Archive for the ‘Disease Awareness’ Category

Anthony LaFauce
Anthony
LaFauce

Where Are We Going?

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

Yesterday Maggie Fox (@maggiemfox) wrote a great piece regarding an American Heart Association study about the current trend in obesity and the health of Americans. The piece was based on a 10 year study that looked at the trending health and weight issues we face. The study lists a series of issues America will face due to this epidemic. I use the term epidemic because things like increases in high blood pressure, diabetes and of course heart diseases are forcing us into a national crisis.

When everyone hears about health issues the cost of health care becomes top of mind. When I do, and I’m sure as an Air Force brat, when Maggie does as well, it also brings national security and national resources to mind. Over a quarter of all young adults between the age of 17 and 24 are physically unfit to serve. I know a percentage of those people have physical reasons why they can’t serve but the number is still staggering. As a former United States sailor it absolutely shakes me to the core to think of what will happen if this trend in Americans’ health continues.  Will we not be able to protect our borders, man our ships or send humanitarian aid to countries when they have natural disasters like typhoons or earthquakes?

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Posted in Chronic Disease, Community Involvement, Disease Awareness, Health 2.0, Health Care Industry
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Ricki McCarroll
Ricki
McCarroll

Ladies…You Know Lung Cancer Kills Right?

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

From a girl who came from the West Coast where the ban of smoking cigarettes in work places was enacted in January 1995 and banned in restaurants three years later, it was a shock to move to the D.C. area and find you could still smoke indoors in some establishments directly outside The District.

My doe-eyed, granola crunching, outdoorsy, non-smoking California self was definitely taken aback at the amount of smokers around me. Even some two and a half years later, it still shocks me on my morning commute to find myself walking behind someone to the Red Line (D)Re(a)d Line who has a cigarette in their hand at 7:30 in the morning.

Naturally, with a health communicator’s strategic mind, I began to tally the amount of men and women I witnessed lighting up during my morning jaunts to work between the hours of 7:30 and 9:00 a.m.

My findings? Interestingly enough, the majority of the people I witnessed were women around the ages of 30-55 strutting in pencil skirts and pumps with a lit cigarette balancing in their hand. To be frank, I was shocked when I tallied the numbers. Really, ladies? After all the facts we know about tobacco?

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Posted in Cancer, Disease Awareness, Lung Cancer Awareness Month, Public Health, Women's Health
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Jaime
Wright

High Blood Pressure at My “Old” Age

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

Throughout college, as a student-athlete, I used to get a slight feeling of tightness on the right side of my chest. Minutes later, that feeling would be gone and I would continue to run without pain. Then, 24 hours later, the tightness returned and I became concerned. I checked with an RN at my university’s health center the next day, and it was determined the tightness in my chest was likely caused by my high blood pressure. Wait a minute! Me, a healthy young person with high blood pressure?

Courtesy of CBS News; Credit: iStock photo)

Well, it turns out that I’m not alone.

In fact, according to recent findings in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, one in five young adults has high blood pressure, or hypertension. Hypertension involves an extra high level of force pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood. If your blood pressure rises and stays high over time, it can damage the body, potentially causing kidney failure, heart failure or stroke. Individuals can help to control their blood pressure through exercise, diet and possibly drug therapy. So if high blood pressure is so common among young adults, why is there still so little education about it and how to control it?

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Posted in Chronic Disease, Disease Awareness, Medical Devices
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jseng
John
Seng

Strategic Communications Accelerating Medical Research Forward

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

After receiving the Genetic Alliance “Art of Reporting” Award this past weekend and as the BIO 2011 conference unfolds this week, I wanted to share my thoughts on rare diseases research and how public communications can play a bigger role.

In 2003, Spectrum was approached by the founders of the Progeria Research Foundation (PRF). At that time, we had not heard of progeria, but we weren’t the only ones. People don’t think about rare diseases a lot, but 10 percent of the world’s population has one. And promoting research of rare diseases can benefit everyone.

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Posted in Awards, Disease Awareness, Progeria
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Jamie
Kuchinski

HIV/AIDS in DC: 30 years and still a communications issue

Monday, June 27th, 2011

Last Tuesday I attended the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation panel discussion which took a long hard look at the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. The panel, “AIDS at 30,” celebrated the progress of the 30-year HIV/AIDS battle, but also questioned how to end AIDS once and for all. While there’s no simple solution, the panel members explored how Americans can prevent the disease from taking more lives and shaving years off the lives of others.

Before the panel discussion, Jeff Crowley, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, spoke about the government’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy’s (NHAS) current progress. Twenty-one million dollars has already been set aside for the NHAS and several departments are coordinating policies and operational plans to address the epidemic. This ambitious plan, only a year old, aims to:

  • Reduce new infections
  • Increase access to care
  • Improve health outcomes for people with HIV
  • Reduce HIV-related health disparities

… all by 2015.

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Posted in Chronic Disease, Community Involvement, Disease Awareness, Health Policy
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Anthony LaFauce
Anthony
LaFauce

Being Part of the Story on the Screen: 3rd Annual Genetic Alliance Gene Screen

Friday, June 24th, 2011

Last night Spectrum had the privilege of hosting a Q&A session for the Genetic Alliance’s Gene Screen and I was honored to attend The Gene Screen, an annual review of films and shorts focused on health and genetics.  The session wasn’t long, around an hour and a half, but it was filled with the type of emotion normally reserved for big budget ‘tear jerkers.’

The list of films varied from personal stories like “Me and Antoine B.” and “Aiden’s Journey: Awareness and Hope” to more traditional Public Service Announcements like “No More Hand-Me-Downs: Research Designed for Children.” But the one thing they all had in common was their strength.

Strength isn’t something that often comes to mind when you think about the process of making a movie, but I was moved by the sheer force of will it took to make some of these films. Film production alone is a difficult, draining process that forces individuals to work long hours, editing and poring over meticulous tasks. Add to that the emotional burden of working on material as powerful and heartbreaking as the stories of these genetic disorders, and its truly remarkable the films were completed.

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Posted in Community Involvement, Disease Awareness, Research
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