March 2, 2011
Newsmakers
TURNING POINT: A recent story on National Public Radio discussed the labor unrest and protests gathering so much steam these days. The rallies were to show support for Wisconsin union workers, the article stated. “But the movement is going national now because anti-union efforts are cropping up in many states. And what happens in these statehouses could cripple a labor movement that has been in slow decline.”
The story also quoted James Gregory, professor of history at UW and an expert in American labor movements. Gregory said that even people who arent in a union should be concerned about what will happen. “It represents not just a loss for unions. It represents sort of more fundamentally a potential loss of important rights, what are fundamentally civil rights,” Gregory said. He added that it would mark a turning point in American civil rights if workers lose the right to unionize. Read and listen to the story online.
MORE DATA: “Doctors should remove suspicious cells in the esophagus during screenings to help prevent the development of cancer, according to guidelines issued today,” begins a story from Boomberg Businessweek that later quoted John Inadomi, head of the gastroenterology division at the UW School of Medicine. Inadomi said the new guidelines move toward prevention rather than just detection. “This is a step toward the kind of prevention we have for colon cancer, but we need far more data and better technology to reach that level,” Inadomi said in a telephone interview.
There isnt enough evidence yet to prove this will reduce the number of cancer cases, he said. “Intuitively, it makes sense that if we reduce the threat from precancerous cells by removing them, we are reducing the risk. But that can take a decade or two to prove with data.” Inadomi is also chair of the Clinical Practice and Quality Management Committee of the American Gastroenterological Association, which released the new guidelines. Read the story online.
BRAIN CHANGES?: The New York Times wellness blog in February reported on a new study from the National Institutes of Health finding that less than an hour of cell phone use “can speed up brain activity in the area closest to the phone antenna, raising new questions about the health effects of low levels of radiation emitted from cell phones.” The researchers have urged caution in interpreting the results, the article stated, because the effects of the brain changes on overall health are not known. The article stated that “major medical groups have said that cell phones are safe,” but noted that some phycians suggest the use of headsets “as a precaution.”
Not surprisingly, the Times also quoted Henry Lai, UW professor of bioengineering, known for his research in this area. “The bottom line is that it adds to the concern that cell phone use could be a health hazard,” Lai wrote in an editorial accompanying the researchers Journal of the American Medical Association article, which was quoted in the Times story. “Everybody is worried about brain cancer, and the jury is still out on that question. There are actually quite a lot of studies showing cellphone radiation associated with other events, like sleep disturbances. But the people have not been paying a lot of attention to these other types of studies.” Read the story online.
‘SHAKY: An article at the end of January in The Washington Post informed readers that “one of the most worrisome national security threats related to climate change is the spread of disease among people and animals, U.S. health intelligence and health officials say.” And years after the concern was first raised, the article noted, “significant gaps remain in health surveillance and response networks,” worldwide and in the U.S. The article also quoted Howard Frumkin, dean of the UW School of Public Health and former director of the Centers for Disease Controls National Center for Environmental Health, who called the U.S. ability cope with climate-related disease “shaky.”
Frumkin said, “It’s the entire range of preparedness work, from problem identification to preparedness action to adaptation actions to testing the programs. All needs to be strengthened.” The CDC has given out $5 million grants to 10 states and cities to study the matter and the National Institutes of Health used some stimulus money to look at which populations are the most vulnerable to climate change, the story stated. “Were making progress, but its slower progress than it needs to be,” Frumkin added. Climate change “is advancing far faster than has been forecast. We need to be ready not in 20 years or in 30 years, but relatively soon.” Read the story online.
