Living on a noisy street is harming your health

Morning MEDtalks with Dr KK Aggarwal

New Delhi, November 10, 2018 :

AHA and ADA launch landmark health initiative “Know Diabetes by Heart^TM”, a multi-year awareness and education initiative to reduce cardiovascular deaths, heart attacks and strokes in people living with type 2 diabetes. The program is designed to educate, empower and motivate people with type 2 diabetes to make practical, step-by-step changes to improve their health and decrease their risks of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and strokes. It also leverages the latest evidence-based guidelines to support health care providers regarding the link between diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and includes quality improvement efforts across clinics, practices and hospitals caring for people with type 2 diabetes.

Living on a noisy street is harming your health, says WHO. Residents who live on busy streets, near railways or under a flight path are at greater risk of a range of health problems, according to the “Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region” published by the WHO. Heart disease, tinnitus, sleep disruption and cognitive impairment in children were all flagged as potential health risks posed by living with an unacceptable level of noise. Depending on the type of noise, different levels were considered acceptable by the researchers. For road traffic, anything above 53 decibels was considered a risk during the day, and 45 dB at night. For railways it was 54 dB and 44 dB for day and night respectively and 45 dB and 40 dB for aircraft noise.

More adults and children in the US are using yoga and meditation, 2017 NHIS survey shows. Yoga was the most commonly used complementary health approach among U.S. adults in 2012 (9.5 percent) and 2017 (14.3%). The use of meditation increased more than threefold from 4.1% in 2012 to 14.2% in 2017. The percentage of children aged 4-17 years who used yoga in the past 12 months increased significantly from 3.1% in 2012 to 8.4% in 2017.

New Campaign focuses on women’s brain health: Former First Lady Laura Bush launched the Campaign for Women’s Brain Health in New York on Tuesday evening to empower women with the tools they need to become more knowledgeable about the brain, and to better implement brain care for themselves and their families. The project is a collaboration between Us Against Alzheimer’s, Women Against Alzheimer’s, and Woman’s Day magazine.

Antibiotic-resistant infections doubled since 2007 in Europe: More than 33,000 people died from antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) during 2015. The estimated burden of these infections has doubled since 2007 and was similar to the combined burden of influenza, tuberculosis, and HIV. Most of the estimated burden was in hospitals and other healthcare settings (The Lancet, Nov. 5).

Rib fractures are among the most common bone breaks in older adults. In one study of older adults (J Osteoporos. 2011; 2011: 457591), 33% of rib fractures were caused by moderate trauma, such as a fall, though 40% of cases showed no such obvious trauma and so were probably caused by something else, such as a cough or a repetitive movement, perhaps swinging a golf club or a garden rake. The danger lies in life-threatening complications, which can occur when rib bones move out of alignment, leading to punctures and damage to the lungs, critical blood vessels or other organs, according to the Mayo Clinic (CNN).

Is lung cancer screening right for you? (CDC) Lung cancer screening has risks. That is why lung cancer screening is recommended only for adults who have no symptoms but who are at high risk for developing the disease because of their smoking history and age. The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends annual lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT scan) for people who: