Wednesday, May 22, 2002
US Health — A Mixed Report
Americans are buckling up but chugging down; getting cancer screening tests yet still smoking too much — according to government research showing mixed results when it comes to healthy habits nationwide. Despite government warnings, most Americans have not increased their physical activity. Smoking has increased in 14 states.
The state-by-state surveys of adult health trends in the 1990s reveal disturbing increases in binge drinking — rising in more than a third of states and falling in only three. Most states showed increases in seatbelt use, mammography and even adult vaccinations, yet smoking increased in almost a third and declined in only one.
JAMA reports:
• Smoking prevalence decreased significantly only in Minnesota; in contrast, it was unchanged in 32 states and increased in 14 states primarily located in the Midwest (7 states) and South (4 states).
• Binge alcohol use declined in Arizona, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, remained unchanged in 25 states, and increased in 19 states. Increases were concentrated primarily in the South (8 states) and Midwest (6 states), although baseline prevalence estimates were generally low in southern states.
• The prevalence of physical inactivity decreased in 11 states, increased in 3 states (Arizona, Minnesota, and Montana), and was unchanged in 34 states; about half the states registering declines were in the South. (so people were more active in 11 states, less active in 3 states)
• The prevalence of obesity increased in all states.
• Safety belt use increased in 39 of 47 states.
Military Offers Laser Surgery to Replace Eyeglasses
Eyeglasses have long been troublesome for soldiers, and modern warfare has made the problem worse. Increasingly, the military is employing sophisticated weapons and gadgets where glasses can get in the way. Soldiers who wear glasses need prescription inserts to wear gas masks. The same is true of goggles being developed to protect soldiers from enemy lasers.
U.S. soldiers in the field who wear glasses run the risk of losing them. A soldier’s vision could prove crucial in a battle situation. The army has now begun offering laser eye corrective surgery for soldiers who wear glasses or contact lenses. Cathy Duchamp of public radio station KUOW watched the surgery being performed and talked to the opthamologist about the procedure. Listen to the story here.
The Washington Post says, “After years of skepticism, the military is embracing laser eye surgery with enthusiasm, envisioning soldiers in Afghanistan and other hot spots who no longer have to worry about glasses fogging up or contacts popping out during combat. ‘It makes people into potentially better soldiers, better able to perform their duties,’ said Bower, director of refractive surgery at Walter Reed, in Northwest Washington.
‘They’re kind of tuned up, if you will,’ said Col. William P. Madigan Jr., assistant chief for ophthalmology at Walter Reed. Just two years ago, anyone who had undergone such surgery would have been disqualified from active duty. Now, laser eye surgery is not only allowed, but it is also actively promoted by the military. Today, Walter Reed is launching its Warfighter Refractive Eye Surgery Program. There and at other Army hospitals across the country, the surgeons expect to correct the vision of thousands of soldiers in coming years. The Air Force and Navy offer similar programs.
Website Helps Figure Out Best Long Distance Rates
This site compares more than a dozen 10-10 and 10-x dial-around phone plans side-by-side. Some rates vary by more than one-thousand percent. The site says it does not receive funding directly from any of the services it lists. The site has been praised by several consumer groups.
Do Those Energy Pills Work?
They hang on racks beside key chains at gas stations and crowd the candy bars at convenience stores: little packets full of pills promising a day’s dose of energy, stamina and good health.
“You’re there with your coffee and Danish, maybe you had a bad night, and you say, ‘I’ll try one of these,'” said Patrick Rea, director of natural product research at Nutrition Business Journal in San Diego. “It’s an impulse buy,” he adds, and “you’re not even thinking much about what’s in it.”
The LATimes says perhaps you should. The contents of daily supplement packets vary widely: Some products, with names like Xtra-Energy and Mini Natural, contain ephedrine, the amphetamine-like stimulant in diet and sports products that some doctors have linked to heart palpitations, stroke, cardiac arrest and sudden death. Others contain mostly vitamins and minerals- – sometimes in heavy dosages.
Many combine vitamins with a list of natural extracts that could be taken from a Harry Potter novel: hawthorn berry, bissy nut, yellow dock, dong quai, fo-ti root, ashwaganda, yerba mate — you get the idea.
