THIS ISSUE AVAILABLE ONLINE WITH EXPANDED INFORMATION AND PHOTOS AT:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/newsletter/weekly
IN THIS ISSUE:
1) Annual Report to the Nation Finds Cancer Incidence and Death Rates on the Decline: Survival Rates Show Significant Improvement
2) CDC Helps Parents Raise Strong Daughters with National Bone Health Campaign Parent Web Site
3) PREVENTION: Balance Fun and Safety to Enjoy Recreational Water Activities: CDC Study Shows Impact of Water Dangers
4) Science in the News: "Imagination" Helps Older People Remember to Comply with Medical Advice
5) Medicare Minute: HHS Identifies States for Medicare Demonstration of New, Less Restrictive Homebound Definition
6) Secretary Thompson's Public Schedule
Annual Report to the Nation Finds Cancer Indidence and Death Rates on the Decline: Survival Rates Show Significant Improvement
The nation's leading cancer organizations report that Americans' risk of getting and dying from cancer continues to decline and survival rates for many cancers continue to improve. The "Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2001" finds overall observed cancer incidence rates dropped 0.5 percent per year from 1991 to 2001, while death rates from all cancers combined dropped 1.1 percent per year from 1993 to 2001. The new data reflect progress in prevention, early detection, and treatment.
First issued in 1998, the "Annual Report to the Nation" is a collaboration among the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Cancer Society (ACS) and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR). It provides updated information on cancer rates and trends in the United States.
The percentage of patients who have survived more than five years after being diagnosed with cancer has increased over the past two decades.
"This new information on rates and trends is great news," HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "Now we must also take additional steps to ensure all Americans are taking the time to be properly screened for cancer and are making the right healthy choices so certain types of cancer can be prevented."
Death rates from all cancers combined have been decreasing since the early 1990s. Death rates decreased for 11 of the top 15 cancers in men, and eight of the top 15 cancers in women. Lung cancer deaths rates among women leveled off for the first time between 1995 and 2001, after continuously increasing for many decades.
Childhood cancers showed some of the largest improvements in cancer survival during the past 20 years, with an absolute survival rate increase of 20 percent in boys and 13 percent in girls. The current five-year survival rate of over 75 percent confirms substantial progress made since the early 1960s, when childhood cancers were nearly always fatal.
"We are committed to even greater advances in survivorship research at NCI and are directing and conducting research on long-term follow-up of childhood cancer survivors, healthy behaviors for all survivors, and unique issues faced by cancer survivors from underserved populations," NCI Director Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D. said.
More information is available at: http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r040603b.htm
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CDC Helps Parents Raise Strong Daughters with National Bone Health Campaign Parent Web Site
Daughters need parents' support in many ways. The new Powerful Bones. Powerful Girls parent Web site provides resources parents can use to help their daughters prevent osteoporosis later in their life. Part of The National Bone Health Campaign, the new Web site, http://www.cdc.gov/powerfulbones/parents, offers creative ways for parents to help their daughters make healthy choices.
"Women are four times more likely than men to develop osteoporosis," Dr. Saralyn Mark, senior medical advisor for the Office on Women's Health at HHS said. "In the United States today, 8 million women are estimated to already have the disease, and almost 34 million individuals are estimated to have low bone mass, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis. Education among girls aged 9-12 years about good health practices is critical to reducing risk for this largely preventable disease."
With proper nutrition and physical activity during their peak bone producing years, young girls can build strong bones that will carry them into adulthood and later. This is important, because the risk for osteoporosis increases with age.
The Web site addresses many common concerns among parents. For instance, some parents may worry that their daughters will not listen to suggestions for improving health and that they think more about appearances and friends. The Web site offers suggestions on ways to integrate healthy behaviors into their daughters' social lifestyles such as encouraging girls to make yogurt smoothies with their friends or choose a sport or other physical activity that several friends enjoy doing. Making simple food substitutions and coordinating physical activities that the family can do together are ways parents can show daughters the importance of making healthy choices that will help to build strong bones.
The Web site also includes toolboxes with recipes and shopping lists, explanations of nutritional requirements, examples of weight-bearing physical activities, and Q & A sections, providing parents with an extensive array of resources to fill the role of health moderator in their families.
