Download the report and interviews with investigators
Dr. Ron Borland Dr. Maansi Travers Download interview excerpts by topic here1 Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California , United States of America, 2 Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America
Citation: Yang JS, Novotny TE (2009) Policy Coherence in US Tobacco Control: Beyond FDA Regulation. PLoS Med 6(5): e1000079. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000079
Published: May 19, 2009
Copyright: © 2009 Yang, Novotny. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
* E-mail: tnovotny@mail.sdsu.edu
As the Obama administration moves to enact meaningful and comprehensive health care reform in the United States, tobacco control must be elevated as a public health priority [1]. Though tobacco control efforts have been recognized as a top public health achievement of the 20th century [2], tobacco use continues to be the leading preventable cause of death in the US [3]. As Box 1 shows, the US bears a heavy burden from the health and fiscal effects of smoking. Thus, continued progress in preventing tobacco use and promoting smoking cessation must be a leading priority for health care reform under the new administration. This policy paper gives the current status of tobacco control policies, initiatives, and legislative action at the time of going to press./.../
| By Nancy Walsh, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today Published: May 26, 2009 Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Dorothy Caputo, , |
The condition affects approximately 69 million Americans, according Yuri Agrawal, M.D., and colleagues at Johns Hopkins, reporting in the May 25 Archives of Internal Medicine.
The odds of having vestibular dysfunction increased significantly with age, with an adjusted odds ratio of 22.7 for individuals age 80 and over (95% CI 16.8 to 30.7), compared with those ages 40 to 49, the researchers found. /.../
(Circulation. 2009;119:2743-2747.)
© 2009 American Heart Association, Inc.
AHA/ASA/ACCF Science Advisory |
The optimal therapy for prevention of recurrent stroke or transient ischemic attack in patients with cryptogenic stroke and patent foramen ovale has not been defined. Although numerous observational studies have suggested a strong association between patent foramen ovale and cryptogenic stroke, a causal relationship has not been convincingly established for the majority of affected patients. Treatment choices include medical therapy with antiplatelet agents or vitamin K antagonists, percutaneous device closure, or open surgical repair. Whereas suture closure of an incidental patent foramen ovale is performed routinely during the course of an operation undertaken for another indication, primary surgical repair is rarely advocated in the current era. The choice between medical therapy and percutaneous device closure has been the subject of intense debate over the past several years, albeit one that has not been adequately informed by randomized, prospective clinical trial data to permit an objective comparison of the relative safety and efficacy of these respective approaches. Enrollment in clinical trials has lagged considerably despite frequent calls for participation from the US Food and Drug Administration and major professional societies. Completion and peer review of ongoing trials are critical steps to establish an evidence base from which clinicians can make informed decisions regarding the best therapy for individual patients. The present advisory strongly encourages all clinicians involved in the care of appropriate patients with cryptogenic stroke and patent foramen ovale—cardiologists, neurologists, internists, radiologists, and surgeons—to consider referral for enrollment in these landmark trials to expedite their completion and help resolve the uncertainty regarding optimal care for this condition.
The May 27, 2009, issue of JAMA includes an article about cardiovascular disease risk factors among National Football League players.
RISK FACTORS
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World Health Statistics 2009 contains WHO's annual compilation of data from its 193 Member States, and includes a summary of progress towards the health-related Millennium Development Goals and targets.
This edition also contains a new section on reported cases of selected infectious diseases.
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Over the past 15 years, Internet technology has become integral to public health surveillance. Systems using informal electronicinformation have been credited with reducing the time to recognition of an outbreak, preventing governments from suppressing outbreak information, and facilitating public health responses to outbreaks and emerging diseases. Because Web-based sources frequently contain data not captured through traditional government communication channels, they are useful to public health agencies, including the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network of the World Health Organization (WHO), which relies on such sources for daily surveillance activities./.../
Videos in Clinical Medicine have been published on this Web site since April 13, 2006. For more information, see the editorial, Videos in Clinical Medicine — A New Journal Feature.
Este e muitos outros Videos úteis para o treinamento e/ou atualização de conceitos e técnicas.
Evaluation of blood pressure is used in assessing cardiovascular health, in screening for hypertension, and in monitoring the effectiveness of treatment. This video demonstrates the appropriate technique for the indirect measurement of blood pressure in adults. Williams JS, Brown SM, Conlin PR. N Engl J Med 2009;360:e6, January 29, 2009.
