PPE. The directive also provides guidance that allows
employers to use PPE that complies with current consensus standards and
updates PPE enforcement policies based on court and
review commission decisions.
These personal protective equipment standards require employers to
provide - at no cost to workers - protective equipment, such as goggles
and face shields that fit properly without restricting vision; earplugs
and earmuffs when they will reduce noise to acceptable
levels and are less costly than administrative and engineering controls;
and respirators to protect workers from exposure to air contaminants.
Additionally, the directive lists PPE and other items exempted from the
employer payment requirements and includes
questions and answers useful in clarifying PPE payment concerns.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are
responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their
employees. OSHA's role is to assure these conditions for America's
working men and women by setting and enforcing standards,
and providing training, education and assistance. For more information,
visit http://www.osha.gov/
Fascinating map with links to disease outbreaks, terrorist activity, earth quakes, human trafficking, gang activity, drug interdictions, food/medicine incidents and more.
AAOHN webinars are live, online educational sessions offering continuing
nursing education (CNE) contact hours on a variety of health and safety
subjects pertinent to the occupational health and environmental health
nursing profession. They include audio streaming, a slide presentation,
and an interactive component, which offers participants an opportunity
to submit and receive answers to questions. AAOHN webinars are available
online for a period of one year from the broadcast date. The list of archived webinars below can be accessed through: Archived webinars
Bill Taylor, CSP
Online until April 6, 2013 CNE: 1.0 Contact Hour
ASSOCIATION OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN HEALTHCARE
AOHP in Brief
AOHP, the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare, is dedicated to the health and safety of healthcare workers. AOHP is the only national professional organization with the exclusive mission of addressing the needs and concerns of occupational health professionals in healthcare settings.
Occupational health nurses/professionals take responsibility for employee care. They have a responsibility to advocate for organizational policies that help to recognize occupational hazards and advocate for new and safe technologies. Over 1,000 occupational health nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians and physician assistants belong to AOHP, the single best resource for addressing the unique issues of occupational health.
AOHP Vision
AOHP will be the defining resource and the leading advocate for occupational health and safety in health care.
AOHP Mission
The AOHP is dedicated to promoting the health and safety of workers in healthcare. This is accomplished through:
Advocating for employee health and safety Occupational health education and networking opportunities Health and safety advancement through best practice and research Partnering with employers, regulatory agencies and related associations
E-Newsletter
Making A Difference, AOHP's quarterly electronic newsletter, is widely read for its coverage of clinical practice, regulatory issues, and association news.
Newsletter features include:
Notes from the Executive President
Member spotlights
Event information
Chapter news
Education updates
Regulations
Members can read the current issue online, or browse through the archive.
Groups
demonstrate distinctive collective intelligence when facing difficult tasks
When it comes to intelligence, the whole can indeed be
greater than the sum of its parts. A new study co-authored by MIT researchers
documents the existence of collective intelligence among groups of people who
cooperate well, showing that such intelligence extends beyond the cognitive
abilities of the groups' individual members, and that the tendency to cooperate
effectively is linked to the number of women in a group. Only when analyzing the data did the
co-authors suspect that the number of women in a group had significant
predictive power. "We didn't design this study to focus on the gender effect,"
Malone said. "That was a surprise to us." One implication is that the level of
collective intelligence should keep rising along with the proportion of women
in a group. To be sure, as Malone said, that gender effect is a generalization. "Of course some males have more social skill or social sensitivity than
females," Malone acknowledged. "What our results indicate is that people with
social skills are good for a group - whether they are male or female." Read more:
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/collective-intel-1001.html
Type
D personality associated with increased future risk of heart attack
Heart patients with the "distressed" (Type D)
personality profile may face a higher risk of future cardiovascular problems,
according to a summary article published in the American Heart Association
journal Circulation: Cardiovascular
Quality and Outcomes. The personality classification system that
identified "Type A" decades ago more recently defined Type D as a
personality marked by chronic negative emotions, pessimism and social
inhibition. Researchers noted a
three-fold increase for Type D heart patients in risk of future cardiovascular
issues such as peripheral artery disease, angioplasty or bypass procedures,
heart failure, heart transplantation, heart attack or death. Read more:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100914162301.htm
Seasonal
flu vaccine associated with reduced rate of first heart attack
The seasonal flu vaccine is associated with a 19%
reduction in the rate of first heart attack and early vaccination in the fall
further increases the benefits, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Early vaccination for influenza (between
September and mid-November) was associated with a higher (21%) reduction in the
rate of heart attacks compared with late vaccination which was associated with
a 12% reduction. Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100920123535.htm
Which
marriages will last?
