THIS ISSUE AVAILABLE ONLINE WITH EXPANDED INFORMATION AND PHOTOS AT:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/newsletter/weekly
IN THIS ISSUE:
1) Surgeon General Carmona and ESPNzone Play Your Way
2) HHS Sends 15 Public Health Service Officers To Support California Wildfire Relief Efforts
3) Women's Symptoms are New or Different Prior to Heart Attack
4) Buying Medicines and Medical Products Online
5) Secretary Thompson's Public Schedule:
Surgeon General Carmona and ESPNzone Play Your Way
U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona teamed up with the Atlanta Falcons and ESPNzone to host a sports gear drive in Atlanta recently. The drive is part of ESPN's national youth fitness initiative Play Your Way designed to promote physical activity among youth ages 9 - 17. The sports gear drive provides children with games to play, places to play and 'stuff' to play with.
"We have 9 million overweight children in America," Surgeon General Richard Carmona said. "I commend ESPN, the Atlanta ESPNzone, and the Atlanta Falcons for working to combat childhood overweight and obesity. Together we can give kids effective, safe, and fun ways to engage in more physical activity."
Dr. Carmona made brief remarks at the event about the importance of exercise among youth and childhood obesity. The Atlanta Falcons were on hand to interact with the kids in the sports arena and promote healthy lifestyles. Gear collected from the drive will be donated to various charity organizations in the area.
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HHS Sends 15 Public Health Service Officers To Support California Wildfire Relief Efforts
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson deployed 15 U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) officers to assist the American Red Cross with the medical and mental health needs of Californians in the aftermath of the state's disastrous wildfires.
"These highly trained medical officers will provide needed medical assistance to Californians affected by the devastating wildfires," Secretary Thompson said. "In times like these, we are fortunate to have so many public health professionals ready at a moment's notice to meet the needs of our fellow Americans."
Ten Commissioned Corps Readiness Force (CCRF) nurses and five CCRF mental health providers are supporting Red Cross shelter operations in southern California as a result of the wildfires. These individuals are providing medical and mental health assessments, public health nursing services, and referrals to community medical and mental health resources to people who have been displaced from their homes.
"The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps has a long and proud history of serving Americans," Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona said. "As we continue to build into a more flexible, mobile, stronger unit, we will be more able to meet the growing public health needs of our nation and world."
The CCRF is a team of active duty officers in the PHS who are mobilized in times of extraordinary need during disasters, other public health emergencies, or in response to domestic or international requests. The CCRF provides health leadership and expertise by enhancing and supporting the services of the PHS and other HHS divisions, other U.S. government departments or agencies, non-governmental agencies, and/or international respondents. The Surgeon General of the United States founded the CCRF in 1994 to improve HHS' ability to respond to public health emergencies.
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Science in the News
A study of women's symptoms prior to heart attack indicates that about 95% said they knew their symptoms were new or different a month or more before experiencing their Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI). This was true even when the symptoms were common ones and varied in severity. The most frequently reported symptoms were unusual fatigue (70.7%), sleep disturbance (47.8%), and shortness of breath (42.1%). Notably, fewer than 30% of the women reported chest pain and discomfort prior to AMI, and 43% did not experience chest pain during AMI. Most clinicians continue to consider chest pain as the most important AMI symptom for both women and men.
This study is one of the initial investigations of women's experience with heart attacks, and how this experience differs from men's. Recognition of symptoms that provide an early indication of heart attack, either imminently or in the near future, is critical to forestalling or preventing the disease.
The article describing the study, entitled "Women's Early Warning Symptoms of AMI," appears in today's rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. The study was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) part of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.
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Buying Medicines and Medical Products OnlineTips and Warnings for Consumers
With hundreds of drug-dispensing Websites in business, how can consumers tell which sites are legitimate ones, especially when it is very easy to set up a site that is very professional looking and promises deep discounts or a minimum of hassles?
If you buy medical products online, be aware of the following dangers:
Purchasing a medication from an illegal Website puts you at risk. You may receive a contaminated or counterfeit product, the wrong product, an incorrect dose, or no product at all.
Taking an unsafe or inappropriate medication puts you at risk for dangerous drug interactions and other serious health consequences.
Getting a prescription drug by filling out a questionnaire without seeing a doctor poses serious health risks. A questionnaire does not provide sufficient information for a health-care professional to determine if that drug is for you or safe to use, if another treatment is more appropriate, or if you have an underlying medical condition where using that drug may be harmful. The American Medical Association has determined that this practice is generally substandard medical care. FDA agrees.
FDA offers these tips to consumers who buy health products online:
Check with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (www.nabp.net, (847) 698-6227) to determine whether a Website is a licensed pharmacy in good standing.
Don't buy from sites that offer to prescribe a prescription drug for the first time without a physical exam, sell a prescription drug without a prescription, or sell drugs not approved by FDA.
Don't do business with sites that have no access to a registered pharmacist to answer questions.
Avoid sites that do not identify with whom you are dealing and do not provide a U.S. address and phone number to contact if there's a problem.
Don't purchase from foreign Websites at this time because generally it will be illegal to import the drugs bought from these sites, the risks are greater, and there is very little the U.S. government can do if you get ripped off.
Beware of sites that advertise a "new cure" for a serious disorder or a quick cure-all for a wide range of ailments.
Be careful of sites that use impressive-sounding terminology to disguise a lack of good science or those that claim the government, the medical profession, or research scientists have conspired to suppress a product.
Steer clear of sites that include undocumented case histories claiming "amazing" results.
Talk to your health-care professional before using any medications for the first time. Consumers who suspect that a site is illegal can report it to FDA.
This information is available on the Food and Drug Administration Web site.
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Secretary Tommy G. Thompson's public schedule:
Secretary Thompson has no public schedule this week.
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Last updated November 10, 2003
United States Department of Health and Human Services
Contact the HHS Newsletter Team.