Clean air is essential for good health. But, for the third year in a row Sublette County has received a failing grade for ozone pollution in the American Lung Association’s annual “State of the Air” report.

Citizens in Sublette County have expressed concerns to each other, as well as to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, about the health symptoms they experience on days when ozone levels are higher. A recent scientific study by the Wyoming Department of Health has validated what many people in Sublette County have long known: More local residents seek medical help for respiratory ailments on days with higher ozone pollution.

The direct link between ozone levels and health impacts is no surprise. Nationally, and internationally, scientists have known for some time that exposure to ground-level ozone air pollution (commonly known as “smog”), even at very low levels, can cause a number of respiratory health effects. People affected the most include children, the elderly and adults with respiratory diseases. In addition, studies indicate that one in three healthy adults are more sensitive to ozone and are more likely to experience related health effects.

It has been several years since air quality monitors first began to detect this pollution in the Upper Green River Basin. At times, these monitors have shown that our local air pollution can be even worse than the smog levels in Los Angeles. Our air is unfairly compromising our health.

There are no names or faces attached to the scientific literature that outlines health problems associated with ground-level ozone, such as coughing, irritated eyes, difficulty breathing, airway inflammation, increased susceptibility to respiratory infection and aggravated asthma, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other respiratory diseases. And research has shown that exposure, even at low levels, for a period of time can lead to people dying significantly younger than they would have had they not been exposed. The Department of Health study puts a Wyoming face on the issue and underlines the need for fast action to reduce this harmful air pollution.

Overall, the researchers from the Department of Health examined more than 12,000 cases of respiratory problems during the study period; this in a county with a population with barely more than 10,000 people. The study showed a relationship between clinic visits and days with higher ozone pollution levels. Results indicated that for every 10 parts-per-billion increase in the ozone pollution levels, there were

3 percent more visits to local clinics the next day for adverse respiratory-related effects. These numbers would likely have been even higher had visits to doctors outside the county been included.

This ozone problem is created by a complicated interaction between two different air pollutants: oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds. The main source of both of these forms of pollution in the Pinedale area is natural gas development. As the Health Department study mentions, there has been a tenfold increase in gas wells in our region in recent years, during the same period that our air quality has deteriorated.

Luckily, solving this problem doesn’t mean stopping local natural gas and oil development. But it does mean improvements are needed, like putting in place pollution control devices and methods already in use in other parts of the country.

In March, the DEQ announced its plan to improve local air quality — a plan largely based on the consensus recommendations of the Upper Green River Basin Air Quality Citizens Advisory Task Force, a broad group of local citizens, elected officials, the oil and gas industry, and environmental representatives. I was an alternate member of this task force. The DEQ brought this group together to make sensible recommendations. It included simple yet effective ideas such as requiring producers to search for and fix leaky gas and oil drilling equipment and making strong pollution controls apply to existing sources that have been “grandfathered in” (not subject to) to the regulatory regime. But for the air to improve in Sublette County and to protect the people who live here, these recommendations must be made a reality.

The DEQ needs to move to the rulemaking and implementation phase of this plan as quickly as possible.

The state of Wyoming should be commended for conducting a significant amount of research into the causes of Sublette County’s ozone problem and for investing time and staff resources into finding solutions. But the bottom line is this: Ozone is here, it’s harming the health of people who live, work and recreate in Sublette County, and there are things we can do to change it. The Department of Health study emphasizes this need.

The DEQ needs to put health issues related to ozone air pollution on the front burner and it needs to get on the same page as scientists and health professionals. It’s time for the state to use all of the great information it’s gathered to date to make much-needed improvements to protect its citizens. There are no longer any excuses for delaying this process.

Article source: http://trib.com/opinion/columns/clean-air-is-essential-for-good-health/article_30c1794f-47a9-55d3-9895-979eb97e8626.html

Clean air is essential for good health. But, for the third year in a row Sublette County has received a failing grade for ozone pollution in the American Lung Association’s annual “State of the Air” report.

