From the New York Times website
Health Outcomes Driving New Hospital Design

By CAROL ANN CAMPBELL
Published: May 18, 2009

The curtain between two hospital beds does not stop noise from the television set, offer privacy during sensitive conversations with doctors or stop germs from spreading. Yet in most of America’s aging hospitals it is the only thing that separates strangers thrust together as roommates simply because both are ill.
HUSHED Rooms at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital in Michigan do not share walls or ceilings, cutting noise.

But in many new hospitals and pavilions, these semiprivate rooms have vanished. Single-patient rooms are now viewed as an important element of high-quality health care.

The benefits of the single room emerged through evidence-based hospital design, a new field that guides health care construction. More than 1,500 studies have examined ways that design can reduce medical errors, infections and falls — and relieve patient stress.

American hospitals started 53 million square feet of new construction and major additions in 2008, according to a report by McGraw-Hill Construction, a company that tracks industry trends. Promoters of evidence-based design say that a building exerts a powerful force on the delivery of health care, and that the best new health centers are light-filled, quiet and easy to navigate.

“Some hospitals are taking evidence-based design seriously,” said Roger Ulrich, director of the Center for Health Systems and Design at Texas A&M. “Other institutions use pretty traditional design that pays lip service to the evidence. There may be high style, but the hospital is still noisy. Or the windows are too small to let much light in. There are missed opportunities.”

Besides privacy, research shows that single rooms reduce infections and patient stress, and improve sleep. In 2006, the American Institute of Architects called for single rooms in all new hospital construction…………

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Provided by the Associated Press on Google.com

By MIKE STOBBE – 17 hours ago

ATLANTA (AP) — Pregnant women should take prescription flu medicines if they are diagnosed with the new swine flu, health officials said Tuesday. So far, the swine flu has not proven to be much more dangerous than seasonal influenza, and it’s not clear whether or not pregnant women catch swine flu more often than other people. But in general, flu poses added risks for pregnant women, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pregnancy weakens a woman’s immune system, so that she’s more likely to suffer pneumonia when she catches the flu. In earlier flu pandemics, infection also raised the risk of a premature birth, said Schuchat.

Risks from the virus are greater than the unknown risks to the fetus from the drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, Schuchat said at a press conference Tuesday.

“We really want to get the word out about the likely benefits of prompt antiviral treatment” for pregnant women, she said.

Still, the flu medicines’ effectiveness is somewhat limited, studies have shown. They can relieve symptoms and shorten the disease by about a day. They only work if started within 48 hours of first symptoms, and little is known about whether they cut the chances of serious flu complications. Most people recover from the flu with no medical treatment.

But a pregnant Texas woman who had swine flu died last week, and at least 20 other pregnant women have swine flu, including some with severe complications.
In total, about 3,000 U.S. cases of swine flu have been confirmed through lab testing so far, most of them ages 18 and under. Officials think the actual number of infections is much higher, and that infections are still occurring.

CDC officials said the swine flu may seem to be mild now, but they worry the virus will mutate into something more dangerous. One concern is that it will combine with the more deadly but less easily spread bird flu virus that has been circulating in Asia and other parts of the world.

Another concern is that it will combine with the seasonal H1N1 virus that went around over the winter. That virus was not unusually virulent, but it was resistant to Tamiflu — the current first-line defense against the new swine flu. If the two virus strains combine, it’s possible the swine flu will become resistant to Tamiflu as well, health officials worry.

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Per Yahoo News
Obesity May Raise Kids’ Allergy Risk

Fri May 8, 11:50 pm ET
FRIDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) — Obese children and teens are at increased risk for allergies, especially food allergies, say U.S. researchers.

The study authors analyzed data from 4,111 participants, aged 2 to 19, who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and found that obese children and teens were 26 percent more likely to have any kind of allergy, and 59 percent more likely to have a food allergy, than their normal-weight peers.

“We found a positive association between obesity and allergies,” senior author Dr. Darryl Zeldin, acting clinical director at the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), said in an institute news release. “While the results from this study are interesting, they do not prove that obesity causes allergies. More research is needed to further investigate this potential link.”

The study is in the May issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

“Given that the prevalence of both obesity and allergic disease has increased among children over the last several decades, it is important to understand and, if possible, prevent these epidemics,” lead author Cynthia M. Visness, a scientist at Rho Federal Systems Division Inc., in Chapel Hill, N.C., said in the news release.

“Seeing a possible link between obesity and allergies provides additional motivation for undertaking the challenge of reducing childhood obesity,” added Linda Birnbaum, NIEHS director.

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The swine flu outbreak is spawning debate about how people get information during health emergencies — especially at a time when news sources are becoming less centralized.

Buzz about swine flu on Twitter is stirring conversations about how people get health news.

