School of Public Health

A leader in using SBIRT for health care settings

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:48:53 +0000

Since 1993, the BNI-ART Institute has been at the forefront of training health care providers in SBIRT, and disseminating SBIRT best practices based on lessons learned from research.

SBIRT—Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment—is a practical, evidence-based method that health care providers can use to help patients overcome barriers to changing harmful behaviors. These behaviors might include: high risk and dependent drinking and drug use, smoking, seat belt non-use, diet and exercise problems, interpersonal violence, and STI/HIV risk.

To learn more about the SBIRT at BU click here.

iPad and Neckpain

admin — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:06:15 +0000

Courtesy: Young et al

Recently a new study was conducted by a group of researchers of Harvard School of Public Health and Microsoft corporation. The study aimed to determine how head and neck postures vary when using two media tablet (slate) computers in four common user configurations. Fifteen experienced media tablet users completed a set of simulated tasks with two media tablets in four typical user configurations. The four configurations were: on the lap and held with the user’s hands, on the lap and in a case, on a table and in a case, and on a table and in a case set at a high angle for watching movies. An infra-red LED marker based motion analysis system measured head/neck postures.
The study concluded that head and neck posture during tablet computing can be improved by placing the tablet higher to avoid low gaze angles (i.e. on a table rather than on the lap) and through the use of a case that provides optimal viewing angles.

Kidney transplantation and Facebook

admin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:01:33 +0000

Courtesy of Children’s Organ Transplant Association

Today the CBS news published an interesting story about using the Facebook for solving health problems including finding kidney’s donors.

Damon Brown, 38, found a kidney on Facebook after telling his story on a page the Seattle dad created under the name, “Damon Kidney.” His friends and family forwarded the link to everyone they knew and on Jan. 3 a woman his wife has known for years, but not someone they consider a close family friend, will be giving him a kidney.

“She said it wasn’t really for me,” Brown said. “It was for my kids, because they deserve to have a dad around.”

Brown’s story is not unique, said April Paschke, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit organization United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) that manages the nation’s organ transplant system for the federal government.

“We see more and more people matched up by social media,” she said. “It’s an extension of the way we communicate. Before we found the Internet, people found other ways: through a church bulletin, word of mouth or an advertisement even.”

This past year, a Michigan man also found a kidney donor on Facebook, and a Florida woman found one through Craigslist.

Damon Brown admits he was a bit embarrassed to publicly ask for help since he had kept his illness pretty quiet except for telling close friends and family.

read more here.

6,000 nurses strike in California

admin — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 23:06:14 +0000

Courtesy of CNN

CNN reported from California that About 6,000 California nurses staged a one-day strike at several hospitals Thursday, protesting what they called an “erosion of quality of care and cuts to patient protections,” National Nurses United said.

The Long Beach registered nurses are in a dispute with management over RN-to-patient staffing levels and safe patient lift policies to prevent accidents and injuries, the union said.

The nurses are also objecting to hospital demands for increases in health care premiums, which they claimed would cost the nurses about $3,000 more in out-of-pocket premiums — which the hospitals disputed.

Officials with Memorial Care Health System, which owns both Long Beach facilities, said that more than 30% of the 2,000 nurses decided not to participate in the strike.

Read the story here from the CNN website.

Work makes mothers happier and healthier

admin — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:30:59 +0000

Source of image : http://www.sonicsails.com

Source : The Los Angeles Times

In the study, published in the December issue of the Journal of Family Psychology, 1,364 mothers were interviewed and observed beginning right after the birth of their child through fifth grade about such subjects as depression, health status, juggling work and family life, and parenting. Families were from 10 locations around the U.S.

Women who worked part time and full time said they had fewer symptoms of depression than did non-working mothers. At three years, or once the child began school, those differences disappeared.

At most points during the study mothers working part and full time reported better health than mothers who did not work. Mothers who worked part time said they had less work-family conflicts compared to women who worked full time.

Night shift work linked to diabetes

admin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:17:53 +0000

Image from http://www.mdhil.com

A story wrote by Deborah Kotz ,was published at the Boston Globe today, discusses the association between night shifts and diabetes. Deborah wrote:

Night shift work has long been associated with a string of health problems such as sleep disorders and an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. In a new study, Harvard School of Public Health researchers quantified how much rotating shift work contributes to the risk of diabetes – which occurs in 1 in 12 American adults – and it’s significant.

The study, involving more than 175,000 nurses, found that those who worked night shifts three or more times a month were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes over 20 years compared with people who didn’t work night shifts with as much as a 60 percent greater risk in those who did shift work for two decades.

While the new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doesn’t prove that night shift work causes diabetes, other research has shown that those who come off a night shift tend to have higher insulin levels and higher levels of inflammation – both involved in diabetes – possibly due to a disruption in the body’s delicate circadian rhythms.

