Your Health Encyclopedia 2010-03-17T10:38:15+00:00 Obesity inches down in young Chicago children, but rates still much higher than nationally 2010-03-17T10:37:00+00:00 There’s a glimmer of hope in new data on obesity in Chicago kids. The percentage of Chicago youngsters aged 3 to 7 who are obese fell to 22 percent in 2008, from 24 percent in 2003. That’s according to the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children. The consortium’s Dr. Adam Becker says the 2 percent drop represents about 700 fewer obese children. There’s a glimmer of hope in new data on obesity in Chicago kids.

The percentage of Chicago youngsters aged 3 to 7 who are obese fell to 22 percent in 2008, from 24 percent in 2003.

That’s according to the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children. The consortium’s Dr. Adam Becker says the 2 percent drop represents about 700 fewer obese children.

]]> Common Cold Symptoms Not Washed Away by Nose Irrigation 2010-03-17T10:03:00+00:00 Washing out your nose with a spray or spout of salt water is safe and might even get you back to work sooner after a cold or acute sinus infection. However, there is not enough evidence to show that it can reduce your symptoms significantly, according to a new research review. The three studies in the review included small numbers of patients and varied widely in their details, “which means small beneficial effects may be missed,” said lead author David King, M.D., of the University of Queensland, in Australia. One study found that people were more likely to return to work sooner after using the nose washes, and there was some intriguing evidence that nasal washes might reduce antibiotic prescriptions among those who seek the saltwater treatment. Washing out your nose with a spray or spout of salt water is safe and might even get you back to work sooner after a cold or acute sinus infection. However, there is not enough evidence to show that it can reduce your symptoms significantly, according to a new research review.

The three studies in the review included small numbers of patients and varied widely in their details, “which means small beneficial effects may be missed,” said lead author David King, M.D., of the University of Queensland, in Australia.

One study found that people were more likely to return to work sooner after using the nose washes, and there was some intriguing evidence that nasal washes might reduce antibiotic prescriptions among those who seek the saltwater treatment.

]]> British TB cases at highest since 1980s 2010-03-17T09:44:00+00:00 Cases of tuberculosis (TB) in Britain rose by 5.5 percent in the past year and are at their highest levels since the 1980s, health authorities said on Tuesday. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said there were more than 9,150 cases of TB in 2009, most of them among immigrants. The main burden of infection was in London with 3,476 cases reported in 2009, accounting for 38 percent of the nationwide total. Nearly three-quarters of all cases were in people born outside Britain, the figures showed. Cases of tuberculosis (TB) in Britain rose by 5.5 percent in the past year and are at their highest levels since the 1980s, health authorities said on Tuesday.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said there were more than 9,150 cases of TB in 2009, most of them among immigrants.

The main burden of infection was in London with 3,476 cases reported in 2009, accounting for 38 percent of the nationwide total. Nearly three-quarters of all cases were in people born outside Britain, the figures showed.

]]> Bird flu outbreak in Romania, near Ukraine 2010-03-17T09:41:00+00:00 Romania has identified an outbreak of bird flu at a poultry farm close to Ukraine and enforced a 20 kilometre-wide surveillance zone around it, the European Union’s executive said on Tuesday. The outbreak of the H5N1 virus in the commune of Letea near the Ukrainian border is the first detected in Europe since it was found in a wild duck in Germany a year ago. “Romania’s national laboratory confirmed yesterday that the outbreak concerns the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza,” the European Commission said in a statement. Romania has identified an outbreak of bird flu at a poultry farm close to Ukraine and enforced a 20 kilometre-wide surveillance zone around it, the European Union’s executive said on Tuesday.

The outbreak of the H5N1 virus in the commune of Letea near the Ukrainian border is the first detected in Europe since it was found in a wild duck in Germany a year ago.

“Romania’s national laboratory confirmed yesterday that the outbreak concerns the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza,” the European Commission said in a statement.