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PREVENTION
Balance Fun and Safety to Enjoy Recreational Water Activities: CDC Study Shows Impact of Water Dangers
Pools, lakes, and oceans can provide hours of summer fun and physical activity, but recreational waters can also be dangerous. In 2001, more than 3300 people drowned and 4,100 people were treated in an emergency department for water-related injuries in the United States according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study released Thursday, June 3.
"Recreational water sites are wonderful places for family fun and physical activity," said CDC Injury Center Acting Director Dr. Ileana Arias. "Balancing the risks means keeping your family safe by choosing locations with life-guards, using Coast Guard-approved personal floatation devices, supervising children and avoiding alcohol use. Take advantage of local swimming lessons and CPR classes for added safety around the water."
Effective drowning prevention strategies are:
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"Imagination" Helps Older People Remember to Comply with Medical Advice
A healthy dose of "imagination" helps older people remember to take medications and follow other medical advice, reports a new study supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a part of the National Institutes of Health.
Researchers found older adults who spent a few minutes picturing how they would test their blood sugar were 50 % more likely to actually do these tests on a regular basis than those who used other memory techniques. The findings by Linda Liu, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan, and Denise Park, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, appear in the June 2004 issue of Psychology and Aging.
"This is an innovative study. It presents an unusual but apparently very effective way to use imagination as a memory tool to help older adults more successfully follow medical instructions," Jeffrey Elias, Ph.D., of the NIA's Behavioral and Social Research Program said. "The best medical care in the world isn't much good if a patient can't or won't follow through. The genius of this method is that it requires less conscious effort than other memory methods. So, it can be easily learned and applied."
Thirty-one non-diabetic volunteers aged 60-81 were placed in 3 different groups and were taught to do home blood glucose tests. Those in the implementation group, defined by the investigators as an "imagination" intervention, spent one 3-minute session visualizing exactly what they would be doing and where they would be the next day when they were scheduled to test their blood sugar levels. Those in the "rehearsal" group repeatedly recited aloud the instructions for testing their blood. Finally, those in the "deliberation" group were asked to write a list of pros and cons for testing blood sugar.
Over the next 3 weeks, participants in the implementation group remembered 76 percent of the time to test their blood sugar at the right times of the day compared to an average of 46 percent in the other two groups.
Dr. Park suspects using imagination may be more effective than other techniques because it relies on automatic memory, a primitive component of memory that doesn't decline with age. Using this technique, you might, for example, imagine taking your pills right after you drink your morning glass of orange juice. The next day at breakfast taking a sip of orange juice provides an unconscious prompt to "automatically" cue a person to take his or her medication.
For more information, please go to: http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jun2004/nia-04.htm
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Medicare Minute
HHS Identifies States for Medicare Demonstration of New, Less Restrictive Homebound Definition
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced Thursday that Missouri, Colorado and Massachusetts will be the three states where Medicare will conduct a demonstration project involving a new and more liberalized definition of homebound. This definition would allow Medicare beneficiaries receiving home health benefits to leave their home more frequently and for longer periods without risking the loss of those benefits.
"This demonstration will give those with chronically disabling conditions a chance to live full lives and contribute to their communities while still receiving services in their homes," Secretary Thompson said. "It represents another step forward in President Bush’s New Freedom Initiative, which is breaking down barriers to community living for people with disabilities and addressing the needs of persons with disabilities. They should not fear that they will lose home-based services that they depend on just because they try their best to have lives outside the home."
Current rules used to determine who qualifies for Medicare payment of services at home require that any time away from home must be "infrequent or of short duration."
Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have refined this definition in recent years, by clarifying that leaving home for adult day care or religious services is allowed. The demonstration project removes a limitation based on actual time spent away from home, eliminating the concern among many homebound persons that they will lose their home-based care if they attempt to take advantage of activities outside the home.
Up to 15,000 beneficiaries will be eligible to enroll in the two-year demonstration, which will begin in the fall. To qualify for the demonstration, Medicare beneficiaries must have a permanent, severe disability that is not expected to improve. In addition, the individual must meet each of the following needs-based criteria:
The goal of the demonstration is to determine the cost impact on the demonstration for patients with chronic illnesses -- a population that otherwise may be at risk for costly institutional care. As part of the process of addressing this question, CMS plans to host an Open Door Forum on June 25 specifically to solicit input from interested groups to discuss the major features of the demonstration.
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Secretary Thompson's Public Schedule:
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Last updated: June 7, 2004
United States Department of Health and Human Services
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