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From Other Blogs: New Nutrient Content Information Now Available Online, How to Stop Spreading Germs, Addressing Antibiotic Resistance

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A collection of health and environmental posts from other governmental blogs.

New Nutrient Content Information Now Online

Have you ever wanted to view food sources of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in your diet? The National Agricultural Library’s Food and Nutrition Information Center now houses 36 tables of foods according to their nutrient content. The tables are available for vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and macronutrients and are listed in household measure from the highest to lowest in nutrient content. – From U.S. Department of Agriculture’s blog

 

Stop Spreading Germs: Tips for Parents and Kids

It’s something all parents dread – a call from the school nurse telling you that your child is sick. We usually wonder how they got it and how to prevent everyone else in the family from catching it too. Katie Schill, nurse practitioner with Prisma Health Telehealth, offers some tips to share with your children on how to prevent the spread of illnesses. And if you do find yourself with an ill child, when to keep them home from school. – From Flourish, Prisma Health’s blog

 

Urgent Care Collaborating to Address Antibiotic Resistance

Laurel Stoimenoff, PT CHC Chief Executive Officer of the Urgent Care Association (UCA) and its member are concerned about the looming antibiotic resistance crisis. In collaboration with the College of Urgent Care Medicine (CUCM), we have decided to be part of the solution. From Safe Healthcare, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) blog

 

Tandem Health of Sumter Chosen as the 2019 HPV Vaccine is Cancer Prevention Champion for Preventing HPV Cancers in South Carolina

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HPV is Cancer Prevention Champion, an award created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI), and the American Cancer Society (ACS), recognizes clinicians, clinics, practices, groups and health systems that offer exceptional HPV vaccination among adolescents in their community. This award honors one Champion in each state as well as Champions from the eight United States territories and District of Columbia. Tandem Health of Sumter is South Carolina’s winner for 2019.

Tandem Health is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and accredited patient-centered medical home (PCMH) that provides comprehensive, personalized healthcare services regardless of the patient’s ability to pay. In January 2019, Tandem Health joined the South Carolina Primary Health Care Association and American Cancer Society as a member system of the South Carolina HPV Cancer Free Learning Collaborative. Tandem has served as a peer mentor for the additional seven FQHC member systems, sharing examples of the implemented evidence-based strategies and quality improvement processes. Because of these efforts, Tandem Health has gone from a 39% HPV vaccine series completion rate among adolescent patients at January 1, 2019 to a 78% completion rate by the end of August 2019.

Tandem Health is dedicated to improving the health of our boys and girls in South Carolina. DHEC is proud and honored to congratulate Tandem Health on this well-deserved award.

Receiving the HPV vaccine is important because it protects against cancers caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. HPV is a very common virus; nearly 79 million people are currently infected in the United States. Every year in the United States, nearly 35,000 women and men are estimated to be diagnosed with a cancer caused by HPV infection. HPV vaccination could prevent more than 90% of these cancers—more than 32,000 cases every year—from ever developing. Both boys and girls should get two doses of the HPV vaccine series when they are 11 or 12 years old. The HPV vaccine series can be started as early as age 9. HPV vaccine is one of 4 vaccines teens should get when they are age 11 or 12.  All teens also need a Tdap (whooping cough) booster, meningitis vaccine, and a yearly flu vaccine.

To read Tandem Health’s profile on the CDC’s website, and to learn more about HPV Vaccine is Cancer Prevention Champion Award program, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/hpv/champions/2019-winners.html#sc .

Get Your Flu Shot During National Influenza Vaccination Week

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This week is National Influenza Vaccination Week, and we are entering the peak of flu season. Receiving a flu vaccination can reduce flu illness, doctor’s visits, and missed work or school, as well as prevent flu-related hospitalizations.

Influenza (flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and sometimes the lungs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it can cause mild to severe illness and at times can lead to death.

Everyone in your family who is six months and older should get a flu vaccine every year. Protect yourself and your loved ones by getting your shot today.

Flu symptoms may include:

  • fever,
  • cough,
  • sore throat,
  • runny or stuffy nose,
  • muscle or body aches,
  • headaches, and

Flu germs are spread by tiny droplets when people with flu cough, sneeze, or talk. Those droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby.

Flu shots_SC Health Assessment

According to the 2018 South Carolina State Health Assessment, many South Carolinians are receiving their flu shots, even above the national average. During the 2016-17 flu season, South Carolina had the second highest percent of adults 18 years and older who received the flu vaccine among the southern states (45.2%). Be in that number and get your shot today. Pregnant women should especially speak to their doctor about flu vaccination, as they are at an increased risk for a severe case of the flu due to changes in their immune system, heart, and lungs during pregnancy. Flu can cause severe reactions to the mother as well present adverse outcomes for the infant.

DHEC offers the flu vaccine at all public health clinics. Find a clinic near you by visiting https://www.scdhec.gov/health/health-public-health-clinics.

A Look at Diabetes in South Carolina for American Diabetes Month

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November is American Diabetes Month. Let’s use this month to understand one of South Carolina’s most prevalent chronic diseases. There are three types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body does not produce insulin. Type 2, the most common form of diabetes, occurs when the body does not use insulin properly. Gestational diabetes occurs in some pregnant women when hormones may block the mother’s insulin, causing insulin resistance.

