Staying a Step Ahead of Aging
Filip Kwiatkowski for The New York Times
By: GINA KOLATA
Published: January 31, 2008
YOU know what is supposed to happen when you grow old. You will slow down, you will grow weak, your steps will become short and mincing, and you will lose your sense of balance. That’s what aging researchers consistently find, and it’s no surprise to most of us.
But it is worth remembering that the people in those studies were sedentary, said Dr. Vonda Wright, a professor of orthopedics at the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Wright, a 40-year-old runner, decided to study people who kept training as they got older or began competing in middle age. She wanted to know what happens to them and at what age does performance start to decline.
Their results are surprising, even to many of the researchers themselves. The investigators find that while you will slow down as you age, you may be able to stave off more of the deterioration than you thought. Researchers also report that people can start later in life — one man took up running at 62 and ran his first marathon, a year later, in 3 hours 25 minutes.
It’s a testament to how adaptable the human body is, researchers said, that people can start serious training at an older age and become highly competitive. It also is testament to their findings that some physiological factors needed for a good performance are not much affected by age.
Researchers say that you should be able to maintain your muscles as you age, including the muscle enzymes needed for good athletic performance, and you should be able to maintain your ability to exercise for long periods near your so-called lactic threshold, meaning you are near maximum effort.
But you have to know how to train, doing the right sort of exercise, and you must keep it up.
“Train hard and train often,” said Hirofumi Tanaka, a 41-year-old soccer player and exercise physiologist at the University of Texas.
Dr. Tanaka said he means doing things like regular interval training, repeatedly going all out, easing up, then going all out again. These workouts train your body to increase its oxygen consumption by allowing you to maintain an intense effort.
“One of the major determinants of endurance performance is oxygen consumption,” Dr. Tanaka said. “You have to make training as intense as you can.”
When you have to choose between hard and often, choose hard, said Steven Hawkins, an exercise physiologist at the University of Southern California.
“High performance is really determined more by intensity than volume,” he added. “Sometimes, when you’re older, something has to give. You can’t have both so you have to cut back on the volume. You need more rest days.”
Dr. Hawkins, who says he no longer runs competitively, adds that he tries to put his findings into practice. “I run a couple of times a week and I try to make it as fast as I can,” he said. “I’m not plodding along.”
He also has been amazed by some people who seem to defy the rules of aging, people he describes as “those rare birds who get faster.” Some subjects in Dr. Hawkins’s research study, which followed runners for nearly two decades, actually had better times when they were 60 than when they were 50.
“We really don’t know why,” Dr. Hawkins confessed. “Maybe they were training harder.”
Then there are people like the 62-year-old man who suddenly took up running and began running fast marathons. That man’s inspiration to become a runner, said James Hagberg, an exercise physiologist at the University of Maryland, was watching a lakefront marathon in Milwaukee. “He got all fired up,” Dr. Hagberg recalled.
And there are people like Imme Dyson, a 71-year-old runner who lives in Princeton, N.J. She took up running when she was 48 and loved it, she says, from the moment she put on a pair of running shoes. Her daughter, who had been a college triathlete, told her how to train.
“She said, ‘Mom, if your workout didn’t hurt, you didn’t work hard enough,’ ” Ms. Dyson said.
“Working consistently really is the recipe,” she said. And it has made a difference for her, allowing her to run races, from 5K to marathons, so fast that she is consistently among the best in the nation in her age group. She has run a 15K cross-country race in 1:19:08, a pace of 8:29 a mile. And she ran a 10K race in 51 minutes 50 seconds, a pace of 8:20 a mile.
Not every aging athlete does so well. But Dr. Hagberg found that studies of aging athletes sometimes were distorted because they included people who had cut back on or stopped training. That’s understandable; there is no reason, researchers say, to exhort everyone to maintain an intense effort decade after decade.
Athletes would tell Dr. Hagberg that they had just lost their motivation. “Some of them would say: ‘Competition just doesn’t motivate me as much at 75. I’ve been doing it for 50 years,’ ” he said. “Others would say, ‘I just can’t keep it up any more.’ ”
But for those who still have the drive, the news that muscle mass and lactic threshold can be maintained is encouraging.
