Monthly Archive for December, 2011

Where Everyone Wants to Work with HIV

Published on December 31, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Nurse educator Marianne Swanson, who teaches patients how to use medications, is HIV-positive. Image by Robert Johnson

By Elizabeth Landau from Cnn Health

Marianne Swanson closes her eyes, with smoky gray circles beneath her long lashes, as she counts the number of pills she takes every day for HIV: “One, two, three, four” in the morning, and three more at night.

They’re drugs she’ll need to take for life because of a virus that her late husband gave her in the 1980s, at a time when scientists were just beginning to understand AIDS. The disease claimed her husband’s life, as well as two of her children.

Today, as a nurse educator at Grady Health System’s Ponce De Leon Center in Atlanta, Swanson tells patients about her personal struggle with AIDS only if she thinks it will help them.

“It’s not about me, it’s about them,” said Swanson, 55, “and helping them to be successful so that they can dream and reach the goals they would set for themselves.”

To Read More…

Younger Americans Face Greater Health Disparities: Study

Published on December 26, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

From Health.com

The gap between the least healthy and most healthy people has increased substantially among young American adults, new research suggests.

Among those born early in the 20th century and on through the “baby boom” years (1946-1964), health disparities among generations continuously declined in the United States. But the health gap increased for post-baby boomers, especially those born after 1980, according to a report in the December issue of the journal American Sociological Review.

The study also found that health disparity trends tend to increase as people move into middle age, and then decline as they reach old age.

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Dogs and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Published on December 19, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Image by Bryce Harper for The New York Times

By Anahad O’Connor from The New York Times

It’s well known that post-traumatic stress is one of the major problems facing many veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But now researchers are finding that a large number of military dogs may be grappling with the condition as well.

By some estimates, more than 5 percent of the roughly 650 military dogs deployed by American combat forces are coming down with what researchers call canine PTSD, reports James Dao in The New York Times.

Though veterinarians have long diagnosed behavioral problems in animals, the concept of canine PTSD is only about 18 months old, having come into vogue among military veterinarians who have been seeing patterns of troubling behavior among dogs exposed to explosions, gunfire and other combat-related violence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To Read More…

How to Stay Flu-Free for the Holidays

Published on December 12, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

From Health.com

The overlap of the cold and flu season with the holiday season can make it a challenge to stay healthy as you go to parties and get together with family and friends.

Getting a flu shot is important, but other precautions can also reduce your risk of getting sick or of spreading illness to others, according to a Ryerson University news release.

Here are some tips for a healthy holiday:

When you have to cough or sneeze, do it in your sleeve or the inside of your sweater or jacket. That will prevent the spread of viruses to those nearby.

Wash your hands regularly and always after using the restroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose.

Use the air kiss or fake peck on the cheek instead of a kiss on the lips when greeting family and friends.

To Read More…

Recently published in the Health and Wellness Journal

Published on December 8, 2011 in Journal. 0 Comments

Recently published papers in The International Journal of Health, Wellness and Society include:

Exploring Food Access and Health Disparities by Sarah Buila.
Results of a Worksite Health Environmental-change Initiative: What Remains Three Years Post-intervention by Brian Fisher, Thomas Golaszewski, Christopher Maylahn, Amy Jesaitis and Dyann Matson-Koffman.
Professionalization of Chinese Medicine Development in Hong Kong: The Post-handover Experiences by Tsoi Wing Kam.
Designing Public Toilets to Enhance the Well-being of the Visually Impaired by Kin Wai Michael Siu.
Daily Classroom Movement: Physical Activity Integration into the Classroom by Heather Adams-Blair and Gretchen Oliver.
Creating a Healthier Campus Community Using Action Research and Health Promotion Strategies: Students and Organizational Leaders as Partners by Claire Budgen, Doris Callaghan, Diane Gamble, Robyn Wiebe, Christopher Reimer, Melissa Feddersen, Shannon Dunn, Rob Johnson, Natalie McHugh, Heidi Morrison, Kelli Sullivan, Ian Cull and Alaa Abd-El-Aziz.
A Phenomenological Study of the Perceptions and Experiences of Mexican-Americans Participating in Collegiate Football by Rafael E. Romo.
Water and Wellness in Two Colonias of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico by F. Caldeira, M. K. O’Rourke and Claudia Gil.

Tired of Feeling the Burn? Low-Acid Diet May Help

Published on December 5, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

By Tara Parker-Pope from The New York Times

Stomach acid has long been blamed for acid reflux, heartburn and other ills. But now some experts are starting to think that the problems may lie not just in the acid coming up from the stomach but in the food going down.

The idea has been getting a lot of attention lately, notably in popular books like “Crazy Sexy Diet” and “The Acid Alkaline Food Guide” — which claim that readers can improve their health by focusing on the balance of acid and alkaline in the diet, mostly by eating more vegetables and certain fruits and fewer meats and processed foods.

While the science behind such claims is not definitive, some research does suggest a benefit to low-acid eating. A handful of recent studies have shown a link between bone health and a low-acid diet, while some reports suggest that the acidity of the Western diet increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

To Read More…

Finalists for the International Award for Excellence

Published on December 2, 2011 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Congratulations to all of the Award finalists:

Najia A. Al-Zanbagi - Noticeable Effect of Juniperus Procera as Toxoplasma Gondii Tachyzoites Inhibitor in Vivo
Roxanne Bainbridge, Janya McCalman, Komla Tsey and Cath Brown - Inside-out Approaches to Promoting Aboriginal Australian Wellbeing: Evidence From a Decade of Community-based Participatory Research
Jessica W. Chin and Jay Johnson - Making the Team: Threats to Health and Wellness within Sport Hazing Cultures
Elham Emami, Pierre De Grandmont, Pierre Rompré and Jocelyne Feine - Oral Health, Quality of Life and Physical Health
Joanne Haeffele, Eric P. Trunnell and Anita Kinney - A Grounded Theory Approach to the Process of Successful and Advanced Weight Maintenance
Lorraine Jackson and Natalie Beamer - Understanding Tobacco Marketing, Youth Sensation Seeking, and Smoking: Implications for Smoking Prevention Among Early Adolescents (to be published in an upcoming issue)
Jeffrey McClung and Kelly Ambrose - Using Directed Mimicry to Teach Archery to Novices (to be published in an upcoming issue)
James Marcum - “First, do no Harm”: Uncaring and Incompetent Healthcare
Marie Vazquez Morgan and Suzanne Tinsley - Wellness with Spinal Cord Injury: Impact of an Outpatient Ambulation Program: A Case Study
Karla Simmons, Lenda Jo Connell, Pamela Ulrich, Holly Skinner, Mahendran Balasubramanian and Sareen Gropper - Body Image and Body Satisfaction for College Freshmen: Investigation into the Fabled “Freshman 15”
Alina Sotskova, Michelle Coghlan and Erica Woodin - The Relationship of Intimate Partner Violence to Health-related Quality of Life Among Couples During the Transition to Parenthood