It's
common knowledge that newlyweds who yell or call each other names have a higher
chance of getting divorced. But a new University of Michigan study shows that
other conflict patterns also predict divorce. A particularly toxic pattern is
when one spouse deals with conflict constructively, by calmly discussing the
situation, listening to their partner's point of view, or trying hard to find
out what their partner is feeling, for example -and the other spouse
withdraws. Read more: http://michigantoday.umich.edu/story.php?id=7880
Designing Health Communities Webinar
In advance of October 2011's publication of Designing Healthy
Communities by Richard Jackson (Jossey-Bass/APHA) and the subsequent airing of
the documentary of the same name about Dr. Jackson's work, the author will
participate in a very special free webinar with the Public Health Institute on
Wednesday October 12, 2:00 eastern daylight time.
Government officials are urging everyone over 6 months of age to receive the 2010 influenza vaccine. The recommendation represents a break from past years, when the government focused on vaccinating people in certain "high-risk" groups and those in contact with people at high risk.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices,
a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory panel that
set the recommendation for universal vaccination cited last year's
H1N1 outbreak - which affected many young, healthy people not
traditionally considered to be at high risk for complications from flu - as
part of the reason for the change. In addition, the list of conditions
that put a person at high risk has grown so much over the years that
many people are unaware of their high-risk status. Universal
vaccination is expected to better protect individuals and the
population as a whole.
Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet can help ward off kidney stones
Certain key ingredients of a diet designed to prevent high blood
pressure can ward off kidney stones, according to a study appearing in
an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The results suggest how low-fat dairy products and/or plants may have potent kidney stone-fighting properties.
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet - which is high
in fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, dairy products, and whole
grains and is low in sweetened beverages and red and processed meats -
effectively lowers blood pressure. Research by Eric Taylor, MD (Brigham
and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Maine Medical Center)
and his colleagues also now suggests that a DASH-style diet reduces
one's risk of developing kidney stones.
Study Examines Association Between Urban
Living and Psychotic Disorders
ScienceDaily (Sep. 7, 2010) -
The association between psychotic disorders and living in urban areas
appears to be a reflection of increased social fragmentation present
within cities, according to a report in the September issue of Archives
of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The authors comment that, "being raised in more urbanized areas was
associated with an increased risk of developing any nonaffective
psychotic disorder." Additionally, "this association was explained
primarily by area characteristics rather than by characteristics of the
individuals themselves. Social fragmentation was the most important area
characteristic that explained the increased risk of psychosis in
individuals brought up in cities."
Vitamin D Is a Prognostic Marker in
Heart Failure, Study Finds
Survival rates in heart failure patients with reduced levels of vitamin D
are lower than in patients with normal levels. This is the finding of a
major study carried out at University Medical Center, Groningen,
Netherlands, according to a presentation at the European Society of
Cardiology's Congress 2010 in Stockholm. In the current study, vitamin D concentration was assessed in plasma
samples from 548 heart failure patients, using data supplied by the
Coordinating study evaluating Outcomes of Advising and Counselling in
Heart failure (COACH). Results showed that vitamin D concentration is
associated with the prognosis of heart failure. Patients with lower
concentrations had a higher risk of death or required
re-hospitalisation, whereas patients with higher concentrations had
lower survival risks for these endpoints. Further, significant
correlations between vitamin D, and Plasma Renin Activity and C-Reactive
Protein were found. These correlations suggest that the association
between vitamin D and the prognosis in heart failure may be explained by
activation of the RAS and an altered cytokine profile.
New FREE online course available
from NY/NJ Public Health Training Center
The "Messenger
Chronicles" online training series presents ideas for
communication in difficult situations. The latest module, "Managing
Stress and Time," helps learners to recognize the symptoms of
stress and the factors that may increase their susceptibility to
stress.
Strategies to manage stress are offered in the scenario-based
training. Learners
are also given a framework for managing and prioritizing tasks to
help
minimize "stress-causing" situations. Job aids like the "Project Startup Tool" and the "Urgent/Important
Matrix" are provided for learners' use.
