Public health and preventive medicine Books

Book SynopsisIn 2006, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigated companies selling direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests and testified that these companies made medically unproven disease predictions. Although new companies have since been touted as being more reputable, experts remain concerned that the test results mislead consumers. This book examines the genetic tests currently on the market; the misleading test results themselves; the deceptive marketing techniques utilized; and other questionable practices.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a brief overview of GINA, an overview of relevant PPACA and GINA provisions relating to the provision of health insurance through the private market and the implementation of employer wellness programs, and statutory analysis of the potential interactions between the related provision in both laws.

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Book SynopsisAbout half of the seafood imported into the U.S. comes from farmed fish (aquaculture). Fish grown in confined aquacultured areas can have bacterial infections, which may require farmers to use drugs like antibiotics. The residues of some drugs can cause cancer and antibiotic resistance. Additionally, the deliberate substitution or addition of harmful ingredients in food and drugs, specifically melamine in pet food and oversulfated chondroitin sulphate in the blood thinner heparin, have caused public health crises in recent years. This book examines the FDA''s efforts to improve oversight and protection of imported seafood; and focuses on enhancing efforts to detect and prevent economic adulteration of food and medical products that could affect the public health.

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Book SynopsisIn the year 2010, the new "International Journal of Child and Adolescent Health" was begun under the auspices of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Israel, in collaboration with Nova Science Publishers in New York, in order to facilitate an outlet for peer-reviewed papers in the areas of both child and adolescent health and human development. The editors hoped that there would be an international interest in such a new journal, and they hoped to receive good-quality reviews and original papers in these areas. This in fact happened, and in this yearbook they have gathered papers from the year 2011. This book discusses recent advances in child and adolescent health with research findings published in the year 2011.

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Book SynopsisIn the year 2011, the new "International Journal of Child and Adolescent Health" was begun under the auspices of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Israel, in collaboration with Nova Science Publishers in New York, in order to facilitate an outlet for peer-reviewed papers in the areas of both child and adolescent health and human development. The editors hoped that there would be an international interest in such a new journal, and they hoped to receive good-quality reviews and original papers in these areas. This in fact happened, and in this yearbook they have gathered papers for the year 2012. This book discusses recent advances in child and adolescent health with research findings to be published in the year 2012.

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Book SynopsisThis book is devoted to a theme of public health reaching out to communities of practice/engaging communities in new public health endeavours/community-scientist collaborations. The authors sought chapters that fit the theme and were either quantitative or qualitative research, program descriptions, or theoretical reviews of public health issues. Thus, this book contains both quantitative and qualitative research papers, programmatic and theoretical papers on applied public health issues. A range of topics are included from violence and behavioural problems to nutrition, cancer survival, deinstitutionalisation, intellectual disability and child maltreatment.

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Book SynopsisThis book features 17 chapters from scientists and clinicians around the world using methods at the bench, bedside and at the population level to prevent suicide. At the bedside, clinicians are exploring the use of motivational interviewing for the treatment of patients with active suicidal ideation. Prevention efforts are being developed and implemented to assess suicide risk and prevent attempts in specific patient groups, such as older adults and those with traumatic brain injury or substance use. This book also discusses suicide risk and prevention attempts by community based participatory research programs; the U.S. government and the field of economics.

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Book SynopsisAIDS and tuberculosis (TB) have complex health and societal determinants with large impacts. World-wide, the burden of these infectious diseases are huge, especially in the 22 countries with a high TB burden, where more than 80% of TB world-wide occurs and in sub-Saharan Africa, where 67% of the world''s HIV/AIDS cases occurred. Despite different ways of transmission and the fact that several separate national programs often exist, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS are linked. They are often affecting similar population groups (e.g. vulnerable and other minorities groups) and HIV is the most potent risk factors in increasing the risk of progression from latent TB infection (LTBI) to disease among the two billions individuals estimated with LTBI world-wide, while the relative risk of HIV is over 20. Therefore, it is crucial to combine and co-ordinate the efforts when addressing TB and HIV issues. Diverse responses have been developed, both at international and country levels for tackling the different health and social components of these diseases.

