Instead of two blogs I am now focusing on one
See continuation of these blogs at http://kimros.edublogs.org/ Thank you for continuing to take an interest in my chronic disease and preventive medicine blog   (Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG)
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - March 24, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs

USPSTF Wants Routine HIV Screening
As reported in MedPage (February 21, 2013) A proposed recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force — is likely to remove important barriers that leave about 25% of HIV-positive people unaware they have the virus. In two separate Perspective articles, published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, experts argue that the proposed recommendation has the potential for some far-reaching consequences, including getting more people into care, improving their health, and slowing the rate of transmission of HIV.  Comment: I have great concern that the routine screening for anything usually leads to unn...
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 22, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: Access Chronic Disease Community Health epidemiology infectious diseases policy Prevention Surveillance Source Type: blogs

Rate of early elective births declining.
Pressure on doctors and hospitals from the federal government, private and public insurers and patient advocacy groups, the rate of elective deliveries before 39 weeks is dropping significantly, according to latest hospital survey from The Leapfrog Group.” The survey of “nearly 800″ US hospitals revealed that the “national average of elective early deliveries fell to about 11 percent last year from 14 percent in 2011 and 18 percent in 2010.” In a statement summarizing the new data, Leapfrog CEO Leah Binder “said she’s encouraged by the latest figures, but says rates are still too h...
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 22, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: Community Health MCH policy Prevention Surveillance Source Type: blogs

Essays in JAMA
Two perspective Essays in JAMA this week: Policy Responses to “Demand for Health Care Access” : From the Individual to the Population led by Katherine Diaz Vickery, MD and “Reengineering US Health Care” led by Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD and others are well worth reading as we start to look at the way the Affordable Care Act is developing. (Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG)
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 22, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: Community Health policy Source Type: blogs

Study Questions Cost Savings of Weight-Loss Surgery
This study indicates that bariatric surgery does not reduce overall healthcare costs in the long term. In addition, there is no evidence that any one type of surgery is more likely to reduce long-term healthcare costs — those undergoing laparoscopic surgery had lower costs in the first few years after surgery, but these differences did not persist. Bariatric surgery did not reduce healthcare costs over the long term when surgery patients were compared with matched obese patients who did not have surgery, a review of almost 30,000 cases showed. Comment: as for other studies that have had high profile press releases t...
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 22, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: Chronic Disease Economics policy Prevention research Source Type: blogs

Protecting Pregnancies
Preeclampsia is a dangerous complication of up to 5% of human pregnancies. The only treatment is removal of the fetoplacental unit by surgery or delivery. To better understand this condition, Doridot et al. generated a preeclampsia mouse model by overexpressing the transcription factor STOX1, which has previously been associated with preeclampsia. When control females were mated to transgenic males, the pregnant female mice showed characteristic features of preeclampsia, such as hypertension and protein in the urine. In addition, an elevated plasma level of soluble antiangiogenic factors was seen. When aspirin was administ...
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 15, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: Chronic Disease epidemiology MCH Prevention research Source Type: blogs

Vascular Brain Injury Greater Risk Factor Than Amyloid Plaques in Cognitive Aging
From ScienceDaily: Vascular brain injury from conditions such as high blood pressure and stroke are greater risk factors for cognitive impairment among non-demented older people than is the deposition of the amyloid plaques in the brain that long have been implicated in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, a study by researchers at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at UC Davis has found. The more vascular brain injury the participants had, the worse their memory and the worse their executive function — their ability to organize and problem solve. The research was conducted in 61 male and female s...
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 15, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: Chronic Disease epidemiology Prevention Translational Research Source Type: blogs

Scientists Improve Arthritis Treatments
During the course of a six month study, 399 patients in 13 countries participated, who were suffering from a moderate to severe form of rheumatoid arthritis. They were all treated with a combination of Methotrexat, a standard drug for the treatment of RA and Tofacitinib, a new type of medication which can be administered orally as a tablet. Tofacitinib is a kinase inhibitor, which inhibits special enzymes which are involved in the inflammatory reactions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. When the so-called Janus kinases are inhibited, painful immune reactions are reduced. After half a year, the additional administratio...
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 15, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: Chronic Disease Prevention research Translational Research Source Type: blogs

