By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter – Thu Sep 17, 8:49 PM PDT
- THURSDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) — Children with blood lead levels well below those considered safe are still at risk for problems with intellectual and emotional development, British researchers report.Currently, the maximum safe blood level of lead is 10 micrograms per deciliter (10 mcg/dl), which was set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1991. However, even this level appears to be too high, experts say.
“This study confirms what we have been seeing in recent studies, that the current CDC level of concern here in the United States of 10 [mcg/dl] is not adequately protective,” said Kim Dietrich, a professor of environmental health at the University of Cincinnati.
This study clearly shows that blood level concentrations between 5 mcg/dl and 10 mcg/dl are associated with poorer educational performance and antisocial behavior, Dietrich said.
Dietrich noted that, in his own studies, he found children exposed to low levels of lead were also prone to criminal activity as adults. (more…)
Archive for September, 2009
Even Small Amounts of Lead Harmful to Kids
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Doctors Debate Theory of Skin Cancer Epidemic
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009Wednesday, September 16, 2009Is melanoma, a potentially deadly form of skin cancer, on the rise, as is often reported? Maybe not, says a new study: The “melanoma epidemic” may simply represent a change in how doctors are diagnosing the disease.
Anti-skin cancer campaigns have highlighted the fact that the number of melanomas has doubled in the past two decades, and continue to rise. However, some have doubted whether there are actually more cases of the cancer. (more…)
Exercise Benefits Even the Oldest Old
Monday, September 28th, 2009By HealthDay – Wed Sep 16, 8:52 PM PDT
- WEDNESDAY, Sept. 16 (HealthDay News) — Older adults who get regular exercise may live longer and be at lower risk for physical disabilities, according to an Israeli study.The research included almost 1,900 people born in 1920 and 1921 who were assessed at ages 70, 78 and 85. Those who did less than four hours of physical activity per week were considered sedentary, while those who exercised about four hours a week, did vigorous activities such as swimming or jogging at least twice a week, or those who got regular physical activity (such as walking at least an hour a day) were considered physically active.
The researchers found that 53.4 percent of participants were physically active at age 70, 76.9 percent at age 77, and 64 percent at age 85. Compared to those who were sedentary, physically active people were 12 percent less likely to die between ages 70 and 78, 15 percent less likely to die between ages 78 and 85, and 17 percent less likely to die between ages 85 and 88.
Physically active participants also experienced fewer declines in their ability to perform daily tasks, were more likely to be able to live independently, and were less likely to be lonely and to rate their health as poor. (more…)
Is Swimming Pool Chlorine Fueling the Allergy Epidemic?
Sunday, September 27th, 2009Monday, September 14, 2009Swimming in a chlorinated pool may boost the odds that a child susceptible to asthma and allergies will develop these problems, a study released today indicates.
“These new data clearly show that by irritating the airways of swimmers chlorination products in water and air of swimming pools exert a strong additive effect on the development of asthma and respiratory allergies such as hay fever and allergic rhinitis,” Dr. Alfred Bernard, a toxicologist at the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels, Belgium, noted in an email to Reuters Health.
“The impact of these chemicals on the respiratory health of children and adolescents appears to be much more important – at least by a factor of five – than that associated with secondhand smoke,” Bernard noted.
Taken together with his team’s prior studies, he added, “There is little doubt that pool chlorine is an important factor implicated in the epidemic of allergic diseases affecting the westernized world.”
In the current study, Bernard and colleagues compared the health of 733 adolescents, 13 to 18 years old, who swam in chlorinated outdoor and indoor pools for various amounts of time with that of 114 “control” adolescents who swam mostly in pools sanitized with a concentration of copper and silver. (more…)
Salt May Be Culprit for Uncontrolled Blood Pressure
Saturday, September 26th, 2009Tuesday, July 21, 2009People with high blood pressure that isn’t controlled by multiple medications are likely eating too much salt, new findings in the journal Hypertension show.
Individuals with so-called resistant hypertension showed sharp reductions in their blood pressure when they dramatically cut their salt intake, Dr. Eduardo Pimenta of the University of Queensland School of Medicine in Brisbane, Australia and his colleagues found.
“It was an amazingly large reduction in blood pressure,” Dr. Lawrence J. Appel of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study, told Reuters Health. Appel estimated that 10 percent to 20 percent of people have resistant hypertension, meaning they are taking three or more blood pressure medications but their blood pressure is still too high.
