This is an electronic update for members and friends of the American Association of Public Health Physicians (AAPHP). We issue this from time to time, whenever several items of interest come to our attention.
Please send items of interest for the E-News -- and any other feedback -- to AAPHP's Secretary, Dave Cundiff, MD, MPH <cundiff@reachone.com>. Thanks!
CONTENTS:
1) NYC Takes On Trans Fats
2) Notes on Heart Risks, Preeclampsia, HIV, & Influenza
3) Comments Open on HP2010 Midcourse Review
4) "Mad Cow Disease" and Laboratory Sheep
5) Does Welfare Policy Affect Public Health?
6) Public Health Physicians Publish Blogs on PH Issues
7) AAPHP Member Update
---------------------------
1) NYC Takes On Trans Fats:
Trans fats, which are found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and in some animal products, adversely affect blood lipids. Trans fats are increasingly thought to increase the risk for heart disease, and they may have impacts on children's growth and development. For background, see the Institute of Medicine's 2002 "Letter Report on Dietary Reference Intakes for Trans Fatty Acids" at http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/13/083/0.pdf.
Building on the advice in _Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005_ to "keep trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible", the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) has embarked on an education campaign for consumers, food services and suppliers, and health care professionals. They are asking NYC restaurants to "clear their kitchens" of artificially produced trans fat, replacing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils with mono- and polyunsaturated oils.
The campaign includes a professionally produced "Health Bulletin:
Healthy Heart -- Eat Less Trans Fat". A recent press release, information for target groups, and links to technical references on trans fats are all available on the NYC DOHMH web site at http://www.nyc.gov/health.
Public Health physician Sonia Angell, MD, MPH, DTM&H is quoted: ³Because many commercial products are not required to indicate trans fat content on the label, many restaurateurs and food suppliers may not know they are using oils with trans fat. Restaurant owners should look for the words Œpartially hydrogenated¹ in the ingredients list to know what ingredients are going into their food.²
Initial reaction from business, including the New York State Restaurant Association, and from the press appears to be positive.
---------------------------
2) Notes on Heart Risks, Preeclampsia, HIV, & Influenza:
Don MacCorquodale's 2005-08-15 "Notes Washed Up In a Bottle"
(http://www.aaphp.org/bottle/2005/aug15.htm) discusses recent work on Chlamydia pneumoniae, antibiotics, and heart attacks; on a positive association of higher Body Mass Index with the risk of preeclampsia; and on biochemical markers of coronary risk in women.
The 2005-08-20 issue (http://www.aaphp.org/bottle/2005/aug2005.htm)
examines several studies of HIV/AIDS prevention measures, then discusses a recent editorial on H5N1 influenza from the British Medical Journal.
Past issues of "Notes in a Bottle" are indexed at http://www.aaphp.org/bottle/allnotes.htm. Thanks to Dr. MacCorquodale, and to AAPHP Webmaster Dr. Kim Buttery, for making this available.
---------------------------
3) Comments Open on HP2010 Midcourse Review:
On behalf of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) requests electronic comments for consideration on changes and revisions proposed to the Healthy People 2010 objectives as a result of the Midcourse Review process. Proposed revisions to the Healthy People 2010 objectives can be seen, and comments can be submitted, at http://www.healthypeople.gov/data/midcourse. Written comments are due by September 15, 2005.
For more information about Healthy People 2010 and its history, visit the Healthy People 2010 website at http://www.healthypeople.gov or E-mail ODPHP at hp2010@osophs.dhhs.gov.
---------------------------
4) "Mad Cow Disease" and Laboratory Sheep:
A recent article in London's The Guardian discusses the implications of a lab experiment that showed probable transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) from healthy, infected ewes to their lambs.
There's no evidence yet that sheep BSE is endemic on farms, either in the United Kingdom or in North America. BSE has declined steeply in the UK since control measures were instituted among cattle. The implications of vertical transmission for the sheep industry, and for consumers, appear to be mostly theoretical.
The news article, with links to mostly British resources on BSE, is online at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1550320,00.html#article_continue.
---------------------------
5) Does Welfare Policy Affect Public Health?
A recent article from on-line British Columbia publication The Tyee says that there's little study, at least in Canada, of the public health impact of recent changes in welfare policy. The death rate in welfare recipients seems quite high, but it cannot be readily studied because Vital Statistics data systems can't cross-match with those of the welfare system.
There are no current plans to assess the health impacts of welfare reform in Canada.
This article doesn't discuss the impact of confounding variables, which should be considerable. (If the welfare system works as designed, there should be a considerable excess of sick people on the welfare rolls compared to the general population.) The full article is available at http://www.thetyee.ca/News/2005/08/18/WelfareRolls/.
---------------------------
6) Public Health Physicians Publish Blogs on PH Issues
I've recently become aware of two Web logs (blogs) published by public health physicians on public health issues. As it happens, both blogs are managed by AAPHP members:
AAPHP's Webmaster Kim Buttery, MD, MPH teaches public health at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. Every day or two he posts a public health observation at http://blog.vcu.edu/cbuttery.
AAPHP member Michael Siegel, MD, MPH is a professor of public health at Boston University. His blog on tobacco policy issues, and on the politics of tobacco control, is at http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com.
Both sites welcome reader comment. Please let the E-news editor know of additional sites that would interest other public health physicians.
---------------------------
7) AAPHP Member Update:
Thanks to J.M. Bistowish, MD; Glen E. Cooper, DO, MPH; William R.
Elsea, MD, MPH; Jeffrey Goldhagen, MD; Mark B. Johnson, MD, MPH; and Susan R. Panny, MD, for joining AAPHP or renewing AAPHP membership since the last E-news.
Membership/renewal information is available at http://www.aaphp.org, or call Rob Rader at (202) 207-0709.
Dave Cundiff, MD, MPH
AAPHP Secretary
cundiff@reachone.com<