]]> Childhood obesity gains, losses 2010-03-16T10:34:00+00:00 Fewer Chicago kids entering kindergarten and first grade were obese in 2008 vs. five years earlier. But children in Chicago are still more likely to be fatter than kids nationwide and, by sixth grade, more than one in four kids here is obese. Those are the key findings of a new study by the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children that suggests that efforts to fight childhood obesity in Chicago might be starting to have an effect but also reflects how daunting the problem is. Efforts here to attack early childhood obesity “seem to be making a difference,” said Adam Becker, executive director of the Chicago consortium, based at Children’s Memorial Hospital. “But we still have a lot of work to do.” Fewer Chicago kids entering kindergarten and first grade were obese in 2008 vs. five years earlier. But children in Chicago are still more likely to be fatter than kids nationwide and, by sixth grade, more than one in four kids here is obese.

Those are the key findings of a new study by the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children that suggests that efforts to fight childhood obesity in Chicago might be starting to have an effect but also reflects how daunting the problem is.

Efforts here to attack early childhood obesity “seem to be making a difference,” said Adam Becker, executive director of the Chicago consortium, based at Children’s Memorial Hospital. “But we still have a lot of work to do.”

]]> Fighting Child Obesity: States Lead The Way 2010-03-16T10:31:01+00:00 The March issue of Health Affairs is a thematic issue focusing on the child obesity epidemic and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Two days after the issue and an accompanying series of policy briefs was released at a March 2 Washington DC briefing, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held the first of a planned series of hearings on child obesity. Today, the Health Affairs Blog offers posts from Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), the ranking member of the HELP Committee (below) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), the chairman of the panel. Our nation faces an epidemic of childhood obesity that threatens the lives, health, and financial independence of our children and grandchildren. As a result of growing rates of obesity, millions of American children and adolescents will develop heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other serious medical conditions. Obesity-related health care costs, particularly for programs like Medicare and Medicaid, will continue to increase—well beyond their already unsustainable levels. To save lives, improve health, and prevent rising costs, we must work together—federal, state, and local governments; schools and teachers; parents and children—to fight childhood obesity. The problem we face is staggering. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the rate of childhood obesity has tripled in the last thirty years. Today, 20 percent of children struggle with obesity, and in thirty states, childhood obesity rates have topped 30 percent. For most of these children, their struggles with obesity will follow them into adulthood, as 80 percent of severely overweight teenagers remain obese into their late twenties and beyond.  The March issue of Health Affairs is a thematic issue focusing on the child obesity epidemic and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Two days after the issue and an accompanying series of policy briefs was released at a March 2 Washington DC briefing, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held the first of a planned series of hearings on child obesity. Today, the Health Affairs Blog offers posts from Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), the ranking member of the HELP Committee (below) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), the chairman of the panel.

Our nation faces an epidemic of childhood obesity that threatens the lives, health, and financial independence of our children and grandchildren. As a result of growing rates of obesity, millions of American children and adolescents will develop heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other serious medical conditions. Obesity-related health care costs, particularly for programs like Medicare and Medicaid, will continue to increase—well beyond their already unsustainable levels.

To save lives, improve health, and prevent rising costs, we must work together—federal, state, and local governments; schools and teachers; parents and children—to fight childhood obesity. The problem we face is staggering. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the rate of childhood obesity has tripled in the last thirty years. Today, 20 percent of children struggle with obesity, and in thirty states, childhood obesity rates have topped 30 percent. For most of these children, their struggles with obesity will follow them into adulthood, as 80 percent of severely overweight teenagers remain obese into their late twenties and beyond. 

]]> Obesity Prevention is Focus of Global Nutrition Transition Conference 2010-03-16T10:16:00+00:00 Physicians and nutrition scientists from around the world gathered today in Orlando for the opening of the Global Nutrition Transition Conference in order to discuss emerging trends and grass roots solutions to the global obesity epidemic employing balanced nutrition and teaching healthy active lifestyles. The conference is addressing what is termed the Nutrition Transition—the effect of the globalization of the Western diet which is changing dietary patterns and the incidence of overweight and obesity throughout the world. Conference presenters focused on the dramatic increases in the incidence of overweight and obesity in countries where, until recently, obesity was virtually unknown. Today’s speakers included Dr. Adam Drewnowski, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington, Seattle; Dr. Anoop Misra, director of the Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases department of the Fortis Group of Hospitals in New Delhi, India; Dr. Nataniel Viuniski of Unimed Hospital, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Dr. Linong Ji of Peking University in China; and Dr. Marion Flechtner-Mors of the University of Ulm, Germany.  Physicians and nutrition scientists from around the world gathered today in Orlando for the opening of the Global Nutrition Transition Conference in order to discuss emerging trends and grass roots solutions to the global obesity epidemic employing balanced nutrition and teaching healthy active lifestyles.