Like the other modules in
"The Messenger Chronicles," "Managing
Stress and Time" features strategies and frameworks used in
real-world situations that learners can apply to their own
environments.
Open-ended and multiple-choice questions give learners the
opportunity to
reflect on the course content and compare their thoughts to expert
recommendations.
After taking this module, you will be able to:
List four symptoms of stress.
Describe two ways people react to stress.
List some factors that affect a person"s vulnerability
to stress.
List and describe four ways to manage stress.
Explain the "myth of multi-tasking."
Describe how the "Urgent/Important" matrix will be
used in personal work.
List two reasons why a person may procrastinate.
If you have not taken other modules in the "Messenger
Chronicles" series, it is recommended that you start with the first
module
in the series, "Introduction
and the Four Cs."
Free continuing education credits are available for
online
courses.
To access the
course through
the NYNJ PHTC, click
here.
Cashew Seed Extract Show Promise in Managing Diabetes
Cashew seed extract shows promise as an effective anti-diabetic,
according to a new study from the University of Montreal (Canada) and
the Universite de Yaounde (Cameroun). Published in the journal Molecular
Nutrition & Food Research, the investigation analyzed the
reputed health benefits of cashew tree products on diabetes, notably
whether cashew extracts could improve the body's response to its own
insulin.
Cashew tree products have long been alleged to be effective
anti-inflammatory agents, counter high blood sugar and prevent insulin
resistance among diabetics. "Our study validates the traditional use of
cashew tree products in diabetes and points to some of its natural
components that can serve to create new oral therapies," adds Dr.
Haddad, who is also director of the Canadian Institutes of Health
Research Team in Aboriginal Anti-Diabetic Medicines at the University of
Montreal.
Stimulating Fingers, Lips, or Face in General May Help Prevent Stroke
The most common type of stroke can be completely prevented in rats by
stimulating a single whisker, according to a new study by UC Irvine
researchers. In people, "stimulating the fingers, lips or face in general could all
have a similar effect," says UCI doctoral student Melissa Davis,
co-author of the study, which appears in the June issue of PLoS ONE.
The team discovered that mechanically stroking just one whisker for
four minutes within the first two hours of the blockage caused the blood
to quickly flow to other arteries -- like cars exiting a gridlocked
freeway to find detours.
But unlike freeway off-ramps, which can quickly clog, the alternate
arteries expanded beyond their normal size, opening wide to allow
critical blood flow to the brain. The technique was 100 percent
effective in preventing strokes in rats with arterial obstruction.
Free Vision Screening Offer for DC Area OM Clinics
Once again, the Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington is beginning a new program year in September 2010, and providing FREE glaucoma and visual acuity screenings is a big part of our program. With your support, we have screened more than 6000 adults during this past year and referred approximately 25% of those screened to their eye care
professional for further evaluation and treatment. The success of this program has been largely due to YOU in planning and implementing health fairs and glaucoma/visual acuity screenings for the employees of your organization.
Many of you have already scheduled events for the Fall 2010 and I urge all those who have not to get on my calendar if you are planning events between September and December 2010. I look forward to hearing from you and please feel free to share this message with your colleagues who may be interested in scheduling vision screenings for their organization.
Hal Morrison, Director
Adult Vision Screening Program
Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington
240-731-2430 hesh216@gmail.com
Severe Angina Poses 3X Risk for CAD in Women vs. Men
Women who have the most serious form of angina are three times as likely
to develop severe coronary artery disease (CAD) as men with the same
condition, according to the July issue of the Journal of Internal
Medicine.
Regular use of fish oil supplements, which contain high levels of the
omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, was linked with a 32 percent reduced
risk of breast cancer. The reduction in risk appeared to be restricted
to invasive ductal breast cancer, the most common type of the disease.
In advance of next month's publication of Designing Healthy
Communities by Richard Jackson (Jossey-Bass/APHA) and the subsequent airing of
the documentary of the same name about Dr. Jackson's work, the author will
participate in a very special free webinar with the Public Health Institute on
Wednesday October 12, 2:00 eastern daylight time.
