Laws criminalizing the sale of tobacco to kids have little or no effect of the use of tobacco by minors, according to a new review of studies, most of them done in the United States, where sale of tobacco to children is supposed to be prohibited. Even when laws are enforced, kids find family and friends to procure tobacco, the study found.
H
I T S
A Health Behavior News Service story about older women not accurately reporting how often they had mammograms resulted in pickups on the same day in the New York Times, the Washington Post and the International Herald Tribune. The study, in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, also found that white women receive more screening than do African-American, Asian-American and Hispanic women.
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The Medical Journal of Australia reports that news accounts of five major scientific meetings indicate the news media are leaving out too much significant information about new research studies. For example 34 percent of the stories did not mention study size, only 6 percent of news stories about animal studies mentioned their limited relevance to human health and only 29 percent of stories about intervention studies mentioned the possibility of negative effects.
Behavior has always had a complicated relationship to health, at least in the eyes of those who determine policy. On one edge of the policy spectrum, there are those who preach that pluck and a few tugs on the bootstraps is all it takes to achieve a healthy body and healthy bank account. Those on the other edge attribute poor health and poverty to racism and social inequities.
Jessie
Gruman President
and Executive Director
Center for the
Advancement of Health
Several news items in recent weeks signal that health-related behavior is taking on newer levels of complexity.
An entire family of cousins had their stomachs removed rather than face the likelihood of stomach cancer that ran in the family.
A study found that Icelandic women with one bad gene were virtually certain to develop breast cancer if they had a second mutated gene. By isolating the newly discovered gene, women might have a clearer view of their own risk and be able to make better decisions about whether to undergo pre-emptive surgery.
There is now a home test to help people determine whether they are genetically susceptible to schizophrenia.
The New York Times focused on the changing science base that increasingly points to genes influencing health-related behaviors like addiction and obesity and the Wall Street Journal explored why "genes, not experience, explain why the lives of some take (a) bad turn."
Before we had such strong scientific evidence of the role of genes in behavior, we could accept as true what we wanted to and design our actions and beliefs accordingly; throw caution to the wind and smoke like crazy because you have the lung cancer gene anyway, or go cold turkey at once in hope of keeping the gene from ever expressing itself.
Now that we are beginning to learn more, we are going to have to take a hard look at the policy implications of that knowledge.
Are we now going to consider those who struggle unsuccessfully with their weight, or with smoking, to be incapable of making beneficial health choices?
Do all states follow the lead of West Virginia and deny certain benefits to Medicaid recipients who don't adhere to prevention messages?
How nice it would be if life were as simple as Paris Hilton -- a hereditary template upon which the imprint of genes erases any sense of responsibility.
But life does not usually offer most of us the binary choice of "behave or die."
The same blueprint that gives some of us "fat genes," "cancer genes" or "lazy genes" also gives us a rational mind that, with just a little help, can figure out the proper balance between who we are and what we do to improve upon the master plan.
FROM THE CENTER
CHALLENGES OF AGING Center President Jessie Gruman joined leaders in health, technology, science and policy at the Second Annual Pacific Health Summit to discuss "connecting science, innovation and policy for a healthier world." She led a panel discussion that addressed preparing for the challenges of an aging society in both developed and developing countries.
KELLOGG SCHOLARS More than 100 participants attended the first Kellogg Health Scholars conference at the Center last month, at which the 13 Scholars selected for the 2006-08 postdoctoral program were introduced. Among the speakers were Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., Del. Donna Christensen, D-V.I., and Dr. Carolyn Clancy, head of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
HISPANIC JOURNALISM In an effort to introduce the Health Behavior News Service to a new and important audience, Center Vice President for Public Affairs Ira Allen attended the recent National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention in Fort Lauderdale. A directory of the Center's Panel of Experts, a resource for all journalists, now includes bilingual researchers and those who study health disparities among minority and ethnic groups.
HEALTH AND BEHAVIOR INFORMATION TRANSFER
An NIH Conference on Understanding and Reducing Health Disparities: Contributions from the Behavioral and Social Sciences will be held Oct. 23-24 in Bethesda, Md. The conference will focus on three broad areas of action influencing health disparities: policy, prevention and healthcare. Contact: abelesr@mail.nih.gov or sheurtin@mail.nih.gov
The HHS Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society is seeking public input on a draft report, Policy Issues Associated with Undertaking a Large U.S. Population Cohort Project on Genes, Environment, and Disease. The report is posted at http://www4.od.nih.gov/oba/SACGHS/public_comments.htm
AHRQ has released two new systematic literature reviews on quality measures related to the diagnosis, treatment and care of cancer patients. Cancer Care Quality Measures: Symptoms and End of Life Care identifies four areas in which patients are in particular need of support-pain, dyspnea or difficulty breathing, depression, and advance care planning. Cancer Care Quality Measures: Diagnosis and Management of Colorectal Cancer concludes that general process measures provide extensive coverage of various "leverage" points in the sequence of care, and that attention should focus on refining existing measures. Printed copies of the reports may be obtained by sending an e-mail to ahrqpubs@ahrq.hhs.gov