Some observers say Twitter — a micro-blogging site where users post 140-character messages — has become a hotbed of unnecessary hype and misinformation about the outbreak, which is thought to have claimed more than 100 lives in Mexico.
“This is a good example of why [Twitter is] headed in that wrong direction, because it’s just propagating fear amongst people as opposed to seeking actual solutions or key information,” said Brennon Slattery, a contributing writer for PC World. “The swine flu thing came really at the crux of a media revolution.”
Twitter’s popularity has exploded in recent months, and Slattery said it’s a new development that a wide number of people would turn to the site in search of information during an emergency.
Others take a softer approach to the buzz on Twitter.
Writing for CNET, a CNN partner site, Larry Magid advises online readers to take medical advice with a grain of salt.
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Watch videos on swine flu outbreak
The Internet is “a great way to get general information, prevention tips and information on how to handle a known condition, but be cautious when using it to try to diagnose yourself,” he writes.
Several dozen cases of swine flu worldwide have been confirmed by the World Health Organization and hundreds more are feared. Read more about the situation
That information needs to be put in context by journalists, especially given the fact that so many deaths from the common flu occur each year and go underreported by the news media, said Al Tompkins, who teaches broadcast and online news at the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists. Follow CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta on Twitter
About 36,000 people die from flu-related symptoms each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The fast pace of new swine flu cases and their relevance to global public health policy makes the situation newsworthy, Tompkins said.
Tompkins said there is a tendency for television stations to hype health emergencies to boost their ratings, but so far coverage of the swine flu outbreak has been responsible. Coverage of the story is just ramping up, though, he said.
Health Library
MayoClinic.com: Influenza (flu)
Of the swine flu news on Twitter, Tompkins said, “Bad news always travels faster than good news. I’m sure that was true in smoke signal days.”
Unofficial swine flu information on Twitter may lead people to unwise decisions, said Evgeny Morozov, a fellow at the Open Society Institute and a blogger on ForeignPolicy.com.
For example, some Twitter users told their followers to stop eating pork, he said. Health officials have not advised that precaution. Read about how the virus is transmitted
Morozov said there’s incentive for Twitter users to post whatever is on their mind because it helps them grow their online audiences.
But in an emergency, that tendency means people write about their own fears of symptoms and widespread deaths, which can create an uninformed hysteria, he said.
The debate about swine flu on Twitter is not one-sided, however. And the site is not the only place online where people are talking about the outbreak.
Some Twitter users have expressed concern that the swine flu story is being hyped. Several media outlets, including the BBC and CNN’s iReport.com, give readers and viewers a chance to express their own views about the outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also maintains its own Twitter account where official government information is given straight to the public.
And on Monday, President Obama seemed to try to calm national fears by saying the outbreak is “cause for concern and requires a heightened state of alert” but is not a “cause for alarm,” CNN reported.
Twitter traffic about swine flu has been strong. According to Nielsen Online, swine flu has worked its way into about 2 percent of all notes posted on the site on Monday. You can follow that Twitter conversation here.
Chatter about swine flu is also loud elsewhere online. About 10 times more people are writing online about swine flu than wrote about the salmonella and peanut butter scares from this winter, Nielsen says.
On Google, an interactive map lets Internet users see where outbreak deaths have been confirmed and where they are suspected. See a CNN map
Slattery, the PC World writer, said he generally was excited about Twitter until recently. Now he finds the site to be “an incredibly unreliable source of information.”
Tompkins said people who post information on social media sites should think about the credibility of their sources before they pass something on.

That’s the “online equivalent of washing your hands,” he said.
“Before you pass it on, wash your hands a little.”
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According to a study reported on usnews.com. eating walnuts could reduce the risk of breast cancer. Read the full story below:
Study in mice finds fewer, smaller tumors in those that ate the nuts
Posted April 21, 2009

TUESDAY, April 21 (HealthDay News) — Walnuts contain compounds that may help prevent breast cancer, suggest findings from a study involving mice specially created to develop tumors.
One group of mice was fed a daily diet that included what would be equivalent to 2 ounces of walnuts in humans, while another group of mice ate a regular diet. The mice that ate the diet with walnuts had a much lower incidence of breast tumors, fewer glands with a tumor and smaller-sized tumors.
“These laboratory mice typically have 100 percent tumor incidence at five months; walnut consumption delayed those tumors by at least three weeks,” study author Elaine Hardman, an associate professor of medicine at Marshall University School of Medicine, said in a news release from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
Molecular analysis revealed that increased consumption of omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phytosterols found in walnuts contributed to tumor resistance in the mice. The findings were to be presented Tuesday at the AACR’s annual meeting in Denver.
“With dietary interventions, you see multiple mechanisms when working with the whole food,” Hardman said. “It is clear that walnuts contribute to a healthy diet that can reduce breast cancer.”
Though the study was done with mice, she suggested that it’s still a good idea for people to eat more walnuts.
“Walnuts are better than cookies, french fries or potato chips when you need a snack,” Hardman said. “We know that a healthy diet overall prevents all manner of chronic diseases.”
The study was funded with matching grants from the American Institute for Cancer Research and the California Walnut Commission.
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Per CNN within the last hour – Studies are now showing that Breast Feeding can not only benefit the new baby but can also benefit the new Mom. Read below:

Breast-feeding may protect mom’s heart after menopause

By Denise Mann

When Lana Phillip, now 45, decided to breast-feed her baby, she never imagined she would continue for three whole years.

