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Urban Planning and Public Health at CDC

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Urban planning and public health share common missions and perspectives. Both aim to improve human well-being, emphasize needs assessment and service delivery, manage complex social systems, focus at the population level, and rely on community-based participatory methods. Both fields focus on the needs of vulnerable populations. Integration of these fields is essential in restoring and enhancing the health and vitality of the nation's places and people.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the synergies between urban planning and public health were evident in at least three areas: creation of green space to promote physical activity, social integration, and better mental health; prevention of infectious diseases through community infrastructure, such as drinking water and sewage systems; and protection of persons from hazardous industrial exposures and injury risks through land-use and zoning ordinances. During the middle of the 20th century, the disciplines drifted apart, to a certain extent because of their success in limiting health and safety risks caused by inappropriate mixing of land uses.

The interdependence of urban planning and public health in both research and intervention activities is evident in many areas. For example, to increase physical activity, persons need safe and accessible areas; development of these areas can be aided by determining the environmental barriers and facilitators that affect activity levels; designing, constructing, and maintaining community environments to help ensure safety and accessibility; and developing programs to encourage people to use improved community environments to increase their activity levels. Without the contributions of both disciplines, the odds of substantial increases in community physical activity decrease considerably.

Brain stimulation may relieve cluster headaches

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

NEW YORK - A technique called deep brain stimulation may relieve chronic cluster headaches that do not respond to standard medication, according to a study reported this month in the medical journal Cephalalgia.

Cluster headaches cause sudden, severe pain, often centered in one eye. Though the headaches tend to be short, they run in cycles, which may cause several headaches in one day or every few days. Most people with cluster headaches experience pain-free periods of several weeks or more between each headache cycle. About 10 percent of sufferers, however, experience chronic cycles, which can last a year or more.

In 4 of 6 chronic cluster headache patients, deep brain stimulation, which involves surgically implanting electrodes that deliver a small electric current into a targeted area of the brain, led to a profound decrease in attack frequency and pain intensity during the first 6 months, Dr. Thorsten Bartsch from University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel, Germany and colleagues report.

The treatment was well tolerated and no stimulation-related side effects were observed.

Two patients did not show a treatment response, defined as a reduction in attack frequency or severity of at least 50 percent, and were viewed as treatment failures. One patient was attack free for 6 months before suffering cluster headache attacks again.

After an average follow up of 17 months, 3 of 6 patients remain "almost attack-free," the investigators report, yielding an overall response rate of 50 percent. "reason for the three long-term treatment failures in our series remains unclear," Bartsch and colleagues write.

They say further studies are needed to figure out which patients are most likely to respond to this therapy, gain a greater understanding of precisely how deep brain stimulation works, and to gather information on the long-term outcome in cluster headache patients

State Education Office Conducts Food Tasting Fair for Free DC Summer Meals Program

Monday, March 24, 2008

The District of Columbia’s Free Summer Meals Program (FSMP) administered by the DC State Education Office (SEO), Nutrition Services Program (NS) will be conducting a Food Tasting Fair for meals to be served to children and certain adults with disabilities from June 15, 2006 through August 31, 2006. During the summer of 2005, over 1.2 million meals were served. This represents a 7.1% increase in the number of meals provided to children at risk of hunger from 2004. The Food Tasting Fair will take place, Thursday, March 30 at Beacon House, 601 Edgewood Street, NE, Suite 15, Washington, DC 20017, between 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm.

The goal of the Food Tasting Fair is to provide FSMP sponsors and youth with the opportunity to assess the quality of food presented to them and to help guide FSMP sponsors in their vendor selection process. “The quality and taste of the food is important in attracting and retaining the participation of youth who rely on the Free Summer Meals Program for nutritional meals,” states Dr. Cynthia Bell, Director of the Nutrition Services Program.

Eligible organizations that can serve as FSMP sponsors include public or private nonprofit school food authorities, housing authorities and other units of local or municipal governments, and public or private nonprofit day or overnight summer camps. In accordance with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines, organizations may be reimbursed for serving up to two meals per day to eligible children age 18 or younger.

All children participating in the program are served meals free of charge, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, family responsibilities, political affiliation, disability, source of income or place of residence or business.

Frying Tumors Can Boost Lung Cancer Survival

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Needle-delivered frying or freezing technologies can be useful weapons against both lung and kidney cancers, new research shows. In one study conducted in France, patients with advanced lung cancer who were not candidates for surgery underwent a procedure known as radiofrequency ablation (RFA), which basically heats the tumors and kills them.

