Chronic Illness, News & Research

In honor of National Diabetes Awareness Month, the Discovery Health Channel has produced a three-part series of programs about diabetes. The series empasihized Diabetes is an epidemic, and, unless a cure is found, it will be the world's leading cause of death by 2030.

Millions of Americans who are overweight are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. This life-threatening disease affects 8 percent of the population age 20 and older, which is rapidly increasing. A 2002 study shows that diet and exercise can greatly prevent and delay the risk for diabetes, particularly people 60 and older. About 16 million people in the United States have diabetes, which causes kidney failure, limb amputations, and onset of blindness in adults. It is also a major cause of heart disease and stroke.

While newspapers are not known for their technology innovations, some papers are changing tactics as they see their subscriber lists shrinking. One tactic that's working very well for some news operations is using hyperlocal, Web-based news in which local stories are both written and read by a large local audience on-line.

These five projects were chosen as 2005 Batten Innovation Award finalists for "new standards for interactive journalism, creativity in digital storytelling and recalibrating the role news organizations play in their communities." Take a look.

The Prometheus Radio Project will team up with Valley Free Radio, Free Press, and the Grassroots Radio Coalition to build a brand new community radio station in Western Massachusetts (Florence, MA)! This barnraising is like no other in that it also will host the 10th Anniversary Grassroots Radio Conference August 4-7, 2005 -- the best place to gather together to learn about community radio, and strategize for its brilliant future. No one turned away for lack of funds, but you have to register to attend! Registration information available on-line.

About 34 million U.S. residents are at risk of developing the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis, and more people will continue to be at risk for the disease as the population ages, according to a surgeon general's report released this week.

This Fact Book examines hospital care for children using one of the newest
HCUP databases made publicly available—the Kids' Inpatient Database (KID).
Creation of the KID has enabled studies of why children and adolescents
are hospitalized, what types of procedures children receive, who is billed for their hospital stays, and disparities in outcomes and use of services.
This document focuses on neonatal hospitalizations, pediatric illnesses
and teenage pregnancy data. Read on-line or download the .pdf publication.

Those who live in areas with a lot of sprawl are more likely to suffer chronic health problems such as high blood pressure, arthritis, headaches and breathing difficulties compared to residents in denser urban areas, according to a Rand report.

You may view a series of multi-media symposiums from the Harvard School of Public Health hosted by Dean Barry R. Bloom. Each of the 15 sessions covering topics such as the environment, epidemiology, and health disparities, contains an online summary and a full pdf report. Many also include a Webcast.

How good is the quality of health care in America? Elizabeth McGlynn led a team of experts in the largest and most comprehensive examination ever conducted of health care quality in the United States. The National Report Card is published by Rand Corporation.