The reason people become slower, though, is that oxygen consumption declines with age.
In large part that is because, as has long been known, the maximum heart rate steadily falls by about seven to eight beats per minute per decade. It happens with or without training, in sedentary and in active people, Dr. Tanaka said, and no one knows why. But as a result, the heart cannot pump as much blood at maximum effort.
Dr. Michael Joyner, a 49-year-old exercise researcher at the Mayo Clinic who also is a competitive swimmer and a runner, added another factor: the lungs of older athletes cannot take in quite as much air.
With a slower heart rate and less oxygen in the lungs, less oxygen-rich blood gets to the muscles. In one study, Dr. Joyner found that highly trained athletes age 55 to 68 had 10 to 20 percent less blood flow to their legs than athletes in their 20s.
The older athletes in his group, though, were edging toward an age that often is a transition time in athletic performances, researchers are finding. For example, Dr. Wright and her colleague Dr. Brett Perricelli found that the performances of track athletes declined almost imperceptibly from year to year until their mid-60s, when the rate of decline picked up. At age 75, though, the athletes’ times fell, on average, by 7 percent.
The study, the results of which will appear in the March issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine, involved track and field athletes age 50 to 85 who were participants in the 2001 Senior Olympics and also examined the times for American record holders in track events.
But older athletes still can have spectacular performances, Dr. Tanaka notes.
For example, the world best marathon time for men 70 or older (2:54:05) was set by a 74-year-old. That is more than four minutes faster than the winning marathon time at the first modern Olympics, the 1896 Games in Athens.
Of course, such statistics are of little comfort to athletes who do not want to slow down at all. Dr. Hawkins said he and Robert A. Wiswell, the senior author on his nearly 20-year study of athletes, used to joke that they needed a sports psychologist rather than a sports physiologist on their study. The athletes, he explained, could not bear to think that they would stop setting personal records.
That’s an issue for Don Truex, a 70-year-old dentist in Santa Barbara, Calif, who can’t understand why he has slowed down in the last year. He just ran a 5K race in 23:45. It was an average pace of 7:38 a mile, 90 seconds slower than he wanted to run.
“I’ve consulted with my doctor and we think I may be overtraining,” Dr. Truex said. He’s going to continue running five days a week but cut back on his five days a week of cycling.
Slower times are even more of a concern for Dr. Truex’s friend Barry Erbsen, a 67-year-old dentist in Los Angeles.
Dr. Erbsen started running seriously around 40. His best time in a 10K race was 38 minutes, a pace of 6 minutes a mile. Next he started running marathons, going faster each time until he had completed several, including the Boston Marathon, in 3:07:00.
Then, Dr. Erbsen started to slow down. He ran a marathon a few years ago in 3:45:00. He completed his next one in 3:58:00.
That nearly four-hour marathon was his last, he said. Instead, Dr. Erbsen took up mountain biking. So far so good, he said. He’s having a lot of fun. And, he added, “I’m not getting too much slower.”
Friday, February 1, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Health Groups Release 2008 Immunization Schedules
CDC Home > Media Relations > Release > January 11, 2008
Email this page
Printer-friendly version
Press Release
For Immediate Release
Friday, January 11, 2008
Contact: CDC Division of Media Relations
404-639-3286
Health Groups Release 2008 Immunization Schedules
Children and Adolescents now Protected Against More Diseases than Ever Before
Updated immunization recommendations for childhood influenza and adolescent meningococcal vaccinations are included in the 2008 Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedules released jointly today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
"Although we can now protect more children against more vaccine-preventable diseases than ever before, the immunization schedules can be confusing for parents and physicians," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC. "The updates to this year’s schedule help clarify our vaccination recommendations and, therefore, should make it easier for parents to protect their children against potentially serious diseases."