Seventy percent of the patients with lung metastases or primary non-small cell lung cancer were still alive after two years -- similar to results seen after surgery. Furthermore, 85 percent of patients with non-small cell primary lung cancer treated with RFA had no viable tumors visible on imaging one year later, while 77 percent had no viable tumors after two years.

It means that you can actually do a very good job of local control of lung tumors in patients who aren't fit for surgery, said Dr. Damian Dupuy, a professor of diagnostic imaging at Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University and director of tumor ablation at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence. The medical establishment, being very conservative, has always said if you aren't fit for surgery you just basically get chemo and radiation and most of the time [they] don't work well and you die of your tumor. But even the most unfit for surgery can have this procedure safely,Dupuy said.

The Brown researcher was not involved in the French study, but his group completed a lung cancer trial last year with similarly good results. The new study, led by Dr. Thierry de Baere of Institute Gustave Roussy, in Villejuif, France, was to be presented Monday at the annual meeting of the Society for Interventional Radiology in Washington, D.C. Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer in the United States and a full 25 percent of patients who have operable disease can't undergo surgery because of co-existing conditions, Dupuy noted.

Outdoor Pets

Monday, March 17, 2008

Some pets are better matched than others for living outdoors. There is a general fallacy that dogs will be "fine" if left exterior. This is not true! All pets need sufficient shelter from the elements and padding against cold weather. Pets should not be left outside for long periods in chilly weather - like humans, they can suffer from hypothermia and frostbite.

The young and the senior pets are particularly at risk. Certain breeds, such as Huskies and Samoyeds are better suited to very cold weather, but the mainstream of dogs and need your help and involvement. Indoor accommodations are best during extreme warmth drops, but if that is not possible, set up a suitable house in an area protected from wind, rain, and snow. Padding, such as straw or blankets will help keep in body heat. If your animal is prone to chewing, do not use blankets or stuff that can be ingested. Cedar shavings can be irritating to the skin, so use with care depending on your pet's hair coat.

Caution - do not use a heat lantern, space heater, or other device not approved for use with animals. This is a burn exposure for your pet and a fire vulnerability. Pet supply vendors sell heated mats for pets to sleep on or to be placed under a dog house, but read and follow directions carefully before use.

Fresh water is a must at all times! Pets are not able to get enough water from hammering ice or eating snow. A heated dish is a wonderful tool for cold climates. The water stays cold, but doesn't freeze up. Caution needed for animals that may masticate. Outdoor pets require additional food for energy and maintaining body heat in cruel climates.

What is a Healthy Diet?

Saturday, March 15, 2008

A healthy diet, however, is not arrived at by process of abolition. It is assembled from the foods with the most valuable substances. More often than not, it is what we fail to eat that causes health problems, not simply what we do eat.

Before we can get a grasp of the elements of a healthy diet, the food commerce takes advantage of our perplexity. Foods are marketed not on the basis of what they have, but of what they lack. Sugar and white flour are mixed together with toxic preservative to create cakes that are "fat-free." Margarine-a negative food if ever there was one - is sold to you under the guise of being "cholesterol-free." Fried corn chips are renowned for having "one-third less salt."

The Principles of Healthy Eating

  • Eat full, unrefined foods high in nutrient mass and as close to their natural state as possible.
  • Eat as wide a variety of foods as possible. .
  • Eat a diet that promoted durability in your ancestors.
  • Eat according to the needs of your own unique bi9- chemistry and lifestyle.

Healthy eating principles don't lead to a preventive, boring diet. Bland food is not essentially health-promoting. Herbs, spices, condiments, and interesting ways of preparing foods are often valuable. Many herbs we use to flavor foods are really important- sources of trace minerals and immuneboosting pigments known as bioflavonoids.

Dental Health Care

Friday, March 14, 2008

It is important that people give equal consequence to dental health care and common health care, and stop treating the former just as a complementary of the end. Neglecting your teeth might lead to grave trouble for you in the future. Many people are afraid of going to the dentist, causing them to disregard their dental care. You should defeat this fear. Keep in mind, though, that there is hardly any surrogate for regular personal care.

