Photo courtesy of InHabitat.com
This week we saw a lot of stories on the web about previously unknown or unheard-of factors in public health. Think about the hottest stories on the web: California’s drought, heroin overdose cases, and e-cigarettes. All these topics affect public health in previously unknown or unheard-of ways.
These stories were all Tweeted or shared on our Facebook page, so don’t forget to follow us on those platforms for the best health care coverage!
In a story that hits home, SFist did a piece on the immediate and long-term impacts of the drought in our region, something that was a consequence of the warmest winter on record.
Fruit, Vegetable, And Wine Prices Likely Going Up Due To Droughts
Central Valley farmers are already leaving at least a half-million acres unplanted this growing season due to the drought and lack of water being allocated to their farms, and you can count on finding less selection, as well as higher prices, in your nearest produce section this summer and fall as a result. … you can bet that lettuces, strawberries, peppers, and melons, a lot of which are grown in California, are going to be getting pricy and will be in short supply.
The article also predicted that farmer’s markets will lack popular fruits and also feature higher prices once the main market season opens up (usually between April and May for the seasonal markets).
All this points to less access to healthy food. Many people lack the means to buy fresh produce and whole foods to begin with, and this added crush of fewer crops and higher prices could mean an increase in unhealthy eating habits.
Another story on how the environment and climate change affects public health, this time from the Huffington Post, points out the exact factors of how air pollution affects our heart health.
New Clues To Why Traffic Pollution Is So Bad For The Heart
Researchers from the University of Washington Medical Center found that traffic pollution seems to affect the structure and functioning of the heart’s right ventricle.
“Using exposure to nitrogen dioxide as a surrogate for exposure to traffic-related air pollution, we were able to demonstrate for the first time that higher levels of exposure were associated with greater right ventricular mass and larger right ventricular end-diastolic volume,” study researcher Dr. Peter Leary, M.D., M.S., said in a statement. “Greater right ventricular mass is also associated with increased risk for heart failure and cardiovascular death.”
Before this story came out, we assumed all we had to risk was our lung and respiratory health when it comes to air pollution. Not so anymore. The article mentions signs of ventricle changes in more than 4,000 people with no previous signs of heart disease. Since most of the United States population lives in cities, this new study could point to a crisis level in public heart health.
Another public health issue that nobody seems to be talking about is illegal drug use. Heroin use has been all over the news lately, and two particular articles stand out for their call to action against the dangers of heroin use, as well as for a huge change in how we treat overdoses.
Holder: Heroin an urgent ‘public health crisis’. From TownHall.com:
Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday called the increase in heroin-related deaths an “urgent and growing public health crisis” and said first responders should carry with them a drug that can reverse the effects of an overdose.
The number of overdose deaths involving heroin increased by 45 percent between 2006 and 2010, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and several state governors have recently drawn attention to the impact of heroin abuse in their communities.
Holder’s statement serves to embolden the medical community to combat this dangerous drug. The article states that there has been some resistance on widening access to the “antidote” to heroin overdoses called naloxone (commonly known by the brand name Narcan), fearing it could encourage heroin use.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran an article the day after Holder’s announcement on the state’s new policy on access to naloxone.
First responders in Ohio can now carry life-saving heroin overdose antidote
Friends and family members of addicts now have access to the drug that reverses an overdose in seconds, and all first responders, including police officers, firefighters and basic paramedics, can carry naloxone.
The [state bill’s] “Good Samaritan” clause blankets from prosecution someone who gives naloxone to an overdosing person and then calls 9-1-1, even if the caller was using drugs, to eliminate the fear of calling for help.
Nationwide, 17 states and the District of Columbia have expanded access to naloxone, and the drug has saved over 10,000 lives since 2001, a press release from Holder’s office said.
The policy instituted in Ohio should reduce the concerns for abuse of the antidote and other negative consequences outlined in the previous article on naloxone’s usage in a wider sector of the population. This points to one of the most basic ideas of success in public health: patient engagement.
Nearly every week in these link dumps/news roundups, we’ve discussed some kind of mobile health news. This week we found a few articles debating not the ethics of telemedicine, or the potential of future technical achievements in health care, but how access to mobile health devices (or lack thereof) affects vulnerable populations.
Wearable Technology: What are the Poor Supposed to Wear? From EHealthEquity:
Most of today’s users are early adopters, and are not necessarily the patients who would benefit most from these devices, said Dr. Daniel Sands, a primary care physician, co-chairman and co-founder of the Society for Participatory Medicine, and an assistant clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Those who would really benefit from these devices are poor, live more sedentary lifestyles, and probably suffer from obesity, diabetes or heart disease. The problem is they’re not likely to buy (or even afford) wearable devices.
These points are valid, especially in a social and political climate where the Affordable Care Act is a hot button issue and there are still millions of people who are left out of health care coverage or having trouble signing up due to website glitches.
Who really benefits from health apps and wearable tech? EHealthEquity included a simple chart on pricing of three popular wearable tech devices with health app capabilities:
Fitbit – $99.95
MisFit Shine – $119.95
Garmin Vivofit Fitness Band – $129.99
Will the costs fall into ACA coverage guidelines? Will they increase health outcomes for the better? These questions are yet unanswered. The takeaway from this article, as author Patricia Redsicker says, “a scenario where wearable technologies, instead of helping health outcomes, end up worsening healthcare disparities between the haves and the have-nots.”
Long Beach passes even stricter e-cigarette rules than L.A. From the L.A. Times:
Long Beach approved strict rules on the use of electronic cigarettes in public spaces late Tuesday, tougher regulations than were adopted hours earlier by the Los Angeles City Council.
The restrictions, adopted on a 9-0 vote, mean Los Angeles County’s two largest cities will treat e-cigarettes in much the same way as regular cigarettes, banning their use in restaurants, bars, workplaces, city parks and beaches.
We talked a little about this last week with a general overview of city policies on regulating e-cigarettes, but this is the first article we’ve come across where a public official has mentioned a connection between e-cigarettes and public health.
Long Beach Councilman Robert Garcia was quoted in the article as saying, “What we’re hearing from a lot of people in the medical community, as well as those who are studying the issue, is that there are a lot of unknowns. It makes sense for us to err on the side of public health.”
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