Severity of binge eating disorder (BED) associated with childhood sexual or emotional abuse
"Childhood sexual abuse or emotional abuse were associated with greater
body dissatisfaction in BED, whereas physical abuse or physical or
emotional neglect were not," explained Dunkley, a project director at
the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at the JGH and Assistant
Professor of Psychiatry at McGill University.
Tiny particles may help surgeons by marking brain tumors
COLUMBUS, Ohio - - Researchers have developed a way to enhance how
brain tumors appear in MRI scans and during surgery, making the tumors
easier for surgeons to identify and remove.
Scientists at Ohio State University are experimenting with
different nanoparticles that they hope may one day be injected into the
blood of patients and help surgeons remove lethal brain tumors known as
glioblastomas.
Panic Disorder and Anxiety Can Be Treated over the Internet, Study Shows
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) via the internet is just as effective
in treating panic disorder (recurring panic attacks) as traditional
group-based CBT. It is also efficacious in the treatment of mild and
moderate depression. This according to a new doctoral thesis soon to be
presented at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.
Surgical Masks Provided Effective Protection of Health-Care
Workers Against H1N1, Study Suggests
ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2010) The effectiveness of ordinary surgical masks
as opposed to respirators in protecting health care workers against the 2009
H1N1 influenza virus has been the subject of debate. An observational study
published in the April 1, 2010 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, available
online, suggests that surgical masks are just as effective as respirators in
this regard.Read more:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100325143055.htm
Chemical
Exposure Before Mid-30s May Be Critical in Breast Cancer Development
ScienceDaily
(Apr. 1, 2010)Occupational exposure to certain
chemicals and pollutants before a woman reaches her mid-30s could treble her
risk of developing cancer after the menopause, suggests research published in Occupational and Environmental
Medicine.Read more:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100331201539.htm
Desk Ergonomics Seminar presented by Stephen Sarro
Thank you to Stephen Sarro for helping us understand that desk work can cause injury to some people. The way a work station is configured can
cause injury and disability to the spine and extremities. Stephen explained to us, with demonstration and hands-on practice, how to assess the individual for potential nerve and muscle stressors, and to set up a desk
for the best possible bio-mechanics. Stephen met his goal that we left this one hour lecture more confident in our ability to perform
ergonomic assessments.
Contact Stephen for training or ergonomic assessments: stephen.sarro@ssptdc.com Sports and Spinal Physical Therapy
Stephen Sarro, PT OMT
Assessing potential neck muscle involvement
Assessiong potential arm nerve involvement
White rye bread leads to better insulin and blood sugar levels
Research at the Lund University Faculty of Engineering shows that bread baked with white rye flour, which is flour made from the inner, white part of the rye kernel, leads to better insulin and blood sugar levels compared with wheat bread with rye bran. Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100212210212.htm
Educational Information from CDC - joint venture with Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education
The Roadmap (http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/roadmap/index.htm ) is a step-by-step guide for HDSP
public health practitioners in the systematic approach to developing a
state-level HDSP program.
The steps arelisted on
the right hand side menu along with a link to resources and training, which you
may especially find useful.
Web-based CDCynergy for HeartDisease and Stroke Prevention
(http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/CDCynergy_training/) a self-guided tutorial on
developing health communication campaigns related to heartdisease and stroke prevention.
CDC/HDSP's home page (http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/index.htm)- this page will give you an overview of many ofthe resources available from
CDC HDSP
CDC/HDSP's annual meeting page
(http://www.orau.gov/hsc/hdspinstitute/ )- ORISE provides technical assistance annually to
CDC/HDSP's meeting which includes workshops and training on HDSP's
program priorities. We create this page after the meeting every year and
post the informational and training materials from the meeting.
Want more info:
A.M. Lindsey, Group Manager, Health Training Health and Safety Communications, MS -10
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education
PO Box 117
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-0117
865-576-2267 (6264 fax) AM.Lindsey@orise.orau.gov
The
world is a dangerously contaminated place. While you're certainly aware
of many common health risks and germ factories, we went looking for
less-known hazards that lurk where we sleep, eat and frolic.
Hotels
and motels are among the leading culprits for spreading disease. In
August 2009, media reports revealed that state inspectors from the
Florida Division of Hotels and Restaurants, which includes the
resort-happy city of Orlando, inspected 7,000 hotels and motels and
found 27,000 health and safety violations. Showerheads, doorknobs,
drinking glasses, saunas, tubs, swimming pools, Tylenol overdose for
hangovers, energy drinks, radiation risk from CT Scans, and more.
