Child and adolescent death rates from unintentional injuries dropped 29 percent from 2000 to 2009, the CDC reports. But child death rates from suffocation are on the rise, according to the same report. There was a 54 percent increase in reported suffocation among infants less than 1 year old. The study, released Monday, didn’t break…
An analysis comparing health statistics for Georgia counties shows a wide gap between rural and urban/suburban areas in the state. The top seven counties in the state in the new health rankings — Fayette, Forsyth, Oconee, Cherokee, Gwinnett, Cobb and Columbia –- are all in large metropolitan areas in the northern or north-central part of the state….
Henry Slack is one of the 1 percenters. That is, he’s one of the estimated 1 percent of locals who ride their bicycles to work every day. It’s about 8 miles from Slack’s Decatur home to Atlanta, and the trip takes 30 to 40 minutes. “It keeps me healthy,’’ says Slack, a federal employee who…
A new study has found HIV rates for black women in Atlanta and five other U.S. cities are higher than previously thought. The study found that the HIV rate was 0.24 percent for the 2,099 women in its cohort. This is five times higher than the rate estimated for black women by the CDC. HIV,…
Big people are big business in the United States, where about one in three adults and one in six children and adolescents are considered obese. Diet programs, diet foods, zero-calorie drinks, exercise videos, fitness machines and gym memberships are some of the most advertised products in America. And that doesn’t include actual medical programs to…
“Pulse oximetry.’’ The term sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie. In reality, it’s about current human life in its most fragile state. Pulse oximetry is a test to help detect congenital heart defects in newborns by measuring how much oxygen is in their blood. A proposal for Georgia to study the efficacy of…
Every year, about 700,000 Americans suffer strokes, which occur when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked or bursts. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Now stroke specialists say stem cells from adult bone marrow may improve patients’ recovery from the condition. Georgia Health Sciences University is one…
Tiffany Miller was supposed to drive her 15-year-old daughter to a birthday party. But before the mother of five even made it out the door, she suddenly collapsed and lost all muscle control. Panicked, Miller’s daughter tried to give her mother her medicine, but Miller was unable to swallow the pills and began to choke….
More than 40 years ago, in the middle of a high school football game, my helmet slammed into the knee of a running back. After that hit, my brain seemed fogged, as though it were on half-power. But I kept playing. As the game continued, I never considered sitting out any plays. My high school…
Natalie Rogers knows health and exercise. She is a retired professional ballerina, a former pre-med student at UGA and currently a fitness instructor who values healthy living. A few years ago, Rogers was distressed by the lack of physical activity and the poor nutritional quality of cafeteria food that her now 10-year-old daughter experienced at…