Shift workers had higher obesity rates – which is an independent risk factor for diabetes – and they had a tendency to get fewer than six hours of sleep each day, according to study leader An Pan.

Read the story here.

Abortions do not increase chances of mental illness

admin — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:24:17 +0000

Image from http://www.askdro.com/

According to a story published by the Guardian two days ago, having an abortion does not increase a woman’s chance of developing mental health problems, according to a large study that challenges anti-abortion groups’ claims that termination causes trauma and depression.

The research, commissioned by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and funded by the Department of Health, should reassure women that they are at no greater risk than if they give birth, the authors said.

The biggest study worldwide of the relationship between termination and mental wellbeing is published and concludes: “The best current evidence suggests that it makes no difference to a woman’s mental health whether she chooses to have an abortion or to continue with the pregnancy.”

The research undertaken by the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) at the Royal College of Psychiatrists assessed 44 studies from 1990-2011 which examined data on hundreds of thousands of women at least 90 days after an abortion.

Two-day diet could reduce breast cancer risk

admin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:13:57 +0000

In a post published today at the Telegraph, it is indicated that the two-day diet could reduce breast cancer risk.

Researchers at the University Hospital in South Manchester are claiming that observing a strict two-day diet, rather than trying to constantly cut calories, is a more effective way to loose weight.

The study, lead by Dr Michelle Harvie, and presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, found that women who followed a diet for just two days of the week lost more weight than those practising a full-time diet.

The researchers put 100 overweight female volunteers on one of three diets. The first diet consisted of consuming just 650 calories a day for several days of the week, with carbohydrates such as potatoes and bread cut out. For the remaining five days of the week the participants, whilst encouraged to eat healthily, could consumer whatever they liked.

Although volunteers on the second diet were also banned from eating carbohydrates for two days in a week, they were not set a specific calorie limit.

They were also allowed to eat as much as they wanted for the remainder of the week. The third and final group followed a more conventional diet, which included avoiding high-fat foods, alcohol and sticking to approximately 1,500 calories every day.The results of the study showed that after three months the women on the two day diets had lost an average of nine pounds, compared to five pounds of those on the full-time diet.

The research, conducted at the Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention Centre at UHSM, was published in the International Journal of Obesity.

Pamela Goldberg, chief executive of the Breast Cancer Campaign said: “There are many breast cancer risk factors that can’t be controlled, such as age, gender and family history – but staying at a healthy weight is one positive step that can be taken.

Read the entire story here.

Japan now measures the waistlines of Japanese people

admin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:25:27 +0000

Today a report published by New York Times almost three years ago came to my attention. A campaign to reduce the obesity in Japan. Of course in a meticulous and serious Japanese way.

Under a national law that came into effect three years ago, companies and local governments must now measure the waistlines of Japanese people between the ages of 40 and 74 as part of their annual checkups. That represents more than 56 million waistlines, or about 44 percent of the entire population.

Those exceeding government limits — 33.5 inches for men and 35.4 inches for women, which are identical to thresholds established in 2005 for Japan by the International Diabetes Federation as an easy guideline for identifying health risks — and having a weight-related ailment will be given dieting guidance if after three months they do not lose weight. If necessary, those people will be steered toward further re-education after six more months.

To reach its goals of shrinking the overweight population by 10 percent over the next four years and 25 percent over the next seven years, the government will impose financial penalties on companies and local governments that fail to meet specific targets. The country’s Ministry of Health argues that the campaign will keep the spread of diseases like diabetes and strokes in check.

Go Red on World AIDS Day

admin — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 03:35:51 +0000

World AIDS day, held annually on December 1, will mark 30 years of HIV and 20 years of the Red Ribbon HIV/AIDS symbol this year.

HIV facts

HIV stands for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It is a virus which attacks the body’s immune system — the body’s defence against diseases.

HIV can be passed on through infected bodily fluids, most commonly via sex without a condom or by sharing infected needles, syringes or other injecting drug equipment.

There are now more people than ever living with HIV in the UK — more than 90,000 — with around a quarter of those unaware they have the virus.

Here are a few more facts about HIV in the UK:

Over 90% of people with HIV were infected through sexual contact
You can now get tested for HIV using a saliva sample
HIV is not passed on through spitting, biting or sharing utensils
Only 1% of babies born to HIV positive mothers have HIV
You can get the results of an HIV test in just 15-20 minutes
There is no vaccine and no cure for HIV

Have any of these facts come as a surprise? There is still loads more you can learn about HIV in the UK by visiting HIVaware — our fun, interactive new website which provides all the information everyone should know about HIV. HIVaware gives you facts and stats on HIV, busts common myths and answers your frequently asked questions.

Source: http://www.worldaidsday.org/