The childhood schedule expands the recommendation for the nasal spray influenza vaccine, FluMist, to include children from 2 to 4 years of age who don’t have a history of asthma or wheezing. The vaccine, which contains a weakened form of the live virus and is sprayed in the nose, had previously been limited to healthy children 5 years of age and older and healthy adults up to age 50.
"We know that vaccinating children protects them against flu," said Dr. Schuchat. "This recommendation gives parents another choice when vaccinating their children."
The new guidance also addresses vaccination against meningococcal disease. Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine (MCV4) is now recommended for routine vaccination of children 11 – 12 years of age and of adolescents 13–18 years of age who have not been previously vaccinated and other people at increased risk of meningococcal disease, including college freshmen living in dorms, as well as military recruits.
This recommendation modifies and simplifies the previous recommendation for routine vaccination with MCV4 of children at 11–12 years of age, adolescents before high school entry (approximately 15 years of age), and other people at increased risk.
"Our goal is routine vaccination of all children beginning at age 11 years. College freshmen living in dormitories are at increased risk of meningococcal disease and should be vaccinated with MCV4 before college entry, if not previously," said Dr. Schuchat.
An estimated 1,400 to 2,800 cases of meningococcal disease occur annually in the United States. Meningococcal disease can have severe complications and can be life threatening. About 76 percent of cases of meningococcal disease among 11–19 year olds are vaccine–preventable.
The new schedule also clarifies and updates recommendations for use of pneumococcal vaccine. Healthy children 24 through 59 months of age who are incompletely vaccinated should receive one dose of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7). Children age two and older with underlying medical conditions should receive pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV).
The 2008 immunization schedule can be found at CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr or http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/child-schedule.htm
###
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Content Source: Office of Enterprise Communication
Page last modified: January 11, 2008
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Tel: 404-639-3311 • Public Inquiries: (404) 639-3534 • (800) 311-3435 (TTY)
Email this page
Printer-friendly version
Press Release
For Immediate Release
Friday, January 11, 2008
Contact: CDC Division of Media Relations
404-639-3286
Health Groups Release 2008 Immunization Schedules
Children and Adolescents now Protected Against More Diseases than Ever Before
Updated immunization recommendations for childhood influenza and adolescent meningococcal vaccinations are included in the 2008 Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedules released jointly today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
"Although we can now protect more children against more vaccine-preventable diseases than ever before, the immunization schedules can be confusing for parents and physicians," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC. "The updates to this year’s schedule help clarify our vaccination recommendations and, therefore, should make it easier for parents to protect their children against potentially serious diseases."
The childhood schedule expands the recommendation for the nasal spray influenza vaccine, FluMist, to include children from 2 to 4 years of age who don’t have a history of asthma or wheezing. The vaccine, which contains a weakened form of the live virus and is sprayed in the nose, had previously been limited to healthy children 5 years of age and older and healthy adults up to age 50.
"We know that vaccinating children protects them against flu," said Dr. Schuchat. "This recommendation gives parents another choice when vaccinating their children."
The new guidance also addresses vaccination against meningococcal disease. Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine (MCV4) is now recommended for routine vaccination of children 11 – 12 years of age and of adolescents 13–18 years of age who have not been previously vaccinated and other people at increased risk of meningococcal disease, including college freshmen living in dorms, as well as military recruits.
This recommendation modifies and simplifies the previous recommendation for routine vaccination with MCV4 of children at 11–12 years of age, adolescents before high school entry (approximately 15 years of age), and other people at increased risk.
"Our goal is routine vaccination of all children beginning at age 11 years. College freshmen living in dormitories are at increased risk of meningococcal disease and should be vaccinated with MCV4 before college entry, if not previously," said Dr. Schuchat.
An estimated 1,400 to 2,800 cases of meningococcal disease occur annually in the United States. Meningococcal disease can have severe complications and can be life threatening. About 76 percent of cases of meningococcal disease among 11–19 year olds are vaccine–preventable.
The new schedule also clarifies and updates recommendations for use of pneumococcal vaccine. Healthy children 24 through 59 months of age who are incompletely vaccinated should receive one dose of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7). Children age two and older with underlying medical conditions should receive pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV).