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Book SynopsisIn this Public Health Yearbook 2011 the authors will touch upon several topics like health risk communication, translational research, primary care, AIDS, tuberculosis, smoking, alcohol and drug screening and finally in the last section discuss primary health care development. Health risk communication deals with planned or unplanned communication to the public about the nature, impact and management of a wide array of health threats, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS or influenza pandemics. Current important research questions are raised and this book provides several comprehensive up-to-date reviews on important public health areas. World-wide partnerships, collaborations and communications between professionals and society so that new kinds of knowledge and knowledge networks can be developed.

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Book SynopsisReducing emissions from diesel engines is one of the most important public health challenges facing the country. Despite the EPA''s stringent diesel engine and fuel standards taking effect over the next decade, the 20 million engines already in use will continue to emit large amounts of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter, both of which will contribute to serious public health problems for years to come. Fortunately, a variety of cost-effective technologies can dramatically reduce harmful emissions, save fuel, and help our nation meet its clean air and sustainability goals. This book analyses the cost-effectiveness of various diesel emission reduction strategies, wherein the EPA compares the amount of federal grant funds used, to the lifetime tons reduced, to evaluate the effectiveness of federal investments in spurring diesel emission reductions.

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Book SynopsisHealth officials monitor and investigate food-borne illness in a number of ways. Surveillance is used to track trends in the incidence of several common bacterial and parasitic food-borne illnesses. Tracking of outbreaks of food-borne illness helps improve approaches to investigation. Genetic "fingerprinting" is also used to identify infections from a common source, including large multistate outbreaks. Collectively, these tools shed light on the burden of food-borne illness in the U.S., and ways to decrease it. This book examines several systems to monitor food-borne illnesses, discussing their strengths and the gaps that remain in understanding the burden of food-borne illness in the United States, with a focus on E. coli and salmonella.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides up-to-date evidence-based information on why and how to implement exercise intervention in the treatment of obesity. It starts with a description of the epidemiology of obesity, how to execute pre-participation screening in the obese, and the impact of caloric intake restriction vs exercise training in obese subjects. Next, a detailed description of exercise physiology in obesity is provided, followed by motivation techniques, the impact of training modalities on adipose tissue mass loss, and an exploration of factors related to the heterogeneity of adipose tissue mass loss in the obese when following exercise interventions. In final, the impact of emerging concepts in current exercise prescription for the obese, such as exercise in fasting condition, is covered. This book is dedicated to healthcare professionals and researchers dealing with obesity patients participating in exercise interventions. Moreover, this book could be a support to anyone with great interest for exercise physiology and exercise therapy in obesity.

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Book SynopsisThis book aims to present some fundamental pillars that must be taken into account for the design and construction of a medical record system. The work does not claim to be exhaustive, as the spirit of the book is to propose to reason out on some issues that have to be considered as the main features to take in consideration in the design and deployment of medical record systems, trying to bring positive issues to the general discussion. The first challenge has been to face the issues proposed in a co-productive way, in which the point of views of different actors (technicians, doctors, policy makers) are harmonised in shared visions, where the requirements that must be posed and considered become opportunities and challenges to overcome, also offering different shared solutions based on technology, organisational changes, medical actions and workflow in a unitary way.

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Book SynopsisOver the years, Congress has authorized and the federal government has administered programs to provide food to the hungry and to other vulnerable populations in this country. This book provides an overview of hunger and food insecurity along with the related network of programs. Evaluating trends in hunger and in our nation is crucial to understanding if the efforts to prevent hunger are working and in recognizing if there are particular vulnerable populations that need assistance.

