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Precise Reason for Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate: Thank Hungry Gut Microbes

Tue, 2014-03-18 22:18 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

The health benefits of eating dark chocolate have been extolled for centuries, but the exact reason has remained a mystery -- until now. Researchers have just reported that certain bacteria in the stomach gobble the chocolate and ferment it into anti-inflammatory compounds that are good for the heart.  Credit: © Alliance / Fotolia

sciencedaily.com - March 18, 2014

The health benefits of eating dark chocolate have been extolled for centuries, but the exact reason has remained a mystery -- until now. Researchers have just reported that certain bacteria in the stomach gobble the chocolate and ferment it into anti-inflammatory compounds that are good for the heart. . .

"We found that there are two kinds of microbes in the gut: the 'good' ones and the 'bad' ones," explained Maria Moore, an undergraduate student and one of the study's researchers.

"The good microbes, such as Bifidobacterium and lactic acid bacteria, feast on chocolate," she said. "When you eat dark chocolate, they grow and ferment it, producing compounds that are anti-inflammatory."

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Paying For Health Outcomes Is Focus Of New Reform System

Thu, 2014-03-13 17:01 — Kathy Gilbeaux

         

Gov. Peter Shumlin says a new payment reform system focused on accountability and collaboration is a critical piece of his overall health care vision for the state.  Credit Bob Kinzel / VPR

vpr.net - by Bob Kinzel - March 12, 2014

(Vermont) - State officials have announced a plan that they hope will control health care costs in the future by redesigning how providers are paid.

The goal of this new approach is to encourage providers to work together on a patient’s total health care needs and to improve medical outcomes by allowing the providers to be reimbursed for preventive care.

State officials are optimistic that if these changes are made, it will significantly slow down the growth rate of health care expenses.

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Citing Urgent Need, U.S. Calls on Hospitals to Hone Disaster Plans

Tue, 2014-03-11 21:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

After high water from Hurricane Katrina inundated their nursing home, residents waited for assistance in New Orleans in 2005. Federal officials are trying to avoid these types of situations with new requirements for health care providers ahead of emergencies. Credit Mario Tama/Getty Images

nytimes.com - by Sheri Fink - March 11, 2014

Federal officials are proposing sweeping new requirements for American health care facilities — from large hospitals to small group homes for the mentally disabled — intended to ensure their readiness to care for patients during disasters.

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Public Health Preparedness Capabilities: National Standards for State and Local Planning

Tue, 2014-03-11 18:09 — Kathy Gilbeaux

cdc.gov

One of the nation's key preparedness challenges has been determining appropriate state and local public health preparedness priorities. To assist state and local public health departments in their strategic planning, CDC developed 15 capabilities to serve as national public health preparedness standards.

CDC applied a systematic approach to developing the public health preparedness capabilities. The content is based on evidence-informed documents, relevant preparedness literature, and subject matter expertise gathered from across the federal government and the state and local practice community.

CDC's Public Health Preparedness Capabilities: National Standards for State and Local Planning now provides a guide that state and local jurisdictions can use to better organize their work, plan their priorities, and decide which capabilities they have the resources to build or sustain. The capabilities also help ensure that federal preparedness funds are directed to priority areas within individual jurisdictions.

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Next Fracking Controversy: In the Midwest, a Storm Brews Over Frac Sand

Tue, 2014-03-11 17:24 — Kathy Gilbeaux

       

A truck dumps a load of sand at the loading terminal for Modern Transport Rail in Winona, Minn.  Andrew Link/Winona Daily News/AP/File

yahoo.com - csmonitor.com - by Richard Mertens - March 9, 2014

Sand is used in the fracking process, and there's plenty of it to be mined in the upper Midwest. As a sand-mining boom has emerged, residents are divided over whether it's lifting or ruining their communities.

. . . Sand has become a valuable – and deeply divisive – commodity in the upper Midwest. Hydraulic fracturing, a method of extraction also known as fracking that has boosted oil and natural gas production across the United States, requires sand, and there's plenty of it here. . .

. . . A big question about sand mining is the risk to public health from dust.

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State Consultant Slams Fracking

Sat, 2014-03-08 19:42 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Margery Schab

capitalnewyork.com - by Scott Waldman - March 7, 2014

ALBANY—A consultant hired by the state Health Department to assist in a review of the health effects of fracking recently published a study that concluded “substantial concerns and major uncertainties” should be resolved before it is expanded nationally.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has indicated that his final, long-awaited decision on whether to permit fracking will depend on the department's findings. 

John Adgate, of the Colorado School of Public Health, surveyed a number of recent health-related studies of fracking and published his findings last month in the Environmental Science & Technology journal.

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CLICK HERE - STUDY - Potential Public Health Hazards, Exposures and Health Effects from Unconventional Natural Gas Development

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New Strategy for Controlling Epidemics in Big Cities

Fri, 2014-03-07 00:08 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Luis Kun

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - January 27, 2014

In a large city like Washington, D.C., with about 50,000 visitors on any given day who stay for just a few days, there is a constant influx of new people who are susceptible to infections. Further, they visit highly populated tourist destinations, where they come into contact with other visitors as well as residents. Disease can spread quickly.

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CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Modeling the effect of transient populations on epidemics in Washington DC

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9 Maps that Illustrate the Struggles of the South

Thu, 2014-03-06 16:49 — Kathy Gilbeaux

          

Source: USDA

huffingtonpost.com - by Emily Cohn - March 6, 2014

Look, there are lots of things to love about the South. It's clean and quiet. There's delicious food, good people and often amazing weather. But that's exactly why it makes us so sad to think about all the ways in which the region is struggling today.

First off, poverty rates are a lot higher in the South.

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Senator Boxer's Statement: The Keystone Pipeline and the Threat to Human Health

Mon, 2014-03-03 21:33 — Kathy Gilbeaux

                  

epw.senate.gov

Senator Barbara Boxer
Keystone Pipeline and the Threat to Human Health
February 26, 2014
(As prepared for delivery)

We are here today to share dramatic new information that will shine a spotlight on the health impacts of tar sands oil - health impacts that are already being felt in communities exposed to one of the filthiest kinds of oil on our planet.

The Keystone XL pipeline will allow 830,000 barrels of tar sands oil every day to flow through our nation - an initial increase of 45 percent compared to what is being imported today - and this project could just be the beginning. In the long term, it is projected that Canada would produce almost 300 percent more tar sands oil by 2030.

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United States
US - Gulf Coast
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Stem cells cultivated without using human or animal cells

Sun, 2014-03-02 21:55 — Maeryn Obley

medicalnewstoday.com - February 6th, 2014

Previously, stem cells have been cultivated using animal proteins or by growing them from other human cells. Both methods come with associated problems. But, according to a study published in the journal Applied Materials & Interfaces, researchers have now identified a new method for cultivating stem cells.

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