Breast-feeding produces a surge in oxytocin, the so-called love hormone, which may help protect the heart.

“I was living in Jamaica at the time where we say ‘breast is best,’ but I continued for so long mainly because my daughter wouldn’t take anything else,” she recalls. Sure, she knew that breast-fed babies tended to be healthier, but she didn’t know that she also might be doing her own heart a favor — an added bonus, as Phillip has a strong family history of heart disease and diabetes.

Women who breast-feed for longer than one year seem to be 10 to 15 percent less likely to develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease after menopause than women who don’t breast-feed, according to a study in the May issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

“At my last physical, I had no signs of any heart problems,” says Phillip, who has been living in Brooklyn, New York, since 2000.

The U.S. surgeon general currently recommends that babies be fed exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life, but “the longer women nurse their babies, the better for both of their health,” says lead study author Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine, epidemiology, obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Research on Health Care in Pennsylvania. Health.com: Diet tips for nursing mothers

In the study, the researchers looked at 139,681 women with an average age of 63 who had at least one child. Those who had a lifetime history of more than 12 months of breast-feeding had a lower risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart disease than women who also had at least one child, but did not breast-feed. What’s more, the longer they breast-fed, the greater the apparent benefit to their hearts — even after the researchers adjusted for factors that could affect heart disease risk, such as obesity.

Among women who breast-feed for more than one year, the researchers estimate that 38.6 percent will develop high blood pressure, 12.3 percent high cholesterol and 9.1 percent cardiovascular disease. In comparison, 42.1 percent of women who don’t breast-feed may develop high blood pressure, 14.8 percent high cholesterol, and 9.9 percent cardiovascular disease. Health.com: Quiz: What’s your cholesterol IQ?

According to Schwarz, these new findings should help tip the scale for women who are considering breast-feeding as well as encourage those who already are breast-feeding to do so for longer periods of time. “Heart disease is the leading killer of U.S. women,” she says. “To prevent heart disease, I recommend that all my patients exercise regularly, watch their diet, avoid cigarettes, and breast-feed their babies,” she says.

“All of these health behaviors are hard for some people, so my message is always ‘do the best you can; the more you can do, the better for you’” she adds. “And when we’re talking about breast-feeding, of course women get double credit, because breast-feeding is good for mom and good for the baby.”

Donnica Moore, M.D., president of the Sapphire Women’s Health Group in Far Hills, New Jersey and an author of “Women’s Health for Life,” advocates breast-feeding for infants, but points out that one year is a long time.

“We know that breast-feeding has numerous benefits for the baby, and this study is one more piece of information that suggests it also has benefits for the mother,” she says. Health.com: Breast cancer during pregnancy: What you need to know

However, the study does have its weaknesses, she points out. For starters, the women were about 63 years old, which means they breast-fed a long time ago. A women’s memory may not be all that accurate 30-plus years later, says Moore. In addition, the study was not specifically designed to look at breast-feeding and heart disease risk; these results were part of a secondary analysis from another study.

That said, “it’s interesting that women who breast-fed more than 12 months showed risk reduction for heart disease, but that may say more about the health choices made by women who are going to breast-feed for that long,” says Moore. These women may simply lead healthier lives, she adds. Those who choose to breast-feed tend to be better educated and have a higher socioeconomic status than women who do not — factors that can also affect the risk of heart disease. (The researchers did take these factors into account.)

However, hormones may also be at play. Breast-feeding produces a surge in oxytocin, the so-called love hormone, which may help protect the heart. Health.com: 6 Rules for a healthy postpartum slim-down

Some women and infants do have trouble with breast-feeding. “Breast-feeding is like riding a bike: It can be tricky at first, and almost everyone needs a little bit of help getting started, but it’s really important to learn how to do it,” Schwarz says. “Don’t hesitate to ask for help, and don’t doubt your body’s abilities to continue to provide for your baby the way it did throughout pregnancy.”

Calling the findings “dramatic and persuasive,” Edward R. Newton, M.D., a professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, stresses that “it is imperative that health care providers and our society support and educate women concerning the maternal benefits of prolonged breast-feeding as well as the documented benefits of breast-feeding for the children.” Newton wrote an editorial that accompanied the new study.
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