The 2008 immunization schedule can be found at CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr or http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/child-schedule.htm
###
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Content Source: Office of Enterprise Communication
Page last modified: January 11, 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Media Relations Links
Home
About Us
Contact Us
Frequently Asked Questions
Media Site Map
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Information & Resources
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• CDC Quick Links
Centers at CDC
Health Topics A-Z
Image Library
Publications, Software...
Speaker's Bureau
Global Health Odyssey
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Special Interest
HHS News
Pandemic Flu News
Freedom of Information Act Office
Find your state or local health department
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Navigation for the CDC Website
Home Policies and Regulations Disclaimer e-Government FOIA Contact Us
USA.gov: The U.S. Government's Official Web PortalDepartment of Health and Human Services“Safer Healthier People”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
Tel: 404-639-3311 • Public Inquiries: (404) 639-3534 • (800) 311-3435 (TTY)
Spring 2008 semester....welcome back!
The staff of Atherton Library is ready to serve you in all your informational and research needs this Spring semester.
Spring 2008 Hours of Operation
Circulation - 236-3505
Reference - 236-5803
Our library has print collections supporting the Marine Science, Nursing, Pre-Medical Studies and Environmental Science degree programs. We also have a large Humanities collection.
Our services include:
Book Delivery Service - Books at the downtown Meader Library can be requested and delivered in 2-3 days.
Circulation Services - With a valid HPU Unicard circulating books may be borrowed for up to 4 weeks.
Course Reserves Collection - Supplemental books and materials placed in the library by your instructor are located behind the Circulation counter. Library-use only.
Group Study Room - Room that accommodates up to 9 students for group study use only. Reservations recommended.
Individual Study Rooms - 5 rooms are available for private study on a first come, first served basis.
Online Resources - Over 40,000 electronic books, tens of thousands of online journals, and over 80 databases covering all subject areas are available from the comfort of your home! Just log in to HPU Pipeline and click the Libraries tab. Go to Databases to start searching. (Note: your computer will need to be configured to access these resources. Call the Reference Desk at 236-5803 for assistance or click here)
Photocopiers - Copies can be made for $0.05 per sheet on our 2 copiers. Cash only.
Reference Help - Reference Librarians are always available to assist you with your research assignments or help you with navigating our online resources. Just ask at the Reference Desk or call 236-5803.
Research & Internet computers - 19 computer stations are available for use. Fee-based printing is available.
Wireless Connectivity - The library is fully covered by the campus wireless network. Just take your WiFi-enabled laptop to the Educational Technology Center (ETC) for set up and troubleshooting.
Drop by the library anytime to study, borrow books, make copies, view Reserves materials, check e-mail, start your research and more.... We're here to help you. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Wayde Oshiro
Head of Atherton Library
E-mail: http://www.blogger.com/athlib@hpu.edu
Spring 2008 Hours of Operation
Circulation - 236-3505
Reference - 236-5803
Our library has print collections supporting the Marine Science, Nursing, Pre-Medical Studies and Environmental Science degree programs. We also have a large Humanities collection.
Our services include:
Book Delivery Service - Books at the downtown Meader Library can be requested and delivered in 2-3 days.
Circulation Services - With a valid HPU Unicard circulating books may be borrowed for up to 4 weeks.
Course Reserves Collection - Supplemental books and materials placed in the library by your instructor are located behind the Circulation counter. Library-use only.
Group Study Room - Room that accommodates up to 9 students for group study use only. Reservations recommended.
Individual Study Rooms - 5 rooms are available for private study on a first come, first served basis.
Online Resources - Over 40,000 electronic books, tens of thousands of online journals, and over 80 databases covering all subject areas are available from the comfort of your home! Just log in to HPU Pipeline and click the Libraries tab. Go to Databases to start searching. (Note: your computer will need to be configured to access these resources. Call the Reference Desk at 236-5803 for assistance or click here)
Photocopiers - Copies can be made for $0.05 per sheet on our 2 copiers. Cash only.