NIAID Scientists Propose New
Explanation for Flu Virus Antigenic Drift
Influenza viruses evade
infection-fighting antibodies by constantly changing the shape of their major
surface protein. This shape-shifting, called antigenic drift, is why
influenza vaccines - which are designed to elicit antibodies matched to each
year's circulating virus strains - must be reformulated annually. Now,
researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),
part of the National Institutes of Health, have proposed a new explanation
for the evolutionary forces that drive antigenic drift. The findings in mice,
using a strain of seasonal influenza virus first isolated in 1934, also
suggest that antigenic drift might be slowed by increasing the number of
children vaccinated against influenza.
Scott Hensley, Ph.D., Jonathan W.
Yewdell, M.D., Ph.D., and Jack R. Bennink, Ph.D., led the research team,
whose findings appear in the current issue of Science."Our model predicts that decreasing the
immunologically naive population - by increasing the number of children
vaccinated against influenza, for example - could slow the rate of antigenic
drift and extend the duration of effectiveness of seasonal influenza
vaccines," he says.
Reference: SE Hensley et al. Hemagglutinin receptor binding avidity
drives influenza A virus antigenic drift. Science. DOI:
10.1126/science.1178258 (2009).
Tiny carbon nanotubes are being considered for use in
everything from sports equipment to medical applications, but a great deal
remains unknown about whether these materials cause respiratory or other health
problems. Now a collaborative study from North Carolina State University, The
Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, and the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences shows that inhaling these nanotubes can affect
the outer lining of the lung, though the effects of long-term exposure remain
unclear.
Using mice in an animal model study, the researchers set out
to determine what happens when multi-walled carbon nanotubes are inhaled.
Specifically, researchers wanted to determine whether the nanotubes would be
able to reach the pleura, which is the tissue that lines the outside of the
lungs and is affected by exposure to certain types of asbestos fibers which
cause the cancer mesothelioma. The researchers used inhalation exposure and
found that inhaled nanotubes do reach the pleura and cause health effects. Inhaled carbon nanotubes accumulate within cells at the
pleural lining of the lung as visualized by light microscopy.
Short-term studies described in the paper do not allow
conclusions about long-term responses such as cancer. However, the inhaled
nanotubes "clearly reach the target tissue for mesothelioma and cause a
unique pathologic reaction on the surface of the pleura, and caused
fibrosis," says Dr. James Bonner, associate professor of environmental and
molecular toxicology at NC State and senior author of the study.
New laryngoscope could make difficult intubations easier
AUGUSTA, Ga. - A new tool developed by a Medical College of
Georgia resident and faculty member may make it easier to place assisted
breathing devices under difficult circumstances.About 2 percent of patients that undergo the
process, called intubation, experience complications - regardless if it's
performed in an emergency situation or prior to surgery. During normal
intubation, a physician stands behind a patient's head and uses a metal scope
to open the mouth and guide a flexible plastic tube into the trachea. The tube
is used to maintain a patient's airway and provide a pathway for mechanical
ventilation if necessary.Difficult
intubations can be traumatic for patients and lead to problems such as cracked
teeth, he says.
To make those intubations easier, the physicians
developed the Video Rigid Flexible Laryngoscope.The device is the first of its kind to merge
two technologies - video and articulation, he says. It's being used
successfully at MCGHealth Medical Center and at other hospitals in California,
North Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin.
Pain In The Neck: Too
Much Texting Could Lead To Overuse Injuries
ScienceDaily (Nov. 10, 2009) The world record for fastest
text message typing is held by a 21-year old college student from Utah, but his
dexterous digits could mean serious injury later on. Most adults aged 18-21
prefer texting over e-mail or phone calls, and ergonomics researchers are
starting to wonder whether it's putting the younger generation at risk for some
overuse injuries -- once reserved for older adults who have spent years in
front of a computer.
Judith Gold, an assistant professor of Epidemiology at the
College of Health Professions and Social Work, thinks this might be the case.
At this year's annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, she
presented preliminary research which suggested that among college students, the
more they texted, the more pain they had in their neck and shoulders.