Adults with diabetes in SC

Common Symptoms of Diabetes

  • Frequent urination
  • Feeling very thirsty
  • Extreme fatigue
  • Blurry vision
  • Weight loss (type 1)
  • Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
  • Tingling, pain, or numbness in the hands/feet (type 2)
  • Feeling very hungry even though you have eaten

Diabetes can be very expensive to manage. Use these tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to find ways to save on medicine. By successfully managing your diabetes, you could prevent other onset chronic diseases and health issues, such as kidney disease, heart disease, or vision impairment, and amputation.

Diabetes in South Carolina

According to the 2018 South Carolina Health Assessment:

  • The prevalence of adults in South Carolina diagnosed with prediabetes increased from 6.7% in 2011 to 9.4% in 2016 (Figure 6.3).
  • Although there was not a steady pattern in the percentage of adults with diabetes in South Carolina from 2011 to 2016, South Carolina’s diabetes rates were consistently higher than the United States (Figure 6.4).
  • Adults aged 65 or older experienced diabetes at the highest rate of other age demographics with 26.1%.
  • In 2016, the prevalence of diabetes was higher in non-Hispanic Blacks (16.9%) than in non-Hispanic Whites (11.7%), and higher in those with an annual household income of less than $25,000 than those with an annual household income of $50,000 or more (9.4%).

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What is Prediabetes?

Prediabetes in SC

Prediabetes, sometimes called “borderline diabetes,” is a condition that can lead to type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It occurs when your blood sugar (glucose) level is elevated, but not in the diabetes range yet. People with prediabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, heart disease, or experience a stroke. Your chances of having prediabetes increase if you:

  • Are 45 or older
  • Are Black, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Asian-American, or Pacific Islander
  • Have a parent, brother or sister with diabetes
  • Are overweight
  • Are physically inactive
  • Have high blood pressure or take medicine for high blood pressure
  • Have low HDL cholesterol and/or high triglycerides
  • Had diabetes during pregnancy
  • Have been diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

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Do you think you could have prediabetes? Take the risk test and find out. It only takes a few minutes and you can find the test online at https://www.cdc.gov/prediabetes/takethetest/.

There are ways to combat diabetes with lifestyle changes. By increasing physical activity, eating a balanced diet and quitting tobacco use, you may prevent your chances of getting diabetes. If your physician has diagnosed you with prediabetes, you can also enroll in a National Diabetes Prevention Program, which has shown to reduce your chances of developing diabetes by 58%. For more information and links to resources, visit https://www.scdhec.gov/health-professionals/clinical-guidance-resources/diabetes-data-and-reports.

Plan a Tobacco-Free Lifestyle during the Great American Smokeout

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Let today be the day to stop smoking or using tobacco products of any kind. Today is the Great American Smokeout, an opportunity for people who use tobacco to commit to a healthy tobacco-free life. Nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs. Whether it is in cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, or Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS) products such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and vapes, the effects of nicotine are detrimental to your health.

Tobacco use is linked to the leading causes of death and hospitalization in South Carolina, which are cancer, heart disease, circulatory system disease and births/pregnancy complications, respectively.  Nearly 90% of all trachea, lung, and bronchus cancer deaths in South Carolina are smoking related.  According to the 2018 South Carolina Health Assessment, cigarette has been shown to increase South Carolina annual health care spending by $1.9 billion per year.

Cigarette Smoking in Adults_SC Health assessment

While South Carolina is making progress toward the CDC Healthy People 2020 goal of a 12% adult smoking rate – the current rate is 20.6% (2016).  Data from the most recent Adult Tobacco Survey (2014) shows that 6.2% of adults in South Carolina use e-cigarettes and 4.6% report using both combustible tobacco products like cigars and cigarettes, as well as using e-cigarettes or vapes.  ENDS products make tobacco prevention and cessation efforts more difficult due to the high concentration of nicotine found in the products (increasing nicotine addiction) and since many smoke-free policies have not been updated to include these products.

Cigarette Smoking in Teens_SC Health Assessment

While South Carolina has achieved the Healthy People 2020 goal of 16% or fewer high school students who are current smokers, the popularity of ENDS products again complicates this achievement. The 2017 Youth Tobacco Survey data show that the use of e-cigarettes or vapes (13%) surpassed the use of cigarettes (12%) for the first time. This new threat is expected to increase with the findings from the 2019 Youth Tobacco Survey slated to be available later this year. Nicotine in any form increases the risk of heart disease and addiction and is not safe for any age, especially adolescents.

Research shows that people who use tobacco are most successful in their efforts to quit when they have support. In fact, tobacco users are three times more likely to quit successfully with individualized counseling in combination with nicotine replacement therapies (over the counter or prescription) – all of which are available free of charge 24/7 through the DHEC administered SC Tobacco Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW).  The SC Tobacco Quitline has resources to help you quit and stay quit. Information includes: Nicotine Anonymous meetings, self-help books and materials, and smoking counselors or coaches. The Quitline also has a Youth Support Program for teen tobacco users and a Spanish language Quitline available by calling 1-855-DEJELO-YA.

Here are some additional cessation resources:

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For more tobacco information, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Office on Smoking and Health.  For more information about electronic cigarettes, visit DHEC’s e-cigarettes and vapes webpage.  You can quit for keeps. Start today.