Reference Help - Reference Librarians are always available to assist you with your research assignments or help you with navigating our online resources. Just ask at the Reference Desk or call 236-5803.
Research & Internet computers - 19 computer stations are available for use. Fee-based printing is available.
Wireless Connectivity - The library is fully covered by the campus wireless network. Just take your WiFi-enabled laptop to the Educational Technology Center (ETC) for set up and troubleshooting.
Drop by the library anytime to study, borrow books, make copies, view Reserves materials, check e-mail, start your research and more.... We're here to help you. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Wayde Oshiro
Head of Atherton Library
E-mail: http://www.blogger.com/athlib@hpu.edu
Monday, December 17, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
New books in Atherton Library
Acute & chronic wounds: current management concepts / Ruth A. Bryant, Denise P. Nix, AGEN RD98.3A382007
Back and neck sourcebook: basic consumer health information about spinal pain, spinal cord injuries, and related disorders, such as degenerative disk disease, osteoarthritis, scoliosis, sciatica, spina bifida, and spinal stenosis...AREF RD771.B217B29352004
Breastfeeding and human lactation / Jan Riordan (ed.), AGEN RJ216B7752005
Clinical nutrition: enteral and tube feeding / Rolando H. Rolandelli, Robin Bankhead et al (eds.), AGEN RM225.C5652005
Crisis in youth mental health: critical issues and effective programs / Hiram Fitzgerald, Robert Zucker et al., MGEN RJ503c762006
Geriatric medicine: an evidence-based approach / Christine Cassel (ed.) AGEN AGEN RC952G3932006
Foundations of maternal-newborn nursing / Sharon Smith Murray, Emily Slone McKinney, AGEN RG951M872006
Goodman & Gilman's the pharmacological basis of therapeutics / Laurence Brunton, John Lazo et al. (eds), AREF RM300G6442006
Maternal & child health nursing: care of the childbearing & childrearing family / Adele Pilliterri, AGEN RG951P6372007
Maternal child nursing care / Shannon E. Perry et al., AGEN RG951W872006
Maternal-newborn nursing & women's healthcare / Sally B. Olds, AGEN RG951.O43272004
Maternity nursing / Deltra Leonard Lowdermilk, Shannon E. Perry, AGEN RG951B662006
Maternity nursing care / Lynna Littleton & Joan Engebretson, AGEN RG951L5652005
No mo'olelo lomilomi: the traditions of Hawaiian massage and healing / R. Makana Risser Chai, (ed.), AHP RM721N32005
Nursing excellence for children and families / Martha Craft-Rosenberg & Marilyn J. Krajicek (eds), AGEN RJ245N8762006
Organ transplants: making the most of your gift of life / Robert Finn, AGEN RD120.75F552000
PDR drug guide for mental health professionals / AREF RM315P372002
Pediatric critical care / Bradley Fuhrman, Jerry Zimmerman (eds.), AGEN RJ370F842006
Pharmacology for nursing care / Richard Lehne, AGEN RM301P4572007
Polynesian herbal medicine / W. Arthur Whistler, AHP RM666H33W4481992
Teens in therapy: making it their own / Richard Bromfield, MGEN RJ503B782005
Textbook of perioperative care / Kate Woodhead, Paul Wicker, AGEN RD32.3W652005
Urinary & fecal incontinence: current management concepts / AGEN Dorothy B. Doughty (ed.), RC921I5U722006
Williams obstetrics / F. Gary Cunningham (ed.), AREF RG524W72005
Back and neck sourcebook: basic consumer health information about spinal pain, spinal cord injuries, and related disorders, such as degenerative disk disease, osteoarthritis, scoliosis, sciatica, spina bifida, and spinal stenosis...AREF RD771.B217B29352004
Breastfeeding and human lactation / Jan Riordan (ed.), AGEN RJ216B7752005
Clinical nutrition: enteral and tube feeding / Rolando H. Rolandelli, Robin Bankhead et al (eds.), AGEN RM225.C5652005
Crisis in youth mental health: critical issues and effective programs / Hiram Fitzgerald, Robert Zucker et al., MGEN RJ503c762006
Geriatric medicine: an evidence-based approach / Christine Cassel (ed.) AGEN AGEN RC952G3932006
Foundations of maternal-newborn nursing / Sharon Smith Murray, Emily Slone McKinney, AGEN RG951M872006