But the reductions in sodium intake in Pimenta’s study-down to 1.15 grams per day-would be very tough for people to achieve in a real-world setting, Appel added. (Sodium levels in food are correlated with salt levels.) “You can advise people to reduce sodium but the food supply has so much sodium it’s very difficult for individuals to do this on their own.”
Pimenta and his team had 12 people with resistant hypertension alternate between low and high sodium diets for a week each, with a two-week “washout” period between the diets.
Study participants’ initial average systolic blood pressure, the top number in a blood pressure reading, was 145.8 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), while diastolic pressure, the lower reading, was 83.9 mm Hg. They were taking an average of 3.4 antihypertensive medications each.
On the high sodium diet, they were consuming 5.7 grams of sodium daily, while the low-sodium diet contained 1.15 grams of sodium daily.
US and UK guidelines recommend people consume less than 6 grams of sodium daily, while the World Health Organization recommends reducing intake even further, to less than 5 grams. But people in the developed world typically consume 9 to 12 grams of sodium a day.
In the study by Pimenta and his team, going on the low-salt diet reduced people’s systolic blood pressure by 22.7 mm Hg, on average, and their diastolic pressure by 9.1 mm Hg. (more…)
NOTICE: Suspension of Washington State Thimerosal Limits for H1N1 Vaccine
Friday, September 25th, 2009Dear Immunization Partners:
Mercury limits law temporarily suspended
Secretary of Health Mary Selecky has temporarily suspended Washington’s limit on the amount of mercury (thimerosal) in H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine allowed for pregnant women and children younger than three years old. The six-month suspension is effective September 23, 2009 through March 23, 2010 and applies only to H1N1 vaccines. It does not apply to seasonal flu vaccine.
As a precaution, Washington state law limits the amount of mercury that can be in vaccines for pregnant women and children under three. The secretary of health can suspend the law when there is a shortage of vaccine or during a disease outbreak – both criteria apply to the H1N1 vaccine. Some H1N1 vaccine will be mercury-free, but it may not be available at all times and there may be limited amounts. This could stop children younger than three and pregnant women who want the vaccine from getting it. H1N1 vaccination will be voluntary. Pregnant women and children under three are two of the priority groups to get H1N1 vaccine first because they are at high risk for serious complications if they’re infected with H1N1 (swine flu) virus.
Notification requirements
It is important to note that when the mercury limits are suspended, the law requires that certain groups be told they are getting a vaccine containing more mercury than is usually permitted. This notification requirement applies to pregnant or lactating women and parents or guardians of children under the age of 18 getting the vaccine. There is no single notification method required; the Department of Health has developed a sample notification form to help you with this. There is also a chart that you can use providing guidance on screening patients to determine who needs to be notified. The notification form and other information on the temporary suspension of the mercury limits for H1N1 vaccine are available online (http://www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/immunize/providers/h1n1-thimerosal.htm).
H1N1 Vaccine information
We expect H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine to be available in early October. Health care providers who pre-registered to get H1N1 vaccine were faxed provider agreements this week. The H1N1 Provider Agreements must be returned to your local health agency listed on the agreement. All providers participating in the Washington State Childhood Vaccine Program were automatically pre-registered and were faxed agreements. If a provider does not want to get vaccine, there is a place on the agreement to indicate they do not want to participate. A signed provider agreement is not a guarantee that a provider will receive this vaccine. Final decisions on which providers will receive vaccine will be made by each local health agency. Pre-registration information is available online (http://www.doh.wa.gov/swineflu/h1n1reg.htm).
Vaccine listserv
The State Department of Health Immunization Program CHILD Profile is starting a listserv to share important vaccine information directly with health care providers and community partners. You can sign up online (http://listserv.wa.gov/cgi-bin/wa?A0=WA-IMMUNIZATION-INFO).Janna Bardi, MPH
Manager, Immunization Program CHILD Profile
Washington State Department of Health
PO Box 47843
111 Israel Road SE
Olympia, WA 98504-7843
email: janna.bardi@doh.wa.gov
phone: 360.236.3568
FAX: 360.236.3590
Website: http://www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/Immunize/default.htm
Public Health: Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington
Overweight Kids Show Early Signs of Heart Disease
Thursday, September 24th, 2009Friday, April 17, 2009NEW YORK – Children who are overweight but otherwise “healthy” may have stiff arteries, putting them at increased risk for heart disease, a study shows.