Citizens in Sublette County have expressed concerns to each other, as well as to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, about the health symptoms they experience on days when ozone levels are higher. A recent scientific study by the Wyoming Department of Health has validated what many people in Sublette County have long known: More local residents seek medical help for respiratory ailments on days with higher ozone pollution.

The direct link between ozone levels and health impacts is no surprise. Nationally, and internationally, scientists have known for some time that exposure to ground-level ozone air pollution (commonly known as “smog”), even at very low levels, can cause a number of respiratory health effects. People affected the most include children, the elderly and adults with respiratory diseases. In addition, studies indicate that one in three healthy adults are more sensitive to ozone and are more likely to experience related health effects.

It has been several years since air quality monitors first began to detect this pollution in the Upper Green River Basin. At times, these monitors have shown that our local air pollution can be even worse than the smog levels in Los Angeles. Our air is unfairly compromising our health.

There are no names or faces attached to the scientific literature that outlines health problems associated with ground-level ozone, such as coughing, irritated eyes, difficulty breathing, airway inflammation, increased susceptibility to respiratory infection and aggravated asthma, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other respiratory diseases. And research has shown that exposure, even at low levels, for a period of time can lead to people dying significantly younger than they would have had they not been exposed. The Department of Health study puts a Wyoming face on the issue and underlines the need for fast action to reduce this harmful air pollution.

Overall, the researchers from the Department of Health examined more than 12,000 cases of respiratory problems during the study period; this in a county with a population with barely more than 10,000 people. The study showed a relationship between clinic visits and days with higher ozone pollution levels. Results indicated that for every 10 parts-per-billion increase in the ozone pollution levels, there were

3 percent more visits to local clinics the next day for adverse respiratory-related effects. These numbers would likely have been even higher had visits to doctors outside the county been included.

This ozone problem is created by a complicated interaction between two different air pollutants: oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds. The main source of both of these forms of pollution in the Pinedale area is natural gas development. As the Health Department study mentions, there has been a tenfold increase in gas wells in our region in recent years, during the same period that our air quality has deteriorated.

Luckily, solving this problem doesn’t mean stopping local natural gas and oil development. But it does mean improvements are needed, like putting in place pollution control devices and methods already in use in other parts of the country.

In March, the DEQ announced its plan to improve local air quality — a plan largely based on the consensus recommendations of the Upper Green River Basin Air Quality Citizens Advisory Task Force, a broad group of local citizens, elected officials, the oil and gas industry, and environmental representatives. I was an alternate member of this task force. The DEQ brought this group together to make sensible recommendations. It included simple yet effective ideas such as requiring producers to search for and fix leaky gas and oil drilling equipment and making strong pollution controls apply to existing sources that have been “grandfathered in” (not subject to) to the regulatory regime. But for the air to improve in Sublette County and to protect the people who live here, these recommendations must be made a reality.

The DEQ needs to move to the rulemaking and implementation phase of this plan as quickly as possible.

The state of Wyoming should be commended for conducting a significant amount of research into the causes of Sublette County’s ozone problem and for investing time and staff resources into finding solutions. But the bottom line is this: Ozone is here, it’s harming the health of people who live, work and recreate in Sublette County, and there are things we can do to change it. The Department of Health study emphasizes this need.

The DEQ needs to put health issues related to ozone air pollution on the front burner and it needs to get on the same page as scientists and health professionals. It’s time for the state to use all of the great information it’s gathered to date to make much-needed improvements to protect its citizens. There are no longer any excuses for delaying this process.

Article source: http://trib.com/opinion/columns/clean-air-is-essential-for-good-health/article_30c1794f-47a9-55d3-9895-979eb97e8626.html

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Much of our present day health care is centered around the belief of Germ Theory, as proposed by the 19th century scientist Louis Pasteur.

In it, he states that the determining factor as to whether or not we get sick is due to the exposure to a pathogen, or germ. In essence, exposure to a germ equals disease.