World Trade Center responders plagued with asthma:Reported asthma in 9/11 responders 2X greater
than general population
Responders to the 2001 World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist
attacks, who were exposed to caustic dust and toxic pollutants following the
9/11 disaster, suffer from asthma at a rate more than twice that of the general
US population, according to new research presented at CHEST 2009, the 75th
annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians
(ACCP).
As many as 8 percent of the workers and volunteers who
engaged in rescue and recovery, essential service restoration, and cleanup
efforts in the wake of 9/11 reported experiencing post-9/11 asthma attacks or
episodes, compared with 4 percent of the general population. Furthermore, the
lifetime prevalence of asthma in WTC responders was marked by a dramatic
increase from 3 percent pre-9/11 to a high of 16 percent in each of the years
from 2005 through 2007.
This article is by an RN, Amy Knowles, with public health and emergency care experience who while participating in the University of Tennessee School of Nursing Department of Homeland Security Program, became aware of the U.S./Japan Radiation Effects Research Foundation and its work with survivors of the A-Bomb blasts of WWII. This is an interesting description of the research she did in her dissertation. The short PDF contains her story. To learn more contact Dr. Knowles at: aknowles@utk.edu
MWAOHN members had the pleasure of participating in a training activity by a gifted speaker on the topic of stress in nurses. The focus was on us as health professionals: how we help ourselves with new ways of stress reduction.
Ms. Preeti Chandramani, Masters of Science in Industrial Management and Masters of Arts in Organizational Psychology, conducted the training, entertaining us with many charming allegories and analogies from her ancestors and culture.
Ms. Chandramani helped us identify stressors, determine which we could manage, and interventions to help us become more resilient in our professional lives.
We highly recommend Ms. Chandramani if you are looking for a dynamic, interesting speaker for your organization.
Study Shows Common Pain Cream Could Protect Heart During Attack
CINCINNATI - New
research from the University of Cincinnati shows that a common,
over-the-counter pain salve rubbed on the skin during a heart attack
could serve as a cardiac-protectant, preventing or reducing damage to
the heart while interventions are administered. They also found that a small incision made on the abdomen triggered an 81 percent reduction. "Both
this and the capsaicin effect are shown to work through similar
neurological mechanisms," Keith Jones, PhD says. "These are the most powerful
cardioprotective effects recorded to date. We
think that this technique is fooling the body into sending out
protective signals, Jones adds. This may be similar to the way
certain acupuncture treatments work; there may be a neurological basis.
In a broad sense, this work may provide a 'Rosetta stone' for
translating alternative medicine techniques - like acupuncture - to Western
medicine. Perhaps we can understand the biological mechanisms of how
alternative treatments may be successful for patients."
A clue to the elusive cause of type 1 diabetes: Ottawa researchers investigate immune response to wheat
August 20, 2009 Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa have discovered what may be an important clue to the cause of type 1 diabetes. Dr. Fraser Scott and his team tested 42 people with type 1 diabetes and found that nearly half had an abnormal immune response to wheat proteins. The study is published in the August 2009 issue of the journal Diabetes.
Early in life, the immune system is supposed to learn to attack foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria, while leaving the body's own tissues and harmless molecules in the environment alone (including food in the gut). When this process goes awry, autoimmune diseases and allergies can develop. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the pancreas, the organ that regulates blood sugar. Dr. Scott's research is the first to clearly show that immune cells called T cells from people with type 1 diabetes are also more likely to over-react to wheat. His research also shows that the over-reaction is linked to genes associated with type 1 diabetes. Read more: http://www.ohri.ca/newsroom/newsstory.asp?ID=189
Research shows why low vitamin D raises heart disease risks in diabetics
Aug. 21, 2009 -- Low levels of vitamin D are known to nearly double the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes, and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis now think they know why. They have found that diabetics deficient in vitamin D can't process cholesterol normally, so it builds up in their blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. The new research has identified a mechanism linking low vitamin D levels to heart disease risk and may lead to ways to fix the problem, simply by increasing levels of vitamin Read more: http://mednews.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/14489.html
Google Trends for Influenza - 2 Weeks Ahead of Official Reporting
An important trend Google tracks is influenza. Using their technology, they have found that Internet searches about influenza show increases in estimated flu activity about two weeks in advance of reports by CDC or other reporting organizations. OHNs might want to periodically check this webpage to determine if influenza activity they are observing is also reflected in data from their state, the Nation, and around the World. http://www.google.org/flutrends/intl/en_us/
Disaster Mental Health Recommendations from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response: November 2008
The Recommendations are:
Integrate mental and behavioral health into all public health and medical preparedness and response activities.