The conference is addressing what is termed the Nutrition Transition—the effect of the globalization of the Western diet which is changing dietary patterns and the incidence of overweight and obesity throughout the world. Conference presenters focused on the dramatic increases in the incidence of overweight and obesity in countries where, until recently, obesity was virtually unknown.

Today’s speakers included Dr. Adam Drewnowski, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington, Seattle; Dr. Anoop Misra, director of the Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases department of the Fortis Group of Hospitals in New Delhi, India; Dr. Nataniel Viuniski of Unimed Hospital, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Dr. Linong Ji of Peking University in China; and Dr. Marion Flechtner-Mors of the University of Ulm, Germany. 

]]> Sleep apnea as common as asthma in German kids 2010-03-15T19:15:00+00:00 A new German study suggests that about 3 percent of school-age children may have the nighttime breathing disorder sleep apnea—similar to the country’s rate of childhood asthma. The findings suggest that there needs to be greater awareness of sleep apnea as a problem among children, researchers report in the European Respiratory Journal. Obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, occurs when the soft tissues at the back of the throat temporarily collapse during sleep, causing repeated breathing interruptions. The major symptoms include loud snoring and daytime sleepiness owing to a lack of deep sleep at night. A new German study suggests that about 3 percent of school-age children may have the nighttime breathing disorder sleep apnea—similar to the country’s rate of childhood asthma.

The findings suggest that there needs to be greater awareness of sleep apnea as a problem among children, researchers report in the European Respiratory Journal.

Obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, occurs when the soft tissues at the back of the throat temporarily collapse during sleep, causing repeated breathing interruptions. The major symptoms include loud snoring and daytime sleepiness owing to a lack of deep sleep at night.

]]> U.S. stem cell expert is “hottest” researcher 2010-03-15T19:07:00+00:00 Rudolf Jaenisch, whose stem cell lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has consistently broken new barriers in the field, is the world’s “hottest” researcher, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. The annual hot list from Thomson Reuters’ Science Watch also names four genome experts at MIT and Harvard University’s Broad Institute - Mark Daly, David Altshuler, and Paul I.W. de Bakker and Eric Lander. Biostatistician Goncalo Abecasis of the University of Michigan, who has worked with the Broad team, also makes the top 12 list, as do Manchester University materials professors Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who discovered graphene, the two-dimensional form of carbon and who also worked on a new adhesive known commonly as gecko tape. Rudolf Jaenisch, whose stem cell lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has consistently broken new barriers in the field, is the world’s “hottest” researcher, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

The annual hot list from Thomson Reuters’ Science Watch also names four genome experts at MIT and Harvard University’s Broad Institute - Mark Daly, David Altshuler, and Paul I.W. de Bakker and Eric Lander.

Biostatistician Goncalo Abecasis of the University of Michigan, who has worked with the Broad team, also makes the top 12 list, as do Manchester University materials professors Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who discovered graphene, the two-dimensional form of carbon and who also worked on a new adhesive known commonly as gecko tape.

]]> Childhood Obesity Rates Driven by Snacking 2010-03-15T18:15:00+00:00 Childhood obesity rates have increased due to constant snacking by kids, according to a new study. Today’s kids are a generation of snackers. But, the types of foods they’re choosing is driving childhood obesity rates sky high, according to a new study. Snacking on junk food accounts for more than 27 percent of the daily calories children take in, an increase of 168 calories per day between 1977 and 2006, according to a new report in the journal Health Affairs. Childhood obesity rates have increased due to constant snacking by kids, according to a new study.

Today’s kids are a generation of snackers. But, the types of foods they’re choosing is driving childhood obesity rates sky high, according to a new study.

Snacking on junk food accounts for more than 27 percent of the daily calories children take in, an increase of 168 calories per day between 1977 and 2006, according to a new report in the journal Health Affairs.

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