2 OCTOBER 1,2007
Tribal Health Newsletter
children over the age of 2 should watch no more than two hours per
day - recommendations that are in line with his findings
"This increase in risk kicked In with people who watched two hours
of television per day," Hancox said. "For those who watched less,
there was no increase in risk."
Hancox's findings are in general agreement with a 2004 study led by
Dr. Oimitri Christakis of the Seattle's Children's Hospital and Regional
Medical Center, which found a relationship between television watch
ing at age 3 and attention problems at age 7. Yet they contradicted
both Stevens' 2006 study, which found no link between TV viewing
at age 5 and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder at age 6, and an
additional study out of Denmark.
Stevens lauded Hancox's effort. Yet she noted that, as a correla
tional study, it says nothing at all about causation. In that sense, it
cannot answer a key question: Does TV viewing cause kids' attention
problems, or do the parents of children with attention problems drop
them in front of the TV more often to keep them occupied?
Additionally, the study makes no distinctions about what the children
are watching, how much they are paying attention, and so on. Finally,
Stevens questioned the lack of several key statistical variables.
"I would say there is some ambiguity in the results, because some
statistical values were omitted," she said. "I wouldn't necessarily have
come to the same conclusion with just the information they reported.
I would be more confident in my conclusion if I knew they had looked
at these other values."
Hancox's findings are published in the same issue of Pediatrics
as another study, which found that the vast majority of TV food ads
directed at children and adolescents promote foods that are high in
fat, sugar and sodium, and low in nutritional content.
1
Would you be ready if there were an emergency?
Be prepared: assemble an emergency supply kit,
make your emergency plans, stay informed, and
be involved in helping yourfamily, your business
and your community to be ready.
Throughout the month there will be activities across the country
to promote emergency preparedness. Over 1,300 organizations
- national, regional, and
local public and private
organizations - are sup
porting emergency pre
paredness efforts and
encouraging all Ameri
cans to take action.
You can join the ef
fort by following Three
steps:
Get a kit.
Make a plan.
Be informed.
September 2007 marked the fourth annual National Preparedness
Month, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
One goal of Homeland Security is to educate the public about how
to prepare for emergencies, including natural disasters, mass casu
alties, biological and chemical threats, radiation emergencies and
terrorist attacks.
A few weeks ago, the nation looked back and remembered the
tragedy of the 91 1 attacks on our country, Six years have passed,
but has anything changed? Airport security has tightened and the
National Terrorist Alert level has been classifies as "Elevated" since
the attacks. Our nation has taken steps to ensure our safety, but are
you ready for a disaster?
As part of National Preparedness Month, Center for Disease Control
has launched a new Web site, Emergency Preparedness and You.
CDC has teamed up with the American Red Cross to identify and
answer common questions about preparing for unexpected events.
The information guides you in:
( EMERGENCY
Developing a family disaster plan
Gathering emergency supplies
Learning how to shelter in place
Understanding quarantine and isolation
Learning how to maintain a healthy state of mind
Additional information and resources are available from Emergency
Preparedness and Response under topics such as hurricane pre
paredness, extreme heat and bioterrorism. CDC continually updates
information on recent outbreaks and incidents and lists emergency
resources for the general public as well as for clinicians and public
health professionals.
Are you prepared? During September, focus on being ready - at
home, at work and in your community - and prepare for a natural
disaster or other emergency.
Get an Emergency Kit
An emergency kit includes the basics for survival: fresh water, food,
clean air and warmth. You should have enough supplies to survive
for at least three days. Review the items recommended for a disas
ter supplies kit or print the Homeland Security Emergency Supply
checklist .
Make an Emergency Plan
Make plans with your family and friends in case you're not together
during an emergency. Discuss how you'll contact each other, where
you'll meet and what you'll do in different situations. Read how to de
velop a family disaster plan or fill out the Homeland Security Family
Emergency Plan.
Ask about planning at your workplace and your child's school or
daycare center. The U.S. Department of Education gives guidelines for
school preparedness. Workers at small, medium and large businesses
should practice for emergencies of all kinds. See Ready Business for
more information.
Be Informed
Being prepared means staying informed. Check all types of media
- Web sites, newspapers, radio, TV, mobile and land phones - for
global, national and local information. During an emergency, your local
Emergency Management or Emergency Services office will give you
information on such things as open shelters and evacuation orders.
Check Ready America community and state information to learn about
resources in your community.
Get Involved
Look into taking first aid and emergency response training, partici
pating in community exercises, and volunteering to support local first
responders. Contact Citizens Corps, which coordinates activities to
make communities safer, stronger and better prepared to respond to
an emergency situation.
Homeland Security promotes emergency preparedness throughout
the year via the "Ready America" campaign. Checklists, brochures,
and videos are available in English and in Spanish online and by phone.
( 1-800-BE-READY and 1-888-SE-LISTO).
On July 2, 2007 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved
a generic equivalent to Lamisil 250 mg tablets. There are several
manufacturers now supplying generic terbinafine tablets to the mar
ketplace. Now that generics to Lamisil tablets are in the market,
Express Scripts will remove the brand Lamisil from the formulary and
replace it with the generic terbinafine product. What this means for
you: if you choose to use the Lamisil non-formulary tablets, you'll pay
the non-formulary copay. The non-formulary status for Lamisil will
go into effect on Oct. 1 , 2007. Consult your doctor or pharmacist if
you have questions regarding this prescription.