Enhance the research agenda for disaster mental and behavioral health.
Enhance assessment of mental and behavioral health needs during emergencies.
Enhance disaster mental and behavioral health training for professionals and paraprofessionals.
Promote the population's psychological resilience.
Ensure that the needs of at-risk individuals and issues of cultural responsiveness are being addressed in all efforts of the National Biodefense Science Board.
Develop a disaster mental and behavioral health communication strategy.
Develop an accessible Internet-based communication toolkit.
Read the entire report and action steps for implementing the recommendations at:
Dye used to make Blue M&Ms and Blue Gatorade Linked to Reducing Spinal Cord Injury
The
same blue food dye found in M&Ms and Gatorade could be used to
reduce damage caused by spine injuries, offering a better chance of
recovery, according to new research. Researchers at the University of
Rochester Medical Center found that when they injected the compound
Brilliant Blue G (BBG) into rats suffering spinal cord injuries, the
rodents were able to walk again, albeit with a limp. The only side
effect was that the treated mice temporarily turned blue. The results
of the study, published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences," build on research conducted by the same center five years
ago. Read the story at: http://www.pnas.org/content/106/30/12489
Study Explains Why Police Officers have a Higher Risk of Developing Heart Disease
In the most
recent results coming out of one of the few long-term studies being
conducted within this tightly knit society, University at Buffalo
researchers have determined that underlying the higher incidence of
subclinical atherosclerosis -- arterial thickening that precedes a
heart attack or stroke - may be the stress of police work.
In the study
from the University of Buffalo, accepted for publication in Psychiatry Research, that looked at the
male-female differences in stress and signs of heart disease,
researchers found that female police officers had higher levels of
cortisol when they awoke, and the levels remained high throughout the
day. Cortisol normally is highest in the morning and decreases to its
lowest point in the evening. The constantly high cortisol levels were
associated with less arterial elasticity, a risk factor for heart
disease.
"When
cortisol becomes dysregulated due to chronic stress, it opens a
person to disease," John Violanti,
Ph.D., UB associate professor of social and preventive medicine
said. "The body becomes
physiologically unbalanced, organs are attacked and the immune system
is compromised as well. It's unfortunate, but that's what stress does
to us."
In the current
study, the researchers used carotid artery thickness to assess heart
disease risk. Participants were 322 clinically healthy active-duty
police officers from the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police
Stress study and 318 healthy persons from the ongoing UB
Western New York Health Study matched to the officers by age.
All measurements
were taken in the morning after a 12-hour fast. In addition to
testing carotid thickness via ultrasound, investigators measured
blood pressure, body size, cholesterol (both total and HDL) and
glucose. They collected information on physical activity, symptoms of
depression, alcohol consumption and smoking history. These are the
factors that typically cause heart disease.
Results showed
that police work was associated with increased subclinical
cardiovascular disease -- there was more plaque build-up in the
carotid artery -- compared to the general population that could not
be explained by those conventional heart disease risk factors.
Researchers at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania
have discovered that a widely used anti-diabetic drug, metformin, can boost the
immune system and increase the potency of vaccines and cancer
treatments. They discovered that the widely prescribed diabetes treatment metformin
increases the efficiency of the immune system's T-cells, which in turn
makes cancer and virus-fighting vaccines more effective.
"We serendipitously discovered that the metabolizing, or burning, of
fatty acids by T-cells following the peak of infection is critical to
establishing immunological memory," Pearce added. "We used metformin,
which is known to operate on fatty-acid metabolism, to enhance this
process, and have shown experimentally in mice that metformin increases
T-cell memory as well as the ensuing protective immunity of an
experimental anti-cancer vaccine."
Few talk about cancer and diabetes in the same breath. However,
recent advances have uncovered common links between cancer and
diabetes, in particular how metabolic pathways, the basic chemical
reactions that happen in our cells, are controlled in these diseases.