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Book SynopsisThe World Health Organization defines health promotion "as the process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve, their health". It moves beyond a focus on individual behaviour towards a wide range of social and environmental interventions. Discussions on how to define health promotion already emerged in the 1970s from the Lalonde report in Canada, which contained a health promotion strategy "aimed at informing, influencing and assisting both individuals and organisations so that they will accept more responsibility and be more active in matters affecting mental and physical health". Health promotion and health service, using a socio-ecological approach, has been effective to promote mental and physical health, and improve social functioning and social support in a range of population groups. A socio-ecological approach addresses the importance of the interaction between individual level characteristics, families, institutions, and community support to promote health to an optimal level. There is increasing evidence to indicate promoting resilience at both the individual and organisation levels is important to help individuals cope with daily stress challenges, and buffer the adverse effects of distress, abuse and neglect, psychological traumatic events, and disease. The key concepts of resilience promotion is structured around self-esteem, self-efficacy, optimism, goal orientation, autonomy, and the ability to seek social and environmental support. These concepts play an important role in improving quality of life, chronic disease conditions, increasing exercise levels, and reduction of risk health behaviours.

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Book SynopsisBook & CD. Coal mine dust is one of the most serious occupational hazards in the coal mining industry, and overexposure can cause coal workers'' pneumoconiosis (CWP) and a number of other lung diseases, collectively referred to a black lung disease. CWP has been the underlying or contributing cause of death for more than 75,000 coal miners since 1968. This book provides an overview of key studies, background history and health reviews on occupational exposure to respirable coal mine dust.

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Book SynopsisClinical, experimental and epidemiological studies suggest that chronic diseases may have their origin during early life and that early nutrition could be a key factor. New DNA technologies have been applied to evaluate possible long-term changes after exposure to famine in early life. These new instruments may clarify possible biological mechanisms linking early-life nutritional insults to health in adulthood. This book presents a state of the art overview of possible mechanisms for nutritional programming in relation to changes in dietary patterns. It also provides examples of nutrition deprivation in various famine settings around the world, mostly during conditions of war or political strife, and of the short and long-term outcomes after nutrition deprivation in these populations. This book includes contributions from many disciplines and represents the most comprehensive summary to date of long-term health and economic outcomes related to specific famines. The book is intended for those who are interested in the early origins of health and disease from a biological perspective, and those who want to know more about the long-term social, epidemiological and demographic consequences of specific famines in modern history.

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Book SynopsisWe know that taking steps now to prevent disease before it starts is crucial to keeping people healthier, living longer, and reducing health care costs. Yet, health systems around the globe continue to focus more attention and devote enormous resources on medical services to treat illnesses and injuries after the fact rather than taking steps to prevent them from occurring in the first place. Each of the articles presented in this book are examples of innovative community efforts that take a step back from the common practice of merely treating medical conditions, and instead implement effective prevention strategies that address the underlying conditions that lead to death, illness, injury, and health inequities. This book provides a glimpse into some public health prevention projects being carried out in diverse communities around the globe. Each chapter offers details about a unique problem faced within a community, the prevention strategies and partnerships that were developed, and the results that were achieved.

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Book SynopsisNearly 20% of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and over who were admitted to a hospital in 2005 were readmitted within 30 days following their initial discharge. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission estimated that these readmissions cost the Medicare program as much as $15 billion per year and that perhaps as much as two-thirds of these readmissions may be preventable. This book provides an overview on the subject of hospital readmissions with a focus on the complexities, reduction efforts and analyses of hospital-acquired conditions. Hospital readmissions are associated with a number of factors and are not necessarily attributable to problems with the quality of patient care, but strong evidence indicates specific interventions to better manage care transitions at the time of hospital discharge could reduce readmissions for certain conditions.

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Book SynopsisThe fundamental purpose of a health insurance exchange is to provide a structured marketplace for the sale and purchase of health insurance. The authority and responsibilities of an exchange may vary, depending on statutory or other requirements for its establishment and structure. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires health insurance exchanges to be established in every state by January 1, 2014. ACA provides certain requirements for the establishment of exchanges, while leaving other choices to be made by the states. This book outlines the required minimum functions of exchanges, and explains how exchanges are expected to be established and administered under ACA. The coverage offered through exchanges is discussed, as are how the exchanges will interact with selected other ACA provisions.