Goodman & Gilman's the pharmacological basis of therapeutics / Laurence Brunton, John Lazo et al. (eds), AREF RM300G6442006
Maternal & child health nursing: care of the childbearing & childrearing family / Adele Pilliterri, AGEN RG951P6372007
Maternal child nursing care / Shannon E. Perry et al., AGEN RG951W872006
Maternal-newborn nursing & women's healthcare / Sally B. Olds, AGEN RG951.O43272004
Maternity nursing / Deltra Leonard Lowdermilk, Shannon E. Perry, AGEN RG951B662006
Maternity nursing care / Lynna Littleton & Joan Engebretson, AGEN RG951L5652005
No mo'olelo lomilomi: the traditions of Hawaiian massage and healing / R. Makana Risser Chai, (ed.), AHP RM721N32005
Nursing excellence for children and families / Martha Craft-Rosenberg & Marilyn J. Krajicek (eds), AGEN RJ245N8762006
Organ transplants: making the most of your gift of life / Robert Finn, AGEN RD120.75F552000
PDR drug guide for mental health professionals / AREF RM315P372002
Pediatric critical care / Bradley Fuhrman, Jerry Zimmerman (eds.), AGEN RJ370F842006
Pharmacology for nursing care / Richard Lehne, AGEN RM301P4572007
Polynesian herbal medicine / W. Arthur Whistler, AHP RM666H33W4481992
Teens in therapy: making it their own / Richard Bromfield, MGEN RJ503B782005
Textbook of perioperative care / Kate Woodhead, Paul Wicker, AGEN RD32.3W652005
Urinary & fecal incontinence: current management concepts / AGEN Dorothy B. Doughty (ed.), RC921I5U722006
Williams obstetrics / F. Gary Cunningham (ed.), AREF RG524W72005
Injury Deaths
Press Release
For Immediate Release
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Contact: Gail Hayes
CDC, Injury Media Relations
Phone: (770) 488-4902
New CDC Study Finds 5.5 Percent Increase in Injury Mortality from 1999 to 2004
Increases in deaths among 20–to–29 and 45–to–54 year olds contribute to first overall increase in years
Injury death rates nationally rose more than 5 percent after a two–decade period of decline, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in today′s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report indicates the largest increases were seen in the 20–29 and 45–54 year age groups.
The total injury mortality rate includes deaths from unintentional injury, suicides, homicides, and injuries of undetermined intent. If a death could not be definitively attributed to unintentional injury or suicide, it is considered to be of undetermined intent. Homicide rates remained stable throughout the 1999–2004 period, with unintentional poisonings accounting for more than half of the total increase in injury deaths.
“We′re very concerned anytime we see an increase in premature deaths,“ said Ileana Arias, Ph.D., director of CDC′s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “We don′t know if this is an indication of a trend, but it is something that needs to be further examined.“
The 45– to 54–year–old age group experienced the largest increase in injury mortality rates. This group had a 25 percent increase, for an additional 8,000 deaths in 2004. In comparison, the 20–29–year age group had an 8 percent increase in total injury death rates. Unintentional poisonings accounted for more than 50 percent of the increase in each group.
Shared risk factors could contribute to the increase in multiple injury categories and age groups, Arias said. For example, the recent increase in prescription drug abuse during the same time period in these age groups could have contributed to an increase in mortality due to suicide, homicide, unintentional poisoning, and other types of unintentional injury. Prevention programs that focus on such shared risk factors could help reduce the number of injury–related deaths.
“The increase in prescription drug overdoses among the middle–aged is something that the CDC has noted before,“ said Len Paulozzi, M.D., a medical epidemiologist at the Injury Center. “We need to explore the increases in other types of injury for which drug abuse is a risk factor in the same age groups.“
For this study, CDC analyzed mortality data on resident deaths occurring in the United States, as compiled from death certificates by the National Vital Statistics System.
