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At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Health promotion: Physical fitness and exercise.

The American lifestyle is still relatively sedentary. The proportion of adults aged 18 to 65 regularly exercising has been estimated at just over 35 percent, with children participating in daily physical education programs at 33 percent, and 36 percent of adults over 65 taking regular walks. Though the past decade has exhibited a resurgence of interest in physical fitness and exercise, there is much need for improvement. Awareness of the benefits of regular exercise and what is considered to be appropriate physical activity (e.g., aerobic for cardiovascular conditioning) is limited. Most people do not exercise in the manner necessary to achieve maximum benefits. Further, exercise as a therapeutic regimen has also been largely ignored by health professionals. Although the health benefits accrued from exercise have not been fully assessed, continuing research has suggested that appropriate physical activity can enhance approaches to the treatment and prevention of heart disease, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, musculoskeletal problems, stress, anxiety, and depression. Health and economic benefits are achievable, but there is need for cooperative efforts in the public and private sectors to support research and increase the public's awareness of and participation in regular physical fitness and exercise activities.

Adolescent↗
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Preventive health services: Family planning.

Family planning in the United States has been a noteworthy success. More than 80 percent of the married women aged 15 to 44 are regular users of contraceptives. Further, virtually all primary care physicians provide contraceptives or family planning services, and there are now an estimated 4,000 family planning clinics in the country receiving support under the Title X Family Planning Authority. Despite this record of success, serious family planning problems remain. Of the slightly more than three and one half million births, an estimated one million are unplanned. More than one million pregnancies are terminated by legal abortion. Certain subgroups of the population have disproportionately high risks of unintended pregnancy. For example, unplanned births are almost twice as frequent among poor as among nonpoor women; one of every four births to black women is unintended versus one in ten to white women; and teenagers, women with language barriers, and women living in rural areas and on Indian reservations experience high rates of unintended pregnancy.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Health promotion: Control of stress and violent behavior.

Stress is an inevitable part of life in today's society. Some stress may be beneficial and can lead to improved productivity. Unless suitably managed, however, stress may contribute to physiological and psychological dysfunctions such as depression, fatigue, obesity, coronary heart disease, suicide, or violence. The impact of stress on the Nation's physical and mental health may be considerable. Tens of thousands of premature deaths annually are consequences of suicide and homicide. It is estimated that 2,000 deaths to children and up to four million injuries inflicted by abusing parents occur each year partially as a result of stress. Recent years have focused a considerable amount of public and professional interest upon the relationship between stress and physical and mental health. Scientific inquiry has demonstrated various associations between stress and health and disease and has provided evidence that stressful factors can be assessed. Much remains, however, to be elucidated about vulnerability to stress and its control. Some groups such as teenagers, the elderly, and the economically disadvantaged appear to be more vulnerable to stress, and the public in general has limited information about what can be done to reduce stress. There is a clear need to investigate the psychological, environmental, and biological interactions which link stress to health disorders.

Adolescent↗
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Preventive health services: Pregnancy and infant health.

From 1950 to 1977, infant mortality dropped from 30 to 14 deaths per 1,000 live births. The annual decline in infant mortality between 1965 and 1973 was 3.5 percent. The proportion of women receiving prenatal care during the first 3 months of pregnancy also increased-from 68 to 74 percent during the years 1969 to 1977. The factors underlying improvements in infant mortality are complex, but include increased access to prenatal services, increased availability of regionalized intensive care units, and improvements in maternal nutritional status. The principal threats to infant health are birth defects that can lead to lifelong handicapping conditions, and problems associated with low birth weight. Today, approximately seven percent of all babies are of low birth weight (2,500 grams or less). Unfortunately, many children are born to women with an increased risk of having a low birth weight infant, i.e., women making no prenatal visit during the first trimester, and teenagers. Further, in 1978 1 in 4 women giving birth made no prenatal visit during the first trimester and 1 in 20 made no prenatal visit during the first two trimesters.

Adolescent↗
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Preventive health services: Immunization.