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“Economic Recession is a threat to the World’s Health”
The People’s Health Movement urges the World Health Organization and member governments to “declare the economic recession currently gripping the globe as a health emergency”.
Health activists gathered here in Geneva for the World Health Assembly (18-22 May) are expected to lobby the UN health body and governments to declare global downturn a health emergency./.../
Dr. Mirta Roses Periago, Director, PAHO
Q: Commenting on two opposite vision of PHC, a session moderator commented that Alma Ata's definition of PHC was that of ESSENTIAL health care for all, but many have redefined PHC as "PRIMITIVE health care". Would you care to comment?
Dr Mirta Roses Periago: I am passionately in favor of Primary Health Care because I believe we need to have in place well-functioning health systems that are:
| By Peggy Peck, Executive Editor, MedPage Today Published: May 18, 2009 Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. |
ASH: Common Genes Contribute to Blood Pressure Regulation | ||
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SAN FRANCISCO, May 10 -- Common genetic variants that help determine risk of hypertension and blood pressure levels in the population have been discovered. For the first time, genome-wide analyses revealed variants -- in 13 regions, nearly all previously unsuspected -- linked with systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as hypertension. Odds ratios for hypertension associated with each of these variants ranged up to 1.16. But the researchers leading these studies cautioned that the findings would not be immediately useful for screening purposes. These findings from the combined efforts of two genetic research consortia were presented here at the American Society of Hypertension meeting and released online in two papers in Nature Genetics. Each study found eight significant gene regions, of which three overlapped, between meta-analysis and confirmatory genotyping analyses./.../ |
A AMICOR Maria Inês foi convidada para participar da Conferência em Edinburgo.
| By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: May 12, 2009 Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco |
At the highest, 800-mg dose, the single molecule compound reduced systolic pressure by 23.4 mm Hg over 12 weeks compared with a 10.7 mm Hg reduction by the angiotensin receptor blocker irbesartan (Avapro, P<0.003).>
"It stands to reason that when you lower blood pressure too much, you can do harm," said study investigator Dr Franz Messerli (St Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, New York). "After all, if blood pressure is zero, mortality is 100%. So somewhere there must be a nadir, below which the lowering of blood pressure becomes counterproductive."
The findings, from an analysis of the Treating to New Targets (TNT) study, were presented here yesterday at the American Society of Hypertension 2009 Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, CA./.../
 | Urban Health means putting the needs of people and communities at the heart of the urban planning process to ensure better accessto urbanservices which improve human health for all. Except in a few instances, urban health problems are not markedly different from those in rural areas, but their solutions are quite different. The key difference revolves in accommodating the higher density of people spread over large areas. Thus, urban health goes well beyond improved access to health services./.../ |
Nature Reviews Cardiology, advance online publication, Published online 28 April 2009 |doi:10.1038/nrcardio.2009.55
Subject Category: Vascular disease
Viviane Z. Rocha1 & Peter Libby1 About the authors
Understanding of the pathophysiology of atherogenesis has evolved substantially during the last few decades. Atherosclerosis was once identified as a lipid-storage disease, but is now recognized as a subacute inflammatory condition of the vessel wall, characterized by infiltration of macrophages and T cells, which interact with one another and with cells of the arterial wall. The pathological mechanisms of obesity recapitulate many features of the inflammatory processes at work in atherosclerosis. Our current appreciation of the similarities between obesity and atherosclerosis has already fostered innovations for the diagnosis, prognosis, and prevention of these two conditions./.../
O susto, a surpresa, a insegurança e o medo atrapalham qualquer um, dificultando as reações de defesa e a tomada de decisões racionais e as mais adequadas. Quando incidem sobre uma multidão, ou atingem a população, seus efeitos se potencializam e podem assumir proporções catastróficas.
A julgar pelas manchetes, parece que se está vivendo no império do medo: gripe suína, febre amarela, dengue, crise financeira, quebra da bolsa, sequestro da poupança, desemprego, despejos, falência das instituições, chantagem, propaganda enganosa, cascata de corrupção, difamação, ruína da família, descrédito na Justiça, deportações, atentados, terrorismo, pânico, homens-bomba, sequestro relâmpago, rapto, estupro, assaltos, invasões, arrastão, assassinatos, bala perdida, genocídio, guerra, armas de destruição em massa, bomba atômica, aquecimento global, poluição ambiental, espécies em extinção, agrotóxicos, inundações, seca, raios, tornados, ciclones, queda de meteorito, desmatamento, desertificação, contaminação dos mananciais, racionamento de energia e de água, fome, obesidade, câncer, infarto do miocárdio, aids, tuberculose, hepatite, Alzheimer, loucura, morte súbita, acidentes de trânsito, tráfico de drogas, e outras tantas barbaridades...