As people age, the arteries normally lose some of their elasticity, making them less responsive to changes in blood flow. Stiff arteries put increased strain on the heart, often leading to high blood pressure. (more…)
Why Carbohydrates Are So Important in Diabetes
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009Counting carbs at meals and snack time is one method used to control blood sugar.
Carbohydrates are sugar-based molecules found in fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and dairy products. The make up about 45% to 65% of calories in a healthy diet (the exact percentage is hotly debated); the rest come from fat and protein.
You’ll find carbohydrates in the healthiest foods you eat, and in the least healthy. Check the food label to find out exactly how much is in your favorite foods.
How you eat can affect blood sugar
Choosing the right kind of carbohydrates and spacing them out evenly throughout the day can keep blood sugar from rising too high, too fast (90% of the carbohydrate calories you digest end up as glucose, so they have a much bigger impact on blood sugar than fat or protein).
“The goal … is to take in enough carbohydrates to nourish ourselves, but never so much that it causes high blood sugars,” says Linda Sartor, a diabetes nutrition specialist at the Penn Rodebaugh Diabetes Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Up until about the mid-1990s experts believed that people with diabetes should never eat foods that contain so-called “simple” sugars-those found in cakes and candy-and instead eat “complex” carbohydrates, or those with longer chains of sugar molecules such as potatoes, fruit, vegetables, and grains. (more…)
Government Health Officials: Parents Tracking Lead Dust Into Cars, Poisoning Children
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009Friday, August 21, 2009Some childhood lead poisonings in Maine last year came from an unusual source – lead dust tracked into the family car.
Government health officials said Thursday the six cases are the first ever attributed to lead dust on childhood safety seats. The car seats themselves weren’t the source; the inside of family cars were contaminated through a parent’s workplace.
Parents got lead dust on their clothes at work and then shed it in the cars, said Tina Bernier of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
Adults who work in paint removal should change and shower before getting in their cars to go home. However, the Maine families with lead-poisoned children said their employers didn’t provide places to do that, Bernier said.
Lead – a metal that for years was common in paint and gasoline – can harm a child’s brain, kidneys and other organs. Severe exposures can cause coma, convulsions and death. Lower levels can reduce intelligence, impair hearing and cause other problems, according to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention. (more…)
Autism Dogs Helping Children Deal With Disabilities
Monday, September 21st, 2009Friday, August 21, 2009Like seeing-eye dogs for the blind, trained dogs are now being used to help autistic children deal with their disabilities. But some schools want to keep the animals out, and families are fighting back.
Two autistic elementary school students recently won court orders in Illinois allowing their dogs to accompany them to school. Their lawsuits follow others in California and Pennsylvania over schools’ refusal to allow dogs that parents say calm their children, ease transitions and even keep the kids from running into traffic.
At issue is whether the dogs are true “service dogs” – essential to managing a disability – or simply companions that provide comfort.
School districts say they are not discriminating, just drawing the line to protect the safety and health of other students who may be allergic or scared of dogs.
“The school district has 650 students, not just one. So we have to balance,” said Brandon Wright, attorney for the Villa Grove district in central Illinois, which objected to 6-year-old Kaleb Drew’s plan to bring his yellow Labrador retriever, Chewey, to school.
Kaleb’s family won a judge’s order in July allowing the dog to come to class until a trial, set to start Nov. 10. That means when Kaleb starts his first full day of first grade Monday, Chewey will be by his side.
Service dogs have long been used by the blind, but training them to help those with autism is relatively new. While there’s little research on how these animals affect autistic children, families like Kaleb’s say they have seen marked improvement. And the support group Autism Speaks includes a list of dog-training groups among resources on its Web site.
Autism is a developmental disorder that involves behaviors such as poor eye contact, trouble communicating and repetitive movements such as rocking or hand-flapping. Those with the disorder are prone to outbursts and may have trouble with changes in their environment.
The dogs are trained to be a calming influence, providing a constant between home, school and other new places. Sometimes, as in Kaleb’s case, the dogs are tethered to children to prevent them from running off in dangerous situations.
“It’s done so much more than we thought it could,” said Kaleb’s mother, Nichelle Drew. “We want Kaleb to be able to experience more of life,” and the dog has helped him do that, she said.
Chewey does not react when Kaleb “throws a fit” during times of transition from one activity to another, which calms him much more quickly, Drew said. (more…)