Pasteur had a bitter rival by the name of Pierre Jacques Antoine Béchamp, a French chemist and biologist.

Béchamp said that it is not the germ that makes us sick, it is the body’s ability to fend off the attacker that will determine the state of sickness of health.

He felt that we are all exposed to germs, it is the internal environment the stipulates health.

Wikipedia writes: “Béchamp  did not believe that bacteria could invade a healthy host and create disease on their own. Pasteur’s competing vision became widely accepted by scientists, and Béchamp sank into obscurity, although his beliefs have been continuously promoted by a small fringe of dedicated advocates.

“On September 28, 1895, Pasteur, on his death bed stated that he was wrong and Béchamp was correct all along. He stated, “It is not the seed, it is the soil.’”

This still holds true today.

This is not to say that we do not need such things as antibiotics. In fact, I would have lost my right hand last Christmas, due to an infection if it were not for antibiotics.

Moreover, I believe that Béchamp was stating that our overall ability to adapt and overcome physiologically was largely determined by our reaction to a pathogen, not the pathogen itself. This seems to make more sense to me.

Our internal environment is determined by our overall ability to express health. This is determined by our level of nutrition, internal fortitude and overall ‘tone.’

Eating well, managing stress in a healthy fashion, exercising and a healthy nervous system all play a very important role in enhancing our internal strength to manage and eradicate disease.

Chiropractic plays a vital role in the body’s ability to express health by managing and fortifying our nervous system.

The immune system starts with something called GALT, or gut associated lymphoid tissue. This response is our first to infection. This GALT is turned on or off by the nervous system.

Immunity is almost entirely determined by the status of the nervous system. This is where immunity starts. It is as important as nutrition.

A properly functioning nervous system will equal a properly functioning immune system. It is the nervous system that initiates and regulates the immune system.

Many studies demonstrate that those that were being adjusted were far less likely to become ill. Immunity and nervous system are one in the same.

Being adjusted is not all you need to do to maintain a healthy nervous system, but it is as important as eating well, moving well and thinking well.

Markus Thiel is a doctor of chiropractic. Questions and comments may be sent to askdrthiel@shaw.ca.

 

Article source: http://www.kelownacapnews.com/opinion/207783761.html

Have your transformed an artery-clogging classic recipe into something tasty but nutritious? It’s time to share those secrets.

The next edition of The List, publishing in The Leader on June 1, will focus on the area’s healthy eating options under the title “Good for You.”

While menus abound with locally grown foods and an increasing number of options for better nutrition such as salads, meatless burgers and vegetarian/vegan choices, we know some of the healthiest cooking around is being done in home kitchens.

So we’d like you to share your recipes combining good taste with good health with fellow readers. Send them to news@theleadernews.com by May 25 or drop them off at our office at 3500 E. T.C. Jester, Suite A, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Article source: http://www.theleadernews.com/?p=9427

With the recovery underway, things are starting to look up. Consumer confidence rose to a six-year high on Friday, the housing sector is improving, the economic gears are turning. But there may also be a less-welcome rebound: Fatalities could rise.

A growing body of research has found time and again that public health actually improves when times are tough economically. That’s right: Temporary downturns have been associated with declines in deaths, alcohol consumption, and other unhealthy behaviors. It’s a finding that researchers have replicated both here and abroad; a downturn, it seems, could be good for your health.

“This result seems to be quite strong and robust,” says University of Virginia public policy and economics professor Christopher J. Ruhm, whose 2000 paper linking downturns and public health increases has been widely cited in subsequent studies. “The effects have looked fairly stable across time periods,” too, Ruhm says, adding, however, that his own preliminary research suggests the effect may be fading.

It may at first seem counterintuitive. Downturns are associated with stressful events like pay cuts, layoffs, and stagnating incomes. And mental health often deteriorates during bad times, too. But a sluggish economy can change behavior.