The recent findings suggest a new link between the metabolic pathways
deregulated in cancer and diabetes and their role in immune cell
function. The results suggest that common diabetic therapies which
alter cellular metabolism may enhance T-cell memory, providing a boost
to the immune system. This could lead to novel strategies for vaccine
and anti-cancer therapies.
"Our findings were unanticipated, but are potentially extremely
important and could revolutionize current strategies for both
therapeutic and protective vaccines," Choi said.
In 2000, the total cost (direct and indirect) attributable to obesity was estimated to be $117 billion, and between 1987 and 2001, diseases associated with obesity accounted for 27 percent of the increases in medical costs.
Medical expenses for obese employees are estimated to be between 29
percent and 117 percent greater than medical expenses for employees
with a healthy weight.
What is the cost of obesity to your organization?
"CDC's LEAN Works! Leading Employees to Activity and Nutrition" is a FREE
web-based resource that offers interactive tools and evidence-based
resources to design effective worksite obesity prevention and control
programs, including an obesity cost calculator to estimate how much
obesity is costing your company and how much savings your company could
reap with different workplace interventions.
Recommended by Wellness Program Manager at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Michael Thorn
Study: Lap Band Surgery for Obese Teens Results in Reduced Metabolic Syndrome Risk
"An
estimated 17 percent of all American adolescents are obese, and
increasing numbers of them also have metabolic syndrome," says
Dr. Fennoy, a pediatric endocrinologist at NewYork-Presbyterian
Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, clinical professor of pediatrics
at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and
co-author of the study. "Until recently, there have been few
treatments capable of helping these young patients lose weight, much
less improving their lifelong health prospects. The Lap-Band may well
be a useful intervention for tackling teen obesity -- which is why it
is so important to investigate the procedure's safety and efficacy in
this growing population."
In the new
study, Dr. Fennoy and her colleagues followed 24 morbidly obese
adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 who underwent the Lap-Band
procedure. The study participants either had a BMI of greater than 40
or greater than 35 if already suffering from diabetes or
obesity-related illnesses.
Six months after
surgery, they noted a significant drop in participants' BMI, waist
circumference, and blood levels of C-reactive protein. These
indicators continued to improve among the 12 patients being followed
up at the one-year point.
Other measures
of metabolic syndrome such as blood lipid and sugar levels, the
authors reported, came down quickly in the first six months, with
"less dramatic" changes seen one year after surgery.
The Economic Impact of Pandemic Influenza in the United
States: Priorities for Intervention
OHNs may find this publication of use when writing justification for influenza immunization programs.
Martin I. Meltzer, Nancy J. Cox, and Keiji Fukuda
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Abstract: We estimated the possible effects of the next influenza
pandemic in the United States and analyzed the economic impact of vaccine-based
interventions. Using death rates, hospitalization data, and outpatient visits, we
estimated 89,000 to 207,000 deaths; 314,000 to 734,000 hospitalizations; 18 to 42 million
outpatient visits; and 20 to 47 million additional illnesses. Patients at high risk (15%
of the population) would account for approximately 84% of all deaths. The estimated
economic impact would be US$71.3 to $166.5 billion, excluding disruptions to commerce and
society. At $21 per vaccinee, we project a net savings to society if persons in all age
groups are vaccinated. At $62 per vaccinee and at gross attack rates of 25%, we project
net losses if persons not at high risk for complications are vaccinated. Vaccinating 60%
of the population would generate the highest economic returns but may not be possible
within the time required for vaccine effectiveness, especially if two doses of vaccine are
required.
Pandemic Influenza: Implications for Occupational Medicine
Abstract
This
article reviews the biological and occupational medicine literature
related to H5N1 pandemic influenza and its impact on infection
control, cost and business continuity in settings outside the health
care community. The literature on H5N1 biology is reviewed including
the treatment and infection control mechanisms as they pertain to
occupational medicine. Planning activity for the potential arrival of
pandemic avian influenza is growing rapidly. Much has been published
on the molecular biology of H5N1 but there remains a paucity of
literature on the occupational medicine impacts to organizations.
This review summarizes some of the basic science surrounding H5N1
influenza and raises some key concerns in pandemic planning for the
occupational medicine professional. Workplaces other than health care
settings will be impacted greatly by an H5N1 pandemic and the
occupational physician will play an essential role in corporate
preparation, response, and business continuity strategies.