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Book SynopsisThe health care reform debate in the United States, raises many complex issues including those of coverage, accessibility, cost, accountability, and quality of health care. Underlying these policy considerations are issues regarding the status of health care as a constitutional or legal right. This book series analyses the constitutional and legal issues pertaining to the right of health care and the power of Congress to enact and fund health care programs. Other topics discussed in this volume include the constitutionality of the individual mandate; health insurance exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA); health care flexible spending accounts; tax-advantaged accounts for health care expenses; medical loss ratio requirements under the ACA; and an overview of health savings account rules.

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Book SynopsisQuality gaps in the care delivered by the U.S. health care system result in preventable mortality and morbidity and contribute costs to the system, with multiple indicators showing that quality of care could be improved. Although no single definition of high-quality health care has been agreed upon, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) provided a framework for considering the quality of care, based on six domains: (1) effective, (2) efficient, (3) equitable, (4) patient-centred, (5) safe, and (6) timely. Ongoing congressional interest in enhancing the quality of health care is likely given the federal role in the delivery and financing of health care through, for example, the Medicare and Medicaid programs. This book begins with a discussion of the role of quality measurement in policies to enhance provider accountability and presents selected policies addressing quality measurement in this context. It then provides an overview of payment incentives and public reporting of performance data to improve quality, along with selected policy examples for each approach.

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Book SynopsisSince 1975, a growing number of states have implemented high risk pools (HRPs), which offer non-profit health insurance to individuals who are unable to purchase affordable coverage in the private market because of pre-existing conditions. State HRPs often contract with a private health insurance carrier to administer the pool, and plan options can vary significantly both within pools and from state to state. This book examines the temporary federal high risk pool (HRP) program, also known as the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP); with a focus on enrolment, benefits and funding.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides an overview of The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) which established a national Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program (HCFAC) under the joint direction of the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Inspector General, and designed to co-ordinate Federal, state and local law enforcement activities with respect to health care fraud and abuse. In its fifteenth year of operation, the HCFAC''s continued success again confirms the soundness of a collaborative approach to identify and prosecute the most egregious instances of health care fraud, to prevent future fraud or abuse, and to protect program beneficiaries.

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Book SynopsisThe leishmaniases are vector-borne diseases due to infection caused by parasitic protozoans belonging to the Leishmania genus, which find hosts in various wild and domestic animals and can be occasionally transmitted to humans by insect vectors. In this book, the authors discuss the symptoms, treatment and potential complications of leishmaniasis. Topics include immunity against leishmaniasis; the clinical haematology, epidemiology and aetiology of leishmaniasis; the role of neutrophils in visceral leishmaniasis; atypical manifestations of canine visceral leishmaniasis; and the parasitological and serological diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis.

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Book SynopsisThe VA/DoD published the first Clinical Practice Guideline for management of opioid therapy for chronic pain in 2003. This original publication was intended to improve pain management, quality of life, and quality of care for veterans. The focus of the guideline has been to provide education and guidance to primary care clinicians, researchers and other health professionals as they encounter patients with persistent pain and its complications. This book aims to update the evidence base of the 2003 Guideline. It is focused, as was the original CPG, on chronic opioid therapy (opioid therapy for more than one month). It is directed to the clinician who is interested in knowing more about this approach to the management of chronic pain.

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Book SynopsisThis book on constipation in children contains a complete update of this common problem in the world. It has been written by authors from 9 countries, who are experts in this field. In most cases, constipation is functional in origin, but one mustn''t forget the organic causes such as Hirschsprung''s disease, endocrine-metabolic disorders (Hypotiroidism, hypokalemia) or digestive diseases such as celiac disease or cystic fibrosis. Over the course of 18 chapters, this book describes the epidemiology and genetics of constipation, the anatomophysiology of defecation, ætiology, physiopathology, anterior ectopic anus, clinical evaluation, diagnostic testing of defecation disorders, colonic dysmotility, differential diagnosis (functional vs. organic), and several treatment options (medical and surgical). The book ends with long-term results in children with chronic constipation, and with the latest advances in future cellular therapies (Stem Cells) for defecation disorders.