A 1 percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate, according to Ruhm’s research, is associated with: 0.3 percent to 0.5 percent fewer deaths; a 1 percent to 3 percent decline in traffic deaths; fewer fatal heart attacks; a 0.6 percent reduction in smoking; a 0.4 percent reduction in obesity; and a 0.4 percent increase in physical activity. All told, that 1 percentage-point increase in unemployment is associated with 11,000 fewer deaths, he found.

Others have confirmed the finding, and similar effects have been found in Germany, Spain, France, Canada, and the OECD countries. Some researchers found the effect held true from 1900 to 1996. And life expectancy reportedly increased during the most recent recession.

What’s less clear is exactly why the relationship between downturns and public health is so strong. Ruhm and others have argued that when business is slow and hours are cut, people have more time to spend on diet and exercise. Fewer workers and shorter hours may mean fewer work-related accidents, too.

But other researchers dispute that explanation. In a 2009 paper, economists Douglas Miller, Marianne Page, Ann Huff Stevens, and Mateusz Filipski argued that the linkage really comes down to two factors: a decrease in car accidents, and fewer deaths among the elderly. When employment is up, they argue, more people are on the road, so fatal accidents are more likely. It’s less clear why fewer seniors die during downturns, although it may have something to do with less pollution or changes in the quality, quantity, and nature of health care, they say.

What may be as surprising as the finding itself is how far back it goes. Researchers in the early 1920’s saw a similar correlation, although they seemed to have doubted their own results. “[I]t should be remembered that there are other factors affecting the fluctuations of death rates from year to year,” Columbia University’s William Ogburn and Dorothy Thomas wrote in the Journal of the American Statistical Association in September 1922. The finding was largely ignored for decades, however.

As with all research, there are important caveats. The effect seems to be true only when downturns are  short-lived and not severe. And health actually improves in upturns that are long-lasting. Perhaps the biggest note of caution comes from Ruhm himself: In new research, he finds that the link between downturns and health improvements may be breaking down.

“The procyclical relationship has pretty much disappeared,” he says. That’s the conclusion from recent research he’s conducted using data from 1976 to 2009, the latest available. But the finding is still very preliminary, he warns.

Two factors are largely driving the possible change, Ruhm says. First is a trend related to painkillers. As mental health declines in downturns, it is often manifested by physical symptoms such as pain. In seeking to treat that pain, people may be increasingly putting themselves at risk by taking painkillers, which have become more widely available in recent years and have contributed to a general rise in poisoning deaths. Second, cancer death rates are increasing in downturns. That, he suggests, may be because cancer patients are living longer thanks to expensive treatments. Cancer deaths may fall during economic upturns because individuals have better health coverage and more money.

But it’s still early, Ruhm warns, and more than a decade of studies that have confirmed his initial findings shouldn’t be ignored just because of one paper. “Honestly, I think we have to be a bit more tentative,” he says. And more research has to be done.

Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/recessions-good-health-130905744.html

It was open enrollment for health benefits at Nossaman last week, and the conference room was filled with employees waiting to be briefed.  Having spent the better part of the last few years of my professional life being bombarded with the abstract details of health care reform, I was curious to see what, if any, connection might be seen between this extraordinarily complicated and controversial legislative reform and real life.

Don’t doubt for a minute that it is there. Here were moms and dads protecting the well-being of their children, some not even born.  Husbands and wives were taking care of their spouses. Mastering the complexity of the simplified “side by side” comparison of the different coverages was at least as important as foraging for food once was, a long time ago.

Health care may not be a constitutional right, but you could not tell that for a second from watching our employees. Their intensity may not have equaled that at the  recent NRA’s convention in Houston, but I think the Second Amendment would finish a distant second in any race with health care as a subject of widespread concern.  It seemed to me that every one wanted a good heath plan more than an Uzi.  Nobody was complaining about the pernicious effect of the employer mandate or their loss of personal freedom.   

