On Monday, July 12, 2010 I attended the Pre-Diabetes Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill held in cooperation with Congressional Diabetes Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Diana DeGette and Rep. Mike Castle and co-sponsored by Results for Life, the American Diabetes Association, Novo Nordisk, and The Endocrine Society. I was astonished to learn that there are 57 million Americans living in danger of developing type II diabetes. For 40 percent of these individuals, full blown type II diabetes is expected to be a reality in as few as 3-8 years. And diabetes is not their only concern. Diabetes translates to a 50 percent increased risk of heart disease or stroke and complications from hypertension, kidney disease, and neurological problems.
Archive for the ‘Congress’ Category
Geri
Spear
Spear
The Debate Over the Use of Antibiotics in Animal Agriculture
Monday, July 26th, 2010
Last week I traveled to Capitol Hill to hear testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce regarding the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture. After making my way through a crowd of PETA advocates and security, I entered the Rayburn Building and was shocked to find that there was already a line down the hall-I knew then I was in for an interesting afternoon.
So what was all the fuss about? The House Subcommittee on Health hearing on July 14th was focused on issues surrounding the industrial farming practice of routinely incorporating low dose concentrations of antibiotics in the feed and water of healthy food animals for growth promotion, feed efficiency, and other uses where the animal has not been exposed to disease. This is a topic my colleagues have discussed on the FSB in the past.
Gray Haupt
Will BPA Bump Food Safety to Back Burner?
Friday, May 7th, 2010With another food contamination outbreak in the headlines - this time E. coli-tainted romaine lettuce traced to an Ohio food company that has sickened at least 19 people- the question of how and when food safety legislation will move forward is more timely than ever. While the House passed its version of The Food Safety Enhancement Act last July, the Senate has been much slower to act. 
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Plourde
What’s Really on Our Dinner Plates?
Friday, April 16th, 2010Industrial farming is a controversial and heavily politicized issue. For decades, our meat industry has stuffed animals raised for human consumption with antibiotics and pesticide-laced grains, and confined our soon-to-be chicken cutlets, bacon and filet mignons to small spaces, allowing for pathogens and microbes to manifest and multiply, while creating a bigger, fatter (more profitable) animal. Industrial farming practices have made meat more affordable, but at what cost to our health? 
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Gray Haupt
Technology Tuesday: Empowering the Research Enterprise in a Post-Reform World
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010With the passage of health care reform, the research community is ready to shift the national health policy conversation to a new dialogue on enhancing biomedical research and scientific innovation. In the past few weeks, discussion on topics such as the need to improve the translation of research discoveries into better health outcomes and the research ROI for improving the nation's overall health have gained traction alongside continued analysis of the final health reform provisions.
At the recent Research!America National Forum, experts from across the government, industry, academia and patient advocacy sectors discussed priorities to speed translational research, improve health outcomes and ultimately, as panelist Dr. Robert Tijian, president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute put it, identify new pathways to "move beyond therapeutics and treatment to prevention." Yet transformation of this level requires a deep commitment to enhancing cross stakeholder collaborations and sustained communication, a challenge with so many players involved in the research process.
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Poarch
A Food Revolution as a Real Solution
Friday, April 2nd, 2010Recently, I attended a briefing hosted by the journal Health Affairs, which dedicated their March issue to the childhood obesity crisis in America. Among the research that was examined during the briefing, the same statistics rang loudly and clearly:
- Nearly one-third of U.S. children and adolescents ages 2 - 19 (more than 23 million youth) are overweight or obese
- Kids are spending less time doing physical activity and more time sitting in front of the TV, computer or video games
- Overweight kids are more likely to become overweight adults
While the obesity epidemic is an issue for Americans of all ages, it was particularly troubling to learn how early this becomes a serious issue for kids. Susan Dentzer, editor-in-chief of Health Affairs, noted, "Kids are becoming obese or overweight at the ripe old age of four, meaning that they are already predisposed to shorter, sicker lives from diabetes, heart problems, even certain types of cancer." (more...)