For more information about unintentional poisoning prevention, please go to www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/poisoning.htm.
For more information about suicide prevention, please go to www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/Suicide/default.htm.
###
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Content Source: Office of Enterprise Communication
For Immediate Release
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Contact: Gail Hayes
CDC, Injury Media Relations
Phone: (770) 488-4902
New CDC Study Finds 5.5 Percent Increase in Injury Mortality from 1999 to 2004
Increases in deaths among 20–to–29 and 45–to–54 year olds contribute to first overall increase in years
Injury death rates nationally rose more than 5 percent after a two–decade period of decline, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in today′s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report indicates the largest increases were seen in the 20–29 and 45–54 year age groups.
The total injury mortality rate includes deaths from unintentional injury, suicides, homicides, and injuries of undetermined intent. If a death could not be definitively attributed to unintentional injury or suicide, it is considered to be of undetermined intent. Homicide rates remained stable throughout the 1999–2004 period, with unintentional poisonings accounting for more than half of the total increase in injury deaths.
“We′re very concerned anytime we see an increase in premature deaths,“ said Ileana Arias, Ph.D., director of CDC′s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “We don′t know if this is an indication of a trend, but it is something that needs to be further examined.“
The 45– to 54–year–old age group experienced the largest increase in injury mortality rates. This group had a 25 percent increase, for an additional 8,000 deaths in 2004. In comparison, the 20–29–year age group had an 8 percent increase in total injury death rates. Unintentional poisonings accounted for more than 50 percent of the increase in each group.
Shared risk factors could contribute to the increase in multiple injury categories and age groups, Arias said. For example, the recent increase in prescription drug abuse during the same time period in these age groups could have contributed to an increase in mortality due to suicide, homicide, unintentional poisoning, and other types of unintentional injury. Prevention programs that focus on such shared risk factors could help reduce the number of injury–related deaths.
“The increase in prescription drug overdoses among the middle–aged is something that the CDC has noted before,“ said Len Paulozzi, M.D., a medical epidemiologist at the Injury Center. “We need to explore the increases in other types of injury for which drug abuse is a risk factor in the same age groups.“
For this study, CDC analyzed mortality data on resident deaths occurring in the United States, as compiled from death certificates by the National Vital Statistics System.
For more information about unintentional poisoning prevention, please go to www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/poisoning.htm.
For more information about suicide prevention, please go to www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/Suicide/default.htm.
###
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Content Source: Office of Enterprise Communication
Monday, December 3, 2007
All books due by December 16, 2007
Return all books by December 16th!
All library books are due at the latest by Sunday, December 16, 2007.
Late fees are $0.50 per item per day, with a maximum fine of $10.00 per item. If your book is already overdue, you may be eligible for our Food for Fines program. This special program provides for a one week grace period on payment of overdue book fines.
To be eligible for Food for Fines, your book cannot be more than 7 days past its due date. You must return your book to either the Atherton or Meader Library Circulation Desk along with one (1) canned food item per book. Turn in both the book and the canned food item to a library staff member.
All canned food items will be donated to the HPU Food Bank.
Call Meader Library Circulation Services at 544-0210 or Atherton Library Circulation Desk at 236-3505 for more information.
All library books are due at the latest by Sunday, December 16, 2007.
Late fees are $0.50 per item per day, with a maximum fine of $10.00 per item. If your book is already overdue, you may be eligible for our Food for Fines program. This special program provides for a one week grace period on payment of overdue book fines.
To be eligible for Food for Fines, your book cannot be more than 7 days past its due date. You must return your book to either the Atherton or Meader Library Circulation Desk along with one (1) canned food item per book. Turn in both the book and the canned food item to a library staff member.
All canned food items will be donated to the HPU Food Bank.
Call Meader Library Circulation Services at 544-0210 or Atherton Library Circulation Desk at 236-3505 for more information.
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