No question that this was a highly educated, self-selecting sample from la-la San Francisco.  But this was not political.  The concern and attention these employees brought with them would not be inherently different in a factory, warehouse or fast food restaurant located in a “Red State,” if any of those employees were lucky enough to have health care as an option. Pick whatever constitutional right you like, good health care is what makes life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness possible

Article source: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=b689eb19-26a8-4d5d-b274-1aa9cd16404f

Friday May 17, 2013 5:10 AM

I respond to the Monday
Dispatch article “Calls pricey for families of inmates.”

Although the costs for phone service are high, inmates’ health-care plan is excellent with no
deductible.

Considering the trade-off, I say they are ahead of the general population.

- STEVE FEDAN

Orient

Article source: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2013/05/17/1-inmates-have-pretty-good-health-care.html

Posted: Thursday, May 16, 2013 4:13 pm

More evidence berries promote good health

0 comments

Berry producers will be happy to hear that there’s additional evidence berries like strawberries and blueberries are good for people. While the protective effect of berries against inflammation has been documented in many studies, diets supplemented with blueberries and strawberries have also been shown to improve behavior and cognitive functions in stressed young rats. That’s reported in the online ScienceDaily.com.

To evaluate the protective effects of berries on brain function, specifically the ability of the brain to clear toxic accumulation, researchers from the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University and University of Maryland Baltimore County recently fed rats a berry diet for two months and then looked at their brains after irradiation, a model for accelerated aging. All of the rats were fed berries two months prior to radiation and then divided into two groups; one was evaluated after 36 hours of radiation and the other after 30 days.

“After 30 days on the same berry diet, the rats experienced significant protection against radiation compared to control,” says investigator Shibu Poulose. “We saw significant benefits to diets with both of the berries, and speculate it is due to the phytonutrients present.”

The researchers looked at neurochemical changes in the brain, in particular what is known as autophagy, which can regulate the synthesis, degradation and recycling of cellular components. It is also the way in which the brain clears toxic accumulations. “Most diseases of the brain, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, have shown an increased amount of toxic protein. Berries seem to promote autophagy, the brain’s natural housekeeping mechanism, thereby reducing the toxic accumulation,” says Poulose.

The researchers are currently conducting a human study in older people ages 60 to 75. “We have a lot of animal work that suggests these compounds will protect the aged brain and reverse some of behavioral deficits. We are hoping it will translate to human studies as well,” says Barbara Shukitt-Hale, the lead investigator conducting the human study.

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Article source: http://www.agriview.com/briefs/crop/more-evidence-berries-promote-good-health/article_64b370f8-be6d-11e2-ac7c-001a4bcf887a.html

MONTPELIER, Vt. -

Thousands were running and walking in Montpelier Thursday evening to promote good health. They turned out for this year’s Corporate Cup and State Agency Race.

The 5-kilometer race kicked off at 6 p.m.

This year, organizers said they are on track for record attendance, with 3,600 runners and walkers registered for the team competition.

The athletes come from all corners of Vermont, representing state agencies and businesses in the private sector. Volunteers and runners agree the main goal is to promote good health.

“It’s about physical fitness, it’s really not about racing or having the best time, it’s about participation, it’s about being physically active,” said Michael Feulner, a race committee volunteer. “Vermont is one of the healthiest states or the healthiest states in the country and it’s events like this and many others, it’s about the culture of Vermont that makes us healthy.”

This year the race is marking its 30th anniversary. Proceeds support projects with the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport.

Article source: http://www.wcax.com/story/22275509/thousands-run-in-montpelier-to-promote-good-health

University of Bradford mela event will promote good health

9:10am Thursday 16th May 2013 in News

University of Bradford

The first Health Mela aimed at promoting health and wellbeing for the community takes place on Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

Held at the University of Bradford, the Mela includes free health assesments including height, weight and BMI measurements. It also includes blood sugar and cholesterol testing, along with advice on healthy eating, exercise, smoking and alcohol abuse.

It is held with Council for Mosques, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Bradford.

Article source: http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/10421991.University_of_Bradford_mela_event_will_promote_good_health/