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Book SynopsisThe authors of this book present current research in the study of the performance, impact on life quality and assistance in the activities of daily living. Topics discussed include health status and acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; daily mobility of the elderly in Spain; functional upper limb evaluation of activities of daily living in people with neurological disorders; influences of activities of daily living dependency on family caregiver burden and the strategies of adaptation; intervention with modified constraint induced movement therapy in occupational therapy and influence on activities of daily living; impact of mobility equipment on performance and quality of life; severity of unilateral spatial neglect and activities of daily living at discharge; rehabilitation strategies for people with cognitive impairments; flow experience in daily living and health-related quality of life.

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Book SynopsisThis book discusses health care, which has gone through profound changes in the preceding decades. Most of this change has been in what is possible, clinically speaking. These changes have transgressed international boundaries by virtue of the international nature of and ease of access to the literature and the internationality of health care conferences and the use of the internet. Many different actors deserve credit for these developments, from individual doctors, nurses, therapists and innovators to local, regional, national and international health care organisations. Much change has also come about due to the migration of quality assurance thinking from industrial realms to health care. This has not been anywhere near as uniformly distributed as state of the art care, however. Even across centres of excellence for treatment of specific diseases, large differences in quality assurance can be found, and one can also easily identify even more glaring deficiencies in quality of care in areas, where there is insufficient funding to make quality care available for all.

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Book SynopsisResearch has indicated that breastfeeding benefits children, mothers, and society as a whole. The U.S. government has established policies that promote breastfeeding. There is a clear need for theory-based programs that increase breastfeeding in order to reach the government''s goals. The studies represented in this book expand psychological theory and make suggestions for the design and implementation of such programs. This book is a first-step at promoting a healthier, more productive society through breastfeeding in accordance with the government''s Healthy People program goals.

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Book SynopsisIn this book, the authors discuss the challenges, practices and cultural influences of caregiving. Topics include caregiving for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and intellectual disabilities; family caregivers for patients with cancer; elder caregiving in South Asian families in the U.S. and India; study of caregiver''s resilience; caregiver burden in a Hong Kong Chinese population; managing compassion fatigue among professional cancer caregivers; community-based education for palliative care for the elderly in Japan; caregiver perception and oral health in cerebral palsy children; and the role of assistive technologies for person-centred dementia care in Japan.

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Book SynopsisThe health care reform debate in the United States raises many complex issues including those of coverage, accessibility, cost, accountability, and quality of health care. Underlying these policy considerations are issues regarding the status of health care as a constitutional or legal right. This book series analyses the constitutional and legal issues pertaining to the right of health care and the power of Congress to enact and fund health care programs. Other topics discussed in this volume include health care price transparency; private health insurance and estimates of individuals with pre-existing conditions which range from 36 million to 122 million; expiration of the health coverage tax credit and how it will affect participants'' costs and coverage choices as health reform provisions are implemented; trends, vulnerabilities and recommendations in personal care services; and traditional versus benchmark benefits under medicaid.

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Book SynopsisIn this book, the authors discuss women''s attitudes, the health implications and psychological challenges of weight gain. Topics include whether exercise training can reduce the prevalence of obesity with a high-fat diet; women''s body image and weight gain in pregnancy; maternal weight gain and perinatal outcomes; and women''s perceptions of post-partum weight retention and their body image in relation to breastfeeding outcomes in Japan.

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Book SynopsisIn this book the authors examine the contribution of social scientists to the topics of health and environment. They present diverse perspectives on classical and contemporary debates by focusing on social scientific framing of environment and health, as well as on the potential contribution of social science to problem solving strategies in these fields. They trace environment and health debates to the classical scholars and examine the evolution of contemporary academic disciplines concerned with health and environment. Finally, they address current complex relationships between human health and environmental problems, and between human and non-human interests.