The seven major childhood infectious diseases-measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus-can cause permanent disability and, in some cases, death. They all can be prevented by immunization, but prior to the National Childhood Immunization Initiative of 1977 more than a third of all children under age 15 were not properly protected. And even though vaccines are now available to reduce the risk of influenza, hepatitis B, and pneumococcal pneumonia, many high risk patients are not protected. Outbreaks of measles and pertussis, and occasionally of diphtheria and polio, during the mid-1970s indicate that immunization must be emphasized continually. With the combination of safe, effective vaccines, public and private programs, and a reliable disease surveillance and outbreak containment system, infectious diseases can be controlled. The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed a major initiative designed to eliminate the indigenous occurrence of measles.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Preventive health services: Sexually transmitted disease control.

Over 10 million cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) occur annually, 86 percent of them in 15- to 29-year-olds. The most common STDs are trichomoniasis, gonorrhea, non-gonococcal urethritis, genital herpes, and syphilis. In 1950 the reported syphilis rate was 146 per 100,000. The rate decreased to 30 per 100,000 by 1978, resulting in approximately 80,000 new cases of syphilis a year. During the same time span the gonorrhea rate increased from 192 cases per 100,000 to 468 cases per 100,000. In each year between 1967 and 1976, reported cases of gonorrhea increased between 10 and 15 percent. Between 1976 and 1978 the annual increase was less than 1 percent, but the total number of case of gonorrhea still exceeded 2.5 million. In addition to the large number of syphilis and gonorrhea cases, 3 million cases of trichomoniasis, 2.5 million cases of non-gonococcal urethritis, and 500,000 cases of genital herpes occur annually. The most serious complications caused by sexually transmitted agents are pelvic inflammatory disease, sterility, infant pneumonia, infant death, birth defects, and mental retardation. There is clear evidence that both the quality of the services and the attitudes with which they are delivered are important in attracting those who need STD services. While existing programs are interrupting the transmission of syphilis and gonorrhea, many vulnerable groups are not yet being served. To approach them effectively will require not only the efforts of STD clinics and investigators but also those of family planning clinics, private physicians, diagnostic and public health laboratories, and schools and other educational institutions.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Health protection: Toxic agent and radiation control.

It is estimated that of the four million chemical compounds which have been synthesized or isolated from natural materials, more than 55,000 are produced commercially. Approximately 1,000 new compounds are introduced annually; pesticide formulations alone contain about 1,500 active chemical ingredients. Diagnostic x-rays are used extensively in medicine and dentistry. Over 2,000 chemicals are suspected carcinogens in laboratory animals--epidemiologic evidence suggests that 26 of these chemicals and/or industrial processes are carcinogenic in humans. More than 20 agents are known to be associated with birth defects in humans; 47 atmospheric contaminants have been identified in animal studies as recognized carcinogens and 128 as mutagens; and, of the 765 contaminants identified in drinking water, 12 were recognized carcinogens, 31 suspected carcinogens, and 59 mutagens. Radiation has known carcinogenic and genetic effects at significant levels of exposure. Problems with toxic agents and radiation sources occur not only in industry, but also in medical and dental care (x-rays and drugs), agriculture (pesticides and herbicides), Government activities (biological and chemical agents), consumer products (incorrect use of consumer products which contain toxic substances), and natural sources (fungal products).

Adolescent↗
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Preventive health services: High blood pressure control.

An estimated 60 million Americans have high blood pressure that increases their risk of illness and premature death. Of these persons approximately 35 million need some form of continuing treatment, while the remaining 25 million have borderline high blood pressure that requires medical surveillance. Untreated hypertension is the largest single contributor to stroke and a major contributor to heart disease and kidney failure. The National High Blood Pressure Education Program, started in 1972, has helped to improve hypertension control in the Nation. With providers and the public better informed about hypertension, patient visits and medication prescriptions for hypertension have increased, as has the number of persons whose hypertension is well controlled. Associated deaths, especially from stroke, have declined rapidly and dramatically. There is much room for improvement. Provider interest in and attention to long-term regimen adherence needs more emphasis. Large segments of the population, especially ethnic and racial minority groups, continue to face access problems. Awareness and attempted application of patient management technologies have improved, but stronger efforts are needed to address care delivery system management issues.