Tem para todos os gostos e sensibilidades, e contemplando globalmente é um terror.
O medo deveria ser um mecanismo de proteção, mas exagerado estraga com a vida e pode provocar respostas piores do que o mal que o gerou. Terá valido a pena todo o aparato contra o terrorismo internacional?
Se não for o império, é ao menos a cultura do medo que se observa. É possível que o volume de informação circulante e o nível progressivo de estímulo a todos os sentidos tenham propiciado este fenômeno.
Existe uma tese que tenta explicar a necessidade crescente de se expor a situações de risco (que causam medo e liberam “adrenalina”) como uma reação inconsciente contra a depressão difusamente presente em todo a sociedade, consequente ao aumento populacional e às frustrações pelo homem mesmo fabricadas. Nossos mecanismos de reação ao perigo (que causa medo) se acompanham de concentração da atenção e certa euforia e disponibilidade transitória de mais força para facilitar a superação. Estes mecanismos fisiológicos podem ser comparados ao efeito da nicotina e o de outras drogas sobre o organismo. Isto tem a ver não somente com a disseminação do uso de substâncias psicoativas como também com a busca de situações apavorantes reais ou imaginárias. Até a prevalência maior de hipertensão em populações urbanas poderia ter aí uma de suas explicações.
Certamente, há também os que se aproveitam da situação para tirar ganhos econômicos, exercício de dominação/dependência, discriminação e xenofobia. A cultura do medo oportuniza manipulação social e gera progressiva insensibilidade, que pode desmoralizar os sinais de alarme e retardar a resposta quando ela realmente se fizer necessária.
Pode-se ter esperança em ganhos secundários: alguns simples como hábitos de higiene e de civilidade (lavar as mãos e evitar o contágio pela tosse e pelo espirro sem proteção). Quem sabe, também, se ficar evidente que quase tudo que causa medo não acontece por acaso ou por obra de demônios, mas sim do próprio homem, invista-se mais em educação e na cultura da racionalidade e do diálogo, já que violência somente leva à destruição e à infelicidade.
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A seat of wisdom in the brain?
April 24, 2009
Courtesy University of California - San Diego
and World Science staff
Two researchers have compiled what they say is the first scholarly review of the basis in the brain of wisdom—once the sole province of religion and philosophy.
The study by Dilip V. Jeste and Thomas W. Meeks of the University of California, San Diego, was published in the research journal Archives of General Psychiatry on April 6./.../
Reference: Am J Prev Med 2009; 36(5): 402-409, http://www.ajpm-online.net/article/S0749-3797(09)00097-X/abstract
Summarized by: Juan Ramos, Program Coordinator, ProCor
More than three-quarters of 196,300 adults from 52 mostly low- and middle-income countries consume less than the minimum recommended five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, according to data from the 2002-2003 World Health Survey analyzed in 2008. Countries participating in the survey represented all WHO regions, with 14 countries from Europe, 18 from Africa, six from the Americas, four from the Eastern Mediterranean, five from South-East Asia, and five from the Western Pacific.
Nearly three million deaths and more than 26 million disability adjusted life years were attributable to low fruit and vegetable intake globally, according to previous data from 2000. Further, 31% of ischemic heart disease, 19% of ischemic stroke, 19% of gastric cancer, and 12% of lung cancer worldwide could be prevented by increasing dietary intake of fruits and vegetables to the minimum recommended five daily servings./.../
| © Acervo do Observatório Nacional do Rio de Janeiro |
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| Sobral em 1919: local onde foi observado o eclipse em frente da Igreja Nossa Senhora do Patrocínio |
Neste mês de maio celebramos os 90 anos da prova da deflexão da luz pela gravidade, prevista pela Relatividade Geral. As fotografias obtidas em Sobral, no Ceará, foram fundamentais para isso, mas o fato é ignorado por grande parte da comunidade científica. Ele é particularmente importante por ter tornado Einstein conhecido mundialmente e se tornado um dos maiores ícones de nossa era. É relevante recuperar essa memória, não só para o público brasileiro, mas mundialmente, aproveitando a grande visibilidade do Brasil na Assembleia Geral da União Astronômica Interrnacional (IAU, na sigla em inglês) que se realizará no Rio de Janeiro de 3 a 14 de agosto de 2009. /.../
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