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Book SynopsisSinging is a great vehicle for communal activity, but it has disappeared as a part of adulthood in many communities. Children still sing in kindergarten, but when do we as adults sing together? Singing has a wide range of personal benefits besides learning about music and how to create it. Developing and improving healthy singing techniques has been shown to have multiple physiological and social benefits for the participants, while also being a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Working with the voice has many physical benefits, such as improved posture and respiratory strength, increased energy levels and also stimulation for the mind. There are also many social and personal benefits, such as boosted self-esteem and confidence, improved communication and listening skills, raised self-awareness and awareness of others and developed team working skills. One area of communal activity that has received increasing attention is participative community singing, because it entails aerobic exercise, social interaction and promotion of a sense of connectedness. We believe it may be a good avenue to increase sense of connectedness and to promote participation in exercise activities. In this book we provide persuasive evidence from research to demonstrate the power of community singing in promoting social and emotional wellbeing, preventing depression, promoting healthy behaviours and promoting access to health services in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. In addition, the health effects of Tai Chi as another form of the arts is also explored. Academics have collaborated with practitioners to produce the study results, all of which are quantitative and report on the effects of community singing practices for a marginalised population in Australia.

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Book SynopsisThe Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means has reviewed the implementation of the tax and tax-related revenue provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Affordable Care Act has made broad-based changes to the law with respect to health insurance coverage in the individual and group markets and the law with respect to group health plans as well as laws that apply to Medicare and Medicaid. The ACA also includes a significant number of changes to the Code, including the addition of new Code sections and the amendment of previously existing Code sections. The ACA also includes off-Code revenue provisions that impose certain industry fees. This book provides a summary of health insurance changes made by the ACA and a description of the present law rules with respect to ACA revenue provisions and their implementation.

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Book SynopsisThis Yearbook touches upon several public health topics like burns, infant mortality, maltreatment, tropical paediatrics, building community capacity, and HIV research. Tropical paediatrics is a branch of tropical medicine focusing on children in these areas. The current process of global warming and the widespread issue of international travel are bringing these conditions to many places of the globe. Advances in science, innovations in business, and technological development in the last century and the continued rapid pace of change in these areas have created an environment, where the world today in the twenty-first century knows few boundaries. Health care is a field that has been enhanced and able to expand as a result of progress in these diverse yet integrated areas. However, for all of the improvement that new drugs, health care re-organisation and focused delivery, and accessible electronic medical records, for example, can afford many of the "haves" in society, there still remains a significant segment of the population in the industrialised world, and certainly in developing countries, who comprise the "have nots" and do not benefit from this progress. This disparity in health among populations across the globe has existed for decades despite our advances in health care and will be discussed in this yearbook and in the last section a small cross-section of some of the types of approaches that contemporary social scientists are taking in their efforts to minimise the harms resulting from HIV and AIDS.

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Book SynopsisIn 2013, the U.S. President''s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will mark nearly ten years of success with an extraordinary year of achievements. None of this would have been possible without the vision and leadership of President Bush, President Obama, and the bipartisan support of Congress. A decade ago AIDS was wiping out an entire generation in Africa; today, PEPFAR''s efforts and those of its many partners have brought the world to a new era -- a time when new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are on the steep decline, and an AIDS-free generation is both U.S. policy and a goal within our reach. Building off recent breakthroughs, which demonstrated the power of key evidence-based interventions to drive down the rate of new infections and save more lives, this book reflects lessons learned from almost ten years of experience in supporting countries to rapidly scale-up HIV prevention, treatment, and care services. It demonstrates the opportunity for the world to help move more countries toward and beyond the tipping point in their epidemics and put them on a path to achieving an AIDS-free generation. The U.S. commitment to the global AIDS response will remain strong, comprehensive, and driven by science -- and clearly outlines what PEPFAR is doing and will continue to do to help make an AIDS-free generation a reality.

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Book SynopsisHuman death is a mystery. Although scientists have identified the criteria, states, and signs of biological death, undoubtedly the issues of dying and death have a wider meaning. In this book, the authors present current research in the study of the ethical issues, practices and challenges of end-of-life care. Topics discussed include a spiritual perspective of end-of-life experiences; a veterinary oncologist''s interprofessional crossover perspective of euthanasia for terminal patients; diabetes and end-of-life care; helping families to cope after the death of a loved one; multidimensional aspects of nursing care for dying patients; spirituality at the end-of-life; challenges of promoting end-of-life care in residential care homes in Hong Kong; and the current situation and challenges of home end-of-life care for the elderly in Japan.

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