Ever since an infancy, you must have heard your parents telling you to brush your teeth. The best way to do so is to ensure that your brush should be touching the gums at 45 degree direction. You should proceed with placid strokes, and brush each side and the top. Make it a point to brush your tongue too. Do not keep the same toothbrush for perpetuity; try to change it every six weeks or so.

Take proper care of your toothbrush. Remember that this is the item that enters your mouth daily, coming in contact with billions of bacteria. Never ever share your toothbrush with anyone, as it entails a giant risk of cross-contamination. Carefully clean your toothbrush after use. If many toothbrushes are kept together, do not allow them to come in contact with one another. Opinions differ on the storage of toothbrushes in a sanitizer. Some opine that it is more harmful to store the toothbrush in the same purifier repeatedly, as it might result in cross-contamination.

Do not keep your toothbrush in a closed urn that can turn out to be a favorite spot for bacteria to structure. Your floss should be 16 to 18 inches in length. Wrap the floss around each of your middle fingers and slip it between your teeth. Form a U shape against the side of one tooth. Starting at the gum stroke, use a gentle rubbing motion to remove the particles of food. Repeat with each closest tooth. Remember to take up the limp so that you are using a clean section of floss for each tooth.

What is Fitness?

Thursday, March 13, 2008

You cannot be vigorous on any level until you are healthy on every level. The key to it all is a positive self-image. Until you have ample self esteem, all of the information you amass about getting healthy will do you no good, for you will not think highly enough of yourself to use it. Along with self-esteem, we need to cultivate personal liability. No one keeps you healthy. Nutritionists, nutritionally oriented physicians, naturopaths, osteopaths, chiropractors coach.
We need however, more than just the ones that are vital: We need all that are beneficial. We need to examine so called dispensable nutrients such as CoQ10, carnitine, GLA ,taurine, and N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC). While these nutrients are made by the body in' small amounts, the only way to get them in optimal amounts is through supplements. Other dispensable caring substances include polyphenols from plants that have incredible protective and therapeutic ability. Investigate all nutrients and take those you find most helpful. All favorable nutrients are essential for those who want health at the highest level.

The Ethics of Finest Health:
  • A positive self-image .
  • A diet free of noxious foods that supplies optimal levels of all beneficial nutrients
  • Clean air and living environment, pure water and sufficient sunshine .
  • Ample exercise and rest
Finest health is not the result of denial. It celebrates the benefits of many foods and nutrients, allowing us more of life and health. It is the marriage of science and delight. Balance the information to your own best advantage. Abandon that which is too difficult and use that which suits you. Don't try to be ideal or avoid all of your favorite foods, even if some of them are "bad." Improve your diet and lifestyle at whatever pace is best for you. Improving your health this way will only add to your pleasure of life.

Child Health

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Having a baby is a time when you begin to look after another person. Babies are brittle and petite, with little faces, hands and feet that need your loving care and warmth. Bath time is a special part of looking after your baby that allows you to bond. It can also be a challenge for a first time mom or dad, and even a second time parent. The minutiae of washing your little baby with soap and water may not sound too difficult, but babies do not just lie there like still dolls. They are floppy when very young, may squirm or scream the house down. The best advice to give a jumpy mom is to detach yourself from the situation. Now, it may sound cruel, but by blocking out the babies screaming so that it won't affect you sensitively, you are able to get on with the job at hand much more effectively and make the process nearer and less traumatic for your baby. Remember though, that crying is healthy for the baby and it does not make you a bad parent if they do - babies cannot be silent all the time; they need to implement their lungs.

Here are some things to remember when it is bath time to make the entire familiarity as easy as possible. Make sure that you have everything you need at hand. It is recommended for the first few months of a baby's life to use a small plastic bath tub. You can place it inside your normal bath or it can be set on a changing table or compactum. Keep soaps, cloths and shampoo right next to you, so that you do not have to look away from your baby. Keeping eye contact is very important and it lets them know that they are safe. Babies have spent most of their lives in water up to the point when they are born, so bathing should calm and unwind them.

If they are not calm and relaxed, it can mean that there is something else wrong. In order to make bath time and relaxing time, put on some comforting music and close the windows so that there is no draft on the baby's cold body, even if you are hot. A baby cannot normalize its body temperature that well, so any changes in temperature for them will be massive. Check that the water is not too hot or too cold. You can find testers and bath thermometers to help you check the water, otherwise feel it with your jostle. You can find plenty of books that will guide you further about bathing your baby for the first time.