Adult↗
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Health protection: Occupational safety and health.

Many of the Nation's approximately 100 million workers are exposed to some kind of occupational health hazard: carcinogenic agents, pulmonary or other physical disease incitant, physical agents or job-related pressures of noise, crowding, or stress. Exposure to toxic chemicals or physical hazards can produce chronic lung disease, cancer, degenerative disease in a number of vital organ systems, birth defects, and genetic changes. These exposures are estimated to result in 100,000 Americans dying each year from occupationally related illnesses, with an additional 400,000 cases of occupationally related disease. Yet many workers are inadequately protected from common hazards. Recent experience has demonstrated that occupational hazards can be controlled by modifying the work environment, patterns of job performance, or both. Among the health protection measures available are those which: alter the work environment to prevent exposures and injuries; provide workers with special protective equipment; specify design and maintenance of equipment; and provide employees with proper training. Some companies have ventured into the health promotion arena and offered their employees worksite programs for promoting health through health education, physical fitness activities, stress reduction activities, and preventive medicine including screening for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other factors related to heart disease.

Accidents, Occupational↗
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Health protection: Fluoridation and dental health.

Tooth decay, which affects 95 percent of Americans, is our most common health problem, costing an estimated +2 billion yearly for treatment. By the time children reach 17 years of age, 94 percent have experienced caries and 36 percent have lost one or more permanent teeth due to caries. Dental disease prevention embodies the spectrum of many activities from the fluoridation of community and school water supplies to the dental health education of the child and adult. At this stage of our knowledge, the most effective and cost-beneficial intervention is fluoridation. Fluoridation can reduce the incidence of dental caries by about 65 percent, reduce the need for multiple surface fillings, crowns and extractions, and significantly increase the number of children who are completely free of cavities. No other public health measure is as effective in building a decay-resistant tooth while being available to all without regard to education or socio-economic background. The number of people served by fluoridated water systems has increased steadily since its introduction. Currently, however, less than half of all Americans have access to fluoridated water. In areas where community water supplies are not fluoridated, school drinking water is seldom fluoridated despite evidence supporting the efficacy of this procedure.

Child↗
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Health protection: Surveillance and control of infectious diseases.

Although pneumonia and influenza are the only infectious diseases remaining among the 10 leading causes of death in this country, more than 290 million infectious illnesses occur annually--more than one for every person. These diseases have a significant impact on the population when measured in terms of increased social costs, including quality of life, decreased work productivity, and increased health care costs. During the next decade, no dramatic changes are anticipated in infectious disease trends; however, diseases may be newly recognized, epidemiologic patterns will be defined, antibiotic resistant patterns will change, and changing immigration patterns and refugee migrations may affect disease trends in the United States (e.g., tuberculosis). These factors will require the development and application of effective prevention methods, including disease surveillance, sanitation, casefinding and control, and development and use of vaccines and drugs. In addition, efforts to improve the rapidity and accuracy of diagnosis as well as the appropriateness of therapy are also important activities.

Communicable Disease Control↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Health protection: Accident prevention and injury control.

More than 153,000 Americans die annually as a result of accidental injuries--nearly half of them from motor vehicle accidents, the rest from falls, burns, poisoning, and other causes. Injuries are the leading cause of death between ages 1 and 44, and account for approximately 55 percent of fatalities for those aged 15 to 24. Further, it is estimated that in 1979 70 million people suffered non-fatal accidental injuries requiring medical treatment. In 1980, the damage, injury, and lost productivity resulting from accidents cost the Nation an estimated +83.2 billion. Accident victims are not distributed evenly throughout the population. Teenagers and young adults have the highest motor vehicle death rate; fatal falls, which occur primarily in the home, disproportionately affect the population aged 75 and over; and children 10 years and younger are a high risk population for burns. Accident prevention programs should be based on epidemiological documentation of injury problem areas at the State and local levels. Prevention measures include public education, skill development, safety engineering, environmental modification, legislation, regulation, and enforcement.

Accident Prevention↗