I recently read an article in Newsweek about the lack of health and dental care in rural areas of America, such as Kentucky and Virgina. 46 million people in the United States do not have health insurance; while 108 million people here do not have dental insurance. It’s sad to see that healthcare has gotten so out of hand that when free clinics are set up, 2,500 people wait in line to get the help they need. Why?

Dickinson, from the Virginia Dental Association had this to say: “The diet here, which is high in processed, sugary foods because they’re cheaper, promotes decay. And when your teeth hurt, you aren’t going to be eating salads. And now we know that there’s a suggested link between all kinds of systemic diseases from diabetes to heart disease and oral cancer and the bacteria in the mouth. It’s a cascading effect.”

To read the whole article, please visit: http://www.newsweek.com/id/150846

-Kayla

I think it’s appropriate to start off my series of Caralyn’s Picks with one of my all-time favorite resources: MedlinePlus! MedlinePlus is an online clearinghouse of health related information that is maintained by the National Library of Medicine (http://medlineplus.gov). This is a rich web site with lots of helpful information. I use it all the time as a way to get started on my research.

If you want to learn about something quickly, I’d recommend the interactive health tutorials they have available (http://www.nlm.gov/medlineplus/tutorials). I watched the tutorial about burns after a wee accident with a hot pan in my kitchen, and it provided very helpful information that allowed me to calm down.

So, pick a tutorial and let me know what you think!

On June 24, the radio program Marketplace aired a story about high fructose corn syrup. Recently, corn syrup has been blamed for the obesity epidemic that is plaguing the country.

Not only have nutritionists and public health groups targeted the product, but mother nature as well. With recent floods covering the Midwest, corn prices have sky-rocketed leaving many consumers unable to afford the climbing prices.

In turn, corn syrup producers felt they needed new ways to market their product. Their solution was a new 18 month, $30 million dollar ad campaign to promote corn syrup. To see an example of the Corn Refiners Association Campaign, visit: www.sweetsuprise.com

To read more on the featured Marketplace story, please visit:

http://marketplace.publicradio.org//display/web/2008/06/23/corn_syrup/?refid=0

This story raises many questions including:

Do public health organizations have an obligation to present counter arguments to marketing campaigns such as www.sweetsuprise.com?

Do you feel that corn syrup producers or the consumers are to blame for the obesity epidemic?

-Caralyn Champa & Kayla Dean

On May 1, 2008 Walgreens announced on their website (www.walgreens.com), that it has “completed it’s acquisitions of I-Trax, Inc., parent company of CHD Meridian Healthcare, and privately-held Whole Health Management, two leading companies that together operate more than 350 worksite health centers. The acquired companies services include primary and acute care, wellness, pharmacy and disease management services and health and fitness programming. The acquisitions position Walgreens as the leading provider of worksite health services. Combined with Walgreens wholly-owned subsidiary and convenient care clinic manager, Take Care Health Systems, the will form the platform for the new Walgreens Health and Wellness division”.

According to Walgreens.com, Walgreens is now the nation’s largest drugstore chain. It’s 2007 fiscal sales were $53.8 billion. Walgreens has 6,271 stores in all but 2 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

For more information, or to read Walgreen’s entire news release, please visit the following link:

http://news.walgreens.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=4950

What are your thoughts on this merger? What do you see as the potential benefits?

-Kayla Dean, Research Assistant

Hello world,

Welcome to the Ofstead and Associates blog. We look forward to discussing public health, epidemiology and other health related issues with you each month. My name is Kayla Dean, and I am the research assistant here. I will be the voice of Ofstead on this blog. Please stay tuned as we will post our first entry in a couple of days

- Kayla