Chronic Illness, News & Research

Making changes in a home's environment may reduce asthma symptoms of children in ways comparable to asthma inhalers, a recent National Institutes of Health study found. Most of the children in the study were African American or Hispanic, ages 5-11, and lived in low-income parts of 7 cities.

A new study from Emory University in Atlanta finds that more than half (56 percent) of the $200 billion rise in U.S. health care spending from 1987 to 2000 can be traced to fifteen medical conditions and health spending rose at about double the inflation rate. The study, "Which Medical Conditions Account for the Rise in Healthcare Spending?", found that five of those conditions -- heart disease, trauma, cancer, pulmonary conditions, and mental disorders -- accounted for 31 percent of the growth in health spending over that period. The other costly conditions identified by the report were high blood pressure, diabetes, back problems, arthritis, stroke and other brain blockages, skin disorders, pneumonia, infectious disease, hormone disorders, and kidney disease. The study's lead author said that prevention must be used to control health care costs. The 9 page PDF report is available online.

Audio clips, reports, and outlines from some of the sessions that took place in late August on this important topic are available on the Community Voices' Web site. Featured speakers were Paul Farmer, M.D., Harold Freeman, M.D., Jack Geiger, M.D., and David Satcher, M.D.

This short article answers 3 questions: 1. What are the effects of controlling blood pressure (BP) in diabetics? 2. What is the target BP for hypertensive diabetics? 3. Which meds are best for controlling blood pressure in diabetics? Source: Clincial Diabetes, Proquest Information and Learning.

For the first time "the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association have come together to provide unified health recommendations for the public and joint screening advice for physicians." The advice boils down to: eat a healthy diet, be physically active, don't smoke and avoid smoke, and see a physician for health assessment. (Source: NewsRx.com published on the ADA site)

During a recent Tavis Smiley Show on NPR, Dr. Evelyn Lewis of the Center for Health Disparities (http://www.usuhs.mil/mps/healthdisparities/index.html) talked about how thoughtful, culturally aware health care can help reduce health disparities. Educating providers and consumers is a big part of making progress. (Source: kaisernetwork.org)

Sally Squires writes a lively and reasonable column about "eating smart, moving more throughout the day and setting realistic goals to achieve a healthy weight." Published in the Washington Post on Tuesdays, you can read whole slew of past columns or participate in live online discussions Tuesdays, at 1 p.m. ET.

Americans are living longer with cancer, says the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2001. About 64% of cancer patients now survive five years after being diagnosed, a rate that has been climbing since the 1970s, when half of patients lived that long. This site provides access to abstract and full length articles with extensive research.

The Center for Health Care Strategies will have a June 15 network exchange call to teach the skills needed by health care providers who will, in turn, teach patients how to manage their asthma. To participate register by June 9.

The Surgeon General published a "report on smoking and health, revealing for the first time that smoking causes diseases in nearly every organ of the body." In the May 27 report, the expanded list of diseases and conditions caused by smoking includes cataracts, pneumonia, acute myeloid leukemia, abdominal aortic aneurysm, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, cervical cancer, kidney cancer and periodontitis. (Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)