Public smoking ban reduces preterm births.
An interesting article in this week’s BMJ reports that Belgian researchers have found that banning smoking in indoor public places corresponds to a decline in preterm births. The research, conducted from 2002 to 2011, measured risk of preterm birth during and after the implementation of Belgium’s smoke-free laws, which were enacted in three steps: workplaces and other public areas were restricted in January 2006; restaurants were included in January 2007; and bars that serve food were included in 2010. The research follows similar studies that have shown public smoking bans corresponding to fewer asthma attacks...
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 15, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: behavioral change Chronic Disease epidemiology MCH policy Prevention Surveillance Source Type: blogs

Contraceptive use.
US contraceptive trends, reported from the National Center for Health Statistics National Survey of Family Growth show that. “In 1982, for instance, 52 percent of sexually experienced women said they had used condoms.” By 1995, however, “condom use had jumped to 82 percent – possibly because of the years of ‘use-a-condom’ public announcements related to the battle against AIDS – and by 2010, usage reached 93 percent, said the federal researchers.” Comment: for those of us who are interested in reducing sexually transmitted infections and monitoring fertility rates this appears to...
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 15, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: behavioral change Community Health epidemiology policy Prevention Surveillance Source Type: blogs

Alzheimer disease in the United States (2010–2050) estimated using the 2010 census
A study from the American Academy of Neurology: estimated that the total number of people with AD dementia in 2050 is projected to be 13.8 million, with 7.0 million aged 85.  Comment: with those over 85 belong to the fastest growing population segment United States it becomes increasingly important to be able to identify dementias before their effect is visible, as well as the need for reliable markers and interventions (Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG)
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 9, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: Chronic Disease epidemiology policy research Technology Source Type: blogs

Major Step Toward an Alzheimer’s Vaccine?
A team of researchers from Université Laval, CHU de Québec, and pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has discovered a way to stimulate the brain’s natural defense mechanisms in people with Alzheimer’s disease.  In mice with Alzheimer’s symptoms, weekly injections of MPL over a twelve-week period eliminated up to 80% of senile plaques. In addition, tests measuring the mice’s ability to learn new tasks showed significant improvement in cognitive function over the same period.  Comment: While this research is fine for mice there is a long way to go between animal testing and use on people.  W...
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 9, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: Chronic Disease epidemiology Prevention research Source Type: blogs

Steroid shots may worsen tennis elbow in the long run.
The AP (2/6, Tanner) reports that “commonly used steroid shots may worsen tennis elbow in the long run and increase chances that the painful condition will reappear, a small study found.” The article points out that “by contrast, patients who got dummy injections alone or with physical therapy were more likely to completely recover after a year and much less likely to have a recurrence than those given steroids.” While the results of the Australian study, published in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association, “echo previous findings, injections of cortisone or similar ster...
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 9, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: Chronic Disease epidemiology Translational Research Source Type: blogs

Married People Have Lower Heart Risk, Mortality
An article from the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology suggests that Acute coronary syndromes carried a significantly higher mortality risk for men and women who lived alone or were unmarried than for married people.  Comment: I wonder why it was necessary to publish an article on what appears to be a self evident outcome in light of the extensive work that associates coronary disease with stress. (Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG)
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 9, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: behavioral change Chronic Disease epidemiology Prevention research Source Type: blogs

Review debunks myths about weight loss, obesity.
A review published in the New England Journal of Medicine debunks several myths surrounding weight loss. For example, “it’s a myth that sex burns off calories by the hundreds. The review also lists nine facts that, unfortunately, promise little in the way of quick fixes for the weight-obsessed. Obesity experts applauded this plain-spoken effort to dispel widespread confusion about obesity. The field, they say, has become something of a quagmire.”  Comment: this refreshing review from the Lancet while timely is unlikely to change the action of advertisers who aim to control of obesity but use the myths to...
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - February 1, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: behavioral change Community Health Economics policy Prevention Source Type: blogs