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| News Briefs - September-October - Page 4 |
Egypt Fights Smoking
Smoking is so entrenched in
Egypt that patients sometimes
light up in hospital rooms. But
now, using stark visual warnings,
the government is launching a
new campaign to warn Egyptians
about tobacco’s dangers.
Cigarette labels will now show
images such as a dying man in an
oxygen mask, a fetus at risk, a
coughing child, and a limp
cigarette symbolizing impotence.
The campaign is expected to face
a tough challenge among Egypt’s
die-hard smokers.—(Racine)
Journal Times (6/19/08)
Drop in Teenage
Smoking Levels Off
New federal data show the
campaign to reduce teenage
smoking has leveled off after a
sharp drop in smoking among
teenagers from 1997 to 2003.
Antismoking advocates urged the
government to increase efforts to
reduce tobacco use. In 1997
about 36% of students smoked,
but that figure fell to 22% in 2003
and hasn’t varied much in recent
years.—(Racine) Journal Times
(6/29/08)
Iron Lung Fails
A Tennessee woman who spent
almost 60 years in an iron lung
has died because a power failure
shut her machine down and kept
her from breathing. Dianne Odell
was diagnosed with polio as a
three-year-old and the iron lung
was her home for the rest of her
life. Unable to use modern
ventilators because of a spinal
deformity, Odell still managed to
earn a high school diploma and
write a children’s book, Less
Light, by means of a voice-
activated computer.—www.
cbsnews.com (5/28/08)
Smoking is so entrenched in
Egypt that patients sometimes
light up in hospital rooms. But
now, using stark visual warnings,
the government is launching a
new campaign to warn Egyptians
about tobacco’s dangers.
Cigarette labels will now show
images such as a dying man in an
oxygen mask, a fetus at risk, a
coughing child, and a limp
cigarette symbolizing impotence.
The campaign is expected to face
a tough challenge among Egypt’s
die-hard smokers.—(Racine)
Journal Times (6/19/08)
Drop in Teenage
Smoking Levels Off
New federal data show the
campaign to reduce teenage
smoking has leveled off after a
sharp drop in smoking among
teenagers from 1997 to 2003.
Antismoking advocates urged the
government to increase efforts to
reduce tobacco use. In 1997
about 36% of students smoked,
but that figure fell to 22% in 2003
and hasn’t varied much in recent
years.—(Racine) Journal Times
(6/29/08)
Iron Lung Fails
A Tennessee woman who spent
almost 60 years in an iron lung
has died because a power failure
shut her machine down and kept
her from breathing. Dianne Odell
was diagnosed with polio as a
three-year-old and the iron lung
was her home for the rest of her
life. Unable to use modern
ventilators because of a spinal
deformity, Odell still managed to
earn a high school diploma and
write a children’s book, Less
Light, by means of a voice-
activated computer.—www.
cbsnews.com (5/28/08)
Exercise Good for Both
Heart and Brain
Exercise benefits both the heart
and the brain. A recent study
showed regular exercise can
reduce inflammatory markers in
the blood and lower blood
pressure, thus reducing risks of
cardiovascular disease. Another
study found that adults who were
overweight and had central
obesity (“a big belly”) had a 360%
risk of developing dementia.
However, exercise was shown to
significantly decrease the risk of
dementia and Alzheimer’s.—Mayo
Clinic Health Letter (July, 2008)
Mississippi Fattest State
The South is the fattest region
and Mississippi is the most obese
state, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
The South has had high death
rates from heart disease and
stroke, health risks often linked to
obesity. More than 30% of
Mississippians were obese in
2007 compared to 19% in
Colorado, the leanest state.—
(Racine) Journal Times (7/18/08)
More Than Half of
Americans Take Meds
For the first time ever, more than
half of all Americans are taking
prescription medicines for chronic
health problems. According to a
study by Medco Health Solutions
Inc., the most widely used drugs
are for lowering high blood
pressure and cholesterol—
problems linked to heart disease,
obesity and diabetes. Doctors say
that with the need for these
medicines growing and the
pharmaceutical industry’s
relentless advertising, this trend
will only increase.—www.time.com
(5/14/08)
Heart and Brain
Exercise benefits both the heart
and the brain. A recent study
showed regular exercise can
reduce inflammatory markers in
the blood and lower blood
pressure, thus reducing risks of
cardiovascular disease. Another
study found that adults who were
overweight and had central
obesity (“a big belly”) had a 360%
risk of developing dementia.
However, exercise was shown to
significantly decrease the risk of
dementia and Alzheimer’s.—Mayo
Clinic Health Letter (July, 2008)
Mississippi Fattest State
The South is the fattest region
and Mississippi is the most obese
state, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
The South has had high death
rates from heart disease and
stroke, health risks often linked to
obesity. More than 30% of
Mississippians were obese in
2007 compared to 19% in
Colorado, the leanest state.—
(Racine) Journal Times (7/18/08)
More Than Half of
Americans Take Meds
For the first time ever, more than
half of all Americans are taking
prescription medicines for chronic
health problems. According to a
study by Medco Health Solutions
Inc., the most widely used drugs
are for lowering high blood
pressure and cholesterol—
problems linked to heart disease,
obesity and diabetes. Doctors say
that with the need for these
medicines growing and the
pharmaceutical industry’s
relentless advertising, this trend
will only increase.—www.time.com
(5/14/08)
Honey Bees on Decline
Food prices could rise even more
unless the mysterious decline of
honey bees is reversed. Farmers
have reminded
lawmakers in
Washington that
without bees,
there can be no
crops. About
three-fourths of flowering plants
depend on birds, bees and other
pollinators to help them
reproduce. Beekeepers have lost
36% of their colonies this year.
Nobody knows the reason for the
decline, but some experts suspect
pesticides, a new parasite or
pathogen, poor nutrition, bad
water and/or the need to move
bees long distances for pollination.
—www.cnn.com (6/27/08)
Brain ≠ Intellect
The size of a brain is no indication
of intellect, according to
researchers in the United
Kingdom. More important
appears to be the complexity of
connections between brain cells.
Cambridge’s Sanger Institute
looked at the number of proteins
in the synapses (the junctions
between nervous system cells) of
a mammal (mouse), fruit flies, and
yeast cells which have no brain.
They found mammals have 600
proteins in the synapses, fruit flies
half as many, and the yeast cells
only ¼ as many.—news.bbc.uk
(6/9/08)
Food prices could rise even more
unless the mysterious decline of
honey bees is reversed. Farmers
have reminded
lawmakers in
Washington that
without bees,
there can be no
crops. About
three-fourths of flowering plants
depend on birds, bees and other
pollinators to help them
reproduce. Beekeepers have lost
36% of their colonies this year.
Nobody knows the reason for the
decline, but some experts suspect
pesticides, a new parasite or
pathogen, poor nutrition, bad
water and/or the need to move
bees long distances for pollination.
—www.cnn.com (6/27/08)
Brain ≠ Intellect
The size of a brain is no indication
of intellect, according to
researchers in the United
Kingdom. More important
appears to be the complexity of
connections between brain cells.
Cambridge’s Sanger Institute
looked at the number of proteins
in the synapses (the junctions
between nervous system cells) of
a mammal (mouse), fruit flies, and
yeast cells which have no brain.
They found mammals have 600
proteins in the synapses, fruit flies
half as many, and the yeast cells
only ¼ as many.—news.bbc.uk
(6/9/08)
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