From the San Antonio Express-News: In a new report of county health profiles, Bexar County ranks relatively low among several indicators.
News
New Report of County Health Profiles
New Report: Seeking Health Information Online
A new report from the Pew Internet & the American Life Project focuses on how people with disabilities and chronic conditions are seeking health information online. Earlier this week NPR featured the report during Morning Edition.
NIH asks, “How do you get health information?”
The National Institute of Health’s Twitter stream at http://twitter.com/NIHforHealth asked this morning, “Would you take a moment to tell us more about how you obtain health & medical information? http://bit.ly/3MiWLS (secure survey)”
From the initial page of the survey:
The NIH [National Institutes of Health's] Office of Communication and Public Liaison (OCPL) and the NIH Director’s Council of Public Representatives (COPR) have partnered to develop a Consumer Health Information RFI in response to a Directive by President Barack Obama to all Federal agencies calling for greater transparency, public participation, and collaboration.
In conjunction with the NIH goals for public input and effective dissemination of science-based health resources and information to the public, the RFI will provide insight and better understanding of the health information needs and information-seeking behaviors of NIH health consumer audiences. Information gathered will assist the agency in developing and disseminating health, medical, and scientific information to a broader variety of audiences.
Note that the survey seeks information from both health consumers and from health organizations/providers. Please complete the survey – let’s make sure South Texans’ voices are heard.
NLM’s new Drug Information Portal
Last week, the National Library of Medicine announced a new online resource for researchers, healthcare professionals, and the general public, called the NLM Drug Information Portal. Like other “federated” search tools, the idea is a one-stop, simple search interface that pulls together results from a wide variety of disparate databases. In this case, the user is presented with a single search box to enter the name of the drug (generic or commercial) — but the results are returned from a wide variety of federal government sources, including:
- MedlinePlus (Drug information & consumer health information)
- AIDSinfo (HIV/AIDS treatment)
- LactMed (Effect on breastfeeding)
- HSDB (Reviewed biological and physical data)
- Dietary Supplements Labels Database (Ingredients and label information)
- Medline/PubMed (References from scientific journals)
- TOXLINE (References from toxicological journals)
- DailyMed (Manufacturers drug label)
- ClinicalTrials.gov (Clinical trials)
- PubChem (Biological activities and chemical structures)
- NIAID ChemDB (Biological activities against HIV/AIDS and other viruses)
- ChemIDplus (Toxicological and chemical resources)
- Drugs@FDA (Information from the US Food & Drug Administration)
- DEA (Information from the US Drug Enforcement Administration)
- USA.gov (Other government resources)
Now, that’s a fine collection of resources to be able to search all at once! Thanks, NLM — and thanks to our colleagues over at the EBM & Clinical Support Blog for the tip about the new site.
NPR feature call-in discussion of using the Web for health information
The NPR call-in radio show “Talk of the Nation,” focused today on the increasing use of the Web for “do-it-yourself” diagnosis. Guests included Dr. Scott Haig, author of the article “When the Patient is a Googler,” published in October on time.com; Susannah Fox, Associate Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project; and Dr. Ted Eytan, Medical director of health informatics and web services for Group Health Cooperative. Ms. Fox noted that while many patients, families, and caregivers turn to the Web for medical information, the majority of users pay little or no attention to the source of the information or to its currency. Despite the National Library of Medicine’s emphasis on the importance of these details when evaluating health information on the Web, too few users consider these issues when using a Web site for important medical and health-related knowledge. The audio for this story is available on the NPR web site at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17214066. Additional information on this topic is also available on the NPR site.
Obesity: is the answer a return to traditional foods?
A recent story in the McAllen Monitor explains how the Latino Nutrition Coalition is advocating the return to traditional cultural foods as a method to combat the obesity epidemic in the United States. The supermarket guide produced by the Latino Nutrition Coalition, Camino Mágico, is a visual guide that can help consumers make healthier choices while shopping. In Spanish, it explains how to read nutrition labels as well as providing ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.
October is National Dental Hygiene Month
The American Dental Hygienists’ Association is observing National Dental Hygiene Month during the month of October. This year’s theme is “A Healthy Smile Lasts a Lifetime.” More information about National Dental Hygiene Month can be found here: http://www.adha.org/ndhm/index.html
Part of ACCORD trial stopped for safety
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute stopped part of a large, ongoing clinical trial of diabetes and cardiovascular disease a year and a half early due to safety concerns. Participants in the “intensive” blood glucose lowering treatment arm of the study are being moved to the less-intensive “standard” treatment arm after early data reported 54 extra deaths in the more intensive part of the study.
The ACCORD (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes) study includes more than 10,000 adults with type 2 diabetes who are at especially high risk for heart attack and stroke. It is being carried out at 77 sites across the US and Canada; none of the study sites are in Texas.
The media kit from today’s press conference is available at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/heart/other/accord/.
PBS Affiliates KLRN and KBMH Broadcast Series on Health Disparities
Next Thursday, March 27, PBS affiliates KLRN and KBMH will begin broadcasting a four-hour series on health disparities entitled Unnatural Causes. Among the questions to be considered: “Why do recent Latino immigrants, who are poorer, enjoy better health than native-born Americans when they arrive, yet suffer a rapid decline the longer they are here?”
Presidential Proclamation – National Health Information Technology Week
President Barack Obama has declared the week of September 11-16, 2011 as National Health Information Technology Week. See the official proclamation at Presidential Proclamation – National Health Information Technology Week. In addition, the 2008 Federal Strategic Health IT Plan has been updated to meet the new realities for health IT and IT policies. See more on the Federal Strategic Health IT Plan: 2011-2015 at the Health IT Buzz Blog Post.
